Shoulder Dislocation in Cricket: Rehabilitation, Throwing & Return to Play

Cricket presents a very particular challenge after shoulder dislocation.

You might think bowling would be the biggest problem.

Often, it isn’t.

For many cricketers, the real test of the shoulder comes in the field: diving for a catch, reaching unexpectedly for the ball, stopping a boundary at full stretch or throwing hard from distance.

Recent research in elite female cricket found that 69% of sudden-onset shoulder injuries occurred during fielding, while gradual-onset injuries were most commonly seen in pace bowlers. Four out of five shoulder injuries did not cause immediate time loss, but players often had to modify throwing, diving or bowling for weeks or months.

Older research in English professional cricket tells a similar story. Twenty-three per cent of players reported a shoulder injury during one season, but only 1.7% were unavailable for selection because of it. Despite continuing to play, 64% of shoulder-injured players reported problems fielding, and 58% changed where they fielded to manage their shoulder.

That distinction matters.

Being available to play does not necessarily mean your shoulder has recovered.

After a shoulder dislocation, I therefore don’t just ask:

“Can you play cricket?”

I want to know:

Can you throw? Can you dive? Can you reach? Can you repeat those actions when you’re tired? And do you trust your shoulder when you do them?

Those are much more useful return-to-cricket questions.

How do shoulder dislocations happen in cricket?

A traumatic shoulder dislocation in cricket is often associated with a sudden, unpredictable event rather than the repetitive bowling action itself.

Typical mechanisms include:

• diving for a catch
• falling onto an outstretched arm
• reaching overhead or away from the body
• sliding or diving to stop a boundary
• collision between fielders
• awkward landings during training or fielding

Cricket-specific literature also suggests that repetitive throwing may contribute to micro-instability in some players.

That means we need to distinguish two different clinical problems.

Traumatic instability

This is the player who lands awkwardly, the shoulder comes out of joint and they require reduction.

Throwing-related instability

This can be much less dramatic.

Repeated high-speed throwing or bowling may contribute to pain, apprehension, altered shoulder control or episodes of subluxation without one obvious traumatic event.

So before thinking about rehabilitation, I want to understand:

What actually happened to this shoulder?

Was there a traumatic dislocation?

Has it happened before?

Is there apprehension during throwing?

Is this the throwing or bowling arm?

And what does this particular cricketer need their shoulder to do?

Those questions change the rehabilitation plan.

What should I do immediately after a shoulder dislocation?

If the shoulder is still dislocated, it requires appropriate medical assessment and reduction.

Do not try to put it back in yourself.

X-rays are commonly used to confirm reduction and assess for associated fracture. Further imaging may be indicated depending on age, mechanism, examination findings, recurrent instability and ongoing symptoms.

A sling is commonly used for comfort and protection in the early stage.

How long it is needed varies.

There is no magic number of days in a sling that prevents another dislocation.

The early aims are much simpler:

protect the shoulder, settle symptoms, regain movement and begin restoring control.

Rehabilitation then progresses according to what the shoulder can tolerate rather than simply what week the player has reached.

Read our guide to rehabilitation after shoulder dislocation →

Cricket gives us an advantage: you do not have to return to everything at once

This is one of the things I like about cricket rehabilitation.

“Return to cricket” is not one decision.

A player may be able to:

run

before they can

bat

before they can

throw repeatedly

before they can

dive confidently

before they can

field unrestricted from the boundary.

For bowlers there is another progression again.

That means we can often keep players involved while protecting the things they are not yet ready to do.

Research supports this idea.

In elite cricketers, players frequently remained available despite shoulder injury by changing their throwing technique or moving fielding position.

More recent data show the same pattern: most shoulder injuries did not immediately remove players from cricket, but throwing, diving and bowling often had to be modified for prolonged periods.

So I prefer to ask:

“Which parts of cricket are you ready for now — and which parts still need preparation?”

CONTROL

Can you control the shoulder in the positions cricket requires?

Early rehabilitation usually starts with relatively simple movements.

But cricket is not simple.

Eventually the shoulder has to control movement at:

• greater ranges
• higher speeds
• longer lever arms
• different body positions
• during rapid reactions
• under fatigue

Think about a fielder diving to one side and reaching one-handed for a ball.

Nobody gives you time to position the shoulder perfectly.

The shoulder has to respond automatically.

That is the sort of control we ultimately need to restore.

And it needs to work in the positions relevant to that player’s role.

CAPACITY

Can the shoulder produce and absorb enough force — repeatedly?

A strong rotator cuff is useful.

But strength alone is not cricket readiness.

Throwing requires rapid acceleration of the arm followed by equally important control and deceleration.

Fielding then asks the player to repeat that task again and again.

Research into cricket throwing workloads has shown that higher throwing volumes may be associated with upper-limb injury risk.

Another cricket study examined players before and after a fielding session containing 40 throws and found a measurable acute reduction in shoulder internal rotation afterwards.

That does not mean 40 throws are dangerous.

It does show that throwing changes the shoulder acutely.

And it reinforces an important rehabilitation principle:

One comfortable throw is not throwing capacity.

For me, capacity includes:

strength

power

endurance

rapid force production

deceleration

and the ability to maintain those qualities when repeated.

Throwing deserves its own return-to-sport progression

One mistake I would avoid is progressing from:

“my shoulder feels strong”

straight to

“I’ll try throwing from the boundary.”

Throwing needs to be rebuilt systematically.

I think about it across several dimensions:

DISTANCE → VELOCITY → VOLUME → MOVEMENT → VARIABILITY → FATIGUE

Initially that might mean shorter controlled throws.

Then progressively increase distance.

