SC1 Sports

Luis Suarez - I Just Can't Get Enough

Uruguay have just won the 2011 Copa America, beating Paraguay in the final 3-0. I was so impressed with their work rate on and off the ball, to levels that have made people drool over Barcelona. A real team, they play together, and have such an understanding of each other. Diego Lugano and Sebastian Coates (named Young Player of the Tournament) at the back are so dominant in the air, strong in the tackle. Arevalo Rios reminded me of Javier Mascherano, harassing the opponent in midfield and not giving them a second on the ball, chasing every lost cause. Alvaro Perreira surged down the left wing like a stallion, supporting the forwards in every attack. Diego Forlan was on a 13 international game drought and ended that in style in the final with two sublime finishes. I’m sure he could still do a great job for someone in the Premiership, and I bet he would love to prove some people wrong after his spell at Man United. That brings me to one man. A man who’s attitude and mentality epitomizes the mantra of Uruguay. He led the team to success in this tournament, finishing second top scorer, with one goal and one assist in the final…and I am delighted he is a Red! Take a bow Luis Suarez.

It is often thought that foreign imports to the English Premier League take some time to adjust to the frantic pace, the hard-hitting style of the English game. When #LFC sold their golden boy, Fernando Torres, to Chelsea for £50 million in January 2011, the arrival of Luis Suarez from Ajax was slightly forgotten. Now, I think it is safe to say, and I speak on behalf of all #LFC fans here when I say…”Fernando who?!”. In the 2010 World Cup, ‘Lil Luis’ blocked a Ghana shot on the line and Uruguay ended up victorious with a place in the semi-final. He was lambasted, called a cheat, every name under the sun. But that is how much of a winner Suarez is, he will do anything to win for his team. Luis Suarez arrived from Holland with an excellent record of 81 goals in 110 games, and an impressive number of assists too for the buck-toothed assasin. After half a season at Anfield, he has wowed the English audience with his movement, his close control (like his twists and turns inside the box against #MUFC) and moreso, his work rate. He is a winner. His work rate sets the tome for all of his Uruguayan teammates, he is a leader, and gets the fans on their feet. His touch inside the defender for his Copa America Final goal was incredible, his knock down to Forlan to kill off Paraguay was genius, and extremely generous.

Liverpool fans must be licking their lips for the season ahead. And the rest of the league should beware. This little Uruguayan is on his game, and with his winning mentality, The Kop are sure to see some South American magic from ‘El Pistolero’ in 2011/2012. Playing under Kenny Dalglish’s free-flowing attacking system suits Suarez to the ground. ‘The rebel’ likes to roam. He played in all 3 attacking positions at Ajax and can fit into each position easily. Now that Stewart Downing has been added to the ranks at Merseyside, and with spells on the left and right side of midfield at Aston Villa, the two attackers will hope to bamboozle defenders. Suarez has said recently how Dalglish gives him confidence: “The biggest thing is the trust he puts in his players. He trusts us 100 per cent and that makes you want to return that trust and pay it back.” King Kenny allows Suarez to express himself on the field, and that is exactly what he needs. His movement would be wasted if he was stuck on the wing, or in a rigid formation (a la Woy Hodgson).

Again I say, take a bow Luis Suarez, Copa America 2011 champion and Player of the Tournament.

I Just Can’t Get Enough!

Top 10 Unusual Sports (Part Two)

This is the second in our two part feature (view Part One here) from SC1 Sports, bringing you 10 of the most outrageous and unusual sports played around the world. Concluding this feature, we bring you some sports consisting of holding your breath, blowing your breath, and even science explained through sport.

This sport is common in Thailand, Malaysia and Philippines and other countries in the Far East. It is basically foot-volleyball and translates in Thai and Malaysian as ‘kick woven ball’. Players use their feet, knee, chest and head to get the rattan ball over the net to score. The game can date back as far as the 15th century and is played in the Asian Games, in which it made its debut in the 1990 Games in Beijing. There are two types of games; regu and double regu. Regu has three members in each team, and double regu has two players in a team.

Kabaddi is an ancient Indian sport played by two teams of seven players on a field half the size of a basketball court. A member of a team is sent to the opponents end to tag members of the other team. If you get tagged, you are out. Sounds simple so far right? But hold on….literally. The player tagging the opponents have to hold their breath and prove it by chanting “kabaddi”. It was played at the 1936 Olympic Games at Berlin.

