Common Cricket Injuries

Over the past few blogs we have examined some specific injuries that are more common in summer. Now our Physio’s will be taking you through summer sports and the injuries that are most common in those sports. This first blog will be looking at Cricket.

As a general rule, bowlers (fast bowlers specifically) tend to be more injury prone than batsmen. This is due to the high intensity and impact that fast bowlers routinely put their body under. From toe pain and ankle pain through to lower back pain and shoulder problems, most cricketers experience one or all of these at some stage in their career.

Ankle/Foot Injuries

The most common cricket injury to the foot is a lateral ankle sprain. This can occur to any cricketer whether that be fielding, bowling or batting and happens when the ankle rolls inwards as demonstrated in the picture.

The common symptoms of ankle sprains are pain, tenderness, swelling and bruising. The management of these sprains are fairly straight forward and generally resolve well with hands on Physiotherapy. In terms of prevention of these injuries a good balance and ankle strengthening program is advised however you can’t always prevent sprains occurring due to the poor standard of outfields that may have large divots in them!

In the adolescent population, young cricketers can suffer from Severs disease. This is essentially an inflammation in the heel caused by the bones of the leg and foot growing faster than the muscles. A good ice, stretching and foam rolling program is important in the management of severs disease.

Knee Injuries

Knee injuries are more common in the fast bowling population, this is due to the repetitive impact placed through the knee joint in the delivery phase of the movement. In the knee, mainly it is the patella tendon that is affected. Patella tendons generally flare up after a period of repetitive running, jumping, squatting or lunging activities. Essentially, all these movements are put together to result in the execution of a cricket bowl.

Management of the knee pain in cricketers is a combination of mobility and strength/control improvements. Soft tissue release either via massage or dry needling is done to improve mobility in and around the knee joints. Our physio’s will then prescribe various stretches and rolling exercises to facilitate the gains made in treatment at home. From here, a hip control and knee strengthening program is then prescribed to ensure that your knee is conditioned enough to keep up with the demands of Cricket.

As with almost all Cricketing injuries, ice can be a great way to get some immediate pain relief and speed up the healing process of any injury. In the next page of cricketing injuries we will be examining lower back and shoulder injuries. If you have any questions about how MTM Physiotherapy Warwick can help you or your cricket club then please contact us.