by Chris Watts

The Australians are hailing the up-coming ashes series this winter as the most anticipated sports event since the Sydney Olympics. The quest to regain the ashes is one of cricket fiercest and most celebrated rivalries that date back to 1882. It was The Sporting times of 1882 that published a satirical obituary after the English had been defeated by Australia for the first time. The obituary stated that English cricket had died and the body will be cremated and the ashes taken back to Australia. Trying to get a ticket to see any of those games is like trying to get tickets to see Madonna in concert.

I was 3 years old when I started to play, spending 10 hour days running up and down pitches with family and friends. Summer term at school was the only time of the school year that was really fun.

In Britain, where cricket has taken on a supersport status, now that Sky TV has taken over the BBC’s broadcasting rights, there is a whole pot of cash at hand to develop the game into dynamic new boundaries. One area to benefit is the physiotherapy and biomechanics of cricket. Fast bowlers are experiencing numerous injuries from the high impact of pounding the ground on ball release, which can be up to 6 times their own bodyweight being absorbed by the joints. 59% of fast bowlers suffer injuries and 61 % of those, suffer them in the first month of the new season, suggesting there needs to be better physical preparation for pace bowlers. 14% of those injuries are stress fractures in the spine that can take up to 10 weeks to heal.

Muscles act as cushions and shock-absorbers. Your joints are your hinges that allow the skeleton to move through a certain range of motion. Mechanically all these systems have to be strong and elastic and in perfect balance and symmetry to unleash the power and speed of the ball.

To achieve this well-oiled and finely tuned state you need strong and stable shoulders which are our most mobile and vulnerable joint.

Here are 2 great stretches for the shoulders:

Shoulder capsule stretch

Straighten your right arm, thumb upwards, and flex the shoulder by raising the arm straight up above your head using your front deltoid muscle. When you reach your barrier at the end point, lean into the top part of a door frame and hold the stretch for 2 seconds. Return all the way back to the start position and repeat 10 times.

To stretch the deltoid:

Hang the arms straight down by your side, hyper-extend both arms backwards to the end of range, then flex the wrist to add an extra stretch to the biceps. Hold for 2 seconds. You can use a shelf at chest height to rest the extended arms and then squat down for the fullest stretch and hold there for 2 seconds and return back to the start position. Repeat 10 times.

Don’t forget to warm-up by circumducting the shoulders prior to any bowling activity.