Fitness and physical conditioning is often overlooked when practicing, however, to optimise performance, a cricketer must improve these along with their other skills. The combination of endurance and strength is key to gaining an edge. Let's use an example with two bowlers, Tait and Lee, to prove this. Tait and Lee are similar bowlers, both fast, accurate and take roughly the same number of wickets an over. The only difference, is that Lee who constantly trains to improve his endurance, can bowl 12 overs to Tait's 2 overs. Which one will get picked? Obviously the one who can bowl more overs and take more wickets. This is the kind of edge fitness training provides. Other benefits are:
All these benefits should have convinced you of the importance of fitness in cricket, but how do you become fit?
The key to remember, is that your goal is to become cricket-fit, not bodybuilder fit nor soccer fit, or even marathon-fit. How do you become cricket-fit? It is about the muscles you train and the way you train. You don't want to strength train and end up looking like a bodybuilder because you will lose speed and endurance, this is not cricket-fit. With this in mind, here is a basic training plan for your strength and endurance.
Strength Training
Endurance Training
Injury Prevention
Cricket can be a dangerous game, so it is important to take any safety measures possible to prevent injury.