The ECB Sport Science and Medicine department steers the development of England and First Class County multidisciplinary support teams.

England Men and Women

For the England men’s and women’s teams, the Science and Medicine department’s purpose is to optimise the players’ performance, availability and wellbeing.

To achieve this, they embed a multi-disciplinary group of specialists into the England teams, working alongside the coaches. They work to prepare the players physically and support them psychologically, as well as treat and rehabilitate any injury or medical issues. 

Based at the Performance Centre in Loughborough, they have a specialist cricket analysis unit providing comprehensive analysis to the selectors, coaches and players. They run a number of innovation projects to best inform how they support or coach players, and they host England players for specialist activities, such as rehabilitation training and performance profiling.

England Cricket Pathway

For the England Cricket Pathway, the aim is to help the most talented county players bridge the gap to International cricket.  They do this by providing specialist science and medicine support to players selected onto the ECB programmes; profiling the players’ needs and collaborating with the county club to design the right plan for them.

The Game of Cricket

For the whole game of cricket, the department aims to lead, guide and raise the standards of science and medicine practice. To do this, they host an annual science and medicine conference. They also lead and deliver an annual audit of all First Class County Clubs science and medicine departments. They actively collaborate with county colleagues to develop and share knowledge across the game.

Medical Governance and Safety Initiative

Importantly, our Chief Medical Officer leads a Medical Governance and Safety initiative, with the aim of ensuring appropriate standards and knowledge across the game of emergency care, injury risks, concussion safety, cardiac screening, and mental wellbeing.

For more information on the functions of the ECB Science and Medicine department, please see below:

• Strength and Conditioning Team

• Physiotherapy Team

• Medicine Team

• Personal Development and Welfare Team

• Performance Psychology Team

Strength and Conditioning Team

The aim of the Strength & Conditioning Team is to implement a number of strategies to ensure that all players are prepared to cope with the physical demands of international cricket.

This includes the provision of individual strength, endurance, speed and agility programming, as well as the formulation of pre-play preparation and post-play recovery guidelines.

A major part of the overall strength and conditioning strategy is the ongoing assisted learning programme which includes specific nutritional education and advice, and the development of the player’s basic strength and conditioning knowledge base.

Physiotherapy Team

The chief aim of the Physiotherapy Team is to minimise the impact of injury and illness on the availability and performance of England squads.

This is achieved through ongoing assessment for risk of injury and effective rehabilitation.

The physiotherapist will screen players to identify any potential risk of injury and illness and then guide them through prevention strategies such as movement control, conditioning and recovery.

When injuries are sustained, the physiotherapist will work closely with the medical team to diagnose and rehabilitate the player back to full fitness using strategies such as manual therapy, corrective exercise and education.

Medicine Team

The Medicine Team aims to ensure the availability of the England players to perform at the highest level by minimising the impact of injury and illness.

The panel constantly strive to providing leading medical care and to this end travel with the Senior England team at all times as part of the multi-disciplinary support team.

The Medical Team seek to provide immediate diagnosis of injuries and plan subsequent management throughout the England Performance Programme, while liaising with county practitioners to provide support and education.

The panel help run cardiac screening programmes and the medical panel have been part of the formation of the International Cricket Council Medical Committee working towards projects within the International game such as helmet design, injury surveillance and injury prevention.

Personal Development and Welfare Team

The Personal Development and Welfare Team provides integrated, impartial support to players and the team environment, to develop resilience in and out of cricket.

It is a nationwide, continual support system for individuals throughout the elite player pathway in English cricket. The Personal Development and Welfare Team work directly with players on England programmes and liaise with the PCA personal development managers who deliver to the First Class Counties, to ensure consistent support.

As a team they work in the environment to best support and challenge players to develop the resilience and personal and professional skills needed to consistently excel and perform, in and out of cricket. It is a personalised service centred around the three areas:

• Wellbeing

• Lifestyle

• Personal Development

These areas support a player during the critical moments in their life as well as their everyday transitions.

ECB Performance Psychology Team

The aim of the Performance Psychology Team is to work with coaches, as well as direct with players, to help optimize the mental development, mental readiness and ongoing mental performance of players in the England squads.

The team continually strive to deliver impactful support from: initial diagnostic support; training for toughness coaching; mental skills strategies; and team dynamics.

A referral process & network for providing clinical psychology support completes the support package provided.