da marjack bet： One of the Caribbean’s leading sports medicine officials says it isuncommon for a sports team to experience the high number of injuriesthat have plagued the West Indies team in Zimbabwe during the last twoweeks
Haydn Gill11-Jul-2001One of the Caribbean’s leading sports medicine officials says it isuncommon for a sports team to experience the high number of injuriesthat have plagued the West Indies team in Zimbabwe during the last twoweeks.Dr Adrian Lorde is suggesting that a full-time physiotherapist shouldbe part of the team’s set-up.The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), however, utilises the servicesof a sports therapist only.Lorde’s comments follow the West Indies’ recent injury woes thatprematurely ended the tour of champion batsman Brian Lara and fastbowlers Kerry Jeremy, Cameron Cuffy and Mervyn Dillon.There is definitely a need for a physiotherapist as opposed to someonewho is not trained and has the equipment to treat these injuries,Lorde told NATIONSPORT yesterday.I think the WICB had accepted that they were going to take a physio,but we didn’t hear anything more about it.Last February, the WICB appointed Trinidadian Ronald Rogers as theteam’s sports therapist on a tour-by-tour basis and it led toimmediate opposition from the Barbados Sports Medicine Association. Asports therapist, it is believed, is not qualified to handle injuryprevention and management and is used mainly as a fitness trainer.The physiotherapist can conduct training sessions, but the sportstherapist can’t treat injuries when they occur, said Lorde, a formerpresident of the Barbados Sports Medicine Association.The physiotherapist, because of his better knowledge of the anatomy ofthe body might be able to look at the range of movement of one’sjoints and maybe recommend to the management team and to the cricketerbetter ways in which to do certain things.Since the West Indies left the Caribbean in mid-June following astrenuous two-week training camp in Trinidad, the team was hit byLara’s recurring hamstring problem, Jeremy’s back strain, Cuffy’sstress fracture of the left instep and Dillon’s right knee problem.It is unusual for any sporting team particularly in a cricket team tohave so many injuries in such a short space of time, Lorde said.He, however, added that from this distance, it would be difficult tosay what caused the injuries.It could be a combination of factors, including the climaticconditions in the African nation where it is winter.Maybe lack of proper warming up and inactivity on the field and thensudden activity could cause muscles to be injured easily, Lorde said.He added that a physiotherapist, who usually goes through a three-yearcourse of study, could have helped in managing the nature of the WestIndies team’s injuries in Zimbabwe.