Comparison of Endurance between Trained University Level Cricketers, Untrained University Level Cricketers and Non-Cricketers

Background: Endurance plays a significant role for sustaining the physical demand for the various formats of cricket. In relation to cricket, endurance is the ability of a player to sustain maximum speed, agility, and power in each play for an entire game. This study intended to check the levels of endurance among the various groups of trained university level cricketers, untrained university level cricketers and non cricketers.

Method: The study included 3 groups consisting of 10 individuals in each group. Group A – Trained cricketers playing club level and/or university level cricket; Group B – Untrained cricketers playing club level and/or university level sport. Group C – non-cricketers. The participants who met the inclusion and exclusion criteria performed the Yo-Yo intermittent recovery test. The levels completed, Vo₂max, Speed and distance covered obtained through the test were compared across the 3 groups for statistical significance.

Result: The performance of the participants in Group A was significantly better than those in both Groups B and C at a p value of <0.05 across all the components of the test. Participants in Group A were significantly better in distance covered, Vo₂max and levels completed, than those in Group B, at a p value of 0.003, 0.003 and 0.002 respectively. Participants in Group A were significantly better than those in group C in distance covered, speed, Vo₂max, levels completed at a p value of 0.001, 0.002, 0.001 and 0.001 respectively. When Vo₂max was correlated with distance the results showed r=0.987 at p <0.0001.

Discussion: This study showed that participants in Group A had better Vo₂max, completed more Levels and covered more distance as compared to participants in Groups B and C. A correlation of Vo₂max with distance covered showed that as Vo₂max improves, the distance covered will improve.

Conclusion: The results of the study conclude that regular Training would influence the performance.