Performance trajectories of bowlers and batters from youth level to senior professional status in cricket

Abstract

The identification and development of talent towards expertise is the primary goal for many professional cricket organisations. The purpose of this study was to utilise retrospective County Age Group (CAG; U10-U19) match performance data to develop age-specific benchmarks for young cricketers to achieve senior professional status. Moreover, results were aligned to the Development Model of Sport Participation (Côté et al., 2007) to better understand the developmental trajectories of bowlers and batters. The study consisted of 251 male players from an English professional first-class county cricket club who were categorised into two skill-sets dependant on their match performance data (bowlers: n=118; batters: n=133). Bowling and batting averages, as well as wickets taken and runs scored, were used for analysis. No significant differences were identified for bowlers who were successful and unsuccessful in achieving professional status prior to U17. In contrast, batters who achieved professional status displayed significantly superior match performance data throughout the pathway. Overall, this data: (a) provides evidence of performance targets for young aspiring cricketers to achieve expertise in English cricket, (b) highlights that bowlers and batters typically follow different development trajectories, and (c) offers an analytical tool for key stakeholders to develop an evidence-based talent identification programme.

Relative Age Effects in Male Cricket: A Personal Assets Approach to Explain Immediate, Short-Term, and Long-Term Developmental Outcomes

“…Specifically, questions remain over the lack of evidence to accurately predict future performance capabilities at adulthood based on early selection and performance [ 3 ]. For instance, following analysis of match performance data at every age group throughout a First-class County’s Cricket pathway (U10 to U19) Brown and colleagues [ 37 ] showed how those bowlers who achieved professional status could not be differentiated from their released peers until U17. Moreover, possible drawbacks of engaging in specialised environments (e.g., burnout, injury, and overtraining) have also been associated with selection at young ages [ 38 ].…”

Anthropometric and morphological characteristics of elite male cricket bowlers and batters over time: A systematic review

“…However, to date, there is no evidence to suggest that more players are crossspecialising and further research in this area is needed. 75 Furthermore, observations have shown that higher ball release speeds could be due to a more developed upper body physique (pectoral musculature); a finding which is also important for the prevention of upper torso injuries. 7,25 A longer bowling arm length and higher angular velocity of the bony humerus could also contribute to faster bowling speeds as well as contribute to power hitting in the shorter formats of the game.…”

“…However, to date, there is no evidence to suggest that more players are cross-specialising and further research in this area is needed. 75…”

Exploring the Multidimensional Characteristics of Selected and Non-Selected White British and British South Asian Youth Cricketers: An Exploratory Machine Learning Approach

“…As previous research has identified that batters and bowlers likely follow different developmental trajectories towards PS [38], this study implemented a questionnaire seeking to identify the participants' participation history. Firstly, the questionnaire asked players to highlight the amount of time they had dedicated to cricket-specific activities each year for the past five years.…”