I have been stewing over the constant thought of injuries to young fast bowlers for the last few months. And my immediate reason is the number of injuries that the Australian bowlers have encountered.
The most recent injury being a side strain to, 22 year old James Pattinson, with a previous history of a stress fracture. Another younger gun, Pat Cummins, at the age of 19 has also had several injuries at his tender age, the most recent being another stress fracture/bone reaction issue to his lower back. 21 year old Josh Hazelwood, who made his debut at the age of 17, also had stress fractures to his lower back. Shane Watson, has been having recurring injuries particularly to his calves due to 3 previous stress fractures which began in 2003. In South Africa the most recent lower back injury occurred to 22 year old Marchant de Lange. This is just to name but a few.......
I have no doubt that stress fractures to the lower back of fast bowlers, occur between the ages of 17-22. This in the main due to growth plates in the vertebral column that have not developed due to age. With the front foot stress of the body ( 7-9 times body), repetitive forces and counter rotation occurring during fast bowling, the lower back in particular takes on huge shear forces which can coincide with injury. Particularly if growth plates are under developed.
Once a stress fracture occurs players become prone to reinjury, if rigorous rehabilitation is not completed as well as injuries to other areas of the body. Stress fractures have a huge link to side strains, hamstring and calf injuries.
Fast bowling relies a lot on rotation, particularly that of the counter rotation between the shoulders and hips. Once a stress fracture occurs, I believe a "weak link" occurs at the vertebral level of injury. Hence focusing of thoracic and lumbar rotation will alway be important in the maintenance of a fast bowler. When rotation becomes limited due to fatigue and workload, side strains can therefore occur.
Hamstring and calf injuries are linked to stress fractures, mainly of the lower back due to a neural relationship. Compressive forces of the vertebral column will always occur during fast bowling, which may lead to degeneration and compression of nerves which stimulate the hamstrings first and then the calf muscles. Nerves in the body, are required to send movement messages to muscles to preform their function. If not done adequately impaired messages are sent to muscles causing injury to occur.
The battle many selectors and coaches deal with, is pace. A cricketing cliche', " you cannot buy pace", goes a long way in understanding why young men that bowl at 140kmph plus are pushed into increased workloads before growth plate development.
There will alway be debates between scientists and coaches/selectors. If injuries to young men with great ability continue to occur as mentioned above, holding back young fast bowlers and monitoring workload and technique may become the way forward.
What do you recommend? When should a young fast bowler begin his career?
ReplyDeleteThe key is to monitor workloads. Young bowlers who bowl at pace cannot be stopped from playing but should have reduced bowling loads during practice and in games. They should focus on core stability and rotational exercisers of their thoracic and lumbar spine, as well as working on biomechanics and a good action.
ReplyDeleteI just came across your article. I am an ex-fast bowler who sustained stress fractures at 17, and again at 20, so have long since hung up the boots (I am now 45). What was intriguing about your article was the comment “stress fractures have a huge link to side strains, hamstring and calf injuries”. After I gave up cricket, and then soccer after bad ankle and knee injuries, I did road running for about 10 years. However, I had to give up even this after chronic recurring calf strains. Now given that my left ankle is a bit stiff as a result of the ankle injury and subsequent reconstruction, the stress fractures may not be the main cause, I still think your ideas may shed some light on the problems physical problems I encountered long after my main injuries had healed.
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