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It may not be a question that you’ve ever thought of asking but, in these days of modern technology, it’s very interesting to discover just what cricketers wear inside their jersey, on their back.
What do Cricketers Wear on Their Backs?
If you’re watching an international game on the television then you’ll probably notice that there is something on the players’ backs – something they wear under their shirts. The equipment is protruding slightly and it’s clearly not conventional clothing.
Cricketers often wear athlete monitoring technology on their backs and, while it may differ between the cricket playing nations, the ultimate aim is to monitor workloads.
English National Team
In England, the national team wear the Catapult GPS system which records the distance that they are covering. Those reports state that they can travel up to 10 miles in a game or training session, depending on whether or not they bowl and how much time they spend at the crease.
By measuring those distances, performance coaches can assess how much nutrition and recovery time they need to balance that out. Along with distance covered, the device also provides information on acceleration and deceleration.
Australian National Team
Cricket Australia also employ the Catapult GPS system but comments over its use suggest that the board may be looking for different statistics. In 2019, ahead of the ODI World Cup, CA’s Physical Performance Manager Andrew Weller suggested that a major concern was to guard players against injury.
High speed running was under the spotlight with Weller wanting to look at the effect it had on soft tissue injuries. At the same time, Cricket Australia were scrutinising the intensity of bowling using a specially designed bowling algorithm that the Catapult device supplies.
The technology devised by Catapult clearly covers a number of physical exertions and it’s interesting to note the differing approaches taken by England and Australia.
For England, the emphasis seems to be on recovery time following training and match play while the Aussies suggest that they are more focused on injury prevention.
Closing Thoughts
It’s understandable why international cricketers would need to wear athlete monitoring technology in the modern game. This is an intense sport with distances covered that have not been seen at any other point in history.
At the same time, we now have the technology in place to monitor those distances and it makes sense to use it in order to improve player performance and to guard against over-exertion and injury.
