The Physical Demands of Professional Cricket

Do you have to be fit to be a cricketer?

The answer is of course yes, without a doubt. In the current county game there is such a wide range of different forms of cricket that it is hard to break fitness down. In Twenty20 there is the fast and furious side of fitness where for 3 hours you are like a Duracell bunny!! In the 50 over one-day game there are aspects of the Twenty20 game but also the game lasts for around 6 hours so it can be exhausting. Then there is the purist game, the County Championship. This game can be as tough as any, you can field for around 250 over’s in the game and also be relied up on to bat for days at a time.

So how do cricketers prepare physically for the season?

The season finishes at the end of September so most cricketers will spend October relaxing, catching up with Family or going on holiday. I tend to go on holiday but still like to do some sort of light fitness 3 days a week just to maintain the levels.
During November and December at Yorkshire we do a lot of long distance C.V work to get the miles in the legs preparing our bodies for the ‘onslaught’ after Christmas! Personally I try to do between 20-30 miles per week running on the roads along with 2 full body weight sessions.
After Christmas the training begins to step up. We train as a team 3 times a week which will include circuits, power lifting and hill sprints. Our fitness trainer aims to get the power and speed in to our muscles. Cricket is mainly based around short, fast movements based over a long period of time, so hill sprints is an excellent session to do to help that. During this time the players start to do skill specific training, so the batters will do 3 sessions of batting a week and bowlers will work on bowling skills.
During the summer the schedule for a cricketer is hard to manage. You could play a 4 day Championship game followed the next day by a one day game, followed by a traveling day followed by another Championship game. Sometimes we can be away from home for up to 3 weeks, so being able to live out of hotel rooms is a key part of the job. The ways in which to maintain fitness levels during the season is to manage your time the best you can. As a batsman I will fail during some games which gives me a lot of time sat around watching others score the runs that I should of!! This time can be spent going for a run of using the gym at the grounds to keep the fitness levels up. We have a full time fitness conditioner on hand so he will devise the sessions there and then to suit our needs.
Recovery is also a key part of a cricketer’s role in managing their own bodies. Ice baths are constantly used after games and when we are staying in hotels we often do a team pool session to help relieve the lactic acid out of the muscles.

6 Best Fitness Tips For Junior Cricketers Ever

1. Understand the benefits.
Top players like Andrew Symonds Paul Collingwood, Michael Hussey and Kevin Pietersen are better athletes. They are stronger and faster compared to years ago. There is enough evidence to prove the fitter you are the quicker you will recover in order to play at the high standards required all year around.
If you are fit in body, you will be fit in mind and will have stronger powers of concentration when out in the middle batting as well as having less chance of your body breaking down with injuries.
2. The earlier you start the better
Good habits can be built from a very young age. The main focus is on the key LTAD stages from ages 10-18. That said, you can start teaching movement skills to the under 8's. At that age it is all about having fun but you can still teach fundamental skills like agility, balance and coordination that will have a positive effect in later years.
As kids progress you can work on relative strength with bodyweight exercises like press ups, dips, lunges, squats and pull ups.
3. The more you do the quicker the results
All elements of fitness take time to develop. However, it's like anything: The more you do the quicker you will improve and see the results. In an ideal world training will be a four times per week but it depends on the commitment of the individual to get the best from themselves.
4. Master technique then progress
With young players it's important to work on the technical aspects of fitness before progressing. Adding load before a young player is ready can cause injury. Learning how to run fast, change direction quickly, control the core at speed and do movements like squatting, lunging or Olympic lifting with a broom handle can be taught to any age safely.
Once young players have mastered these techniques you can start doing some progressive work so each individual can see improvements.
5. You can do a lot with a little
If you have got a field and cones you can get a lot done. You don't need expensive equipment. Vern Gambetta uses the phrase 'weight room without walls'.
If you have funds available, the benefits of Olympic lifts are well documented. Find a gym with Olympic bars or Training bars with coaches that specialise in training young people like Keiron does at In-Touch Cricket Academy. Remember to learn the lifts well before adding weight.
6. Quantity in the winter, quality in the summer
Training has a different focus at different times of the year.
The bulk of training is done in the off season which means intense loads and quantity. This is where most progress is done.
During the season, quality work should be done at high intensity. More maintenance work will be prescribed in the season so young players maintain the high levels of fitness gained in the off season. This is because players need recovery time between matches so find it harder to make physical improvements.

Cricket Foot Drills

In general the circuit must follow in a logical sequence with an easy to follow plan, this becomes more apparent especially when the circuit becomes more complicated in its make-up. Careful planning and preparation, knowing in advance the limitations on time, class size, equipment available will all help in your setting up of the circuit. The controlling factor of the circuit also needs time spent on it in the planning stage.

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Single leg run; aim to run on the ball of your foot, without catching the rope or chalk lines.

1    2

3   4

5   6

7   8

9   10

11   12

Double leg run; aim to run at speed through the rope ladder, pumping with your arms.

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3     4

5     6

7     8

9     10

11   12

Double side step, run through the ladder in a sideways direction.

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2 1	4 5	8 7	10 11	14 13	16 17	Ickey Shuffle, As with the double run, but this time every third step comes outside the rope.
	3		9		15

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Cross overs, Side step through the rope, taking your leading leg both in front and then behind the trailing leg.

Most people move better on one side than the other. Work on your weak side to yield greater improvements in your game.