Relationship Between Physical Fitness and the Physical Demands of 50-Over Cricket in Fast Bowlers.

Abstract

Webster, TM, Comfort, P, and Jones, PA. Relationship between physical fitness and the physical demands of 50-over cricket in fast bowlers. J Strength Cond Res 36(3): e66-e72, 2022-Professional cricket is constantly evolving and resulting in increased physiological demand placed on players. Fast bowlers experience the greatest physical demand during match-play; despite this, research has overlooked the importance of specific physical attributes to optimizing physical match performance. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationships between 50-Over physical match performance and tests of physical qualities in fast bowlers. Fifteen professional male fast bowlers (age = 23.8 ± 4.0 years; height = 183.4 ± 6.7 cm; body mass = 82.9 ± 9.2 kg) participated in the study. Subjects completed the following physical fitness tests; sum of skinfolds, countermovement jump (CMJ), 20-m sprint, and the Yo-Yo intermittent recovery test level 1. Global positioning system data were collected during 6 professional 50-Over fixtures. Moderate correlations were established between CMJ height to total distance covered (r = 0.585; p = 0.022), sprinting distance (ρ = 0.554; p = 0.032), and maximal velocity (r = 0.567; p = 0.027); 20-m sprint time to total distance covered (ρ = -0.519; p = 0.047) and PlayerLoad (ρ = -0.561; p = 0.03); and Yo-Yo distance to total match distance (r = 0.520; p = 0.047) and sprinting distance (ρ = 0.524; p = 0.045). These findings demonstrate the predictive importance of prolonged intermittent running ability, jump, and sprint performance to match running performance of elite fast bowlers in 1-day cricket. Strength and conditioning coaches should use such information to design training to ensure fast bowlers are adequately conditioned to meet the demands of match running performance.