Effect of Injury Prevention Program on Cricketers

Cricket is referred to as the second most popular game in world after football and in subcontinent along with south east Asian countries its popularity is increasing day by day it's also referred to as gentle's man game and was regarded as relatively injury free, but recently all witnessed that, changes brought to the cricketing world thus making the game more exciting for the viewers and demanding for players , as a result of these changes and high frequency of matches the game of cricket is no longer an injury free and involves risk of moderate to high level of injuries. These changes in game posed their effects on the players and now they are required to have and maintain high level of fitness In addition to technical skill, however this fitness regimen is also causing problems for players i.e. making them prone to overuse injuries a survey conducted by BSC and ACB reported 2.6 injuries and 24.2 injuries per 10,000 players hours respectively and there are studies to prove that most injury cases are reported in specific stages of the season. The major areas of concern are impact injuries to the head, face and fingers and injuries to the back.

Here it's worth defining that what actually is a injury An injury, which could be an acute or an overuse injury, is defined as any physical damage that took place during a game play, practice or training session and which prevented the player from completing that particular game, practice or training session. In similar way a cricket injury is defined as harmful condition or other medical related issue faced by the player that inhibits him/her from being selected for play or makes the player unable to resume his/her normal game for a partial or whole game when required by either the rules or the team captain.The most common injuries reported are hamstring strains, side strains, groin injuries, wrist and hand injuries, and lumbar soft tissue injuries .

While all cricketers are at the a risk of assuming an acute soft tissue injury to lower limb along the Fast bowlers fall under the highest risk category, as well as role-specific injuries. According to statistical data presented by Stretch \& Venter 66% of overall reported injuries fall in serious category, while chronic and acute-on-chronic made up 12% and 22%, respectively. Where reported Soft-tissue injuries were primarily muscle related injuries constituting up to (41%).

According to Stretch The frequency of injury to the head, neck, and face varied from 5.4% to 25%, and the upper limbs accounted for 19.8% to 34.1% of injuries. Back and trunk injuries accounted for 18.0% to 33.3% of the injuries, and lower-limb injuries accounted for 22.8% to 50.0%. Most were first-time injuries; recurrent injuries from the previous season accounted for 23.9% to 29.8%, and injuries sustained during the season recurring again during the same season, 22.7% to 36.8%. Dhillon et al., report that upper limb injuries are more common in cricket players and account for 16.8%

Dhillon et al., in their research also report that 62.5% injuries were severe enough to prevent cricketers from returning to play for more than 4 weeks. Orchard et al gave a further insight to Injury prevalence (the percentage of players missing due to an injury at any given time) was 14% for pace bowlers, 4% for spin bowlers, 4% for batsmen, and 2% for wicket keeper.

In researches carried out by Dhillon et al, the percentage of injuries reported for fast bowlers as compared to rest is quite high this is due to the fact that pace bowling involves repetitive twisting, extension and rotation of trunk and at the same time bowlers are absorbing high reaction forces over a short period of time. These movements, if performed incorrectly or too frequently, can lead to overuse injuries of the back, particularly in elite and high-level cricketers

An increased throwing workload is a risk factor for the development of upper limb injury in elite cricketers.Stretch \& Venter conducted a longitudinal study showing a pattern for the causes of injuries sustained by the cricketers and reported that the young fast bowlers are most likely to sustain an acute soft tissue injury to the lower limb in early part of the cricketing season while playing in games of cricket or practice sessions. Cross-sectional studies have also demonstrated that spinal overuse injuries occur more frequently to cricketers adopting a mixed bowling action than to those who favor a front or a side-on bowling technique

Strategies are placed in order to ensure that cricketers do not adopt the mixed action or bowl too fast for extended periods thus helping to prevent the back injuries. Along with injuries resulting from impacts, injuries from cricket ball impact can also occur and are more common during low level competition or informal participation. Because of the potential severity of these impacts, a range of protective equipment ranging from body padding to gloves and face protectors are now common features of standard cricket equipment. Although a number of measures to prevent cricket injuries have been widely suggested in the literature, there have been very few studies that have formally assessed their effectiveness in preventing injury. Further research is needed to gain a greater understanding of the bio mechanics of cricket actions, the mechanisms of resultant injuries and the role of various risk factors in injury causation. The extent of the sports injury problem must be identified and described. Secondly the factors and mechanisms which play a part in the occurrence of sports injuries have to be identified. The third step is to introduce measures that are likely to reduce the future risk and/or severity of sports injuries.