The effects of modified-implement warm-ups on cricket pace-bowling skill

Purpose: This study investigated the acute warm-up effects of modified-implement bowling on bowling speed, accuracy, perceived rhythm and perceived sensation with a regular ball. Methods: A total of 13 male amateur pace bowlers completed 3 sessions in a randomized, counterbalanced order. Each session comprised a warm-up of 21 progressive-effort deliveries with either a regular (156 g), 10% heavier (171.6 g), or 10% lighter (140.4 g) cricket ball followed by a 4-over pace-bowling assessment with a regular ball. Bowling speed was assessed with a radar gun, while accuracy was calculated via the radial error. Subjects rated their perceived exertion (0%–100%), rhythm (1–5 Likert scale), and sensation (1–5 Likert scale) after each delivery. Results: The linear mixed models revealed a significant effect for warm-up condition on perceived delivery sensation (F2,916.404 = 24.137, P < .001), with a significant pairwise difference between the regular- and heavier-ball warm-up conditions of 0.20 ± 0.07 points (estimated marginal mean ± 95% confidence interval, P < .001). There were no statistically significant effects for warm-up condition on bowling speed, accuracy, and perceived delivery rhythm. Conclusions: These findings indicate that although the regular ball felt lighter to bowl with after using the heavier ball, there were no overall potentiating or detrimental effects of using this particular modified-implement warm-up on bowling speed, accuracy, and perceived rhythm in amateur pace bowlers. Future research is encouraged to trial other protocols for eliciting potentiation to ultimately enhance bowling speed in training or in shorter match formats (eg, Twenty20).