The association between the growth spurt status of adolescent male cricket players and risk of injury during a cricket season – A prospective longitudinal cohort study

Objective: To determine the association between the growth spurt status (GSS) and injury risk in adolescent male cricket players during a six-month cricket season. Materials and methods: Seventy-six male cricketer players (13-18 years old), participated in this prospective longitudinal cohort study. Injuries were self-reported weekly using a standardised questionnaire. GSS was calculated (Khamis-Roche Method) at the beginning, middle and end of the season as a percentage of predicted adult height (%PAH), categorising participants into pre-peak height velocity (PHV), circa-PHV, and post-PHV. Fischer exact, Mann-Whitney and t-tests calculated differences between groups. A mixed-effects Poisson regression analysis determined the association between the GSS and injury. Results: At the beginning of the season, 61.8% (n=47) of participants were in circa-PHV and 38.2% (n=29) in post-PHV. At the end of the season, most participants were in post-PHV (n=38, 55.1%). Thirty-seven participants (48.7%) reported 60 in-season injuries, and 13.08 injuries were reported/1000 player hours. The highest percentage noted of injured participants in the middle and end of the season were in circa-PHV (66.7%, n=6) and post-PHV (62.5%, n=10), respectively. Previous injury predicted in-season injury (95%CI, p=0.034) in the univariate analysis. Participants were 1.9 times more likely to get injured if previously injured. No statistically independent relationship between GSS (%PAH) and rate of injuries was found. Conclusions: There was no association between GSS and injury risk during a six-month cricket season. Pre-season assessment should identify previous injuries as this was a predictor of in-season injury and this data could form part of injury prevention strategies for young cricketers. Growth spurt status should not be overemphasized as a primary risk factor, clinicians and support staff should rather highlight established factors (bowling workload, technique, strength deficits). GSS could be monitored individually in at-risk players.