Thesis (M.S.)--Purdue University, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 93-105). Also available online (PDF file) by a subscription to the set or by purchasing the individual file.

Thesis (M.S.)--Purdue University, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 93-105)

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

Thesis (M.A.(Biokinetics, Sport and Leisure Sciences))--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references.

M.A. / Sport in South Africa forms part of the fabric of our society. Unfortunately research into the psychology of sport has largely been overlooked in South Africa and where it has been applied it was based mainly on results arrived at in other countries. The development of future cricketers has enjoyed great success in both Australia and South Africa, with many current international cricketers having been through the respective Academies. The identification of future talent may be facilitated through the use of appropriate psychological interventions. The role of anxiety in sports has been much researched over the past four decades. There have been many theories advanced with regards the role that anxiety plays in effecting sporting performance. There is however a lack of research in a South African context. Foreign studies have found that anxiety (somatic) tends to follow an inverted-U and extremes of anxiety will negatively impact on performance. State anxiety has been found to enjoy an area or zone in which an atWetes performance is enhanced and outside of which performance is negatively effected. Research has found contradictory evidence as to the relationship between cognitive anxiety and performance. It is proposed that there is a negative relationship between the two. Research with regards to temperament has not been conducted in a cricketing context. The Iceberg Profile posits that there is a personality profile which identifies elite athletes. Studies have been conducted using the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory and have found that vigour, extraversion and the interest variable were significantly different between athletes and non-athletes. In order to establish whether there is a statistically significant difference in the levels of anxiety between successful and unsuccessful cricketers, three measuring instruments were used. The Revised NEG Personality Inventory, The Sport Competition Anxiety Test and the Profile of Mood States. Temperament differences were examined using the Revised NEG Personality Inventory and the Profile of Mood States. The two groups consisted of 20 male cricketers each. The successful group were all part of the 1999 Plascon Cricket Academy and the other cricketers were from non-premier league cricket sides. The study revealed that the successful group were significantly lower on the Neuroticism scale of the NEG PI-R and were less vulnerable to stress and anger than the unsuccessful group. The study also found that the successful cricketers were more extravert, had more energy, were more receptive to emotions and more sympathetic, less trusting and modest, more straightforward and had higher levels of aspiration than the unsuccessful cricketers. This supported some of the findings of the foreign studies. The Iceberg profile was not supported using the Profile of Mood States however, the fatigue sub-scale was found to be higher for the unsuccessful group. The Sport Competition Anxiety Test did not reveal significant results. A discussion of the results, limitations of the study and recommendations for future research follow this.

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.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Victoria University (Melbourne, Vic.), 2008.

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

The primary aim of this study was to determine whether a cricket specific visual skills training program has an impact on the visual performance of cricket fielders. The specific visual skills included accommodation, visual memory, speed of recognition, peripheral awareness, hand-eye coordination and saccadic eye movement. The study was exploratory and true-experimental in nature and utilized a quantitative approach. The pretest-posttest randomized group design was used. A total number of 20 participants that met the inclusion criteria were included in the study by means of purposive sampling. The 20 participants were randomly assigned to control (n=10) and experimental (n=10) groups. The experimental group underwent six-weeks of visual skills training. The tests used consisted of the Accumulator, Evasion, Corner Stretch and Flash tests on the Batak Pro, Hand-eye-coordination test, Hart Near Far Rock Chart and a Saccadic eye movement chart. Differences between the pre- and post-test scores were all positive and statistically (p<0.05) and practically (d>0.2) significant for the experimental group for the following visual skills tests: Hart Chart (M=7.90±3.73), Saccadic Chart (M=17.50±9.58), Accumulator (M=19.60±5.13), Corner Stretch (M=10.50±9.56) and Flash (M=5.40±3.75). The Evasion test (M=17.50±25.67) also showed a positive but insignificant improvement from pre- to post-test for the experimental group. The control group did not show any statistically significant improvements from pre- to post-test except in the case of Hart Chart (M=3.00±2.16) and Accumulator (M=2.40±2.55). Overall the experimental group produced significantly larger (p<0.05, d>0.20) pre- to post-test mean differences than the control group for six of the seven tests implemented. The Ball Toss test which was one of three hand-eye coordination tests did not show any significant differences between experimental and control groups even though the experimental group produced larger improvements. The other two tests that assessed hand-eye coordination (Accumulator and Corner Stretch) did, however reflect significant improvements for the experimental group. The findings of this study therefore revealed that improvements in visual skill performance of cricket players can be achieved through specific training.

Sports fans often scrutinise the team selection strategies employed by their favourite team's coach or selection panel. Many of these fans believe that they can perform the selection process far better than those tasked with the responsibility. Fantasy leagues, provide a platform for fans to test their hand at this selection procedure. Twenty20 cricket is a new and exciting form of cricket and has become very popular in recent years. This research focuses on bringing these concepts together by proposing a binary integer program to determine a team selection strategy for fantasy league cricket. This is done in a Twenty20 setting. The approach used in this study focuses on evaluating the effectiveness of previously developed performance measures in a fantasy league setting. Adjustments to these measures are made and new measures are proposed. These measures are then used to select a fantasy league team using a prospective approach. This is done to provide fantasy league participants with a mathematical procedure for fantasy league team selection.