Cross-sectional study in retired cricketers

Background

Sport and exercise have many health benefits but also have some injury risks. When professional athletes become injured, some recover well and some recover more slowly. Understanding the injuries that occur and why they occur is key to maintaining a normal quality of life for athletes even after they have retired from professional sport. Professional cricketers experience the demands of training and competition. They also risk injury during this activity. Osteoarthritis is one of many risks in professional cricket, and it is a painful risk that can seriously affect a cricketer’s quality of life. There is an important need to know how common osteoarthritis is in retired cricketers as, to date, no studies have yet answered this question.

What the research hopes to achieve

The aim of this study is to understand the frequency of self-reported osteoarthritis and chronic pain within the population of retired professional cricketers, via a questionnaire. The questionnaire will also collect data on previous injuries that occurred during cricket competition or training, in order to better understand the relationship between previous injuries and the development of osteoarthritis.  The vision of this study is to produce a set of recommendations to the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) detailing changes to the training programme recommended to minimise the risk of osteoarthritis to retired professional players.