Common Cricket Injuries and How to Avoid Them

Common cricket injuries mostly arise from poor form and technique while playing and placing too much stress on a given set of muscles. They frequently involve the hands, fingers, or face. They are however not limited to these areas alone.

Cricket is a fun and exhilarating sport, but you need to protect yourself and avoid risking injury while playing. Cricket injuries vary depending on the role you play on the field and the type of match. T20 matches tend to have a higher stress load on players even though it runs for a short duration.

Common Cricket Injuries in Players

Let’s take a look at some of the top cricket injuries:

Rotator Cuff Injuries

These injuries arise from batting, fielding, or bowling. This is because your shoulders tend to be overworked during these movements. The muscles that stabilize the shoulder during play may strain or tear from intense movement resulting in injury. Shoulder aches, swelling, or limited shoulder mobility are symptoms of a rotator cuff injury.

Common cricket cuff injury — Rotator Cuff Injury

Contusions injury during cricket

This injury is very frequent because it mostly results from getting hit by the ball. When this happens, it is most likely to hit a muscle resulting in a contusion. The severity of this cricket injury usually depends on the speed with which the ball is moving. The affected area usually suffers from swelling and bruising.

Contusions is a common cricket injury — Contusions usually during fielding

Hamstring Strain’s injury in cricket

Apart from the shoulder, the hamstring is arguably one of the most over-used muscles in cricketing. Hamstring injuries are one of the most common cricket injuries to recur among players. It is usually a result of sprinting when you need to field. Hamstring strains are quite severe and make you immobile for a long duration of time. Unlike contusions, it usually requires a lengthy recovery time.

Hamstring strain cricket injuries — Common running injuries hamstring strain

Ankle Sprains during cricket

Sudden braking or high speeds during cricketing may result in an ankle sprain. These types of injuries can be quite painful and troublesome. Ankle sprains have a huge impact on a player’s overall performance. Bowlers are more prone to suffering from this injury.

Sprained ankle a common cricket injury — Sprained ankle black x-ray in 3D

Tips on How to Avoid Cricket Injuries

Use strap-on braces to protect you from ankle sprains.
It is essential that you warm up before every match.
Wear protective gear for adequate safety.
Give yourself adequate recovery time in between play to avoid these common cricket injuries and reduce muscle fatigue.

Common cricket injuries such as those listed above though frequent can be avoided. We hope that this article has provided you with insight into the causes of most recurring cricket injuries and ways to avoid them. Happy cricketing!