Performance Advantages of Left-Handed Cricket Batting Talent

Jonathan D Connor; David L Mann; Miguel-Angel Gomez; Anthony S Leicht; Kenji Doma

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01654

Performance Advantages of Left-Handed Cricket Batting Talent

Front Psychol. 2020 Aug 6:11:1654. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01654. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Jonathan D Connor¹, David L Mann², Miguel-Angel Gomez³, Anthony S Leicht¹, Kenji Doma¹

Affiliations

¹ Sport and Exercise Science, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, Australia.
² Department of Human Movement Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
³ Faculty of Physical Activity and Sports Sciences, Polytechnic University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine performance advantages associated with batting stance, in the form of left- vs. right-handed dominant stance, and orthodox vs. reverse stance, of talented junior cricket batters within age-restricted competitions. Data were sourced from the national male younger age competition (YAC; Under-17; n = 237) and older age competition (OAC; Under-19; n = 302), as well as female YAC (Under-15; n = 234) and OAC (Under-18; n = 260) over a 4-year period. Left-hand dominant (LHD) batters were consistently overrepresented in the male YAC (Right: 69.2%; Left: 30.8%) and OAC (Right: 68.2%; Left: 31.8%) compared with the expected general population distribution. Male LHD batters exhibited a significantly (p < 0.05) higher batting aggregate (YAC: 116.82 ± 84.75 vs. 137.84 ± 89.74; OAC: 117.07 ± 89.00 vs. 146.28 ± 95.99), scored more runs (YAC: 19.65 ± 12.32 vs. 23.96 ± 14.71; OAC: 19.27 ± 12.61 vs. 23.98 ± 14.15), spent more time batting (YAC: 45.33 ± 25.89 min vs. 54.59 ± 28.62 min; OAC: 39.80 ± 21.79 min vs. 49.33 ± 27.41 min), and scored more boundary-4s per game (YAC: 1.83 ± 1.40 vs. 2.44 ± 1.87; OAC: 1.76 ± 1.32 vs. 2.19 ± 1.83), across both YAC and OAC groups with small effect sizes. No overrepresentation was present for either female group (YAC, Right: 88.5%/Left: 11.5%; OAC, Right: 90.0%/Left: 10.0%). Female LHD batters exhibited significantly higher batting aggregate (68.97 ± 53.17 vs. 102.96 ± 73.48), batting average (13.24 ± 10.88 vs. 17.75 ± 12.28), and spent more time batting per game (25.52 ± 15.08 vs. 37.75 ± 26.76 min), but only at the OAC level with small-moderate effects sizes. Finally, there were few performance advantages identified to batting with a reverse stance, with further work needed to clarify any potential biomechanical benefits. Team selection practices may exploit the left-handed advantage by over-selecting talented left-handed junior cricketers. Practical implications for coaches include creating practice environments that negate the negative frequency-dependent selection, such as providing more practice opportunities for their players against left-handed opponents.

Keywords: frequency dependence; handedness; laterality; talent identification and development; talent selection.