SCIENTIFIC PAPER

Surface electromyographic analysis of the biceps brachii muscleof cricket bowlers during bowling

Nizam Uddin Ahamed • Kenneth Sundaraj •

Badlishah Ahmad • Matiur Rahman •

Md. Asraf Ali • Md. Anamul Islam

Received: 24 April 2013 / Accepted: 18 January 2014

� Australasian College of Physical Scientists and Engineers in Medicine 2014

Abstract Cricket bowling generates forces with torques

on the upper limb muscles and makes the biceps brachii

(BB) muscle vulnerable to overuse injury. The aim of this

study was to investigate whether there are differences in

the amplitude of the EMG signal of the BB muscle during

fast and spin delivery, during the seven phases of both

types of bowling and the kinesiological interpretation of

the bowling arm for muscle contraction mechanisms during

bowling. A group of 16 male amateur bowlers participated

in this study, among them 8 fast bowlers (FB) and 8 spin

bowlers (SB). The root mean square (EMGRMS), the

average sEMG (EMGAVG), the maximum peak amplitude

(EMGpeak), and the variability of the signal were calculated

using the coefficient of variance (EMGCV) from the BB

muscle of each bowler (FB and SB) during each bowling

phase. The results demonstrate that, (i) the BB muscle is

more active during FB than during SB, (ii) the point of ball

release and follow-through generated higher signals than

the other five movements during both bowling categories,

(iii) the BB muscle variability is higher during SB com-

pared with FB, (iv) four statistically significant differences

(p \ 0.05) found between the bowling phases in fast

bowling and three in spin bowling, and (v) several arm

mechanics occurred for muscle contraction. There are

possible clinical significances from the outcomes; like,

recurring dynamic contractions on BB muscle can facilitate

to clarify the maximum occurrence of shoulder pain as well

as biceps tendonitis those are medically observed in pro-

fessional cricket bowlers, and treatment methods with

specific injury prevention programmes should focus on the

different bowling phases with the maximum muscle effect.

Finally, these considerations will be of particular impor-

tance in assessing different physical therapy on bowler’s

muscle which can improve the ball delivery performance

and stability of cricket bowlers.

Keywords Cricket bowling � Fast and spin bowling �Surface electromyography � Biceps brachii

Introduction

Cricket is one of the oldest organized and the world’s

second most popular sports. This sport is played in many

countries worldwide, particularly British Commonwealth

Nations [1, 2]. It is a field-based sport between 2 teams of

11 players, and the players are needed to field and bat

throughout the game. Each player assumes different roles

throughout the match, and one of these roles is bowling

(delivery of the ball) a 156-g cricket ball toward a batsman

or his wicket. It typically requires ?1 s for the ball to reach

the batsman [3–5]. This bowling step is a complex skill that

can be categorized as either fast bowling, which indicates

that the ball is delivered at a fast pace (120–160 km/h), or

spin bowling, which indicates that the ball is delivered

slowly (60–90 km/h) but with some spin such that it

bounces at an angle off the bowling pitch [6, 7]. It is

notable that, the exact difference between bowlers who

N. U. Ahamed (&) � K. Sundaraj � Md. A. Ali � Md. A. Islam

AI-Rehab Research Group, Universiti Malaysia Perlis

(UniMAP), Kampus Pauh Putra, 02600 Arau, Perlis, Malaysia

e-mail: ahamed1557@hotmail.com

B. Ahmad

School of Computer and Communication Engineering,

Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP), Kampus Pauh Putra,

02600 Arau, Perlis, Malaysia

M. Rahman

College of Computer Science and Information System, Najran

University, Najran, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

123

Australas Phys Eng Sci Med

DOI 10.1007/s13246-014-0245-1

bowl and bowlers who throw is that those who throw use an

action similar to that of softball pitching, volleyball serving

and spiking, javelin throwing, and handball throwing [8–

10]. Although a cricket bowler does not throw the ball

during delivery and the International Cricket Council (ICC)

laws on illegal bowling actions states that a ball is not an

illegal delivery if the bowler does not extend his elbow

more than 15� from when the upper arm is horizontal

(which is not translated to arm reaching shoulder level as it

is only the upper arm that needs to reach this level) to when

the bowler releases the ball (which is the first frame that the

ball is not in contact with any part of the hand) [11].

However, during the delivery of the ball, the most common

upper limb active muscles are the biceps brachii (BB),

pectoralis major, deltoid, trapezius, latissimus dorsi,

infraspinatus, trapezius, serratus anterior, and supraspinatus

muscles [9, 12, 13].

