Cricket Injury Epidemiology, Mechanisms, and Prevention

Abstract

Cricket was once regarded as a leisurely paced gentleman’s game. Although cricket is a noncontact sport, a variety of injuries can occur. For example, a direct blow from ball contact may cause concussions, fractures, soft tissue strains, sprains, and contusions. Collisions with the boundary fence or other players may also lead to a wide variety of soft tissue, bone, and head injuries. In addition to acute trauma, cricket players are prone to sustaining overuse injuries associated with repetitious running, throwing, batting, and bowling. Improper warm-up, inappropriate footwear, poorly designed rehabilitation and conditioning programs, and lack of properly fitting protective equipment may contribute to cricket injuries. Knowledge regarding cricket injury characteristics has been improving; however, there is still a long way to go to improve athletic healthcare. Of particular concern is that most cricket injury surveillance studies are from England, Australia, and South Africa. Even though the Indian subcontinent and surrounding region represent the area where cricket is the most popular sport and where most cricket athletes compete, few studies exist from this region. Sport and age-specific in-season and off-season conditioning interventions to offset the potential influence of the lumbar spine “crunch factor” and scapula-thoracic dyskinesia on upper extremity function are likewise lacking. Standards need to be developed for cricket bowlers to identify safe volume limits and bowling technique recommendations across the age continuum. Lastly, although growing in popularity, even fewer studies have evaluated injury patterns or injury prevention interventions for female cricket athletes. Evidence-based injury prevention training in association with player development and performance enhancement is greatly needed in the sport of cricket.