Surface EMG-based Profiling and Fatigue Analysis of the Biceps Brachii Muscle of Cricket Bowlers

Cricket bowling action is a complex repetitive task involving multiple muscles. In this paper we present a protocol to analyse accumulated localized fatigue in muscles during cricket bowling action. Biceps Brachii (BB) muscle in case of fast delivery for a novice player is analysed to illustrate the methodology. Synchronized video recording with the surface EMG signal was captured from the medial position of the BB muscle to enable segmentation of the EMG signal in six intervals corresponding to the six phases of the bowling action. This enables study of the activation pattern of the muscle along with the fatigue trend during bowling. Both integrated EMG and Mean Power frequency (MPF) are used as measures to analyse fatigue. Though we have plotted the trends for a single muscle, a similar exercise should be repeated for all important muscles involved. Analysing localized fatigue in individual muscles is important for injury prevention as well as player performance development. It can help to see how individual muscle fatigue contributes in declining performance during cricket bowling. Such an analysis can also be used to support minimum bowling overs and suitable inter-over breaks for a specific bowler with regard to injury prevention and optimal performance.