Acute injury incidence in professional county club cricket players (1985-1995)

Abstract

Background: There is a dearth of evidenced based research into sports injury in professional cricket.

Aim: To investigate the incidence, nature, and site of acute injuries sustained by professional cricketers at one English county club over the period 1985-1995.

Methods: Injuries in a sample of 54 cricketers who had played in the first team for the same county cricket club in any or all seasons between 1985 and 1995 were investigated. Injury was defined as the onset of pain or a disability resulting from either training for or playing cricket, which caused the player to seek medical attention.

Results: An acute injury rate of 57.4 injuries per 1000 days of cricket played was found, with most injuries sustained during April, the month in which the least number of days were played. The lower limb was the region most vulnerable to injury, accounting for 44.9% of all injuries, followed by the upper limb (29.4%), the trunk (20.0%), and the head and neck (5.7%). No significant difference in injury incidence among player positions was found.

Conclusion: There is a need for a system of epidemiological data collection and development of a national cricket injury database to help predict, reduce, and prevent injury at all levels of the game.