Injury risk associated with ground hardness in junior cricket

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: To establish if there is an association between ground hardness and injury risk in junior cricket. DESIGN: Nested case-series of players who played matches on specific grounds with objective ground hardness measures, within a prospective cohort study of junior community club cricket players. METHODS: Monitoring of injuries and playing exposure occurred during 434 matches over the 2007/2008 playing season. Objective assessment of the hardness of 38 grounds was undertaken using a Clegg hammer at 13 sites on 19 different junior cricket grounds on the match eve across the season. Hardness readings were classified from unacceptably low (120 g) and two independent raters assessed the l..