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ObjectivesTo provide epidemiological data for cricket injuries in New Zealand.MethodsA retrospective analytical review using epidemiological cricket data obtained from the national Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) for 2005–2016. Injury incidence was calculated per 1000 participants.ResultsThere were 86 562 injuries (77 212 males and 9350 females) during the 12 years with higher injury incidence for males (64.1) than females (36.1). While cricket-related injury claims increased by 42.6%, the injury incidence decreased from 59.0 in 2006 to 42.8 in 2016. The pooled injury rate per 1000 participants was highest for hand/fingers (9.2) and lumbar (8.1) body regions, and for contact (44.7) activities. Players aged 10–20 years were more likely to experience injury.ConclusionsAnalysis of 12 years of ACC cricket-related injury claims showed only minimal reductions in injury incidence over the years. Therefore, cricket-related contact injuries to the hand/fingers and head need to be the focus of injury prevention programmes (eg, via promoting use of protective gear and correct technique), particularly in players aged 10–20 years.

Background: Clubbells were popular shoulder exercise equipment used during the 17-18th centuries. Currently there is a resurgence in the use of clubbells to strengthen the shoulder rotators, but there are no studies to prove their effectiveness on shoulder kinematics. Therefore, this study aimed to find out if clubbell exercises had any effect on glenohumeral rotational range of motion (ROM) and shoulder rotator strength. Methods: Using a randomised control study design, female handball athletes (n=15) were voluntarily recruited and were assigned randomly to either a handball training only group (HT) (n = 8, age 25±7 y, height 1.77 ± 0.11m, mass 76 ± 15 kg,) or a shoulder exercise group (SE) (n = 7, age 27±8 y, height 1.78 ± 0.12m, mass 79 ± 15 kg). The SE group underwent an exercise programme (8 weeks, 3 days/week, 20 min/day) using clubbells. The ROM and muscle strength were assessed at baseline and at the end of weeks 2, 4, 6 and 8. Results: After eight weeks, comparison between groups showed that the SE group’s dominant arm internal rotators muscle strength improved (28±5 to 33±7 Nm) significantly (p0.05). Within the SE group, internal rotation ROM, internal rotators, and external rotators muscle strength all significantly (p0.05) improved. Conclusions: Clubbell exercises increases internal rotation ROM and shoulder rotators muscle strength. Therefore, it is suggested that handball athletes could use clubbell exercises to improve their shoulder rotational ROM and strengthen the shoulder rotators whereby reducing shoulder injury risk.