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A survey carried out by South African trainer Grant Compton to check the general fitness standards in domestic cricket, has revealed that around 30 to 35 players were playing with stress-fracture injuries while many didn’t meet even the minimum fitness levels required for top-grade cricketers.

According to the details, Compton, who is posted at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Lahore and his wife who is also a qualified trainer, examined number of players from various teams in domestic cricket at different levels to check their fitness standards.

The result was mind-blowing with the foreign trainers reaching the conclusion that 30 to 35 players active on the domestic circuit were well below the minimum fitness standards and were playing with chronic stress-fracture injuries.

They submitted a report on their findings to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and senior team coach Bob Woolmer who, in company with Compton, is preparing a manual, which will be distributed to all the regional and organisational teams so that they can follow the routine prescribed to maintain good fitness standards among their players.

Similarly, another problem which has stood out in domestic cricket is the growing number of bowlers with suspect bowling actions particularly the young off-spinners — a fact also pointed out by former Test captain Waqar Younis on TV during the ongoing Twenty20 Cup tournament.

Waqar said most of the off-spinners he had watched bowling had definite problems with their bowling actions and bent their arms in their final delivery strides.

An observation also voiced by another former Test captain Mushtaq Mohammad who coached the Customs team in the domestic tournaments. “The number of young and even established bowlers who’ve problems with their actions is something the Board must look into urgently. The off-spinners, in particular, have major problems and they are continuing to play with impunity in domestic cricket,” Mushtaq said.

He said what was strange was that most of these bowlers escaped being reported by the umpires and match referees. In 2004, the PCB chairman had sent out a circular to all the umpires directing them not to go easy on bowlers with even the slightest action problems so that this problem could be dealt at the grass-root level and in the initial year number of bowlers were reported to the Board.

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