Although cricket is a non-contact sport, such as baseball,

softball, and volleyball, playing cricket can result in a

number of injuries. Furthermore, overuse injuries are fre-

quent and related to the physical demands of high-level

cricket. These injuries most likely occur during ball

delivery through either fast or spin bowling because the

bowling action involves repetitive twisting, extension,

contraction, and rotation of the upper limb [1]. Therefore,

imperfect too-frequent executions of these movements may

lead to overuse damage of the muscles involved. Recently,

the Australian Cricket Board (ACB) declared that high-

level fast bowlers (FB) exhibit a significantly enhanced risk

of injury if their bowling workload exceeds more than

20–30 bowls during the period of 1 week [14, 15]. Simi-

larly, Stretch [16, 17] reports that 41 % of the injuries that

are sustained by cricket bowlers are due to frequent

bowling. Although other upper limb muscles are active and

affected during cricket bowling, we chose to study only the

BB muscle due to the lack of EMG research on this single

muscle. The BB muscle is particularly implicated in inju-

ries to FB, because of their repetitive delivery movements

[18, 19]. Moreover, BB muscle provides elbow flexion

torque during bowling, and therefore this is one of the

common areas of upper limb muscle where the biceps

tendonitis, strain, fatigue, acute injury and rupture is most

frequently occurred in bowler’s muscle [20, 21].

Therefore, it is essential to know when and how much

the BB muscles are active during cricket bowling because

this information will prove useful to the physicians, phys-

ical therapists, bowling trainers, and coaches in the design

of proper treatment, training, and rehabilitation protocols

for these athletes and will help the cricket bowlers better

understand the injury mechanism. Muscle activity can be

identified by the EMG sensor since the electrical signals

are generated in the human skeletal muscle during muscle

fibre contraction, which is always stochastic (random) [22,

23]. Surface EMG is the science and basic technique used

for the quantification of muscle activity during movement

[24]. In addition, it is a hassle-free procedure that can be

used to determine the timing and the amount of muscle

activation throughout a given movement and is an essential

tool in biomechanical and biomedical investigations [25].

To date, very few researchers have investigated the

electromyographic responses of the muscles with bowling

arm motion, particularly the BB, of cricket bowlers during

cricket bowling. For example, Shorter et al. investigated the

EMG consequences in two FB during four bowling delivery

stages: the pre-delivery stride, the back foot contact, the ball

release (RB), and the follow-through (FT). These researchers

briefly evaluated the activities of upper limb muscles and

found that the BB and the infraspinatus muscles are more

active and inconsistent compared with the other five muscles

[12]. Shorter et al. also compared the EMG values between

an injured and an uninjured cricket bowler and found that the

injured bowler generated greater muscle activity throughout

the bowling movement. In another study, the same

researchers analysed the EMG signals of the strain of the

muscles of FB and discovered that it is influenced by the

upper limbs [26]. However, these researchers did not men-

tion the upper limb muscle activity, and the BB was not

included. The aims of the two studies performed by Burden

et al. were to investigate and determine the sequential and

temporal patterns of the muscular activity of cricket bowlers

during fast bowling. These researchers found that the deltoid

muscles are active throughout the bowling movement; the

only exception is the posterior deltoid, which exhibits only a

slight contraction. Significant activity was also observed in

the latissimus dorsi immediately before the RB. Negligible

activity was found in the infraspinatus muscle and BB [13,

27]. Similar to the delivery of the cricket ball, some studies

investigated the muscle activity of the upper limb muscles,

including the BB muscle, of athletes during an overhead

throwing activity, such as baseball pitching, javelin throw-

ing, volleyball serving and spiking, and scoring in basketball.

These studies mainly investigated the muscle activity, fati-

gue, amount of firing patterns, signal variability, and neu-

romuscular mechanism [10, 28–41]. However, among all of

these sports, it has been shown that cricket bowling and

baseball pitching exhibit similar characteristics [42, 43]. For

example, cricket bowlers bowl with a 156-g cricket ball, and

a baseball pitcher throws a 141.74- to 148.84-g ball to gen-

erate the BB muscle contraction. Thus, Rojas et al. [10]

investigated only the BB activity during pitching and com-

pared it with that observed during the overhead throwing of a

ball.

In the literature review, the existing studies on the BB

muscle were not able to clarify the EMG activity exhibited

by the BB muscle of bowlers during spin bowling, did not

compare the muscle activities of spin and FB, did not

Australas Phys Eng Sci Med

123

analyse the EMG signal variability exhibited by the muscle

during each of the different bowling phases and obviously

EMG signal analysis with motion pictures that synchronize

to find the BB muscle activity and arm mechanics.

Therefore, based on previous information on the dissimi-

larities in the variations in the amplitude of the EMG signal

during cricket bowling, the rationales of this study were to

detect the BB muscle activity during particular phases of a

cricket bowling, in addition to compare the overall BB

activity between the fast and spin bowlers. Finally, the

research hypothesis attributed to the relation between the

EMG signal parameters and the muscle contraction

mechanisms that underlie each block of the bowling

movements.

Materials and methods

Participants

A group of 16 healthy university cricket male players (amateur

bowlers) participated in this study. Of these, eight bowlers

performed fast bowling, and the remaining eight performed spin

bowling. All of the bowlers had regularly played prior to the

study and bowled either in school-, college-, university-, or

state-level cricket games. Currently, the participants play in a

university cricket team. The mean and the standard deviations

(mean ± SD) of the demographics of the two bowling cate-

gories were the following: FB, n = 8, age = 25.1 ± 3.1 years,

height = 171.1 ± 6.4 cm, and weight = 71.1 ± 3.7 kg; SB,

n = 8, age = 24.6 ± 3.3 years, height = 172.4 ± 5.6 cm,

and weight = 70.8 ± 3.9 kg.