Did anyone ever have a table-tennis table, and got a bit bored of playing table-tennis, and then made up their own games? Just me? Well blo-ball seems like that. It is basically table-tennis without the paddles, and the table is netless and has sides. Players blow the ball and score a point by blowing it past their opponent. Scoring is similar to volleyball in that it is first to 11 and players can only score on their serve. Bizarre!

Danish artist Asger Jorn invented this game to explain his notion of triolectics. It is played on a hexagonal pitch and the team that wins is the team that concedes the least goals (not who scores the most). The game was first played in 1993 and a few games have been played since. It would be interesting to see some Premiership teams take part in this, especially if defense is the key to victory.

Skin kicking is a game played in England in the Cotswold Olimpicks. The aim of the game is to kick your opponent as hard as possible on the shins, and each time they hit the ground you get a point. The winner is the person who has the most points after three rounds. Players can pad their shins with as much straw as they want.

Top 10 Unusual Sports (Part One)

This is the first in a two part feature from SC1 Sports, bringing you 10 of the most outrageous and unusual sports played around the world. In this first part, we bring you some sports consisting of inflatables, trampolines, and even a headless goat carcass. Also, the most physical and mental sport there is…

According to the British Octopush Association, “Octopush is underwater hockey and is a supreme aerobic game. It was invented in the early 1950s by sub-aqua divers in Southsea who got bored just swimming up and down pool lanes to get fit. The game is now played worldwide. Underwater hockey is fast, furious, and fun ...”. Players wear basic underwater gear, and then with their small stick, the size of a spatula, they hit the 1.2kg puck into the opposition’s goal. A 25 metre pool is used where each team has 10 players, although 6 players enter the pool at a time. A big part of the game is to judge when to dive underwater to make a play, as players come to the surface for air. Teams can be mixed or single sex.

The ultimate physical and mental challenge they are describing it as. The UK is currently the home of ‘chessboxing’, with London hosting the international tournaments since 2008. The game is made up of eleven alternating rounds. Starting with four minutes of chess, the competitors take to the ring for two minutes of boxing, before going back to the chess board again. You can win through knockout, checkmate, the judges decision or if the twelve minutes of chess time is exceeded. During the rounds of chess, players wear headphones so the crowd can’t influence them. In the result of a tie in the boxing, the players with the most black pieces from the chess wins. If the chess ends in a stalemate, the points from the boxing game are used to determine the winner.

The Basque government call this sport the fastest sport in the world because of the speed the ball moves at. It is known as “zesta-punta” in Basque. The court for a game of Jai Alai is similar to a squash court, except the walls are on the back, left and front. Players use their ‘xistera’, or ‘cesta’ to catch the pelota (Spanish for ball) and in one fluid motion, swing the ball back against the wall where their opponent must reply. As there is no wall on the right, all players must be right handed, or wear their cesta on their right hand. Because the ball travels at such high speeds, there have been many injuries in the game, and even some fatalities. The game is becoming a bit more popular after appearing in an episode of 'Mad Men'.

Buzkashi (or ‘goat-grabbing’) is a sport originating from central Asia, played on horseback. The aim of the game is to grab the carcass of a headless goat or calf and throw it into the scoring area at each end. There aren’t really any other rules, and is quite possibly the most aggressive game there is. Players can even use whips on opposition players and horses to gain possession. There are ten players in a side, each with a horse to ride on. The game can be dated back to the 13^th century, in the days of Ghengis Khan, and is the national sport of Afghanistan.

Moving on from the dangerous and quite scary game of Buzkashi, I bring you Bossaball. It can be described as a mix of football, volleyball and gymnastics. Any fans of Slamball may be interested in this also. The court consists of a trampoline in either half, with a player positioned on it. There are four players in a team. There isn’t much else to explain, as the teams aim to score just as they would in volleyball, except they can kick the ball. It looks really fun to play, and the video shows some outrageous overhead kicks to score after bouncing up from the trampoline.

Blasphemy! Pelé Questions Messi

When it comes to dishing out criticism, I’m right up there with the most controversial of sports fans. Show me the perfect player and I’ll point out the most dramatic flaw. My own blunt self-analyses have, in my biased opinion, improved my performances on and off the field and they have also given me a green light to suggest that it’s okay that I nit-pick at other sportspeople’s contributions – especially those lauded as the greatest talents of their generation (or even further back).

