Injuries in fast bowlers

FORCES DURING BOWLING STRIDE

Every step of bowler generates a force that is 2.5x your body weight through your foot, and for a fast bowler the impact at the point of delivery jumps up to 9x. During bowling three different forces act at the front and back foot and the magnitude of these differ between the feet. The largest forces are the vertical forces which are attenuated directly up the leg and they can be anything from five to nine times the individual's body weight, so they really are quite large forces. The braking forces can be in the vicinity of two to four times body weight There's a high force on the front leg on initial contact. That force has to be absorbed somewhere by the natural shock absorbers [of the lower limb], that might be through ankle joint motion or knee joint flexion They take a lot. Yet many players give only short consideration to the boots they wear.

Science of foot
There is little doubt that the best way for our feet to function is barefoot. That may seem a surprise to those who have been brought up on the common knowledge of more cushioning and more support. We are designed by nature to be able to walk, run, hunt and gather without shoes. Our feet have an incredibly thick skin and amazing feedback system that works with the support muscles in our legs and hips to allow for heavy impacts and excellent balance. Various studies have backed this up: Runners with old shoes are less likely to be injured than runners with newer shoes. The more cushioning in your shoe, the more likely the injury. The thicker and harder the sole of your shoe, the worse your balance becomes.

On top of this, injury rates in fast bowlers continue to increase despite increases in cushioning and support in their shoes. I have also seen anecdotal evidence with basketball players that the more support the shoe gives your ankle, the weaker and less flexible the ankle becomes. Despite this evidence, walking into any shop that sells trainers or cricket boots shows you the opposite: More support and more cushioning. Where does that leave our poor feet in all this? It's a personal thing. Most of us can't play barefoot after years of conditioning our feet to be in shoes. We have to find a compromise. The more we can do to minimise the risk of injury with our footwear the better

Science of foot contd

Cut Cut is how high the boot goes up your ankle. With cricket shoes the two options are high cut bowling shoes and shoe cut boots for batting and fielding. Fast bowlers are the main users of bowling boots as they are designed to support the ankle. As we are not bowling in bare feet, the chance of slipping in medium cut boots and socks is higher, so this is sensible. But we already know that this can reduce the range of motion of your ankle, another injury risk. Spikes Unless you are a fast bowler, the spike in your boots is a matter of preference. There are 4 main options: Full spike Half spike (where the spikes are just at the front) Rubbers (with no spikes, just rubber moulded grips) Adjustable (can add or remove spikes and replace with rubber) Fast bowlers need a full spike for the extra stability. Always wear them unless you are prevented from doing so by playing on artificial surfaces.

MODIFIED SHOES
Fast bowlers in cricket often modify running or cross-training (asics 490tr) shoes by adhering a stiff, spiked sole over the existing sole in an effort to gain an edge over the competition.

Footwear in cricket: issues facing podiatrists treating fast bowlers ; Chris Bishop, Dominic Thewils (2011)
Background The choice of footwear and custom modification of footwear in fast bowling in cricket lacks biomechanical and clinical evidence. This demonstrates that despite professional advice being available, elite fast bowlers continue to wear shoes that may not be appropriate for them. The aim of this study was to investigate the biomechanical effects of three cricket shoes commonly used by fast bowlers and whether footwear modification could play a role in injury. Methods Four male cricket fast bowlers were included in the study. A 20 camera VICON Mx system was used to collect three-dimensional kinematic data. A four segment marker set was used to track and model the lower limb. Four force platforms (Type 9287 BA, Kistler) were positioned at both back and front foot strike to capture kinetic data. Participants perceptions of footwear were measured using a VAS. Freidman two-way ANOVA with post hoc pairwise comparison was used to analyse the differences between shoes. Linear regression analysis was used to correlate predictive outcome measures.

RESULTS
The custom modified cross-trainer (ASICS 490tr) demonstrated the highest participant perception footwear score (mean 9/10 VAS). The conventional cricket shoes (ASICS 170no) demonstrated a significant reduction in front foot lateral shear force (P = 0.038) and a significant decrease in front knee joint external rotation moment (P = 0.022) relative to the custom modified shoe (ASICS 490TR). Exploratory regression analysis identified that front foot peak lateral shear force was significantly correlated (R2= 0.75, P < 0.001) to sagittal plane knee joint angle at initial contact. Sagittal plane knee joint angle at initial contact was also significantly correlated (R2= 0.73, P < 0.001) to front foot loading rate.

Conclusions
The findings of this research demonstrate that custom modified cricket shoes increase lateral shear force and knee external rotation moment at the front leg. However, the relationship between these findings and injury remain unquantified. Further research must identify the role of footwear in the mechanism of lower limb injury in fast bowlers and what characteristics of footwear correlate to improved footwear VAS scores in regards to comfort, support and performance.

Cricket
Introduction Played in British Commonwealth nations Limited Literature on mechanisms & prevention of cricket injuries Player and associated injuries Bowler
Hamstring Ankle injuries

Batsman
Impact injuries Limb injuries

Fielder
Limb injuries Ankle injuries

Injuries in Cricket
A non contact sport Injuries occur due to physical demand of game bowling action involves repetitive twisting, extension and rotation of the trunk at the same time absorption of large ground reaction forces over a short period of time Overuse injuries Dehydration Heat stroke Hamstring Ankle Injuries by impact

Protection and avoidance

Using protection equipment
Helmet Pads Gloves

Clothing
Cool clothing e.g. ClimaCool+ by addidas

Footwear
Cut, Spikes, Cusioning, Protection

Injured Area

Study

data source

Number (Population)
head/neck/face upper extremities lower extermites Trunk

Stretch

Questionnaire

116 (teenagers)

19.3

24.6

22.8

33.3

Stretch

Questionnaire

183 (adults)
1945 (children) 2345 (adults)

9.1
44.2 16.6

34.1
33.9 32.6

37.5
15.5 22.8

19.3
3.2 4.2

Finch et al Australian emergency dept. presentations Finch et al Australian emergency dept. presentations

Seasonal injury incidence rate South Africa bowlers (47%) batsmen (30%) fielders (23%)