Ethical statement

This study was approved by the university research and

development review board for human subjects. All of the

participants were screened for any musculoskeletal ache or

disorder of the BB muscle by an experienced health pro-

fessional. The entire procedures conformed to the World

Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki (Ethical

Principles for Medical Research Involving Human Sub-

jects). Additionally, the subjects’ cricket bowling activity

and health were assessed with a questionnaire.

Familiarization

The subjects all participated in an orientation session

roughly 1 day prior to testing. This familiarisation session

covered the rules of the activity, the testing protocols and

process, and a general discussion regarding the EMG data

recording and movement analysis during bowling. In

addition, the participants were allowed to practice in the

cricket net. The subjects received information on the trials

and the objectives of the experiment and provided signed

informed consent.

Experimental overview

Cricket bowling

Bowling is the action in a cricket game during which the

ball is pushed toward the wicket that is defended by a

batsman (opposite side), and a cricket player that is an

expert at bowling is called a bowler [44]. Although no

batsman was present in this experiment, the bowlers

delivered the ball toward the wicket, and each bowler

performed 3 overs, i.e., 18 ball deliveries, during the trials

(a set of 6 ball deliveries is called an over). There was a

5-min gap between each over and a 1-min gap between

each delivery. One-hundred and forty-four trials (ball

deliveries) of each bowling category were performed (from

the SB and FB, e.g., 8 SB delivered 18 balls to obtain

18 9 8 = 144 total trials), and the corresponding motion

direction of the upper extremity and EMG data from BB

muscle were recorded during each trial.

Only the valid deliveries according to the law of ICC

were considered [45]. Thus, an expert and officially rec-

ognized cricket coach was present throughout the trials for

the bowling validation [he is currently a Level I coach in the

Asia region and is a recognized Asian Cricket Coach

(ACC)]. Some exclusion criteria (did not consider for EMG

data analysis) during bowling were the following: ball

delivered outside the pitch, extremely full-touched (over the

head), no-ball (cross the line of the bowling popping

crease), and throwing (the bowling delivery rules and

legalities were not maintained). If such case happened, that

particular ball delivery was cancelled for EMG measure-

ment process. Finally, EMG data from all 144 trials per

bowling style were chosen for analysis. Also, during the

bowling action, the velocity of each bowling delivery was

measured using a handheld ProSpeed Professional radar

gun (Bushnell Speedster Series 2, Radar Gun, Model No.

101900), which was placed in back of the stamps. The

average speed of the ball bowled through fast bowling was

128.73 ± 0.34 km/h, and the average speed of the ball

bowled through spin bowling was 83.4 ± 0.67 km/h. These

speeds fulfilled the bowling speed classification according

the ICC and other definitions from cricket researchers [6, 7].

Motion analysis

All the experiments were carried out in the university

biomechanics and human motion analysis laboratory.

Three high-speed digital cameras [Qualisys Track Manager

(QTM) software; Qualisys AB, Gothenburg, Sweden]

Australas Phys Eng Sci Med

123

sampling at 400 Hz were placed next to the bowling crease

and relative to the bowler to assist in the definition of the

different phases of the delivery stride. The camera was

used to quantify the synchronisation between the bowling

phases, EMG data processing and for the analysis of the

bowling arm motion. Also, it was used to determine the

trimmings of each of the phases using frame-by-frame

assessment of the video. Three anatomically aligned, pas-

sive and retro-reflective markers were placed on the sub-

ject’s muscle according to the following specifications:

shoulder, elbow and wrist. Both of the bowling deliveries

(FB and SB) were broken down into seven stages: (a) run-

up (RU), (b) pre-delivery stride (PS), (c) mid bound (MB),

(d) back-foot contact (BC), (e) front-foot contact (FC),

(f) release of the ball (RB), and (g) follow-through (FT)

[27, 46, 47]. Figure 1 depicts these 7 stages in the delivery

of a ball from a FB. Three types of dynamic contractions of

the bowling phases (eccentric, concentric and isokinetic)

were identified by examining the muscle fascicle lengths

(muscle shortening and lengthening) and pennation angle

(at a constant joint angle) during manual muscle test.

