Performance advantages of left-handed cricket batting talent
Journal Publication ResearchOnline@JCUAbstract
The purpose of this study was to examine performance advantages associated with batting stance, in the form of left- vs. right-handed dominant stance, and orthodox vs. reverse stance, of talented junior cricket batters within age-restricted competitions. Data were sourced from the national male younger age competition (YAC; Under-17;n= 237) and older age competition (OAC; Under-19;n= 302), as well as female YAC (Under-15;n= 234) and OAC (Under-18;n= 260) over a 4-year period. Left-hand dominant (LHD) batters were consistently overrepresented in the male YAC (Right: 69.2%; Left: 30.8%) and OAC (Right: 68.2%; Left: 31.8%) compared with the expected general population distribution. Male LHD batters exhibited a significantly (p< 0.05) higher batting aggregate (YAC: 116.82 +/- 84.75 vs. 137.84 +/- 89.74; OAC: 117.07 +/- 89.00 vs. 146.28 +/- 95.99), scored more runs (YAC: 19.65 +/- 12.32 vs. 23.96 +/- 14.71; OAC: 19.27 +/- 12.61 vs. 23.98 +/- 14.15), spent more time batting (YAC: 45.33 +/- 25.89 min vs. 54.59 +/- 28.62 min; OAC: 39.80 +/- 21.79 min vs. 49.33 +/- 27.41 min), and scored more boundary-4s per game (YAC: 1.83 +/- 1.40 vs. 2.44 +/- 1.87; OAC: 1.76 +/- 1.32 vs. 2.19 +/- 1.83), across both YAC and OAC groups with small effect sizes. No overrepresentation was present for either female group (YAC, Right: 88.5%/Left: 11.5%; OAC, Right: 90.0%/Left: 10.0%). Female LHD batters exhibited significantly higher batting aggregate (68.97 +/- 53.17 vs. 102.96 +/- 73.48), batting average (13.24 +/- 10.88 vs. 17.75 +/- 12.28), and spent more time batting per game (25.52 +/- 15.08 vs. 37.75 +/- 26.76 min), but only at the OAC level with small-moderate effects sizes. Finally, there were few performance advantages identified to batting with a reverse stance, with further work needed to clarify any potential biomechanical benefits. Team selection practices may exploit the left-handed advantage by over-selecting talented left-handed junior cricketers. Practical implications for coaches include creating practice environments that negate the negative frequency-dependent selection, such as providing more practice opportunities for their players against left-handed opponents.
Journal
Frontiers in Psychology
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11
ISBN/ISSN
1664-1078
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Pages Count
8
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Publisher
Frontiers Research
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DOI
10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01654