Oz team doctor spills secrets on Oz quicks' frequent injury sprees

Australian cricket team doctor Peter Brukner has said that the side's young fast bowlers keep breaking down and getting injured due to three possible factors- age, technique and workload.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, even though Australia has good fast bowling prospects in James Pattinson, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood, they have failed to make much impact with Pattinson and Cummins returning home early with stress fractures of the lower back.

Brukner said that bowlers under the age of 24 are at increased risk of developing lumbar stress fractures as their bones have not fully matured and lack the necessary strength to withstand the high loads imparted on them by bowling at 140km/h.

According to Brukner, in the past 50 years, a long line of fast bowlers have broken down, from Dennis Lillee to the present crop, adding that while older quicks are not completely immune to the injuries, they are far less likely to fall victims.

Stating that other problems begin to occur when the quicks get beyond 30, Brukner also said that at that time, they frequently reduce their pace and rely on other tricks to get their wickets, adding that technique, especially a mixed side-on/front-on action, also has a key role in the development of lumbar stress fractures

Brukner also said that playing consecutive matches regularly with high bowling workloads and without significant rest periods places young fast bowlers at significantly higher risk for injury, for which, he added, Cricket Australia has tried to avoid this with their 'rotation policy'.

Brukner also said that they monitor closely the bowling load of players by planning the total numbers of balls bowled at training and in games ahead of time, adding that they try to avoid rapid increases in the number of balls bowled from week to week.