Shoulder Injuries in Modern Cricket: Should an Increase Be Anticipated?

Background: Shoulder injuries in cricket were among the top injuries in the game. With increased effort by players batting, bowling and fielding, a further increase in its incidence can be anticipated. There are predisposing factors that can be screened and with prehabiliation, injuries can be prevented. This paper looks at the mechanism of shoulder injuries in cricket and how many can be prevented. It also presents a case of an unusual injury around the joint which can be mistaken for a shoulder injury. Conclusion: Musculoskeletal screening of the shoulder can reduce shoulder injuries. With an anticipated increase in incidence, this should be a focus of prevention.

Sources of information pick-up for anticipation by skilled cricket batsmen.

This study investigated whether skilled West Indian cricket batsmen could use contextual and kinematic information to anticipate the type of ball being bowled. Thirty-one participants were recruited that formed first class (n = 10), elite club (n = 10), and elite youth representative (n = 11) groups. Each group completed a video temporal occlusion batting test under two conditions. Condition one presented bowler kinematic information; that is, occlusion occurred at back-foot, front-foot, and ball release, with a no occlusion control. Condition two presented game contextual information in the form of field placings that was congruent with the ball types prior to temporal occlusion trials. Results revealed no significant skill group differences in the timing of information pick-up under kinematic or contextual conditions. Prediction accuracy for all skill groups was at guessing level at each temporal occlusion that presented kinematic information, but was above chance at no occlusion. Prediction accuracy for all skill groups increased to above guessing level at advance cue temporal occlusions when contextual information was provided. Findings indicate that this group of skilled batsmen did not use kinematic information for anticipation in this temporal occlusion task, but relied heavily upon contextual information. An implication of this study is that skilled batsmen should be targeted for visual-perceptual training to pick-up contextual and kinematic information to guard against deception from the latter that can negatively impact batting performance.

International consensus statement on injury surveillance in cricket: a 2016 update.

Cricket was the first sport to publish recommended methods for injury surveillance in 2005. Since then, there have been changes to the nature of both cricket and injury surveillance. Researchers representing the major cricket playing nations met to propose changes to the previous recommendations, with an agreed voting block of 14. It was decided that 10 of 14 votes (70%) were required to add a new definition element and 11 of 14 (80%) were required to amend a previous definition. In addition to the previously agreed 'Match time-loss' injury, definitions of 'General time-loss', 'Medical presentation', 'Player-reported' and 'Imaging-abnormality' injuries are now provided. Further, new injury incidence units of match injuries per 1000 player days, and annual injuries per 100 players per year are recommended. There was a shift towards recommending a greater number of possible definitions, due to differing contexts and foci of cricket research (eg, professional vs amateur; injury surveillance systems vs specific injury category studies). It is recommended that researchers use and report as many of the definitions as possible to assist both comparisons between studies within cricket and with those from other sports.

International cricket injury surveillance: a report of five teams competing in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011.

BACKGROUND: Injury surveillance is the cornerstone of effective injury management. However, to date no studies using recommended methods and involving multiple nations have been conducted within International Cricket. AIM: To conduct injury surveillance across multiple teams during the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011. METHODS: An electronic system, based on the guidelines for injury surveillance in international cricket, was used to record all new injury episodes was used for data collection. RESULTS: Twenty-three time-loss and 97 non-time-loss injuries were recorded. The injury incidence was 3.7/100 player-days (0.7 time-loss and 3.0 non-time-loss) with time-loss incidence being; for match injury 20.1/1000 player-days, bowling injury 3.3/100 bowling days and batting injuries 2.2/10,000 balls faced. Thigh muscle strain and medical illness were the diagnoses with the highest incidence. Fast bowlers, slow bowlers and batters all had a similar injury prevalence of approximately 5%. The bowling delivery stride was the activity that resulted in the greatest lost time. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study to use recommended injury surveillance guidelines to reporting injury rates across multiple teams at a major cricket tournament. Non-time-loss injury incidence appears relatively high and further study of the effect on performance and progression to subsequent time-loss is required. Fast bowler injury prevalence rates are lower than reported elsewhere, however this may be due to the nature of the tournament and match format, which is likely to impose a lower relative workload. In future, data from all competing teams over all formats of the game (Twenty20, ODI and Tests) needs to be analysed to effectively inform injury prevention research and practice.