My critique habits had gotten so bad (well, I prefer ‘precise’) that even football’s very own golden boy Lionel Messi was not spared. In fact, I had actually been planning – for quite some time – to complete a blog outlining the weaknesses of the Argentine and undermine his apparent immunity to censure. However, after being advised by numerous friends (or any football fan for that matter) not to pursue the blog entitled ‘The Myth That is Messi’, I thought I should stall the idea. And, in hindsight, after watching Barca’s ace claim another treble – and helping out a little bit with 53 goals and 24 assists – I think my blushes (and reputation) have been well and truly saved. Besides, once I heard someone else steal my thunder, I thought the contrarian in me would appreciate a good argument.

And, just to uphold my outrageous nature, I thought I’d have a pop at Pelé for good measure. Because, speaking on Wednesday night after being asked about the magic that is Messi (I said it), the Brazilian defensively claimed, “Messi better than Pelé? To get there he needs to score more than 1283 goals” (But who’s counting, eh, Pelé?). And whilst I’ve accepted that Pelé was a decent footballer (heck, he was good), I think it was rather bold of him to play down the achievements of Lionel Messi and, at the same time, carelessly big-up his own record.

Spouting out those misleading facts of over a thousand goals with no regard for competitive fixtures, one of the greatest ever players sounded a bit childish and, if I’m honest, desperate. Plenty of people won’t like the criticism I’m aiming at Pelé, but when you’re trying to play down the current claimant to the former king’s throne, it seems more like a case of an old man sitting on a bar stool reliving glory days.

I also don’t want to misquote Pelé because he has obviously, in the past, spoken of what a terrific player Barcelona’s number 10 is, of course he has. And he has done that on more than one occasion. But setting the 2 times Ballon d’Or recipient unnecessary gauntlets to prove his greatness is harsh and unfair – and when you look at it, it is coming from someone who, as ridiculous as this sounds, is relatively unproven. The key word there is “relatively” and I don’t want anyone ignoring that!

When I say that Pelé is relatively unproven, I compare it to some of Lionel Andres Messi’s exploits. Obviously, Pelé has won 3 World Cups and it’s hard to argue with an athlete who has conquered the world consistently for 12 years. However, he is too quick and repetitive at pointing out that Messi is yet to really turn it on for his own country. Having failed to set the world alight in South Africa, the Argentine seemingly failed one of Pelé’s acid tests – one of his bench marks. Funny though, I didn’t notice too much of Cristiano Ronaldo at the World Cup, I didn’t see Wayne Rooney’s potential come through. Times have changed. Cup competitions are generally more difficult in this era because teams realise it is a knockout scenario and thus go out of their way to avoid defeat. Football has changed. Look back over those old footages and tell me how many untrained defenders are falling on their asses, how much space there is in behind. I don’t want to take too much away from Pelé - he is after all an undisputed legend. Similarly though, I don’t think it is right to write footballers off because they haven’t replicated what someone else accomplished 50 years before.

And to ignore what Messi has done for his club when being questioned whether he is one of the greatest is, likewise, out of order. I don’t need to get into stats like I usually would – it’s Lionel Messi! Besides, I don’t think I’d be able to tally the goals and assists that the adopted Catalan has recorded in friendly matches and dubious exhibitions which have, for some reason, always been considered when Pelé’s statistics are being compiled. What I would focus on more tentatively though is the fact that Messi has been lighting up the world from Europe for 6 years now; that he scored, this year, at the Emirates, the Bernabéu, and in the final of the Champions League all when his club needed the 23 year old veteran the most; that he has won, and starred in, 3 European Cups already, 6 domestic leagues and cups (in one of the best two leagues in the world) and taken home countless Player of the Year awards that have made me, someone who is actually slandering Pelé, withdraw my criticism of him. Meanwhile, Pelé spent his entire career concealing his talent within the Brazilian leagues and, oh of course, America.

The thing is, we will never know who is the greatest between Messi and Pelé – not without a Rocky-esque computer simulator at least. But even if Lionel doesn’t win a World Cup, even if he doesn’t score a thousand goals (notwithstanding 5-aside games), he should never be dismissed by someone who has partly ruined the debate because of his refusal to cross the Atlantic.

Team GB - Reunited?

Football was introduced as an Olympic sport for the 1908 games. In those games, Great Britain won and defended their title four years later in Stockholm. The 1972 games were the last in which a united Great Britain football team competed. London 2012 looks like it may be seeing a comeback from the home nations side, as long as the Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales FA’s agree. If they don’t, Team GB will consist of English players only.

