Careers in Cricket

Various Staffs in Cricket

        Starting from physiotherapists and nutritionists to video analysts and media managers, any cricket team can be found teaming with members having various roles.

 Cricket has eternally been known to be a team game. Notwithstanding the magnitude of a game, effort must come in from all quarters of the team to be able to touch victory. But a cricket team is not just about the batsmen, fielders and bowlers moreover the XI who take the field. There are scores of unsung heroes within every team who ensure that their off-field duties enable the layers to remain right on their A-game on the field – the support staff.

 Now, when the topic of cricketing support staff is broached, the image of coaches strikes us first up. However, they constitute only the tip of the iceberg. Starting from physiotherapists and nutritionists to video analysts and media managers, any cricket team can be found teeming with members having various roles. In March 2017, the Indian team made headlines for flying a 17-member support staff team to West Indies, bringing to light how important a role they play within the team.

__________________________________________________________________________

• Head coach

       First things first. Since time immemorial, cricketers have been aided in their endeavours by the invaluable insights provided by the team coach. While earlier years of the game saw a single head coach oversee the team’s actions, the horizons have been widened considerably in recent times. Major teams are often equipped with separate batting, bowling and fielding coaches. This not only helps relocate the vast pressure off the shoulders of a single man but also brings in fresh perspectives and expertise from people who are well-trained in their particular fields.

 _________________________________________________________________________

• Batting coach    

The batting coach, as the name suggests, is concerned with supervising the team’s batting strengths and weaknesses and advising the captain on the possible batting combinations for a match. Similarly, the bowling coach shepherds the bowlers, training and examining the skills of the pacers and spinners. On the other hand, the fielding coach is entrusted with the responsibility of conducting fielding drills and refining the players’ basic skill set of catching and saving the one’s and two’s.In addition to these positions, several teams often choose to anoint a Head Coach and an Assistant Head Coach to shoulder the workload in   the areas of man-management within the team.

 _________________________________________________________________________

• Bowling coach

• Teaching relevant skills, tactics and techniques,
• monitoring and enhancing performance by providing tuition, encouragement and constructive feed back
• identifying strengths and weaknesses
• advising about health and lifestyle issues
• developing training programmes
• undertaking administrative task

   ________________________________________________________________________

• Fielding coach

    The Fielding Coach will have overall responsibility for the fielding performance and management of the 

athletes in all three forms of the game.

• Develop and implement comprehensive technical, tactical, physical and cognitive Fielding programs for contracted and targeted players across formats.

• Manage fielding sessions for players in both match and practice. Provide one to one coaching as required for skills upgradation.

• Utilize technology to analyze players strengths and weaknesses.• Develop and monitor fielding objectives and Key Performance Indicators (KPI ‘s) for inclusion in Individual .

    Performance Plans. Provide measures for determining the player’s contributions in the towards success of a team in different match situations.

• Work closely with the Head Strength and Conditioning Coach and Head Physiotherapist in applying 

appropriate strength and conditioning principles relevant to safe throwing and catching.

• Must have the ability to consistently maintain team performance levels in all competition formats, notwithstanding player roster variations due to injury and international representation.

• Manage player workloads in conjunction with Sports Science support staff.

__________________________________________________________________________

• Physio

   The science of Ergonomy aims to balance the productivity of a player with his physical and mental well-being. There are three key elements in attaining this delicate balance.The player,The physio,The coach.Physiotherapy can be defined as the science of physical rehabilitation, and the primary goal of a physio is to help the players overcome muscular, skeletal and neurological problems, and in doing so, help them achieve complete fitness.

        Physiotherapists need to have all the proper qualifications. They should be well-versed in the assessment and treatment of soft-tissue injuries. A large number of the sports injuries that they encounter call for a comprehensive knowledge of biomechanics, tissue pathology and the healing process. The physio of a cricket team provides fitness programmes for the players and monitors the rehabilitation of injured players, keeping their careers in mind. 

       The physio can provide enormous relief to injured players with his quick-start programme and on-ground treatment. Immediate access to treatment services for sports injuries has been shown to have significantly accelerated the healing process and allowed for the early return of the player to regular training and active participation.

ON-FIELD INJURIES

Most sports injuries occur in soft tissues (sprain, strains, contusions or joint inflammation). A physio has to be on his toes throughout the game. A good physio will be able to diagnose and assess the nature of the injury and its severity on the ground itself and start treating and managing it immediately.

  ________________________________________________________________________

• Physical Trainer

A player should be physically fit to last the strain of a match of a longer duration. To achieve this, he will have to do exercises every day for about 30 minutes viz; running round the cricket field, skipping, free arm and bending exercises. It is also advisable to do some exercise before the start of the game so as to tune up your muscles.

Many players suffer from cramps during a match. This is mainly due to loss of salt through perspiration. One should therefore drink water (avoid ice-cold water) with little salt put in it, to compensate for the loss. As far as possible, avoid late nights, drinking and smoking, especially when you are undergoing training or when a match is in progress.

Every sportsman should attempt to achieve a level of fitness specific to the demands of his sport. For this, a proper training programme should be planned. The exercises performed by the player should be general as well as specific to the sport.

________________________________________________________