Dissertation submitted in partial compliance with the requirements for the Master's Degree in Technology: Chiropractic, Durban University of Technology, 2008. / To compare trunk flexion and lateral flexion range of motion (ROM) pre-post intervention. To compare the bowling speed of Action Cricket fast bowlers pre-post intervention. To determine the correlation between change in bowling speed immediately post-intervention to change in trunk flexion and lateral flexion ROM immediately post-intervention. To determine the association between change in bowling speed immediately post-intervention and the subjects’ perception of change in bowling speed. Methods: Forty asymptomatic Action Cricket fast bowlers were divided into four groups of ten each. Group 1 received lumbar spine manipulation, Group 2 received thoracic spine manipulation, Group 3 received combined thoracic and lumbar spine manipulation and Group 4 received the sham laser intervention (placebo). Pre- and post-intervention trunk flexion and lateral flexion ROM and bowling speed were measured using a digital inclinometer and a SpeedTracTM Speed Sport Radar. The subjects’ perception of a change in bowling speed post-intervention was also recorded. SPSS version 15.0 was used to analyse the data. Two-tailed tests were used in all cases. Results: Trunk flexion and lateral flexion increased significantly (p < 0.05) post-spinal manipulation. There was a significant increase in bowling speed post-thoracic (p = 0.042) and post-combined manipulation (p < 0.000). A significant yet weak positive correlation (p = 0.003; r = 0.451) was seen in change in bowling speed and change in thoracic flexion and lateral flexion. There was no significant difference in the percentage subjective change by intervention group (p = 0.217). Conclusions: Spinal manipulation is a valid intervention for short-term increase in bowling speed. / National Research Fund

This study was conducted to assess the validity and reliability of four self-designed, objective tests of cricket batting, bowling, fielding and general ability skills. The batting test requires the batsman to hit a suspended ball at a target area as many times as possible in 60 seconds. His score is doubled to give his score for the batting test. In the bowling test the bowler is required to bowl ten balls at target areas marked on the pitch. Each delivery is recorded to give him a score out of 100. The fielding test requires the fielder to catch and field seven balls in a predetermined sequence. Each fielded ball that is not thrown through the target area incurs a penalty of three seconds. The total time taken is used to obtain the fielding test score out of 100. In the general ability test the player is required to hit a ball up and down twenty-five times. He then has to run along a predetermined path and field three balls and then bowl three balls at a target. A penalty of three seconds is added onto the time taken for each ball that does not pass through the target area. The actual score, out of 100, is determined from the total time taken. To determine the validity of the objective tests of batting, bowling, fielding and general ability, 155 subjects were subjectively assessed in these four categories by experienced coaches. The four objective tests were then conducted on these subjects and the scores compared. Forty-four subjects were assessed by experienced and inexperienced testers to determine the reliability of the tests when administered by different testers. To determine the reliability of the tests when repeatedly administered by one tester 23 subjects were assessed on five consecutive days. Significant correlations (p < 0,05) were found for the tests of validity between subjective and objective assessment (0,43 to 0,81) and the test for objectivity between experienced and inexperienced testers (0,41 to 0,78). A significant improvement (p < 0,05) in scores occurred during repeated testing, but most of this improvement took place between the first two tests. The results indicate that the tests are valid and reliable tests of cricket batting, bowling, fielding and general ability, if sufficient pre-test practice is allowed.

No description available.

