Cricket Australia Sport Science Sport Medicine (SSSM) Cricket Australia’s Sport Science Sport Medicine (SSSM) Unit is based at the National Cricket Centre (BNCC) in Brisbane. The SSSM unit headed by Cricket Australia’s SSSM manager and includes sports doctors, sports physiotherapists, physical performance coaches, sports dietitians, sports psychologists, biomechanists and sports scientists. It operates to ensure the highest level of SSSM services are delivered across Australian Cricket. Working collaboratively across Australian Cricket, the aim is to ensure that players are ready to perform both physically and mentally across male and female programs. A major focus is maximising player availability for key tournaments and series. The State and Territory Cricket Associations and the Australian academic sector are key partners in the SSSM program. Athlete Servicing SSSM staff are responsible for the physical and mental preparation of Australian cricket male and female players at all levels of cricket, starting with underage programs all the way up to the national teams. The SSSM staff typically have specialised qualifications and expertise working with elite athletes. Many of them have post graduate qualifications such as Masters or PhD in sport or cricket related areas. Research and Innovation Cricket Australia is a long-standing leader in cricket-related research and innovation. Projects relate to improving player preparation and performance, reducing the risk of injury, and improving the safety of the sport. Research findings are shared in peer-reviewed journals, presented at conferences, and translated to community guidelines. Central to the research is Cricket Australia’s data housing website, the Athlete Management System (AMS). The AMS is a central collection point of data, including training and performance, wellness, and injury data. Insight from this data is routinely used to inform improvements in player preparation and management. Cricket Australia also collaborates with external experts and universities and supports higher degree by research students with their cricket-specific research. The rapid rate of technology development including wearable sensors, computer vision and equipment imbedded with smart technology will provide research opportunities to work with information that has previously never been possible. Technical development of Australian Cricket High Performance Programs The strength of Australian Cricket is that it have six strong State Cricket Associations and two Territories that collaborate with goals that are aligned to Cricket Australia’s strategy. The SSSM teams across Australian Cricket meet annually to revise and develop the direction that the SSSM programs as part of the Australian Cricket Performance Program (ACPP). The ACPP is the process that aligns all SSSM staff members across the country to help drive the Australian Cricket System in one direction.