The rules for the Olympic medal game are that it is an under-23 event, but each squad can name 3 over-age players. Argentina were the winners in Beijing 2008, and looking at their squad you can see why. They chose Juan Roman Riquelme, Javier Mascherano and Nicholas Burdisso as their overage players, and along with Lionel Messi, Sergio Aguero, Angel DiMaria and Ever Banega, it’s no wonder they collected the gold. Nigeria were the surprise package as they finished with silver, and Brazil got the bronze, even with a squad led by Ronaldinho. After the nations recent rise to glory, it would be hard to look past Spain to put up another title challenge. Their team ethic is duplicated throughout each every age group, and the current under-21 team looks like notching the U21 European Championships. The work rate, one touch passing and ‘tiki-taka’ is impressive, but each team seems to have the real togetherness that other teams lack.

Gareth Bale made the point that in rugby, the British and Irish Lions form a close bond and create great atmosphere together and he would like to see that replicated by a GB team in the Olympic Games. He also says that Wales don’t look likely to compete against the best countries at the highest level, so it would be a good opportunity for Welsh players to take part. Former Scotland manager George Burley appears against the idea and thinks Scotland need to keep their identity. Maybe the nations worry FIFA will force them to continue to play together in future competitions. So if the Northern Irish, Welsh and Scottish refuse to allow their players to play, will the team still be a Great Britain team, or should it just be England?

At first thought, you would question whether any of the NI, Scotland and Wales players (except Bale) would get on ahead of England’s best, but I am sure there are places up for grabs, especially after England’s abysmal recent performances at the European U21 Championships. So from these three countries, who would be in contention?

Northern Ireland:

Corry Evans and Oliver Norwood from Man United are said to be top talents and anyone good enough to be at United is sure to be in with a shout. After all, Tom Cleverley starts for England U21’s. Shane Ferguson impressed me in his few appearances for Newcastle this season. He seems like an exciting prospect in the Gareth Bale mould and hopefully will appear more for them in the 2011/12 season.

Scotland:

James Forrest could be in with a shout after his first full season at Celtic, although it would be good to see him challenged at a decent level if Celtic can get back into Europe. Danny Wilson is already playing for the senior side and would be good enough to make the squad I’d say. Barry Bannan also looks a promising player at Aston Villa. Another new generation player similar to Jack Wilshere. Wales:

Gareth Bale obviously plays and is GB’s best player. Aaron Ramsey and Jack Wilshere could form a deadly centre midfield partnership, and will get good practice together this season for Arsenal. I am a big fan of Ramsey, and I think he is a great long-term successor to Fabregas.

So what would my team be?

(4-3-3)

Frankie Fielding (place up for grabs)

Kieran Gibbs

Kyle Walker

Phil Jones

Chris Smalling

--

Jordan Henderson

Jack Wilshere

Aaron Ramsey

--

Gareth Bale

Daniel Sturridge

Andy Carroll

You may have noticed I have not included the three over-age players. I propose selecting one from NI, one from Wales and one from Scotland. Jonny Evans would be a good shout for the defense. Darren Fletcher would bring his workrate and steel to the midfield, and possibly Craig Bellamy. It wouldn’t be a surprise though if David Beckham is selected for it, especially after his role in winning the bid for London. It would also see a lot more publicity for the game. He has recently admitted he would love to take part and I’m not going to lie, Becks crossing the ball to big Andy Carroll sounds an appetizing prospect.

As long as Stuart Pearce is not at the helm, this Great Britain team could have a decent chance. Their three over-age players are important. I am sure club managers would be reluctant in seeing their players playing beyond another tough Premiership season, cough Arsene cough cough. With the team spirit that the British and Irish lions have shown, and a decent manager, with the crowd behind them that spreads over four nations, they would have the opportunity to make history.

Randy Lerner Meets With Stuart Pearce

SC1Sports uncover footage that Aston Villa held eleventh hour talks with Stuart Pearce regarding their recently vacant managerial position. Villa chairman, Randy Lerner, seemingly spoke with the England under 21 boss immediately prior to their approach for Alex McLeish.

 

 

On Your Marks...

August 13^th sees the start of a brand new Barclays Premier League season. New teams, new signings, new managers, new kits, new heroes, new villains. It promises to be an exciting one with Northern Irishman Brendan Rodgers’ Swansea side entering the league as the first ever Welsh side in the Premiership. Alex McLeish has a mountain to climb as new manager of Aston Villa, where he will have to first of all win over basically every single fan. Martin Jol has a point to prove at Fulham after his unfair dismissal at Spurs. Can Man City take another step forward and mount a serious title challenge? (Hopefully not)

Since the fixtures for the forthcoming season were released on Friday, all the talk was about each team getting off to a good start. It’s about building momentum early, getting some confidence and gaining some consistency in the performance. On the other hand, they say it’s a marathon and not a sprint. It’s a very long season with twists an turns.

