Pace bowler must be used carefully to avoid burnout

Even for a bowler with such a fluent action as Jofra Archer’s, there are inherent risks in one bowler being asked to take on such a big workload in one match.

Fast bowling places a big strain on different areas of the body: there is a huge amount of stress running through the knee and ankle in the landing leg (although Archer’s smaller jump into the crease mitigates against this a little); there is pressure on the shoulder, which generates so much of the pace in the delivery; and there is tension running through the bowler’s side. Archer had time off to recover from a side strain after the World Cup, so England will be monitoring this.

You see a lot of similar injuries in cricket to sports such as baseball, which also put stress on joints like the shoulder and elbow. A Major League pitcher would not be asked to pitch the day after a long game, because of the strain their body has endured, so there is an element of risk in Archer playing again so soon after such a big exertion.

Indeed, Test cricket is more dynamic than baseball, involving more moving parts, and is a bigger endurance test, so wear and tear is more likely to build up quickly.

Test bowling is repetitive but Archer’s strength, endurance, stability, mobility and flexibility in his action help protect him against the repetitive action of bowling placing the same strain on his musculoskeletal system.

Making sure fast bowlers are fit and ready to go after a big exertion is a large-scale operation which requires input from lots of people. The strength and conditioning team will have got to work on Archer quickly after the match on Sunday, treating him with massages and ice baths to help the muscles recover; a nutrition expert will take charge of a player’s “refuelling”, helping them re-energise and rehydrate; and there could be input from osteopaths, plus coaches and fellow players.

The nature of high-performance athletes is that they will push themselves to the limits of what their bodies can endure – and often beyond. It is the job of the coaches to ensure athletes are protected from themselves and not allowed to go too far into the danger zone, which can lead to injury.

Jim Pate is senior physiologist at the Centre for Health and Human Performance.