EMG measurement

The electromyographic activity at the BB muscle skin

surface was recorded using two channels of single differ-

ential wireless EMG with an inter-electrode space of

10 mm (DE-02, Delsys Inc., Bagnoli-4, Boston, MA,

USA). The Delsys EMG system also included a portable

myomonitor, which was fixed to the bowler’s waist

(Fig. 2). Before recording the raw signal, the skin of the

BB muscle was set up by shaving and removing any oil and

dust from the skin surface with an abrasive alcohol swab

(as suggested by the manufacturer). The skin was then

prepared, and the electrodes were placed in accordance

with the method described by Hermens et al., Zipp, and

Delagi and Perotto [48–50]. The studied bowling move-

ments were extremely fast and dynamic, thus a particular

care in electrode positioning was took place during each

ball delivery. For example, an elastic bandage was wrapped

around the EMG electrodes to secure the devices from

extraneous movement while not impeding muscular func-

tion or movement about the shoulder and elbow joints,

because it produces relatively dynamic movement between

muscle and skin. Also, the entire protocol was designed to

minimize movement artifact (e.g. cross talk) and make sure

a tolerable level of electrode impedance (inter-electrode

impedance was\2,000 X) [51]. In addition, the raw EMG

signals were visually analysed before the recording to

ensure that the background noises and artifacts from the

appliances in the testing area were minimized.

Prior to the bowling action, 2 electrodes were attached to

the mid-belly of the contracted BB muscle of the bowlers,

and the exact point was instantly marked with semi-per-

manent ink to ensure constant placement throughout the

testing period. The electrodes were silver bar electrodes

(10 mm 9 1 mm) and were placed at a fixed inter-electrode

distance of 10 mm. The reference electrode (2 cm 9 2 cm)

was attached to the lateral epicondyle of the humerus of the

bowling arm (*1 inch on the olecranon of the elbow).

Fig. 1 Phases during cricket fast bowling (see text for further information), a RU run-up, b PS pre-delivery stride, c MB mid bound, d BC back-

foot contact, e FC front-foot contact, f RB release of the ball, and g FT follow-through

Fig. 2 Photograph depicting a cricket bowler performing spin

bowling. The right photograph illustrates the position of the arm

(and the BB muscle) during a spin delivery at the end of the run up

phase and prior to the delivery of the ball. a EMG electrodes with a

double-sided adhesive skin interface, b reference electrode, c 156-g

cricket ball with a circumference of 224–229 mm, d the myomonitor

system connected to the EMG electrodes and connected wirelessly

with the Bagnoli Desktop EMG System, and e high-speed digital

camera

Australas Phys Eng Sci Med

123

Figure 2 illustrates the complete experimental process of

the EMG data recording of the activity of the BB muscle of

a cricket bowler. (It was a demo photo, so the elastic ban-

dage was not used to show the electrodes placement.)

EMG data analysis

One of the main aims of this study was to quantitatively

evaluate the amplitude variations of the EMG signal from

the bowler’s BB muscle activation levels. For this reason,

the raw signals were recorded and digitized at a sampling

rate of 2 kHz before their A–D conversion and stored on a

compatible computer for subsequent analysis. The raw

EMG signals were sampled with a 10–500 Hz band pass

filter (4th order Butterworth; CMRR [92 dB, input noise

\1.2 l V, impedance of 1,012 X in parallel with 5 pF), and

the gain was fixed at 1,000 for all of the channels. The total

configuration is in accordance with the earlier suggestions

provided by De Luca [52]. The raw EMG signal was per-

formed off-line using MATLAB with the Signal processing

toolbox (The Math-works, USA). The EMG amplitude

measurements (in mV) from the bowler’s BB muscle during

each of the seven bowling phases during the two bowling

categories were obtained. Maximum EMG reference values

were calculated for the BB muscle by using the maximum

peaks (from six deliveries) EMG signals to represent 100 %

MVC. Then the normalized signal amplitude [root mean

square (RMS [mV])], were computed from the EMG signal

for 7 phases of the 2 bowling categories. The time window

(sequence lengths) for the RMS calculation for each phases

are presented in Table 3, where the average segments are

presented with ±milliseconds (ms).

Statistical analysis

Descriptive statistics, including the mean and standard

deviation, the RMS, and the peak amplitude (average

maximum peak) of the normalized EMG data, for each

phase and bowling type were examined. The coefficient of

variation (CV, the standard deviation expressed as a per-

centage of the mean) was calculated for the normalized

data for both bowling types. A two-way repeated measures

ANOVA (2 techniques of bowling delivery 9 7 bowling

phases) was used to compare the normalized EMG. All of

the statistical tests were performed using the MedCalc

statistical software (MedCalc� Version 11.3.0.0). Statisti-

cal significance was defined at p \ 0.05 (95 %).

Results

The EMG data obtained for the 16 bowlers were pooled for

the analysis. The mean ± SD, the the maximum peak

(EMGpeak), the RMS (EMGRMS), the CVs (EMGCV), and

the significant differences between each bowling phase are

summarized in Table 1. Additionally, the statistical com-

parisons (absolute value) between the two bowling cate-

gories and the seven phases are presented in Table 2.