I decided to take a look at how important the first six games of a Premiership season can be for the eventual champions in the last 10 seasons. Firstly I looked at the form in the six games and the point total taken from those games:  
It appears in the 3 seasons Chelsea won the league, they started their season with a bang. Twice they took maximum points, with the other season they drew two and won the rest. Even though Man United have won the league in 4 of the last 5 seasons, they haven’t exactly set the world alight from the start. So two different examples of how a start can be vital for momentum, but consistency is also vital.

And looking at how many points these teams ended up with:  
In the seasons Chelsea won the league, they followed up their magnificent starts with colossal points totals of 86, 91 and 95. Man United won the league on numerous occasions with lesser total, but maybe this shows how in a tight season where teams are beating each other, they have remained the most consistent. United remain the masters of 1-0 victories, especially when they don’t appear to be at their best. Arsenal set the bar extremely high with their ‘Invincibles’ team at the start of the millennium, and when Mourinho took over the helm at Chelsea, he knocked them off their perch.

So consistency plays a massive part of the Premiership season. Getting off to a good start is important for confidence, but it’s a very long season, and Man United have shown even if there are some early knocks, bouncing back to #RaiseYourGame can lead to success.

Bring It Home Rory

Last year, Kenny McDowell became the proudest father in the world after his boy, Graeme (@Graeme_McDowell), won the US Open in Pebble Beach. “You’re something, kid!” he said.

Northern Ireland is on the edge of welcoming home another national hero, as Rory McIlroy has stormed into a magnificent lead at this years US Open in Maryland. In fact, the whole world finds itself repeating the ecstatic words of Mr. McDowell from that momentous occasion, except this time it is directed towards the boy wonder, Rory McIlroy (@McIlroyRory).

After Day 2 at Maryland, McIlroy finished with a score of 66, leaving him -11. He had a lead of 7 shots on his rivals as he finished another immaculate performance (bar the double bogey on the last hole). He has also found himself trending on Twitter for the past 48 hours, and now with 336k followers.

He has certainly had his doubters after his nightmare in Augusta, where he crumbled and lost the plot, but this time round, he is assured, composed, confident and appears extremely competent. His eagle shot from 113 yards must surely go down as shot of the tournament.

In May this year, US President Barack Obama visited Dublin and said, “Never Has A Country So Small Inspired So Much In Another”. Northern Ireland could well be seeing their second US Open champ is as many years, with their last victory coming from Fred Daly won it all the way back in 1947.

With two enormous days to go for the 22 year old, we all hope Rory can raise his game and see off the challenges that lie ahead.

#BringItHome Rory...#BringItHome!

Cricket: A First Timer's View

When I was 15 I played a Gaelic Football match for my local team in County Derry, Northern Ireland. It was quite a big game in which we won and brought us to the final, however the events that followed the match will always be remembered. Disgusting scenes of fighting between players, supporters and even parents overshadowed the victory after the final whistle. I recall a parent of the opposition players hit the sister of one of my teammates, and I would guess we were not just the victims that sour evening. My parents have said since they stayed on to make sure I got back on my team bus before they went home. Unfortunately, these scenes are not rare in the sport.

Two months ago an excellent schools football final between Belfast Boys Model School and St Mary's Christian Brothers Grammar School was marred by more scenes of conflict where the police were called to take action. Even though spectators at the game will say the actual game was on the best finals ever with some heart stopping action, it is unlikely to be remembered for the right reasons. I remember seeing this in the news that evening in March, but the focus was of course the fighting, not new Liverpool Football Club academy signing Ryan McLaughlin scoring a last minute penalty to win it for St.Mary’s. What a shame.

On Monday 30^th May, I visited Stormont, Belfast, for the One Day International cricket match between Ireland and Pakistan. This was my first cricket spectacle so I was looking forward to it (not just because I got a free ticket, worth £25). I must admit I did have some preconceived notions about the sport. I thought it would be boring. I thought I would see a load of posh, upper class, la-de-da gentlemen sipping on their tea while discussing politics and applauding the odd catch or bat. How wrong I was, and I can say I had an excellent time in which I learnt a lot about the game and would recommend anyone to spend the day if they get the chance. I had a number of observations from my day.

