- Title
- The presence of known biomechanical risk factors for low back injuries in junior cricket fast bowlers
- Creator
- Herath Mudiyanselage, Sajeewa Udana Bandara
- Relation
- University of Newcastle Research Higher Degree Thesis
- Resource Type
- thesis
- Date
- 2020
- Description
- Masters Research - Master of Philosophy (MPhil)
- Description
- Introduction: Injury prevalence rates of cricket fast bowlers increase over time. Fast bowlers lose 16% of potential playing time due to injury, while all other playing positions in cricket lose 5% of potential playing time. Most of the injuries of cricket fast bowlers occur in the lumbar region of the spine. Young fast bowlers have a higher risk of injury to the lower back compared to adult cricket fast bowlers and 37% - 55% of injuries among junior fast bowlers are in the lower back. Researchers have reported that bowling action is one of the main factors associated with low back injuries, with the mixed bowling action identified as having the highest-risk of injury. Hence, the first aim of this thesis is to examine biomechanical factors associated with low back pain and injury in fast bowlers through a systematic review of the literature. Secondly, a biomechanical analysis of junior cricket fast bowlers will be performed to established the presence of identified risk factors among junior fast bowlers, as well as to measure bone health and muscle symmetry. Systematic review. Method: Seven electronic bibliographic databases including MEDLINE, EMBASE, SCOPUS, COCHRANE LIBRARY, WEB OF SCIENCE as well as SPORTDISCUSS were used as primary search sources. Eleven key words were used with three different combination formats in the electronic data bases searched. Three different factors including participant characteristics, biomechanical analysis, and the currency of the study were considered for the inclusion criteria. Methodological quality assessment of included articles was conducted using the McMaster University Guidelines and Critical Review Form for Quantitative Studies. Biomechanical data were extracted from the studies and summarised. Results: Six articles were selected for the systematic review. All six were moderate to good quality according to critical appraisal scores, which ranged from 9 to 11 (Mean 9.5) out of 15. Three studies reported 3D biomechanical data and the other three studies reported 2D biomechanical data. Only one study investigated female participants, while all other studies investigated male participants. The mean age of the participants ranged from 13 to 27 years. Three studies out of six investigated junior state/club level fast bowlers and the other three investigated senior elite level fast bowlers. Out of these six included studies, only four studies used force plates to report cricket fast bowling kinetics. Higher lumbar lateral flexion power, lumbar lateral flexion moment, as well as lumbar flexion moments were the identified kinetic factors associated with lower back injuries. However, some conflicting findings were noticed, as three studies out of four which reported kinetic results did not report any association of the above-mentioned kinetic factors with lower back injuries. Higher hip flexion, shoulder alignment at back foot contact and at ball release, thorax lateral flexion at front foot contact and ball release, range of thorax lateral flexion, pelvis rotation at ball release and more importantly shoulder counter-rotation were identified kinematic factors that were associated with lower back injuries. However, similar to kinetic factors, there were some conflicting results reported, including one study that did not report any significant relationship between shoulder counter rotation and low back injuries. Conclusion: Both kinetic and kinematic factors associated with low back injuries were identified through the systematic review. However, some conflicting findings were reported, indicating that further research is needed to investigate the validity of the identified biomechanical risk factors. Experimental study. Method: Eleven junior male representative fast bowlers (mean age 13.8 ± 0.6 y, mean height 173.9 ± 5.3cm, mean weight 63.5 ± 5.7kg) were recruited from the Central Coast and Newcastle area, NSW, Australia. Each participant completed a spell of five overs at game pace. Three–dimensional (3D) kinematics (500Hz) and ground reaction forces (2000Hz) of the bowling action were recorded during the delivery stride and analysed in Visual 3D software. All participants underwent a whole-body Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) scan to examine bone health and muscle distribution. Results: The majority (63.6%) of the junior fast bowlers used the mixed bowling action and the only other action used was the semi-open bowling action (36.7%). Biomechanical risk factors for lower back injuries, as identified in the systematic review, were observed in the entire study cohort. Greater shoulder counter rotation, shoulder alignment at back foot contact and ball release, thorax lateral flexion at front foot contact and ball release, range of thorax lateral flexion, pelvis rotation at ball release and hip flexion are identified kinematic factors, which were significantly higher in the mixed bowling action group compared to the semi-open bowling action group. Furthermore, higher lumbar lateral flexion power, lumbar lateral flexion moment and lumbar flexion moment are identified kinetic factors, which were significantly higher in the mixed bowling action group compared to the semi-open bowling action group. No significant differences were observed for bone mineral density or lean mass between bowling action groups in any region of the body. Furthermore, no differences in bone mineral density and lean mass were found between the dominant and non-dominant side of the body. Conclusion: Although several studies identified the mixed bowling action as a high-risk bowling action for low back injuries, the majority of the junior fast bowlers in this study used the mixed action. These junior bowlers also demonstrated several identified kinematic and kinetic risk factors for lower back injuries. It is alarming that 63.6% of junior fast bowlers select the mixed bowling action, as this may lead to minor to severe injuries and potentially early dropout. It appears better education is needed for coaches and athletes to alert them to higher risk of lower back injuries for bowlers using the mixed action.
- Subject
- cricket fast bowling; low back injuries; biomechanics; junior cricket fast bowlers; biomechanical risk factors
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1411281
- Identifier
- uon:36322
- Rights
- Copyright 2020 Sajeewa Udana Bandara Herath Mudiyanselage
- Language
- eng
- Full Text
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| View Details Download | ATTACHMENT01 | Thesis | 1 MB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download | ||
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