Management of lumbar bone stress injury in cricket fast bowlers and other athletes.

Background: Recent guidelines (including a special series in ) have emphasised a minimal role for imaging when assessing low back pain in adults, as the majority of patients will have non-specific findings on imaging that do not correlate well with pain.

Objective: To assess whether the diagnosis of lumbar bone stress injuries in young athletes should be considered an exception to the recommendation to avoid imaging for low back pain in adults.

Method: Narrative review.

Traumatic Head and Neck Injuries in Elite Australian Cricket Players: Retrospective Analysis from 12 Seasons.

Objectives: To describe traumatic head and neck injuries in elite Australian cricket players, for the purposes of understanding risk and the role of protective equipment and regulations.

Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Methods: This study reviewed twelve seasons of clinical data for elite male and female cricket players who sustained a traumatic head or neck injury (excluding isolated concussion) whilst participating in a cricket match or training.

Lumbar Bone Stress Injuries and Nonunited Defects in Elite Australian Cricket Players.

Objective: To describe the presentation and management of lumbar bone stress injuries (LBSI), recurrent LBSI, and lumbar nonunited defects in elite Australian male and female cricket players.

Design: Retrospective case series.

Setting: Professional domestic and international cricket teams over 13 seasons.

Comparison of injury profiles between elite Australian male and female cricket players.

Objectives: This study presents seven seasons of injury surveillance data for both elite Australian male and female cricket players, revealing injury statistics and allowing for comparison between sexes.

Design: Retrospective cohort.

Methods: Participants were elite Australian male and female cricket players who were contracted to play for a national and/or state/territory team and/or T20 franchise between 2015-16 and 2021-22 (7 seasons).

Psychological safety in elite sport settings: a psychometric study of the Sport Psychological Safety Inventory.

Objectives: Effectively supporting the mental health of elite athletes and coaches requires validated tools that assess not only individual-level factors but organisational-level influences. The aim of this study was to develop a bespoke scale assessing perceived psychological safety within high-performance environments.

Methods: 337 elite athletes (=24.

Athlete Experiences of Shame and Guilt: Initial Psychometric Properties of the Athletic Perceptions of Performance Scale Within Junior Elite Cricketers.

Guilt and shame are self-conscious emotions with implications for mental health, social and occupational functioning, and the effectiveness of sports practice. To date, the assessment and role of athlete-specific guilt and shame has been under-researched. Reporting data from 174 junior elite cricketers (M = 17.

Evaluation of CogSport for acute concussion diagnosis in cricket.

Objective: The diagnosis of sport-related concussion is a challenge for practitioners given the variable presentation and lack of a universal clinical indicator. The aim of this study was to describe the CogSport findings associated with concussion in elite Australian cricket players, and to evaluate the diagnostic ability of CogSport for this cohort.

Methods: A retrospective study design was used to evaluate CogSport performance of 45 concussed (male n=27, mean age 24.

Upper Lumbar Bone Stress Injuries in Elite Cricketers.

Objective: Describe the proportion of upper lumbar bone stress injuries (LBSI; T12-L3) relative to all LBSI, and the clinical presentation and diagnosis of upper LBSI in elite cricketers.

Design: Case series.

Setting: Professional domestic and international cricket teams over a 9-year period.

Neurocognitive changes associated with concussion in elite cricket players are distinct from changes due to post-match with no head impact.

Objectives: Determine intra-individual changes in CogSport performance in elite cricket players diagnosed with concussion, and differentiate this from changes which may be attributed to post-match with no head impact.

Design: Retrospective observational study of elite Australian male and female cricket players with diagnosed concussion and prospective cohort study of cricket players with no head impact post-match.

Methods: CogSport performance relative to an individual's baseline was compared between 46 cricket players diagnosed with concussion following a head impact sustained during a match, and 84 cricket players who played a match during which they had no head impact.

Presence of bone marrow oedema in asymptomatic elite fast bowlers: Implications for management.

Objectives: 1) Quantify the intensity of bone marrow oedema (BMO) present in the lumbar vertebrae of asymptomatic elite adult fast bowlers; 2) relate the intensity of BMO to bowling workload and lumbar bone stress injury (LBSI), and; 3) evaluate the utility of MRI screening to reduce the risk of LBSI.

Methods: Thirty-eight elite Australian fast bowlers (21.6 ± 3.

Radiological healing of lumbar spine stress fractures in elite cricket fast bowlers.

Objectives: Review magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of elite adult fast bowlers with a history of lumbar spine stress fracture for evidence of bone healing. The findings will determine whether bone healing can occur in this population, and whether MRI may be used as a tool to assess bone healing and inform clinical decision making.

Design: Retrospective cohort.

Prospective reporting of injury in community-level cricket: A systematic review to identify research priorities.

Objectives: Cricket is a popular sport enjoyed worldwide. Injuries in cricket are not well understood at community level but are important to understand for prevention to ensure the game continues to be enjoyed safely. This systematic review was designed to assess the quality of data collection and reporting, and to summarise the injury data, in studies of community cricket players.

