The financial cost of injuries and their association with team success in professional men’s cricket

Objectives: To quantify the direct and indirect costs associated with injuries in professional men's cricket from 2015/16 to 2021/22 and to report the association between the cost of injuries and team success. Design: Retrospective cohort study. Methods: Injury insurance claims were obtained for cricket-related injuries to determine direct costs. Player's salary cost whilst injured was calculated from total salary expenditure, number of players, seasonal days and days lost to injury from prospective injury recording. A linear mixed model was used to assess the association between team success (County Championship points) and cost of injury. Results: The average annual total cost of injuries per team was £167,447 (±£20,678), comprising £38,127 (±£24,000) injury insurance costs, £40,007 (±£23,977) injured players salary costs and £89,243 medical staff costs. Hand injuries incurred the highest number of claims and lumbar spine injuries accounted for the largest cost. Approximately 7 % of players' annual salary was earned whilst injured. The cost of injury was negatively associated with team success in Division 1; those with a two SD higher injury cost (£58,561) accrued 28 fewer points (95 % CI − 54, − 2) on average. The association in Division 2 teams was unclear (two SD increase (£53,339): + 15 points [95 % CI: − 10, 41]). Conclusions: These data support the implementation of effective injury prevention measures for lumbar spine, hand and knee injuries to reduce injury rates and subsequent costs. Highlighting the financial and team performance costs of injuries may help to engage key stakeholders in injury prevention initiatives.