The sport of cricket is facing an outbreak in the number of injuries to its fast bowler positions. Much like tracking the pitch count of an MLB player to avoid injury, researchers at the Australian Catholic University’s School of Exercise have developed an algorithm linked to submarine and guided missile technology to reduce fast bowler injuries, specifically in Australia.
Fast bowlers’, also known as pace bowling, goal is to bowl the ball at high speeds while bouncing it off the pitch changing the course and spin as it reaches the batsman at speeds of 85-95 mph (137-153 km/h). The current reporting of a cricketer’s workload only takes into account the number of deliveries, not the effort required.
The unnatural movement of a fast bowler, accompanied with up to six consecutive deliveries push their total count from “60 to four over,” said sports scientist and co-author of the British Journal of Sports Medicine, Dr. Tim Gabbett. The “torpedo technology” implemented by the Australians will improve the performance of cricket’s pacemen through wearable deices that run the “smart algorithms”.
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The measurement of the bowling intensity would be tracked using an “accelerometer, magnetometer and gyroscope technology housed within the wearable unit – the same technology used to navigate submarines, guided missiles and spacecraft,” said Gabbett.
Fellow ACU sports scientist, Dean McNamara, said once the algorithm detects a delivery the device begins. “Tagging individual balls with an intensity measure provides both immediate analysis such as identifying effort balls, or potentially a drop in performance due to fatigue, or longer term workload analysis,” said McNamara.
As the Australian team prepares for the upcoming Sri Lanka Series, they will use the technology to work against injuries to their pacesetters, Peter Siddle and James Pattinson, who are out of action along with returning bowler, Mitchell Starc, who has not played since November with a foot fracture. The fast bowlers hope this technology will help them reclaim the Ashes from England next year.
The device’s measurement of bowling intensity provides the information necessary to recognize acute and chronic workloads. The measurements would aid in the understanding of the availability or readiness of a bowler for competition.
This information could also be used in other sports – professional baseball (pitching), rugby leagues, tennis, football and others. Cricket’s new forms of the sport cause bowlers to return to play quickly without adequate rest, thus leading to these injuries.
“Because of this varying workload and intensity, cricket provides a complex challenge for clinicians and coaches. Arguably, no other professional sport has experienced greater changes in competitive workload demands than cricket over the past 10 years; perhaps most specifically via the introduction of T20 cricket,” said Gabbett. “Progressing a bowler to a window of decreased injury likelihood requires workload to be viewed as a moving target. This is largely due to the varying formats of competition across the year.”
Around June 11, all Australian cricket teams and the Wales rugby team, competing against the New Zealand All Blacks, will be using the technology in a three test series.
The information will bring understanding to injury prevention in the sport of cricket, and possibly in the near future to professional baseball and other sports as well.