Muscle activity during the seven bowling phases

Fast bowling

The maximum BB activity was found during the RB

(release of ball) phase, and the outcomes were measured by

the mean ± SD, the EMGpeak, and the EMGRMS

(1.93 ± 0.05, 1.97, and 1.39 mV, respectively). During the

FT phase, the BB exhibited slightly lower activity than

during the RB phase but higher activity than that observed

during the other 5 phases (the mean ± SD, the EMGpeak,

and the EMGRMS during this phase were 1.42 ± 0.04, 1.47,

and 1.03 mV, respectively). In contrast, the BB generated

lower signals during the RU, PS, and MB phases (the

mean ± SD were 0.42 ± 0.01, 0.65 ± 0.02, and

0.75 ± 0.02, respectively; the EMGpeak values were 0.44,

0.68, and 0.79, respectively; the EMGRMS values were

0.31, 0.48, and 0.55 mV, respectively). Moreover, the

EMG values were moderate during the BC and FC phases

(the mean ± SD were 0.91 ± 0.03 and 0.98 ± 0.08,

respectively; the EMGpeak values were 0.96 and 1.16,

respectively; the EMGRMS values were 0.68 and 0.82 mV,

respectively). The EMG signal variability on the BB was

higher during the FC phase (7.84 %). However, the signal

was more constant during the RB, FT, and MB phases

(within 1–3 %). Subsequently, the BB was slightly steady

during remaining 3 movements: RU, PS and BC (within

3–4 %). In addition, in this bowling category, the EMG

amplitude analysis revealed significant differences

(p \ 0.05) between the RU and the MB phases, between

the PS and the FC phases, between the BC and the FT

phases, and between the RB and the FT phases (see Fig. 3;

Table 1). On the other hand, the remaining phases did not

significantly differ from each other (p [ 0.05).

Spin bowling

During this bowling movement, the BB muscle was active

during the RB and the FT phases (the mean ± SD were

1.21 ± 0.04 and 1.11 ± 0.12, respectively; the EMGpeak

values were 1.31 and 1.39, respectively; the EMGRMS

values were 0.92 and 0.98 mV, respectively). The running

with the ball (RU) phase generated a lower EMG activity

compared with all of the other stages (the mean ± SD, the

EMGpeak, and the EMGRMS were 0.31 ± 0.02, 0.35, and

0.24 mV, respectively). There were less signal differences

found between the PS and the MB phases and between the

Australas Phys Eng Sci Med

123

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Australas Phys Eng Sci Med

123

BC and the FC phases during this bowling movement. The

variability of the FT phase generated the maximal muscle

inconsistency (10.94 %) compared with the other phases.

The RU, PS, RB, and MB phases exhibited slightly lower

inconsistency in the signal generation (within 4–6 %).

However, the BB muscle of SB was constant during the BC

and FC phases (1.56 and 2.13 %, respectively). In addition,

in this bowling category, the EMG amplitude analysis

revealed significant differences (p \ 0.05) between the PS

and the BC phases, between the BC and the FT phases, and

between the RB and the FC phases (see Fig. 4; Table 1).

On the other hand, the remaining phases did not signifi-

cantly differ from each other (p [ 0.05).

EMG comparison between FB versus SB

The line graph on Fig. 5 shows the average (mean) EMG

signal difference between two bowling deliveries. The sum

of all of the bowling phases revealed that the BB muscle

was more active during FB (1.02 ± 0.03 mV) than during

SB (0.78 ± 0.04; Table 1). Additionally, large differences

(0.83 mV) were found in the EMGpeak value between the

two bowling categories. The EMGRMS results show that a

higher force on the BB muscle was generated during FB

compared with SB (0.76 and 0.61 mV, respectively).

However, the signal variability during FB (3.58 %) was

qualitatively less than that during SB (4.23 %), as reflected

in Fig. 6. Table 2 illustrates some of the high and low

differences between the seven bowling phases during FB

and SB. For example, the RU and BC phases exhibit lower

signal (mean values) differences (0.1 and 0.08 mV,

respectively) during both bowling deliveries. In contrast, a

large dissimilarity was found in the muscle variability

during the FT and the FC phases (8.39 and 5.7 %,

respectively). Similarly, the EMGRMS and EMGpeak results

show a large difference during the RB stage (0.471 and

0.665 mV, respectively).

Fig. 3 Mean and SD (error bar) of the muscle activation during FB

(from eight bowlers)

Fig. 4 Mean and SD (error bar) of the muscle activation during SB

(from eight bowlers)

Fig. 5 Activity of the BB muscle during fast (eight participants) and

spin (eight participants) bowling (based on the EMGAVG)

Table 2 Statistical comparison between each bowling stages (abso-

lute value)

Phase DMean DSD DCV (%) DPeak DRMS

RU 0.11 0.01 1.87 0.09 0.06

PS 0.13 0.01 2.04 0.11 0.07

MB 0.17 0.02 4.61 0.16 0.11

BC 0.09 0.02 2.19 0.12 0.08

FC 0.15 0.06 5.71 0.29 0.21

RB 0.72 0.01 2.52 0.67 0.47

FT 0.31 0.08 8.39 0.08 0.06

RU run-up, PS pre-delivery stride, MB mid bound, BC back-foot

contact, FC front-foot contact, RB release of the ball, FT follow-

through

Australas Phys Eng Sci Med

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Arm mechanics

Table 3 presents the type of motion patterns of the cricket

bowler’s upper extremity during seven phases of bowling.

