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Before performing any exercise, it is important to prepare the body by performing an appropriate warm up, and cricket is no exception. Warming up prepares the body for sport performance and can help decrease the risk of injury. Although the impression is that cricket is not a physically demanding sport, in reality the sport requires high degrees of sport-specific fitness.

Cricket involves extended periods of low and high-intensity activity. Players spend hours in the field, and at any time are required to do rapid movements. Batsmen regularly have to sprint up and down the pitch, and bowlers are also required to run and followed by bowling action that can place high stress on the body. To get the body prepared for such demanding activities, a thorough warm-up is required.

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Example Cricket Warm-Up

The warm up for cricket should be done before every exercise session - whether it be competition matches, on the field for training sessions, or gym workouts. The warm up should start off at a low intensity, with a gradual progression from general and simple movements to more cricket specific and higher intensity actions.

Here is an example of what can be done by cricketers, but the specifics can be adjusted to suit constraints such as limited space and time, and the conditions. Players of all levels should be doing a warm-up.

• 2 slow jogs around the oval
• 6 x 40m leg drills (e.g. running sideways/backwards, lifting knees up and kicking heels backwards).
• 15 minutes of stretching - involving static and dynamic stretches. Examples: lunges, shoulder circles
• 5 × 20m length runs (work from 50% effort sprint to maximal sprint).
• Bowling and batting on the nets, and catching drills.

Special Considerations

• When in the field, the players should regularly do some dynamic stretches to keep the body warmed up and mobile, particularly if they will shortly be called upon to bowl. In the sheds the batters should also keep themselves ready as their time to bat approaches.

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Related Pages

• Fitness for Cricket
• Warming Up For Sports
• Warm up for Sprinting
• List of Stretches
• Fitness for Sports section
• The Physical Demands of Professional Cricket — an article by Andrew Gale, a professional cricketer who has played over 100 1st team games for Yorkshire.
• See more on fitness components for cricket, including results of a poll about the fitness components for cricket.
• Cricket Training Programs