The Journal
The Cricket Physio Journal
Cricket injuries, fast bowling and rehabilitation, written for players, parents, coaches and clinicians. These guides belong to my rehab work. Every piece carries the date it was last reviewed.
Written and reviewed by Thihan Chandramohan
Rehab
12
Back pain in fast bowlers
The history that points to lumbar bone stress, and what to do in the first week rather than the sixth.- Back and bone stress
Back pain in junior fast bowlers
For parents: what to do this week, when to see a doctor first, and the road back to bowling. - Back and bone stress
Back stress fractures in fast bowlers
What a lumbar bone stress injury is, why young quicks get it, how it is managed in phases, and what recovery looks like. - Muscle injuries
Side strains in fast bowlers
What tears, why the delivery stride causes it, and what rehab needs before a full spell. - Workload
Bowling workload
Why change matters more than total volume, and the four columns worth recording. - Fast bowling
Return to bowling
Getting from cleared to a full match spell, one variable at a time. - Fast bowling
When a return to bowling stalls
Symptoms, gaps and pressure to speed up: which step to go back to, and what to record. - Muscle injuries
Hamstring injuries
Why they come back, and what rehab has to include before you return. - Shoulder and throwing
Throwing shoulder
The throwing load nobody counts, and how to manage the shoulder that results. - Rehabilitation
Testing before you go back
Why most reinjuries happen to players who felt ready, and what testing adds. - Performance and recovery
Round One is here: a practical cricket readiness guide
Demand, Exposure, Response and Adjustment: a practical way to plan the first weeks of the season, with a one-page checklist. - Performance and recovery
Recovery for cricketers: the boring stuff works
Sleep, food, fluids and the day after a match come before ice baths, massage and compression boots.
Teams
1Player care
2- Player care
What should travel with a player between teams
The one-page handover, who owns which decision, and what an agent or manager should receive. - Player care
Cricket has changed. Player care has to catch up.
How boards, franchises, managers and medical teams should share information, protect player welfare and improve availability.
Education
1Beyond the guides
Clinicians, tools and speaking
For clinicians
A second opinion on a cricketer
If you are a physiotherapist seeing cricketers and want a second view on a bowling back, a return-to-bowling progression, or how a sports science and sports medicine department fits together, that is a conversation I am happy to have.
Get in touchTool
The Bowling Workload Tool
Mobile-first logging of bowling, session planning, and patterns in load and soreness across a season. Basic logging is free. Memberships add alerts, soreness monitoring and clinician oversight.
Start tracking your bowlingSpeaking and media
Talks, podcasts and teaching
Cricket injuries, return to play and how high-performance departments are structured. Recent: the Physio Foundations podcast, on injury, surgery and rehabilitation from the patient's side.
Email about speakingA note on these guides
Dated, referenced, and revised
Clinical thinking changes, and a page written three years ago and never revisited should not be presented as current. Every guide shows when it was last reviewed, and cites its sources. If a guide is out of date, the date says so rather than the page pretending otherwise.
Reading about it is a start.
If you are injured, get assessed by someone who is able to examine you.