This relates to BB muscle’s activation in concert with

surrounding muscles. The length of analyzed EMG signal

epochs was considered according to the subject’s motions

which are mentioned in the following table. Also, the types

of dynamic contractions are given according to the manual

test performed prior to the final experiment. Finally, some

references are given as the evidence of similar contortions

during such movement during pitching, volleyball serving

and other throwing activities. The arm mechanics and the

timing activity (duration) of the bowlers during two types

of bowling delivery was almost similar, except the duration

of running (RU) phase, because it differed between two

bowling style.

Discussion

Three primary activities are observed during a cricket

game: bowling, fielding, and batting [42]. Among these

movements, bowling exhibits the highest chance of muscle

injury, and both types of bowlers (fast and spin) are at risk,

especially if they bowl frequently [16, 17]. Consequently,

the different bowling phases in cricket require the stressful

use of the upper limb muscles, and the BB muscle is one of

the most common muscles that are injured during bowling.

Indubitably, BB considered as the most important muscle

from the superior limb because it helps to control move-

ments in the shoulder, elbow and proximal radioulnar

joints. Therefore, it is important to know the exact char-

acteristic of the BB muscle during cricket bowling. The

main aim of this experiment was to examine the

electromyographic role of the BB muscle during the 7

bowling phases in fast and spin bowling. The experimental

data showed that FB generated higher EMG signals than SB,

and that the muscles are more active during ball delivery

and follow-though phases on both the bowling categories. In

addition, these variables have a significant influence on the

level of EMG activity and may account for the high amount

of variability detected between some phases of the bowling

action. Another important finding of this research is, as BB

muscle is most commonly injured during bowling, this study

examined the upper extremity recruitment during arm

movements of seven phases, which include all planes of

motion (see Table 3). This relates to BB muscle’s activation

in concert with surrounding muscles.

The effect of EMG on the upper limb muscles during

cricket bowling has been extensively reported in earlier

studies. Also, they have mentioned that most of the move-

ments in bowling seems to be performed by the shoulder

joint (flexion, extension and hyperextension), which are

mobilized mainly by deltoideus and latissimus dorsalis

muscles. However, the exact activity of the BB muscle

during each phase of the bowling action and the differences

between the two types of bowlers are not completely and

clearly understood [12, 13, 26, 27]. It is commonly thought

that the BB muscle is more active during the last two stages

(RB and FT) overhead throwing compared with the other

five stages, as was shown by Rojas et al. [10] in a windmill

ball pitching (throwing) experiment. One study on cricket

bowling by Shorter et al. [12] analysed and compared the

activities of the infraspinatus, supraspinatus, deltoid, BB,

and triceps brachii muscles between injured and uninjured

bowlers during five phases of fast bowling. These

researchers also showed that the BB is more active during

the last phases and that the BB muscle generates the third

highest EMG activity of the upper limb muscles. Our

findings demonstrate that the BB muscle has significantly

higher EMG activity during the last 2 phases, which sup-

ports the initial hypothesis. Comparison of Figs. 3 and 4

illustrates that the BB muscle of a FB running (RU-phase)

with a 156-g ball exhibits a slightly higher signal than that

exhibited by a SB with a slow movement. In addition, the

isokinetic submaximal contraction was produced when the

speed of the arm movement was constant until the PS stage.

The next phase, which is the pre-delivery stride, occurs

when the elbow is extended, the BB is slightly contracted,

and the shoulder is rotated. This low contraction generates a

better EMG signal than the previous phase for both bowling

categories. During the third phase, the elbow was fully bent

and the arm positioned behind the head where the BB

muscle was concentrically contracted. Conversely, the next

phase (BC) generates an eccentric contraction when the arm

is straightened toward the ground. During these 2 phases,

the EMG activities were moderate during both bowling

Fig. 6 The bar graph shows the EMG variability between the two

bowling types and the seven bowling phases

Australas Phys Eng Sci Med

123

deliveries. During the fifth phase, the arm reaches its highest

external rotation and maximal elbow flexion. As a result, the

generated EMG signals on the BB muscle were higher than

those observed during the previous phases. The maximal

forces were generated during ball delivery and follow-

through during both bowling types. Therefore, the produced

EMG signals were higher during these last 2 stages.

We must emphasise that the bowling movement is quite

complex and happens at high velocities of execution. Hence,

one can point out that angular joints accelerations and

decelerations provided by BB muscle, mainly in shoulder

and elbow joints, must happen under significant variations

of the EMG signal energy. It happens because there is no

homogeneity in the spatial motor unit recruitment (including

Table 3 Definitions of motions were examined during bowling (only from the bowling arm)

BP MotionCont (BB)

(Ave time: ±ms)References(according to similar movement)

RUFig. 1(a)

Subject grab the ball cylindrically within their palm, the wrist was with mid-supination through to the fully pronated position (the forearm volar side was parallel to the ground), the arm was hanging straight down with a straight elbow and the shoulder was neutral position (0º abduction neutral rotation) and the arm was swinging almost at same movement speed and generates pendular motion.

