Watching cricket these days one often marvels at the remands of the modern cricketer.
Being away from home for up to around 260 nights a year, bowling 150 kilometres per hour more than 100 times in a day or defending your wicket for two days against a rampant bowling attack are all strenuous tasks, but these only scratch the surface of what is required.
This immense physical toll is now stressing the importance of preparing physically as well as technically for cricket. Physical preparation could even have overtaken technical work in terms of importance.
A study undertaken by Australia’s former head of conditioning Jock Campbell revealed that in the 2013 Boxing Day Test Mitchell Johnson covered 23 kilometres on just the first day. This is more than a half marathon. Cricketers must back up this effort for up to five days straight.
In terms of sprint speeds some of these cricketers’ numbers are truly phenomenal. Johnson was clocked at 33.1 km/h that boxing Test day while Peter Siddle has reportedly chalked up 35.9 km/h and Brett Lee a massive 36 km/h.
To put these numbers in to comparison, NRL speedsters James Roberts and Shaun Johnson came up with times of 36 km/h and 35 km/h respectively and Real Madrid flyer Gareth Bale was recorded being 34.7 km/h.
These numbers mean Brett Lee was at the same speed of Roberts, the man believed to be the fastest in all of the NRL. The fastest ever recorded time was of course Usain Bolt with the Jamaican speeding through to 44.7 km/h.
One change in Darren Lehmann’s reign as coach has been the introduction of Olympic style weightlifting to increase all round strength and power, something that Johnson swears by.
I do not believe it was a coincidence that after Johnson’s injury in 2011, which allowed him to go through a solid and sustained period of strength training, that we then saw him at his aggressive and dangerous best.
Mitchell Starc was told to add some more muscle to his frame also and now he is one of the most dangerous bowlers in the world, regularly swinging the ball back in at 150 km/h or more.
My team of cricket athletes
1. David Warner (Australia)
2. Brendon McCullum (New Zealand) (Captain)
3. Steve Smith (Australia ) (VC)
4. AB de Villiers (South Africa) (Wicketkeeper)
5. Virat Kohli (India)
6. Ross Taylor (New Zealand)
7. Ben Stokes (England)
8. Mitchell Johnson (Australia)
9. Jason Holder (West Indies)
10. Trent Boult (New Zealand)
11. Morne Morkel (South Africa)
12. Marlon Samuels (West Indies)
Of course selecting just 12 top physical contributors from all the sides is a difficult task and plenty of players like David Miller, Starc and James Anderson can feel hard done by in missing out.
My side has five international captains from the last 12 months with the inclusion of McCullum, Smith, Kohli, De Villiers and Holder so choosing a captain was tough. I have gone with McCullum to lead and Smith as vice captain.
These two have showed attacking cricket is successful cricket and I cannot begin to imagine the destruction this side would create. It is a balanced squad with three players each from the World Cup finalists, two from the West Indies and South Africa and one each from England and India.
hubert smith
Roar Rookie
Your right, I was trying to come across as not biased towards Australia
hubert smith
Roar Rookie
Hahaha well played
Jo M
Guest
I agree. A coach who is/has been the personal coach to a couple of these current players once told me you have to be an athlete to be a cricketer. At the time Brett Lee was still playing and this guy said he was the perfect example and that he worked extremely hard at it.
Pope Paul VII
Guest
What about the great Maxi? He shades the lot for shear athleticism.
Ronan O'Connell
Expert
As I said, Lyon is able to run for 11 seconds on flat ground and benches 140 (sometimes 150) times a year. But, let's be honest, I should really stick to writing about cricket. Comedy aint my game.
Jameswm
Guest
Oh yeah pull the other one. I know how fast 11.0 is - and Gazza isn't in the ball park. He might bench 140 pounds. Maybe he runs 11 seconds flat for the 70.
Sean
Guest
They bat for that long because they are 2 of the best batsmen in the world and are, therefore, less likely to get out... There are many players who could comfortably cope with the physical requirements of batting that long (i.e. Faf saving the Adelaide test in 2012) but they are less likely to keep their wicket in tact...
hubert smith
Roar Rookie
I see what your getting at and Du Plessis was considered but Smith and Kohli must possess extreme fitness levels to bat for the time they have recently. I also believe Taylor hits the ball harder than almost anyone in world cricket, here's an example :http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=youtube+ross+taylor+six&FORM=VIRE4#view=detail&mid=55A03417AFEAF634496055A03417AFEAF6344960
Sean
Guest
Smith, Kohli and Taylor? None of them come close to a guy like Faf du Plessis in terms of 'athleticism'.
hubert smith
Roar Rookie
Does Lyon actually bench 140 kilograms?
Ronan O'Connell
Expert
"Look at Lyon, our spinner. Not what I would call athletic." Lyon may not look athletic but he actually runs 11 seconds flat and benches 140.
Jameswm
Guest
Certainly fast bowlers need to be athletic. But I disagree about spinners and batsmen. Look at Lyon, our spinner. Not what I would call athletic. Batsmen don't need to be, but it doesn't hurt. Rogers isn't athletic, for example. But either way, they do need to be conditioned. Lyon might need to bowl 30 overs in a day, so he needs to be fit. And you're right that Johnson says he's fastest and least likely to break down when he's been doing his strength work - you know, the same strength work that David Lord, with his endless physiology qualifications, mocks. Strength work comes in a heap of forms, and is not simply bicep curls and bench press. It involves a whole heap of bodyweight type exercises. It's no coincidence that the top track and field athletes, from 100 runners to 10km runners, from high jumpers to pole vaulters, have strerngth as a crucial element of their training. If it's so crucuial to them, how can it be irrelevant to cricket, which involves strength, power, aerobic fitness, anaerobic fitness, flexibility etc.
hubert smith
Roar Rookie
Some good thoughts. I think McCullum add's so much to the team that is not displayed on the scoresheet and again this is a team on athleticism not recent form.With the bowler speeds I have heard from Jock Campbell, the ex Aussie physical trainer that they discovered the faster Lee ran in to bowl the faster the delivery and in that case I think Brett may have spent a lot of time training as sprinter and less time on the technical work.
Jarijari
Guest
Assume your talking Tests here Liam. McCullum's a fine player, one of the great entertainers of the modern game. But he has just the one century (104) @26 in 24 Tests against Australia and South Africa. He simply goes missing against the best quick bowlers, not really up to Test standard on that stage. And you wouldn't have him captain ahead of Smith. Jason Holder's a pretty handy all-rounder, probably the Windies' best player these days, but I think Josh Hazlewood's an athlete too, nearly a good thing to take the most wickets in the Ashes. Morne Morkel, probably not. Interesting figures on players' speeds, though I reckon it might work against some fast bowlers. Brett Lee would have been better to shorten and slow his run-up and concentrate a bit more on moving the ball at slightly less pace than steaming in and trying to bowl as fast as he could. Good you put the Kiwi Ben Stokes in there, the Poms have just discovered him, a couple of years after everyone else.