Variability in Movement Patterns During One Day Internationals by a Cricket Fast Bowler

Abstract

Purpose:The time-motion characteristics and the within-athlete variability in movement patterns were quantified for the same male fast bowler playing One Day International (ODI) cricket matches (n = 12).Methods:A number of different time motion characteristics were monitored using a portable 5-Hz global positioning system (GPS) unit (Catapult, Melbourne, Australia).Results:The bowler’s mean workload per ODI was 8 ± 2 overs (mean ± SD). He covered a total distance of 15.9 ± 2.5 km per game; 12 ± 3% or 1.9 ± 0.2 km was striding (0.8 ± 0.2 km) or sprinting (1.1 ± 0.2 km), whereas 10.9 ± 2.1 km was spent walking. One high-intensity (running, striding, or sprinting) repetition (HIR) occurred every 68 ± 12 s, and the average duration of a HI effort was 2.7 ± 0.1 s. The player also completed 66 ± 11 sprints per game; mean sprint distance was 18 ± 3 m and maximum sprinting speed 8.3 ± 0.9 m·s−1.Conclusions:The movement patterns of this fast bowler were a combination of highly intermittent activities of variable intensity on the base of ~16 km per game. This information provides insight for conditioning coaches to determine the physical demands and to adapt the training and recovery processes of ODI fast bowlers.