After Paul Stirling (@stirlo90) was put out after his momentous 109 runs and was walking off, everyone applauded, including a Pakistani man sitting in front of us, who also got out of his seat and ordered his wife to do the same. Apart from Ronaldinho’s mercurial display for Barcelona against fierce rivals, Real Madrid, at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in 2005 where he got applauded by both sets of fans, I struggle to remember similar examples of affection from the opposition support in a sport I am more familiar with. It is quite unheard of. The shambles that is the ‘Respect the Ref’ campaign has been attempted in football, but there isn’t any point as players like Wayne Rooney and John Terry are still running around like petulant brats. I admire the rugby ethos of calling the ref ‘Sir’, and accepting his decision, as well as applauding the opposition off the field. Manners are golden and all that. It would be great to see football taking a leaf out of the cricket and rugby books, but it will never happen. Ever.

Walking around the cricket field I saw at least 10 groups of kids playing the game, just for fun. It didn’t matter the area, they just needed a bat and a ball. They made stumps out of twigs, used the portaloos, advertisement boards, bags or portable stumps they brought with them. What if someone had a portable cricket setup for kids to pay and use. A mini batting area for kids to whack balls flying at them would make a good few bob for sure. How about a fastest bowler competition or a target hitting competition? The winner gets an Ireland shirt (being sold for £35 at the shop at the field). A ticket for the game cost £25. I think this is steep. Maybe some will disagree, as they got the chance to meet their sporting heroes, and watch them play for 6 hours, but I was surprised at the price. Advertising for the game was somewhat non-existent. Had I not been told by Philip Wilson (pictured below with Pakistan’s Umar Gul), Matchmedia maestro, and creator of ‘Bumbles Balls’ cricket iPhone app (http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/bumbles-balls/id383483085?mt=8) about the game, I would have been clueless. Seems the game was only talked about within the cricket community. It appeared to be a great family day out, so why not offer a family ticket package to get everyone involved? Maybe a student deal, as some pints in the sun is always an interesting proposition.

Ireland beat England in the Cricket World Cup this year. It was a victory that inspired many. Another great underdog story that captured the hearts of all sports fans. We all knew who Kevin O’Brian was after that. The attendance for the Pakistan game was average, but I would have expected a massive push of advertising to raise the profile of the sport in the country. Get the players out to the schools, interact with the kids, get them excited to play the game.

I can safely say cricket is a proper sport. Some call it boring or tedious, I call it brave. Watching Umar Gul, the elegant and effortless Pakistani cricketer, bowl, was certainly an eye-opener. The ball must have been moving at 100mph at least, defying the laws of physics. I wouldn’t want to bat against him. On one occasion, although it didn’t get an Irishman out, he threw the ball from a massive distance and hit the stump. Pure skill and accuracy. I don’t know if everyone else was as impressed as I was, maybe these are simply the thoughts of a first-timer.

Before Pakistan came out to bat, I watched Ireland Strength & Conditioning coach, Brendan Connor, put the team through their paces. Sports science has been implemented in all sports to improve the athlete’s performance through analysis and training. I can see how cricket has a great need for this. Flexibility in reaching for a catch or bowling. Speed in making the stump as a batter or beating the ball to stop a certain 4. Power to bat the ball out for a 6. Leg extensions and strength for batters form. I came across this video (http://bit.ly/lYixP7) in researching how sports science is being used for cricket. Biomechanics (the study of human movement) has proved very important for analyzing bowling technique. Turns out choosing the wrong bowling technique can lead to serious trunk or shoulder injury. Brett Lee, the Australian bowler, broke his back at the age of 20, after his awkward form meant FIVE times his body weight was going through his knee joint. The bottom half of Lee’s body was front-on and the top half was sideward. This is called a ‘mixed action’. This led to counter-rotation, and then to injury. Recovering from injury, Lee was able to channel his power using science, and practicing a ‘front-on’ technique, as well as a training regime consisting of swimming and stretching to improve flexibility. Lee now throws at 100mph. The work of the sports science team for Irish cricket cannot go unnoticed and the standard of athlete is sure to be improved.

After my first cricket experience, I would love to see Ireland become a test nation, competing against the worlds best at the highest level. With extremely limited funds, they are certainly doing well at the minute and I am excited to see what he future holds for them. With scientific aid helping to produce better athletes, and a bit of publicity for the game in the nation, hopefully the cricket field’s grass will be greener for years to come.