Hand fractures and return to play in elite Australian cricketers.

Introduction: Hand fractures are one of the most common injuries sustained whilst playing cricket. Further research is required to inform future clinical management and risk-reduction strategies.

Methods: This retrospective cohort study reviewed all cases of hand fractures in elite Australian cricket players over a three-year period.

Mental health screening: severity and cut-off point sensitivity of the Athlete Psychological Strain Questionnaire in male and female elite athletes.

Objectives: To examine the sensitivity/specificity of the Athlete Psychological Strain Questionnaire (APSQ) in both male and female elite athletes, and also assess internal consistency and convergent/divergent validity, and determine discriminative validity relative to current injury status.

Methods: Data were provided by 1093 elite athletes (males n=1007; females n=84). Scale validity and reliability values were benchmarked against validated measures of general psychological distress and well-being.

Medical-attention injuries in community cricket: a systematic review.

Objectives: The aim was to identify and describe outcomes from original published studies that present the number, nature, mechanism and severity of medically treated injuries sustained in community-level cricket.

Design: Systematic review.

Methods: Nine databases were systematically searched to December 2019 using terms "cricket*" and "injur*".

Audit of a cardiac screening policy for elite Australian cricketers.

Objectives: To report the compliance and results of an electrocardiogram (ECG) cardiac screening program in male and female elite Australian cricketers.

Design: cross-sectional study.

Methods: Elite cricketers were offered screening in accordance with Cricket Australia policy.

MRI Bone Marrow Edema Signal Intensity: A Reliable and Valid Measure of Lumbar Bone Stress Injury in Elite Junior Fast Bowlers.

Study Design: Comparative reliability and prospective validity.

Objective: First, to evaluate the reliability of four methods of assessing magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) bone marrow edema (BMO) of the posterior vertebral arch of the lumbar vertebrae of elite junior fast bowlers. Second, to evaluate the validity of the most reliable method for the early detection of lumbar bone stress injury.

Vertebral artery dissection in sport: Expert opinion of mechanisms and risk-reduction strategies.

Experiential knowledge was collated to improve understanding of the mechanism of vertebral artery dissection (VAD) and inform recommendations for risk-reduction strategies in sport. Fourteen experts from fields of neurology, forensic pathology, biomedical engineering, radiology, physiotherapy, and sport and exercise medicine participated in semi-structured interviews. Experts were asked to provide their hypothesised mechanism of VAD, and suggest strategies to reduce the risk of VAD in non-motorised sports.

The incidence, prevalence, nature, severity and mechanisms of injury in elite female cricketers: A prospective cohort study.

Objectives: Incidence, prevalence, nature, severity and mechanisms of injury in elite female cricketers over two seasons from March 2014 to March 2016, inclusive.

Design: Prospective cohort study.

Methods: Injury data collected via Cricket Australia's Athlete Management System on all elite female players over two seasons were analysed.

Vertebral Artery Dissection in Sport: A Systematic Review.

Background: Vertebral artery dissection (VAD) is a potentially catastrophic injury that may occur during sports participation. A comprehensive review is needed to collate documented cases to improve understanding and inform future preventative approaches.

Objective: This review aimed to understand the extent of VAD in sport and characterise trends suggestive of mechanisms of injury.

Match injuries in Sri Lankan junior cricket: A prospective, longitudinal study.

Objectives: Understanding the nature of injuries in cricket is key to mitigate injury risks and prioritise preventive measures. This study aimed to identify the incidence and nature of match injuries among Sri Lankan junior cricketers.

Design: Longitudinal follow-up study with prospective in-season data collection.

Core Temperature Responses in Elite Cricket Players during Australian Summer Conditions.

This study aimed to observe core temperature responses in elite cricket players under match conditions during the summer in Australia. Thirty-eight Australian male cricketers ingested capsule temperature sensors during six four-day first-class matches between February 2016 and March 2017. Core temperature (Tc) was recorded during breaks in play.

Incidence of Concussion and Head Impacts in Australian Elite-Level Male and Female Cricketers After Head Impact Protocol Modifications.

Background:: Concussion in sport is a topic of growing interest in Australia and worldwide. To date, relatively few studies have examined the true incidence of concussion in cricket.

Hypothesis:: Concussion in cricket is more common than current literature suggests.

MRI bone marrow oedema precedes lumbar bone stress injury diagnosis in junior elite cricket fast bowlers.

Objectives: Lumbar bone stress injury ('bone stress injury') is common in junior fast bowlers. The repetitive loading of cricket fast bowling may cause bone marrow oedema (BMO), detectable on MRI, before the bowler suffers from symptomatic bone stress injury. We investigated the temporal relationship between BMO, bone stress injury, along with bowling workload correlates, in elite junior fast bowlers throughout a cricket season.