UC investigating why pace bowlers suffer so many injuries

University of Canterbury investigating why pace bowlers suffer so many injuries

February 8, 2015

While 14 teams take part in the 11th Cricket World Cup starting in Christchurch next week, a University of Canterbury researcher will be investigating why fast bowlers suffer so many injuries.

Sports physio and PhD student Sibi Boycott Walter, from Chennai in India, is leading a study on shoulder injuries among New Zealand pace bowlers. His cricket research is being supervised by University of Canterbury sports scientist Dr Carl Petersen who has worked with elite cricket teams in Australia and England.

Walter’s study will explore the number of New Zealand pace bowlers who have been injured and how long the injuries have kept them out of the game. Later on, he will compare shoulder strengthening regimes of pace bowlers and competitive swimmers.

Dr Petersen, who focuses on cricket technology research and has produced a cricket app, recently discussed his own research with World Cup ambassador Sir Richard Hadlee on the university campus.

Walter’s study will explore the number of New Zealand pace bowlers who have been injured and how long the injuries have kept them out of the game. Later on, he will compare shoulder strengthening regimes of pace bowlers and competitive swimmers.

Walter says studies on injuries in New Zealand cricket are scarce and there is scant information available on injury incidence reports of cricketers and Black Caps’ pace bowlers.

His research will help New Zealand Cricket understand more about the work overload on the shoulders of pace bowlers, help formulate an effective strengthening programme to avoid shoulder injuries and reduce the number of shoulder injury recurrences among New Zealand bowlers.

“It could also educate young aspiring New Zealand bowlers about the pitfalls of overtraining and establish a formulated strengthening programme to help extend their bowling careers,” Walter says.

“Lumbar stress fractures, hamstring and thigh muscle strains have had the highest incidence of injuries among New Zealand pace bowlers. The shoulder area is the most pivotal of all anatomical areas for pace bowlers.

“Low back pain has haunted quick bowlers all over the cricket world and New Zealand bowlers are no exception. One of the main risk factors for low back pain is excessive shoulder counter-rotation and hyperextension occurring during the mixed action which increases the stress on the intervertebral disc.

“Data I have collected shows 49 percent of all injuries are sustained while players are bowling.

Between 2002 and 2008 the Black Caps had more injury prevalence in international tournaments compared to domestic tournaments.

“Pace bowlers had the highest injury prevalence rate (18.7 percent) followed by spin bowlers (5.5 percent), batsmen (5.4 percent) and wicketkeepers (3.8 percent). The low back (22.1 percent), knee (20.1 percent) and shoulder (10.9 percent) were the most severe of the injuries suffered by the New Zealand cricket team in international matches.

“As the international cricket calendar has become full due to the popularity of T20 and one day games, pace bowlers are continuously in demand due to the intense nature of these games. Potential rule changes for the shorter games should be considered allowing 12th man substitutions to demonstrate their potential effectiveness in alleviating volume overload among the pace bowlers.”

ENDS

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