Isk

FB: 2870SB: 1945

[55,56]

PSFig. 1(b)

90° abduction of the shoulder with maximum active sidelyng external rotation, elbowmovements in the presence of the external torque (which tended to lengthen the elbowjoint) provided by a low-load weighted ball and BB muscle was slightly contracted.

Conc

570

[57,58]

MBFig. 1(c)

Shoulder provided forward elevation, lift their arm dynamically to >90° (90° to 150°), placedtheir hand actively behind their head (at ear level) and concentric contractions were made with the active arm.

Conc

659

[59,60]

BC & FCFig. 1(d)

& (e)

The shoulder moved with complete overhead elevation where the clavicle elevates at 35º, the clavicle relocates with anteriorly and posteriorly in an arc of 35º, the clavicle rotates on its long axis at 45º while the arm is elevated to the complete overhead position. Likewise, the shoulder continued its internal rotation with straight elbow angle (flexors) and horizontal flexion. The eccentric contractions were made against gravity with the active arm.

Ecn

450 (d)549 (e)

[61,62]

RBFig. 1(f)

The elbow extension strength demonstrates its peak at from 100° to 120° of the elbow joint angle, maximal abduction and external rotation occurred at the shoulder and continues until the ball release.

Ecn

360 [63,58]

FTFig. 1(g)

Final interval of arm motion where it dissipates some of the deceleration forces. The shoulder continued its internal rotation and minimum elbow horizontal flexion.

Ecn

1400[37,64]

BP bowling phases, Cont contraction, Isk isokinetic, Conc concentric, Ecn eccentric, Shoulder angles in the coronal plane measured with a

goniometer, the arrow symbol represents the immediate changes of the certain motion from one to another

Australas Phys Eng Sci Med

123

nearby the surface electrodes), even in a fusiform muscle

such as BB, and also due to the length and torque and

moment of inertia variations. All these variables will lead to

very complex and non stationarity content in the temporal

and frequency domains in the EMG signal and so resulting

in different CVs for the parameters calculated. Moreover,

the amplitude normalization performances in the stretch

shortening cycle have a variable consequence on the CV. As

a result, issues of signal variability and consistency need to

be considered when the temporal EMG signal characteris-

tics are used for the classification of movement strategies

[53]. According to the CV results, the BB muscles are more

variable during spin bowling (4.23 %) than during fast

bowling (3.58 %) due to the increased interval rotation,

horizontal adduction, and elbow extension and flexion that

are generated during spin bowling. Therefore, a twisting

force is generated on the muscle that tends to cause rotation,

i.e., torque. As illustrated in Fig. 6, most of the SB phases

exhibit high signal variability compared to the correspond-

ing FB phases. Moreover, the BB muscle exhibits high

signal variation after ball delivery (FT) in SB and during the

front-foot contact phase in FB. One study by Shorter et al.

[12] described the muscle variability during cricket bowling

and demonstrated the inconsistency of the upper limb

muscles during fast bowling between 2 subjects. However,

the BB muscle variability during the different phases of FB

and SB has not been investigated. In addition, previous

researchers who have investigated cricket bowling have not

reported any significant differences between the bowling

phases. In contrast, our results proved that significant dif-

ferences (p \ 0.05) are found between the RU and the MB

phases, between the PS and the FC phases, between the BC

and the FT phases, and between the RB and the FT phases in

fast bowling. Additionally, significant differences

(p \ 0.05) were observed during spin bowling between the

PS and the BC phases, between the BC and the FT phases,

and between the RB and the FC phases.

We hope that the EMG data recorded and analysed in

this study may progress the body of knowledge on the

activity of the BB muscle during both types of cricket

bowling, which is a topic that is still under discussion in the

sports medicine community. Based on the findings, some

precise training of rehabilitation programs can be devel-

oped for the bowlers. Additionally, bowlers can enhance

their strength and muscle power during bowling to obtain

the highest execution to defeat the batsman.

Practical applications

Both professional and amateur cricket bowlers deliver a

large number of balls throughout their sports career, and

these frequent bowling deliveries enhance their risk of

sustaining an overuse injury in the upper limb extremities,

especially on the BB muscle. Therefore, damage to the BB

muscle can affect and reduce the bowler’s performance. It

is notable that bowling trainers, physical therapists and

cricket coaches have a qualitative depiction of the BB

muscle activation patterns required to deliver the ball to the

batsman. Indeed, extensive knowledge of the activation

and variability of the BB muscle during the cricket bowling

action provides the physicians, clinicians and researchers

working with cricket athletes a hypothesis for the design of

preventative and rehabilitative programs. Additionally,

clinicians should integrate strengthening exercises that

imitate the timing of the activation and foundation of the

maximal muscle activation observed throughout the dif-

ferent bowling phases. For example, if the BB muscle on

the dominant arm is most active during the RB and the FT

phases, rehabilitation exercises should be developed in

these two phase positions. Similarly, the BB muscle

activity and consistency observed in fast and SB are dif-

ferent; thus, different rehabilitation protocols or exercises

need to be developed for both bowling categories. Alter-

natively, during the rehabilitation of a cricket bowler with

biceps tendonitis (an inflammation of the biceps tendon),

attention should paid to the activity from just before the RB

and throughout the FT phase. Moreover, interior strength-

ening is required to properly assist the transmission of

energy to reduce the stress placed on the BB muscle during

a successful ball delivery on the cricket pitch.

