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Br J Sports Med 2005;39:843-846 doi:10.1136/bjsm.2005.018515
  • Original article

Is bowling workload a risk factor for injury to Australian junior cricket fast bowlers?

  1. R J Dennis1,
  2. C F Finch1,
  3. P J Farhart2
  1. 1University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
  2. 2Cricket NSW, Paddington, NSW, Australia
  1. Correspondence to:
 Rebecca J Dennis
 University of New South Wales, NSW Injury Risk Management Research Centre, Sydney, Australia; rebecca.dennisunsw.edu.au
  • Accepted 19 April 2005

Abstract

Objectives: To examine whether bowling workload is a risk factor for overuse injury to Australian junior cricket fast bowlers and to evaluate the appropriateness of current bowling workload guidelines.

Methods: Forty four male fast bowlers (mean (standard deviation) age 14.7 (1.4) years) were monitored prospectively over the 2002–2003 season. Bowlers completed a daily diary to record bowling workloads and self reported injuries, which were validated by a physiotherapist. Bowling workload prior to the first injury (for those bowlers who were injured) was compared to workload across the whole season for uninjured bowlers.

Results: Eleven (25%) bowlers reported an overuse-type injury, with seven of these sustaining a back injury. Injured bowlers had been bowling significantly more frequently than uninjured bowlers (median number of days since the previous bowling day: 3.2 v 3.9 days, Mann-Whitney U = 105.0, p = 0.038). Compared with bowlers with an average of ≥3.5 rest days between bowling, bowlers with an average of <3.5 rest days were at a significantly increased risk of injury (risk ratio (RR) = 3.1, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.1 to 8.9). There were also trends towards an increased risk of injury for those who bowled an average of ≥2.5 days per week (RR = 2.5, 95% CI 0.9 to 7.4) or ≥50 deliveries per day (RR = 2.0, 95% CI 0.7 to 5.4).

Conclusions: This study has identified high bowling workload as a risk factor for overuse injury to junior fast bowlers. Continued research is required to provide scientific evidence for bowling workload guidelines that are age-specific for junior fast bowlers.

Footnotes

  • We would like to thank the NSW Sporting Injuries Committee and Cricket Australia for funding this project. RD was supported by an NHMRC PhD scholarship and CF was supported by an NHMRC Principal Research Fellowship

  • Competing interests: the authors would like to acknowledge that Cricket Australia and the NSW Sporting Injuries Committee provided research funding for this project, as outlined in this paper. The funding was provided in the interests of developing appropriate injury prevention strategies for the sport of cricket and neither organisation in any way restricted or censored the findings reported in this paper

  • Ethics approval: written consent was provided by both the participants and their parents/guardians. The Australian Institute of Sport Ethics Committee provided approval for this project (c/o Australian Sports Commission, PO Box 176, Belconnen ACT 2616, Australia)

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