Title: Cricket Sports Medicine

Editors: Benita Olivier and John Orchard

Publisher: Springer

ISBN: 9789819663217

Price: £119.99 (hardback); £95.50 (eBook)

I must start with a confession: when I was asked to review this book, I felt a little unsure if I would enjoy it as I am not a big cricket fan.

But I soon found that needn’t have worried as there is so much to enjoy and gain from reading Cricket Sports Medicine.

This textbook contains so many helpful hints and tips for musculoskeletal and sports practitioners that all physiotherapists can take something valuable from it.

The editors claim that it is the first cricket specific sports medicine text – which seems amazing considering how popular cricket is worldwide. The chapters cover common cricket injuries but also give a unique perspective into the role of the sports medic or physiotherapist within an elite sporting environment.

To start with, the chapters follow a logical progression through the prevalence and epidemiology of injuries within cricket, screening for cricket participation to delving into the common cricket injuries and their management.

Numerous tables explain simple concepts that less experienced practitioners can get to get to grips with. The book offers an insight to considering critical analysis when reading research articles or those completing a master’s programme.

In other chapters, key messages are highlighted to suggest management strategies or give clinical insights when considering clinical reasoning for an athlete. It provides a window into the decision making of experienced sports practitioners when dealing with elite athletes.

Welcome chapter on female specific injury prevention and rehab

It was great to see a dedicated chapter to female specific injury prevention and rehabilitation. This went beyond similar chapters that I have read in other texts. Similar attention was given to para-cricketers.

‘A great book for sports practitioners working within cricket – but it also has a wealth of knowledge that is transferable to other sports that would be invaluable to physiotherapists looking to work at an elite level in any sport’

With my limited knowledge of the nuances of cricket, I gained a lot of appreciation of how rules, conditions and equipment can have an impact on performance or injury prevention. This included nuggets of knowledge such as limited overs cricket protects fast bowlers but may increase injury risks for batters and fielders.

This book went beyond the basics of assessment and treatment of cricket injuries and posed questions such as ‘how can I decrease the risk of lumbar bone stress injuries?’. It contained aspects of coaching and load management alongside screening and conditioning protocols.

The authors blend cricket terminology with medical phrases to provide a well-rounded description of the impact of cricket on an athlete’s body and how to perform at an optimal level at all times.

‘Preparing to win’

Aspiring sports practitioners will enjoy reading about strength and conditioning concepts, such as periodisation and participating in elite level international tours and the preparation that is required to win. The material also includes a personal perspective of what is involved for a sports physiotherapist across a tournament or game week from a few days prior to a match, match day and subsequent recovery days. This is a valuable insight into what it takes to succeed in elite sports as a professional practitioner.

Some of the challenges in a multidisciplinary team and the lines of reporting to a head coach are eloquently discussed. These challenges are similar to other sports and so can be transferable in a variety of settings for those practitioners wondering what goes on among members of a backroom staff at the elite level of sport.

‘This textbook contains so many helpful hints and tips for musculoskeletal and sports practitioners that all physiotherapists can take something valuable from it’

Impact of injury on one cricketer

One particularly engaging chapter was the personal reflections of an elite cricket player who experienced a significant injury and the overall physical and mental impact that it had on him – both inside the sport and in the wider world around him.

It demonstrated the need for sports practitioners to show empathy for the athletes they work with and see them as more than just the sportsperson in front of them. Aspects of sport injury frequently encroach into their family or working life in many contexts.

There are chapters on common injuries such as pars defects but also on less obvious areas such as skin cancer identification.

Conclusion

Overall, this is a great book for sports practitioners working within cricket – but it also has a wealth of knowledge that is transferable to other sports that would be invaluable to physiotherapists looking to work at an elite level in any sport.

About the editors

• Dr Benita Olivier is based at the Centre for Healthy Living Research, Oxford Institute of Applied Health Research, Faculty of Health, Science and Technology, Oxford Brookes University
• John W. Orchard is based at the School of Public Health, University of Sydney

Nick Worth is a physiotherapist who runs a private practice. He is the chair of the Society of Musculoskeletal Medicine (SOMM). For more information about SOMM, click

X: @Nickworthphysio

Nick also recommends ‘The Head and Neck: Theory and Practice’ by Roger Kerry and Barbara Cagnie.

To read his 2025 review for PhysioUpdate, click