Now that April's here, cricketers fall prey to injury

England cricketers have a new excuse for not winning - April. Not only is the weather cold and wet, and the sun and spectators as rare as a Test win, but it's also the time of year they are most likely to get injured.

April may be the month when the covers come off, but it is also the period of the season when the most plasters, bandages and splints go on, as cricketers fall to injury faster than England wickets.

Research shows their April injuries are more frequent than the total sustained in the peak playing period of July, August and September. Longerterm effects of early injuriescan cause problems later inthe year.

There has been a notable number of injuries to important players in the England cricket team which has arguably prevented the strongest team from being fielded, say doctors at Queen's Medical Centre, Nottingham who made the study.

The doctors say in the British Journal of Sports Medicine that a national cricket injury database should be used to prevent, reduce and predict cricketing injuries.

They tracked the careers of 54 cricketers at a professional county club over 10 years, recording 990 player injuries.

Almost half the accidents were to the thigh, calf, finger and spine, and head and neck problems accounted for fewer than one in 20. Bowlers were more likely to be injured than batsmen and wicketkeepers, and one in three of all the medium or fast bowlers had spinal spondylosis.

Why April should be consistently responsible for so many injuries over the 10 years is not clear, but research among athletes has shown lack of fitness and preparation at the start of the season may be important.

Professor Greg McLatchie of the University of Sunderland and author of Essentials of Sports Medicine has found that cricket is less hazardous than fencing, but more risky than badminton.

He points out that soccer, rugby and women's hockey occupy the top three positions in the league table of injury rates. In some contact sports, he says, as many as 25 per cent of all injuries are due to foul play, although that is not thought to apply to cricket.