Injuries
One of life's little mysteries why so many cricketers get damn injured. I mean, it's not the most physically demanding of sports, although I hasten to exclude fast bowlers from that generalisation as steaming in 60 (one day) or 120 (tests) times a day off a 20-30 metre run-up requires a reasonable amount of fitness.
Perhaps because the physical demands are mild, conditioning is not what it should be, even for international players. Who knows. While some injuries are explainable (getting cracked ribs from a bowler), others make you scratch your head (tearing a hamstring fielding a ball). Again, I excuse fast bowlers from these musings - although in the case of NZ because we play so infrequently perhaps we shouldn't.
Injuries are on the mind as without Pietersen and Vaughan (England) and maybe Bond (NZ), the $1.10 on Australia to win the ODI series is looking mighty attractive. Someone slap me - I've never bet a $1.10 shot in my life.
Injuries are also topical if we do what every embarrassed supporter of NZ cricket should do - switch sports and talk rugby. Yesterday - January 17 - marked the first game of rugby with a pre-season hit-out between the Blues and the Reds. And like last year, I'm waiting for the first injuries of the season as players run around on turf more akin to concrete than dirt. Having our top 22 players out for the first 7 rounds of Super 14 actually may turn out to be a masterstroke as they avoid the potential injury pitfalls of summer rugby.
Yes the grey matter is already starting to wander into the prospects of Super 14 franchises with kickoff just over a fortnight away. While pre-season hit-outs are in the main meaningless, one thing to keep an eye out for is player injuries.
Perhaps because the physical demands are mild, conditioning is not what it should be, even for international players. Who knows. While some injuries are explainable (getting cracked ribs from a bowler), others make you scratch your head (tearing a hamstring fielding a ball). Again, I excuse fast bowlers from these musings - although in the case of NZ because we play so infrequently perhaps we shouldn't.
Injuries are on the mind as without Pietersen and Vaughan (England) and maybe Bond (NZ), the $1.10 on Australia to win the ODI series is looking mighty attractive. Someone slap me - I've never bet a $1.10 shot in my life.
Injuries are also topical if we do what every embarrassed supporter of NZ cricket should do - switch sports and talk rugby. Yesterday - January 17 - marked the first game of rugby with a pre-season hit-out between the Blues and the Reds. And like last year, I'm waiting for the first injuries of the season as players run around on turf more akin to concrete than dirt. Having our top 22 players out for the first 7 rounds of Super 14 actually may turn out to be a masterstroke as they avoid the potential injury pitfalls of summer rugby.
Yes the grey matter is already starting to wander into the prospects of Super 14 franchises with kickoff just over a fortnight away. While pre-season hit-outs are in the main meaningless, one thing to keep an eye out for is player injuries.
Labels: cricket
posted by Rob Crawford at 9:06 AM
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