Play Ball! (or something like that)

19 June 2013

            Today we were with Shaun who works on Dr. Holtzhausen’s staff and is also the team physiotherapist for the Knights, which is the provincial cricket team. Cricket has some similarities to baseball, but is a much different game once you get into the details of it. We went with Shaun to Chevrolet Stadium (Home of the Knights) and he let us tour the field and locker rooms. Afterwards, the head coach, athletic trainer, and three players arrived for some conditioning practice. One of the players was just now getting to where he could run comfortably on his left ankle, which he severely injured six months ago when sliding for the wickets. He was sliding like you see in baseball where the player has one leg extended and the other curled under it. His left foot was under his extended right leg when his left foot caught in the dirt, tearing ligaments and tendons in his ankle so that his toes were able to touch his fibula (YIKES!).

            Basically, Jaclyn and I were given free field passes to watch the conditioning practice and learn a little about cricket. No water breaks were given throughout the entire hour and a half practice. They started out with a 200 meter warm up jog, and then they got to work with suicides. First, they had to do eight repetitions of 30 meter suicide sprints, going from the 10m mark to the 20m mark and finishing with the 30m mark. Next, they ramped it up to 80 meter suicides, beginning with a run to the 80m mark and working each suicide down from the 60m mark, to the 40m mark, and finished with the 20m mark. Afterwards, the players worked on field exercises, chasing down balls and accurately throwing them to the head coach who acted as the “Wicket Keeper” (equivalent to a catcher).

            Then we moved to the indoor facilities where the players worked on catching and toughing up their hands. Only the Wicket Keeper has gloves on the field, while everyone else catches with bear hands; therefore, tough hands are crucial in cricket. The head coach would bat balls, which were like tennis balls with a solid core (softer than the leather coated cricket balls they will catch later), at each player and have them catch four balls before rotating out. After about five rotations, it was time for batting practice.

            After the conditioning practiced finished, Shaun took us back to the clinic on campus where the cricket player with the recovering ankle came in have his tibialis anterior muscle (along the shin) needled and relaxed.