Acute intussusception at the University Hospital of the West Indies: a six year review

Acute intussusception is the leading cause of intestinal obstruction in Jamaican infants. All children with this diagnosis seen at the University Hospital of the West Indies over a six year period 1986 - 1991 were reviewed. The objective being to determine the success of present management practice which employs barium enema hydrostatic reduction in clinically stable patients without peritonitis. Of the thirty-eight patients reviewed there was a male preponderance of 4.5:1. Ages ranged between four months and seven years with 71 percent less than one year old. 65 percent of patients presented with a history of less than 24 hours duration. The single fatality presented 30 hours after onset of symptoms. Common symptoms and signs were vomiting 89 percent, rectal bleeding 75 percent, abdominal mass 58 percent and abdominal pain 52 percent of cases. Barium enema was successful in 91 percent of cases attempted. The study vindicates a management approach which relies on clinical assessment as the only factor determining choice of treatment and suggests that barium enema reduction employed on this basis is a safe option. (AU)

The nature of interpersonal violence in Jamaica and its strain on the national health system

A random prospective study of 640 victims (76.6 per cent in the 15-39-year-old age group) of interpersonal violence (IPV) at the Kingston Public Hospital was conducted over three months. About 87.5 per cent of the aggression on males and 74.5 per cent on females was committed by males. However, there was more female/female than female/male violence. Weapons used ranged from guns to a variety of cooking wares, though knives were used most frequently (34.8 per cent ) for stabbing 48 per cent of the victims. Head, neck and upper limb were the main sites of injury; only 13.4 per cent of all the injured had complications, and 63 per cent of these required hospitalization. Family members and acquaintances contributed to about 84 per cent of the violence. Instinctive spontaneous aggression aimed at maiming the victim characterizes IPV in Jamaica. The Jamaican taxpayer bears 90-94 per cent of the cost of managing trauma injuries. These costs should be recovered from the assailants, even in the form of blood donations and community service.

The nature of interpersonal violence in Jamaica and its strain on the national health system

A random prospective study of 640 victims (76.6 percent) in the 15-39-year-old age group) of interpersonal violence (IPV) at the Kingston Public Hospital was conducted over three months. About 87.5 percent of the aggression on males and 74.5 percent on females was committed by males. However, there was more female/female than female/male violence. Weapons used ranged from guns to a variety of cooking wares, though knives were used most frequently (34.8 percent) for stabbing 48 percent of the victims. Head, neck and upper limb were the main sites of injury; only 13.4 percent of all the injured had complications, and 63 percent of these required hospitalization. Family members and acquaintances contributed to about 84 percent of the violence. Instinctive spontaneous aggression aimed at maiming the victim characterizes IPV in Jamaica. The Jamaican taxpayer bears 90-94 percent of the cost of managing trauma injuries. These costs should be recovered from the assailants, even in the form of blood donations and community service. (AU)

Hand infections in Jamaica

Empirical antibiotic treatment for hand infections is changing to single antibiotic therapy against Staphylococcus aureus in immunocompetent patients. Fifty-one patients treated surgically for hand infections were reviewed to assess the nature of infection in terms of site, organism, mechanism of injury, and antibiotic sensitivity of organisms. Twenty-three percent of patients had diabetes mellitus and were noted to be older than non-diabetics. Eighty-four percent of non-diabetic patients had single organism infections, 59 percent involving S aureus. Fifty percent of diabetic patients had multi-organism infection caused by gram positive and gram negative organisms. Patients stuck with a piece of wood also had multi-organism infections. Double antiobiotic therapy is therefore advocated for patients with diabetes mellitus and all patients who had hand infections as a result of being stuck with a piece of wood. All others should have single antibiotic therapy with amoxycillin and clavulanic acid. (AU)