Strength & Conditioning For Cricket

Here is a basic guide on how I would go about strength and conditioning for cricket.

Firstly, I would have someone do S&C work 3x a week, whilst training for cricket 3x a week, with a cricket match 1x a week (most clubs operate similarly to this). Cricket really isn't a sport that depends largely on strength or conditioning (unlike rugby, for example), so I would have a cricket player spend more of their week training the actual sport rather than in the weight room.

Secondly, exercise selection. I like olympic lifts and I like unweighted jumps. I would probably include power or hang versions of the olympic lifts for cricket players since teaching the full clean/snatch is probably not worth it for the specific sport (this applies to most sports). Also, I really wouldn't spend too much time working on plyometrics for a cricket player. I would much rather allocate training economy to strengthening the shoulders, core and hips since these areas are common injury points. Plyometrics would be more valuable for field sport athletes, basketball or volleyball players.

So I would probably stick to the back squat, power clean, strict press and romanian deadlift for the majority of the strength work. For conditioning, this is very simple. For cricket, bowling run-ups and runs are all around 20m long. So acceleration work of 20-40m done once a week is plenty for conditioning when paired with some low intensity steady state work.

 Here is a sample program for 3x a week S&C training:

	Day 1	Day 2	Day 3
1	Power Clean - 5 x 3 @ 60% of max clean	Strict Press - 4 x 12 @ 40% of max strict press	Behind The Neck Push Press - 6 x 6 @ 85% of strict press max
2	Back Squat - 4 x 10 @ 55% of max squat	Romanian Deadlift - 4 x 8 @ 45% of max deadlift	Power Clean - 5 x 3 @ 70%
3	Bench Press - 5 x 8 @ 65% of max bench press	Barbell Row - 6 x 6 @ 40% BW	Back Squat - 5 x 8 @ 60%
4	Weighted Chinup - 4 x 4 with 5% BW	Lu Raise - 5 x 10 with 5% BW per hand	Tricep Extension - 4 x 12 @ 10% BW
5	Hanging Leg Raise - 4 x 10 BW	Superman Plank - 4 x 30 secs BW	Barbell Curl - 6 x 10 with empty barbell
6	20m Sprint - 7 total sprints, 2 mins rest between sprints	30 mins stationary bike - Zone 2	30 mins stationary bike - Zone 2

Notes:

• The sets and reps here are just a guide that you could use for the first week of your training; I may release a full program later
• Bench press can be replaced with floor press, another good option
• Back squats should be done to full depth
• Some work like the chinups and rows are programmed as a percentage of your bodyweight (BW)
• Sprints should be done on a field/track with cleats/spikes on
• the 30 mins cardio should be done at a relatively easy pace for at least 25 mins to work on aerobic capacity. I chose stationary bike here since it is less stressful on the knees

~ Prem