The Independent Voice of West Indies Cricket

Fitness test may not be right for cricket

Fri, Feb 7, '20

 

Media Watch

A lecturer in Sports Sciences at the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, has questioned the relevance of the Yo-Yo test in determining the fitness of the region’s best cricketers.

While acknowledging it did measure “general, overall fitness”, Dr Rudolph Alleyne has suggested that the test might not be the best way to gauge the fitness of cricketers.

His comments have come following a decision on Monday by Cricket West Indies (CWI) to axe Shimron Hetmyer and Evin Lewis from this month’s One-Day tour of Sri Lanka after they both failed to meet the minimum standard of the Yo-Yo test.

During a subsequent interview with Barbados TODAY, CWI’s chief executive Johnny Grave maintained that players who wanted to gain selection to any of the West Indies’ men or women’s teams, first had to pass the test.

However, Dr Alleyne, who is also the Academic Programme Coordinator at UWI and has a degree in sports psychology and exercise physiology, said while the Yo-Yo test catered more so to aerobic fitness, cricket was more anaerobic in nature.

Read more at BarbadosToday