|| CF Correspondent ||

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) is all set to introduce 7-4-2 bowling method for their fast bowlers to manage their workload in-order to prevent injuries.

Fast bowlers have the highest injury rates in cricket; therefore, reducing these injuries is a priority for coaches and the support staff. Improving physical conditioning and monitoring bowling workload are primary preventative strategies to reduce overuse injuries.

‘Managing workload’ is a simple way of setting a limit on how many balls a bowler can bowls and count them to make sure the danger line is not crossed. This allows bowlers to retain strength and fitness while gaining experience and skills while keeping injury risk manageable.
This is the trade off every bowler has to make in order gain mastery and according to BCB physio Julian Calefato, who recently conducted a workshop on workload management, if pacers follow the workload management theory for pace bowlers introduced by Australian Cricket Board they are likely to have lesser injury concerns.

BCB Appointed Fitness Trainer Iftikhairul Islam told daily sun that they are planning to follow the 7-4-2 workload management in the upcoming days.

“7-4-2 is a bowling method to manage workload for pacers,” said Iftikhairul when his attention was drawn to the workshop conducted by Julian.

“It is a training program of seven days which gives four days for bowling and not more than that while the bowlers can bowl for two days successively,” he said.

According to the method, if a bowler bowls for two consecutive days, he will have to take rest the next day and he can bowl again after one-day break but not for four days consecutively,” he said.

“There will be no session of bowling more than four (for a bowler). The seven days training is must. We can design that. For example any fast bowler from HP Unit won’t bowl more than four days in a week and not more than two days on a row. He can bowl for two days on Saturday and Sundays and then he cannot bowl on Monday. He has to take rest. This 7-4-2 method,” he said.
Iftikhairul said that according to the method a fast can bowl a total of forty two overs on a week but not more than that and of course this fourty two overs need to be divided carefully.

“A bowler can bowl up to fourty two overs a week,” said Iftikhairul.

“They have found it after analysing that the most amount of balls, a pacer can bowl is fourty two overs. If he goes beyond that, that is high risk practice. Either he has to go take rest for extended period or he has to go for icing,” he said.

“This fourty two overs need to be divided as someday it could be twelve overs or someday five overs or fifteen overs. In a way this is possible because pacers will have rest after two days and the next day you can make him bowl thirteen to fourteen overs. No problem,” he said.