Why national cricketers break down often
South African tour
Sri Lanka had as much as five casualties in the first Test against South Africa
Injuries have plagued the Sri Lanka national cricket team over the past five years. No single individual can be blamed for this state of affairs. Rather, it is the failure of the system to ensure that the efforts of all stakeholders are synergised into one comprehensive plan that will result in the prevention of injuries and the maximisation of the performance of the team.
While the poor scheduling and timing of the Lanka Premier League (LPL) could be one reason for the spate of injuries on the South African tour, the problem lies deeper than that.
The excuse that players did not have enough training due to COVID-9 is a poor one, since other countries such as England, South Africa, New Zealand and even Pakistan, seemed well conditioned for their tours despite being worse hit by the pandemic than Sri Lanka. Players getting injured is inevitable in any sport but when injury rates are as high as what has been experienced over the past five years there is clearly a problem with the overall training programme.
‘Weak Things Break’
Injuries mainly occur due to lack of strength, overtraining and inadequate recovery.
Lack of cardio vascular fitness, excess body fat, poor nutrition and environmental factors (climate, hard grounds etc.) are also contributing aspects for injuries.
A fatigued player is at a higher risk of injury than one who is not. A stronger player will naturally be more resilient and less likely to break down than a weaker player.
Sub maximal efforts (meaning actions which don’t require 100% effort) on the field such as throwing from the outfield, cruising between wickets for a couple of runs, driving a ball to extra cover will be easier on a stronger player than a weaker player.
Stronger players are typically better able to tolerate the cumulative workloads of training, practices and games. This is where methodical strength and conditioning is needed.
Simply put, the easiest way to prevent injury is to get strong. Sudden increases in volume and intensity can cause injury.
Two strength and conditioning sessions every week through the year (104 sessions for the year) is better than four sessions a week six weeks before a tour with long breaks in between during the year. The need to strengthen and condition consistently all year round is critical to prevent injury and maintain fitness rather than to have short intensive bouts of strength and conditioning a few weeks before a tour. This is like building a house without a foundation.
The spate of injuries during the LPL and the South African tour clearly exemplifies the truth of this statement. Players were unable to train hard, with proper supervision, due to COVID-19 resulting in a sudden increase in intensity of training resulting in players breaking down. Not having rest days between games during the LPL could also be a contributing factor for the high number of injuries during the South African tour.
Culture
Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has historically not valued fitness as a pre-requisite to representing the country. SLC has to decide whether meeting fitness standards be made a priority to be eligible for selection. If a player is overweight should he be selected purely based on his cricketing skills regardless of his fitness level? Alternatively, should a player miss out if he doesn’t meet the required body fat standards regardless of how skillful he is as a player.
Over the past five years it is apparent that many players have been selected despite being overweight. In the four countries currently dominating world cricket – Australia, England, New Zealand and India – to earn selection meeting fitness standards is non-negotiable. Nothing affects sports performance more than excess body fat. Ensuring body fat standards are met is entirely the responsibility of the player and can be managed almost exclusively by disciplined nutrition.
Should players who manage only a few games on each tour be allowed to remain in the elite player pool, or should they be asked to meet certain fitness standards? Is seniority an absolution of laziness?
The reality is that with cricket becoming a more athletic sport over the last decade, the days of rotund players like Inzamam, Boon, Gatting and Ranatunga is over.
Strength Training and Recovery
The argument made by past cricketers that they never suffered injuries despite training for long hours, not undergoing strength training, while carrying excess body fat, does not hold water any longer because: Modern day cricketers play twice as much cricket compared to the players of two decades back. In such a context the need for strength and recovery is crucial to ensure they stay injury free and ensure peak performance
The modern day cricketer belongs to the ‘sitting generation’ which means weaker backs and joints and therefore more susceptible to injury compared to the players who played two decades back. This is another reason why targeted strength training is critical to ensure prevention of injuries.
Concept of Readiness
Physiotherapists can provide valuable data to the Head Coach and Strength and Conditioning Coach with regard to players who are at a higher risk of injury through injury assessment screening. This is called ‘athlete readiness’ most often, the cause for most common injuries are:
Hamstring – Poor hip mobility
Groin Pulls – Poor core strength
Knee Injuries - Poor ankle mobility and stability
Lower Back - Poor hip and upper back mobility
The injury assessment screening will also help the Head Coach and Strength and Conditioning Coach to tailor training sessions to meet the findings of such screening.
Methodical Strength and Conditioning
There is a mistaken belief in cricketing circles that injuries are caused by players spending too much time in the gym and that cricketing skills can be adversely affected by Strength and Conditioning. The opposite is true, however. Engaging in poorly administered strength programmes can certainly be counter-productive and increase the risk of injury. However a properly administered strengthening programme is the best way to prevent injury in the long term.
Unsupervised Strength Training
It is unfortunately easy to critique the players’ preparation, given the prolific posting of training videos on social media by national players. Cricketers should not be allowed to train unsupervised, or under ad hoc trainers since most national cricketers have limited gym experience. Training footage of many national players posted online show some of the players using poor technique while exercising thus running the risk of increasing injuries.
Additionally some of the exercises contribute nothing to improve cricket performance on the field. Training does not cause injury. Poor training does.
Strength and Conditioning at Club level
The National Strength and Conditioning Coach should administer the fitness regime of all contracted players as well as work closely with fitness coaches working at club level. Players should not be allowed to go outside the system and hire separate fitness coaches and should stay within the overall strength and conditioning plan.
There is a need for clubs to hire Strength and Conditioning coaches who have the capacity to rigorously implement and monitor the programme prescribed by the Sri Lankan Strength and Conditioning Coach. The difficulty here may be that there are too many club teams to monitor. The need to reduce the number of clubs in order to ensure competitiveness as well as monitoring training is important and is an argument that has already been made in a purely cricketing context.
Main Goal – ‘Availability’ and ‘Longevity’
While Strength and Conditioning can improve a player’s fitness, power and speed, the two main goals of any fitness programme at elite level sports is ‘availability’ and ‘longevity’. Getting stronger and fitter will ensure that the best team is available on most occasions giving the team the best chance of winning.
A Sri Lankan team with Angelo Mathews, an Indian team with Virat Kohli, an England team with Ben Stokes will have a better chance of winning games than if those key players were unavailable through injury.
The true test of a player’s skills and his level of greatness cannot be judged until he is in his 30s. In his 20s he can survive and often maintain decent performances with his talent. However, to be at the top of your game in your 30s requires discipline and commitment.
Two good examples of this are Mahela Jayawardena and Kumar Sangakkara, who retired in their late 30s when they were still at the peak of their careers. Both players showed an increasing level of commitment to training despite growing up in the dark ages of strength and conditioning. As players get older, the emphasis on fitness needs to go up proportionately and not the other way around.
Bilal Yusuf is an experienced and qualified Strength and Conditioning coach, having trained many national level athletes from a variety of sports. He is the founder of Sri Lanka’s first ever Strength and Conditioning Company, AthleteUnleashed. He is also a qualified rugby coach having coached at club and school level.