To give more teeth to their pace department, Cricket Australia (CA) have gone the military way of introducing missile-guiding technology for the gruelling season ahead.
Sports scientists at Australian Catholic University's School of Exercise Science have developed the revolutionary algorithm because the current method of reporting of professional cricketers' workloads, which only measures the number of deliveries bowled and not the intensity and effort required to do so, was inadequate, according to the CA website on Thursday.
The scientists have, instead, recommended in the British Journal of Sports Medicine that coaches should use missile-guiding microtechnology implanted in newly-developed wearable devices, which would run the so-called 'smart algorithms'.
According to sports scientist and co-author Tim Gabbett, the same technology is used to navigate submarines, guided missiles and spacecraft.
Reflecting more on this technology, fellow ACU sports scientist Dean McNamara said that measuring bowling intensity for individual balls or sessions will provide context for the acute and chronic workload of the individual bowler, and ultimately the preparedness of the bowler for the maximal workload of the immediate competition.
The Kangaroos will fly to the West Indies on Friday for a tri-series, also involving South Africa, beginning June 5, and then tour Sri Lanka for a three-match Test series in July and August.
--IANS
tri/pur/dg