Physical profiling of international cricket players: an investigation between bowlers and batters

Anthony Weldon, Neil Clarke, Lee Pote, Chris Bishop

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

6 Citations (Scopus)
440 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

This study aimed to develop a physical profile of international cricketers, and investigate if positional differences exist between bowlers and batters. Nineteen, international male cricketers, eleven bowlers (age 24.1 ± 5.2 years; height 179.73 ± 5.27 cm; weight 73.64 ± 6.65 kg), and eight batters (age 22.9 ± 3.8 years; height 180.25 ± 5.57 cm; weight 77.01 ± 8.99 kg) participated in this study. The physical test battery included; power, speed, strength and aerobic fitness tests. Batters demonstrated significantly higher scores for the countermovement jump (p < 0.03; ES = -1.55) and squat jump (p < 0.03; ES = -0.98). Furthermore, batters showed non-significant but small ES for faster 0–5 m (ES = 0.40) and 0–10 m (ES = 0.35) sprint times, superior hand grip strength (ES = -0.20), and higher Yo-Yo intermittent recovery test scores (ES = -0.46). Bowlers showed non-significant but small ES for faster 5 km time trials (ES = -0.51), lower bodyweight (ES = -0.42) and lower body fat percentage (ES = -0.30). However, intra-positional (i.e., seam and spin bowlers) and individual differences amongst players were observed. The physical profiles presented in this study can be used by coaches responsible for the physical development of cricket players to compare their existing data with. Furthermore, it is recommended that practitioners account for individual physical fitness profiles in addition to team profiles, to effectively design and evaluate tailored programs, with the aim of improving both physical and cricket performance.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)507-515
Number of pages9
JournalBiology of Sport
Volume38
Issue number4
Early online date31 Dec 2020
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2021

Bibliographical note

Copyright: Institute of Sport. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/), allowing third parties to copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format and remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially, provided the original work is properly cited and states its license.

Keywords

  • Pysical testing Exercise selection Elite sport Physical development Programing

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Orthopedics and Sports Medicine
  • Physical Therapy, Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation
  • Physiology (medical)

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Physical profiling of international cricket players: an investigation between bowlers and batters'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this