Injuries to elite male cricketers in Australia over a 10-year period

doi:10.1016/j.jsams.2006.05.001

Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport

Volume 9, Issue 6, December 2006, Pages 459-467

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsams.2006.05.001 Get rights and content

Summary

This study analyses injuries occurring to Australian male cricketers at the state and national levels over 10 years using recently published international definitions of injury. Data was collected retrospectively for 3 years and then prospectively over the final 7 years. Injury incidence has stayed at a fairly constant level over the 10 years. Injury prevalence has gradually increased over the 10-year period but fell in season 2004–2005. Increasing match scheduling over the 10-year period has probably contributed to the increasing injury prevalence. Fast bowlers miss, through injury, about 16% of all potential playing time, whereas the prevalence rate for all other positions is less than 5%. Some match and schedule-related risks for bowling injury have been noted, including a greater risk of injury in the second innings of first class matches (compared to the first innings), a greater risk of injury in the second game of back-to-back matches and an increased risk of injury in the rare situation of enforcing the follow-on in a test match. The introduction of a boundary rope at all grounds has successfully eliminated the mechanism of injury from collision with fences whilst fielding. Cricket is a much safer sport to play at the elite level for batsmen, fieldsmen, wicketkeepers, and spin bowlers than the football codes, which are the other most popular professional sports in Australia.

Introduction

Cricket is one of the world's major team sports and as of 2005 is the first sport to publish consensus international injury definitions.1, 2, 3, 4 Injuries in cricket are common, particularly to fast bowlers.5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 It is accepted that ongoing injury surveillance is the fundamental pillar of successful injury prevention.¹³ Hence, there is general agreement internationally that cricket should follow the Van Mechelen paradigm of injury surveillance being the basis for risk factor and interventional studies, which can ultimately lead to injury prevention.¹¹ Successful ongoing injury surveillance in even major sports has proven elusive, partially because of the difficulties in forming consistent injury definitions.¹⁴ This lack of consensus has severely limited the ability to compare injury rates between countries and to ascertain risk factors for injury. This study addresses the problem of lack of ability to compare with other studies by being the first paper from Australia to be published using the new international definitions of injury. To date, only one paper (from the West Indies) has been published using the new definitions.¹⁵

Injury surveillance in professional cricket in Australia has been prospectively undertaken continuously since the start of the 1998–1999 season.⁵ Data from seasons 1995–1996 to 1997–1998 is available as a result of retrospective survey using a number of different methods.⁵ The only known attempt at previous injury surveillance in Australian cricket was performed by Hoy and Payne in the mid-1980s.16, 17

With the establishment by Cricket Australia of the Sports Science Medicine Advisory Group (SSMAG), the injury survey is now an ongoing core component of cricket research in Australia. It will not only continue to provide a framework to highlight the most important areas which need further study, but also, in the long-term, injury surveillance can follow trends in injury rates to test the interventions which are recommended by other studies.13, 18

Section snippets

Methods

The methods of injury surveillance internationally have been published recently in detail.1, 2, 3, 4 The definition of a cricket injury (or ‘significant’ injury for surveillance purposes) is.

Any injury or other medical condition that either: (1) prevents a player from being fully available for selection in a match or (2) during a major match, causes a player to be unable to bat, bowl or keep wicket when required by either the rules or the team's captain.

The major injury rates presented are

Results

Over the 10 seasons, there were 886 injuries that qualified as an injury according to the new international definition. There were 757 injuries that qualified as a seasonal injury for one of the state squads and 240 injuries that qualified as a seasonal injury for the Australian squad. Therefore, there were 111 injuries that qualified as both a state squad injury and an Australian squad injury (i.e. they were injuries that caused an Australian squad player to miss both games for his state and

Discussion

This study is the first scientific report of injuries in Australian cricket using the recently published international consensus definitions of cricket injuries. The only previous publication using the new definitions has been of one season of injuries from the West Indies.¹⁵ In this study, Mansingh et al. reported a test match injury prevalence of 11.3% and a 1 day international (ODI) injury prevalence of 8.1%. Injury incidence was 48.7/10,000 player hours in tests, 40.6/10,000 player hours in

Practical implications

•
Injury rates for male cricketers at the elite level are fairly constant and predictable, with fast bowlers being far more frequently injured than the other positions.
•
The introduction of a boundary rope eliminates fielding injuries from colliding with fixtures at the elite level.
•
Acute increases in match workload for bowlers, such as playing in back-to-back test matches and enforcing the follow-on in test matches, are associated with a greater risk of bowling injury.

Acknowledgements

The authors of the injury survey would like to acknowledge the contribution of the following injury recorders:

Team physiotherapists: Errol Alcott, Alex Kountouris (Australia), Patrick Farhart and Andy Nealon (New South Wales), Jon Porter, Rob Hunt and Anthony Hogan (South Australia), Michael Jamison and Laurie McGee (Tasmania), Ross Clifford and David Edgar (Western Australia).

Team medical officers: Trefor James (Australia and Victoria), Simon Carter (Queensland), Terry Farquharson (South

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Original paperInjuries to elite male cricketers in Australia over a 10-year period

Summary

Introduction

Section snippets

Methods

Results

Discussion

Practical implications

Acknowledgements

J Sci Med Sport

J Sci Med Sport

Methods for injury surveillance in international cricket

South Afr J Sports Med

Methods for injury surveillance in international cricket

N Z J Sports Med

Methods for injury surveillance in international cricket

Br J Sports Med

Injuries in Australian cricket at first class level 1995/96 to 2000/01

Br J Sports Med

Cricket injuries: a longitudinal study of the nature of injuries to South African cricketers

Br J Sports Med

Epidemiology of cricket injuries

Int Sport Med J

The incidence and nature of epidemiological injuries to elite South African cricket players

South Afr Med J

Acute injury incidence in professional county club cricket players (1985–1995)

Br J Sports Med

Comparing injuries of spin bowling with fast bowling in young cricketers

Clin J Sport Med

Original paper
Injuries to elite male cricketers in Australia over a 10-year period