 |
| Research Title: |
Injuries to junior club cricketers. "The impact of helmet regulations" |
| Type of Research: |
|
| Category: |
Protective Equipment
|
| Keywords: |
Head Injury
Helmet
Cricket, Junior, Headgear, Head injury, Regulations
|
| Author(s): |
Louise Shaw, Caroline F Finch |
| Author(s) Bio Box: |
|
| Release Date: |
05 February 2008 |
| Research Summary/Text: |
Cricket is associated with many contact or acute injuries. In recent years junior cricket associations in Australia have introduced compulsory wearing of protective headgear for all batters to reduce the risk of head injury to players. Clubs in the Sutherland Shire Junior Cricket Association of NSW, which introduced mandatory use of helmets for batters prior to the commencement of the 2004/05 season, provided injury data from that and the two preceding seasons.
|
| Research Objectives: |
The aim of the study was to describe the most common injuries in junior club cricket over three consecutive playing seasons and to assess the impact of compulsory headgear use on injury frequency particularly for batters.
|
| Research Outcomes: |
Injury frequency significantly increased with age, grade of play and type of cricket played. Traditional cricket accounted for 80% of injuries while introductory and preliminary cricket together accounted for only 4%. The most commonly injured body site was the face. In batters the frequency of injury to head/neck/face declined significantly from 62% in 2002/03 to 35% in 2003/04 and to 4% in 2004/05 when headgear use was made compulsory.
|
| Research Implications: |
Given the observed reduction in injury frequency, introduction of compulsory helmet wearing by junior batters is likely to reduce the number of injuries to these players. Some consideration should be given to headgear use by wicket keepers as two-thirds of injuries to these players were to the head/neck/face.
Traditional cricket played by U16 players accounted for 20 times as many injuries as introductory and preliminary cricket combined suggesting that modified forms of the game – lighter balls, shorter wickets, lower number of allowable overs - are effective in reducing injury risk.
|
| | |
| Availability of Full Research Paper: |
| |
Contact for more
Info
|
|
|
|
|
|
