Department of Sports Management, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Cape Town, South Africa; Department of Human Biology, MRC/UCT Research Unit for Exercise Science and Sports Medicine, University of Cape Town, Newlands, South Africa
Taliep, M.S., Department of Sports Management, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Cape Town, South Africa; Prim, S.K., Department of Human Biology, MRC/UCT Research Unit for Exercise Science and Sports Medicine, University of Cape Town, Newlands, South Africa; Gray, J., Department of Human Biology, MRC/UCT Research Unit for Exercise Science and Sports Medicine, University of Cape Town, Newlands, South Africa
The aim of this study was to determine if upper body muscle strength (as measured by the 1 repetition maximum bench press) was associated with cricket batting performance. Cricket batting performance was defined by the maximum hitting distance during a batting task and batting average and strike rate during 1-Day and Twenty/20 (T/20) matches. Eighteen, provincial level, elite cricket batsmen participated in the study. Upper body muscle strength was found to be positively correlated with maximum hitting distance (ρ = 0.0052). There were no significant correlations between upper body strength, batting average, and strike rate for both the 1-Day and T/20 matches. The results of this study have implications for coaches choosing a particular batting line-up. Batsmen who have stronger upper bodies could be favored to bat when a match situation requires them to hit powerful strokes resulting in boundaries. However, coaches cannot use upper body strength as a predictor of overall batting performance in 1-Day or T/20 matches. © 2010 National Strength and Conditioning Association.