University Of The Witwatersrand Department Of Computational And Applied Mathematics Masters’ Dissertation 2015 / The ideal hitting location on a cricket bat, the ‘sweet-spot’, is taken to be defined in two parts: 1) the Location of Impact on a cricket bat that transfers the maximum amount of energy into the batted ball and 2) the Location of Impact that transfers the least amount of energy to the batsman’s hands post-impact with the ball; minimizing the unpleasant stinging sensation felt by the batsman in his hands. An analysis of di↵erent hitting locations on a cricket bat is presented with the cricket bat modelled as a one dimensional beam which is approximated by the Euler-Lagrange Beam Equation. The beam is assumed to have uniform density and constant flexural rigidity. These assumptions allow for the Euler-Lagrange Beam Equation to be simplified considerably and hence solved numerically. The solution is presented via both a Central Time, Central Space finite di↵erence scheme and a Crank-Nicolson scheme. Further, the simplified Euler-Lagrange Beam Equation is solved analytically using a Separation of Variables approach. Boundary conditions, initial conditions and the framework of various collision scenarios between the bat and ball are structured in such a way that the model approximates a batsman playing a defensive cricket shot in the first two collision scenarios and an aggressive shot in the third collision scenario. The first collision scenario models a point-like, impulsive, perpendicular collision between the bat and ball. A circular Hertzian pressure distribution is used to model an elastic, perpendicular collision between the bat and ball in the second collision scenario, and an elliptical Hertzian pressure distribution does similarly for an elastic, oblique collision in the third collision scenario. The pressure distributions are converted into initial velocity distributions through the use of the Lagrange Field Equation. The numerical solution via the Crank-Nicolson scheme and the analytical solution via the Separation of Variables approach are analysed. For di↵erent Locations of Impact along the length on a cricket bat, a post-impact analysis of the displacement of points along the bat and the strain energy in the bat is conducted. Further, through the use of a Fourier Transform, a post-impact frequency analysis of the signals travelling in the cricket bat is performed. Combining the results of these analyses and the two-part definition of a ‘sweet-spot’ allows for the conclusion to be drawn that a Location of Impact as close as possible to the fixed-end of the cricket bat (a point just below the handle of the bat) results in minimum amount of energy transferred to the hands of the batsman. This minimizes the ‘stinging’ sensation felt by the batsman in his hands and satisfies the second part of the definition of a sweet-spot. Due to the heavy emphasis of the frequency analysis in this study, the conclusion is drawn that bat manufacturers should consider the vibrational properties of bats more thoroughly in bat manufacturing. Further, it is concluded that the solutions from the numerical Crank-Nicolson scheme and the analytical Separation of Variables approach are in close agreement.

To produce superior team performances members must be able to work well together to exceed the sum of their parts. Despite an extensive body of research in healthcare, business, military, and aviation, there is limited understanding of what effective teams do in sport. In an attempt to address this gap in the literature the present doctoral thesis - commissioned by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) - sought to uncover, measure, test, and improve the most important factors for team effectiveness in cricket. The thesis contains three empirical studies which address the following research questions: (i) what factors contribute to the effectiveness of cricket teams? (ii) How can team functioning and effectiveness be measured? (iii) Can factors of team functioning accurately predict effective cricket teams, and what is the relative importance of those factors? (iv) Can team functioning and effectiveness be improved in cricket teams? Chapter 1 of the thesis defines some of the key terms associated with the group-based literature, before critically reviewing the organisational and sport psychology literature on team effectiveness and group dynamics, highlighting limitations that need to be addressed. These include a lack of research attention on teamwork or team functioning in sport, the investigation of group-related variables in sport in isolation, an overreliance on deductive approaches to framework development, a lack of appropriate measures, and the exclusive focus upon the development of cohesion within team building interventions in sport. Chapter 2 is an abductive, qualitative investigation involving 21 cricket experts, which explores the factors most important for team effectiveness in cricket. Based on this elite samples' construal, we propose a parsimonious and novel conceptualisation of team effectiveness in cricket (Essential Team Ingredients model; ETI). Chapter 3 contains two studies concerned with the development and validation of the Inventory of Essential Team Ingredients (IETI), designed to measure each sub-component of the ETI model. The first study adopted a new paradigm of measurement design to validate a multi-construct, single-item based inventory. The second study examined the extent to which factors within the ETI model could accurately predict effective teams in a sample of 32 high performing male and female cricket teams. Through the application of novel pattern recognition analyses, results suggested that certain features could accurately predict an effective team in nearly 90% of instances. Chapter 4 presents an intervention study, whereby a team building intervention based on the IETI was designed, delivered and evaluated, providing an indication that team functioning can be improved over a short period, and preliminary evidence for the utility of the IETI. Finally, Chapter 5 concludes the thesis by discussing some of the theoretical, conceptual, and applied implications of the findings, as well as the strengths and weaknesses of the research and potential avenues of future research.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Queensland, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references.

No description available.

Thesis (Ph.D.) - James Cook University, 2005. / Typescript (photocopy) Bibliography: leaves 230-252.

Thesis (M.S. in Security Studies (Middle East, South Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa))--Naval Postgraduate School, March 2009. / Thesis Advisor(s): Kapur, Paul S. ; Khan, Feroz H. "March 2009." Description based on title screen as viewed on April 23, 2009. Author(s) subject terms: India, Nationalism, Cricket, Sports, Society. Includes bibliographical references (p. 113-117). Also available in print.

Thesis (M.Psych.Sport.&Ex.) - University of Queensland, 2006. / Includes bibliography.