Strengths of this study

To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that has

objectively analyzed the BB muscle activity during fast and

spin (slow) cricket bowling and during each phase of these

two bowling categories with arm mechanics. We did not

find any comparable studies in the literature that explained

these physiological measurements on the BB muscle during

cricket bowling. Another key strength of the current study

was the analysis of the electromyographic signal variability

during each phase and bowling type. The signal consistency

of the BB muscle has not been examined in previous EMG

studies, and this feature is a significant prospective con-

founder based on the inconsistency observed in some of the

EMG characteristics between bowlers. Another strong point

of this research is that the limitations of earlier studies on

cricket bowling were considered during the design of the

study. The EMG normalisation techniques, the protocols,

and the sample size were cautiously assessed before the data

recording was commenced. We hope that the findings of

this study will aid the cricket medicine community because

the proper prevention of BB muscle damage is essential for

the rehabilitation of cricket bowlers.

Australas Phys Eng Sci Med

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Limitations of the study

It is essential to note that there are a number of limitations

in this study. Although other upper limb muscles are

influenced and active during cricket bowling, our main

focus was on the activity of the BB muscle on the bowling

arm. Thus, this study only investigated the performance of

the BB muscle on the right arm of male cricket players.

Next, all of the subjects were amateur bowlers. We over-

estimated the entire EMG data results and not taking any

advantage from the kinematic data to estimate kinetic

parameters (for example, moments of inertia, flexion/

extension cycles, movement velocities in contractions),

which would surely help to flesh them out.

Conclusions

Although the analysis of the muscle activity during cricket

bowling is important due to the high rate of injury of the

upper limb muscles, very few studies have analyzed the

muscle activity, especially the activity of the BB muscle,

based on an electromyographic investigation. To address

this research gap, the current study evaluated EMG data to

determine the BB activity and the peak activity areas during

each phase of fast and spin bowling. In summary, the

present research showed that, (i) the BB muscle is active

during fast bowling, (ii) the EMG signal is inconsistent

during spin bowling, (iii) the BB muscle is active during the

last two phases (RB and FT) of both bowling categories, and

(iv) four significant differences between the phases of fast

bowling and three significant differences between the pha-

ses of spin bowling were found. Finally, the entire results

support our hypothesis and provide a basic understanding of

the BB muscle activation patterns, which may help eluci-

date the patterns of muscle injury and improve the reha-

bilitation protocols used in the treatment of cricket bowling

athletes. Additionally, these outcomes might encourage

cricket bowlers and coaches to design resistance training

protocols from a performance and prophylactic perspective.

This scientific investigation could be applied to formulate

muscle-specific instructions, exercises, and treatment pro-

tocols to reduce injuries, support rehabilitation, and

improve the performance and durability of cricket bowlers.

Recommendations for future research

Further investigations on the BB muscle during cricket bat-

ting and fielding (over head and under arm ball throw) are

needed. Additionally, other upper limb muscles, such as the

deltoids, pectoralis, latissimus dorsi, trapezius, teres major

and minor, triceps brachii, wrist flexors, and rotator cuff

muscles, are involved during the cricket bowling action [1,

12, 13, 27, 54]. Future studies need to investigate the effect

and coordination of these muscles and the EMG effect

through motion analysis (kinematic data) to obtain a clearer

understanding of the bowling phases. Furthermore, there is a

clear need for fundamental research on the electromyo-

graphic differences between professional and amateur

bowlers using a large sample size. Another important topic

on EMG analysis is muscle fatigue or failure, which includes

a group of discriminating effects that damage and weaken the

motor performance of human muscle. This is particularly

important in the muscles of bowlers due to the frequency of

ball delivery during a test or one-day game, i.e., during a

game, bowlers typically deliver the ball six times, which may

reduce the muscle performance. Researchers should inves-

tigate the different EMG results that are obtained for the BB

muscle of individuals with different anthropometric char-

acteristics, such as age, height, weight, gender, fat thickness,

and other demographic characteristics, and with variations in

the inter-electrode distance. Moreover, studies on how the

different bowling deliveries influence the BB and other

muscles should be conducted. For example, there are several

types of spin bowling deliveries: arm-ball, doosra, teesra,

flipper, googly, carrom ball, leg break, off break, slider, and

top-spinner. As a result, different torques may be generated

during this bowling action, and these may produce different

muscle activities.

Acknowledgments The authors would like to thank all the bowlers

for their participation in this study. The authors would also like to

thank Mr. Moganraj Palianysamy, a Level I Asian Cricket Coach

(ACC), for his assistance and full-time presence during the bowling

and data recording process.

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