title: Battlezone: An examination of the physiological responses, movement demands and reproducibility of small-sided cricket games.
abstract: As cricket training typically involves separate skill and conditioning sessions, this study reported on the movement demands, physiological responses and reproducibility of the demands of small-sided cricket games. Thirteen amateur, male cricket players (age: 22.8 ± 3.5 years, height: 1.78 ± 0.06 m, body mass: 78.6 ± 7.1 kg) completed two sessions of a generic small-sided cricket game, termed Battlezone; consisting of six repeat 8-over bouts. Heart rate and movement demands were continuously recorded, whilst blood lactate concentration and perceived exertion were recorded after each respective bout. Batsmen covered the greatest distance (1147 ± 175 m) and demonstrated the greatest mean movement speed (63 ± 9 m · min⁻¹) during each bout. The majority of time (65-86%) was spent with a heart rate of between 51-85% HR(max) and a blood lactate concentration of 1.1-2.0 mmol · L⁻¹. Rating of perceived exertion ranged between 4.2-6.0. Movement demands and physiological responses did not differ between standardised sessions within respective playing positions (P > 0.05). The reliability for the majority of movement demands and physiological responses were moderate to high (CV: 5-17%; ICC: 0.48-1.00) within all playing positions. These results suggest that the physiological responses and movement characteristics of generic small-sided cricket games were consistent between sessions within respective playing positions.
authors.affiliation: Applied Sports Science and Exercise Testing Laboratory, School of Environmental and Life Sciences, Faculty of Science and IT, University of Newcastle, Ourimbah, Australia. c3046547@uon.edu.au
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Vickery
authors.forename: Ben
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Dascombe
authors.forename: Rob
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Duffield
authors.forename: Aaron
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kellett
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Portus
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D006339:Heart Rate; D006801:Humans; D019344:Lactic Acid / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D009068:Movement / Q000502:physiology*; D005082:Physical Exertion / Q000502:physiology*; D013177:Sports / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D019344:Lactic Acid