Then speed.

Then the number of throws.

Then add movement before the throw.

Then pickups, turns, relays, awkward positions and decision-making.

Finally, the player needs to tolerate those demands when tired.

A stationary 20-metre throw and a full-speed boundary throw after sprinting are not the same shoulder task.

And neither is doing it once compared with doing it repeatedly late in a match.

Cricket should not simply borrow baseball rehabilitation

There is a tendency to treat all overhead throwing athletes as though they are the same.

They are not.

Cricket has its own combination of throwing distances, fielding positions, bowling actions, match duration and workload.

The available cricket literature suggests that shoulder adaptations in cricketers are not necessarily identical to the classic adaptations described in baseball pitchers.

That means I would be cautious about automatically applying baseball-derived ideas about shoulder range, posterior tightness or throwing progression to every cricketer.

The rehabilitation needs to be cricket-specific.

What about bowling?

Bowling deserves to be separated from throwing.

They are not interchangeable.

The role of the shoulder differs between:

• fast bowling
• medium pace
• spin bowling
• fielding throws

A fast bowler recovering from instability needs much more than a pain-free shoulder.

They need the kinetic chain required to repeatedly transfer force from the lower limb and trunk through the upper limb while preserving both shoulder stability and the mobility needed for performance.

Cricket-specific rehabilitation literature recommends restoring the kinetic chain early and progressively reintroducing bowling, throwing and fielding as separate sport-specific components.

A practical progression might look like:

reduced intensity

↓

increased intensity

↓

increased number of deliveries

↓

longer spells

↓

repeated spells

↓

training demand

↓

match demand

The important point is that progression should be based on response and function rather than a date alone.

CONFIDENCE

Do you trust the shoulder again?

This can be one of the last things to return after shoulder instability.

A player may be able to produce good strength numbers and still hesitate when a catch requires a full-length dive.

Or they may hold something back during a long throw because they remember exactly what the shoulder felt like when it came out.

That does not automatically mean the shoulder is weak.

It may reflect apprehension, fear of reinjury or loss of confidence.

And telling somebody:

“Your shoulder is strong now.”

does not necessarily change that.

Confidence needs to be rebuilt through successful exposure to the movements the player is concerned about.

For example:

stationary catch

↓

reaching catch

↓

moving catch

↓

overhead catch

↓

planned dive

↓

reactive dive

↓

unpredictable game-like fielding

That progression lets the athlete experience the shoulder succeeding.

Over time, we want the movement to stop feeling like a threat.

DEMAND

What does your cricket actually require?

This is where return-to-cricket rehabilitation needs to become individual.

“Cricketer” is not specific enough.

I want to know:

Are you primarily a batter?

Fast bowler?

Spin bowler?

Wicketkeeper?

Boundary fielder?

All-rounder?

And what level do you play?

A club batter who usually fields at slip does not require exactly the same shoulder capacity as an all-rounder who bowls long spells and then repeatedly throws from the boundary.

Research supports this distinction: gradual-onset shoulder injuries are prominent in pace bowlers, whereas sudden-onset injuries occur predominantly during fielding.

So rehabilitation needs to answer a very simple question:

Does your CONTROL, CAPACITY and CONFIDENCE match your cricket DEMAND?

That is the gap we need to close.

Fielding may be the final test

This is one of the strongest messages from the cricket literature.

Players often return to cricket before their fielding has fully recovered.

Research in professional cricket has shown that shoulder-injured players frequently continued playing but changed fielding position because throwing or fielding remained problematic.

So for many cricketers I would treat unrestricted fielding as its own return-to-sport milestone.

Not an afterthought.

How should fielding progress?

Catching

Stationary catches
→ moving catches
→ reaching catches
→ overhead catches
→ unpredictable catches

Throwing

Short controlled throws
→ increased distance
→ increased velocity
→ increased volume
→ movement before the throw
→ pickups and rapid release
→ boundary throws

Diving

Low controlled reaching
→ planned landing
→ controlled dive
→ reactive dive
→ unpredictable match-like dive

Then combine these skills.

Because cricket eventually asks you to:

run, react, pick up the ball, organise the body and throw hard — without having time to think about your shoulder.

That is very different from completing an exercise in the gym.

How do I know when I'm ready to return?

There is no single test.

And I would not make the decision on time alone.

I would want to understand:

• shoulder range of motion
• rotational strength
• long-lever shoulder strength
• explosive upper-limb performance
• endurance
• reactive control
• throwing tolerance
• repeated throwing capacity
• bowling capacity where relevant
• catching
• diving
• confidence
• response to fatigue
• the player’s role and level

That is where I use the framework:

CONTROL • CAPACITY • CONFIDENCE • DEMAND

A shoulder does not need to be perfect.

But its capability needs to be sufficient for what the athlete is about to ask it to do.

Can I keep playing while I rehabilitate?

Sometimes.

Cricket gives us more opportunities to modify participation than many sports.

A player might temporarily change:

• fielding position
• throwing distance
• throwing volume
• diving exposure
• bowling workload
• bowling intensity

while continuing to bat, train or play some parts of the game.

But there is an important warning here.

Research repeatedly shows that cricketers often continue playing despite meaningful shoulder dysfunction.

So:

available for selection ≠ fully recovered.

The aim should not just be to remain on the field.

The aim is to restore the shoulder sufficiently that the player can perform their role without continually compensating around it.

Can a shoulder brace help in cricket?

For some players, yes.

But I do not think every cricketer who has dislocated their shoulder needs a brace.

A shoulder brace may be useful as an adjunct where we want to provide external support or reduce exposure to a vulnerable position while strength, control and confidence continue to develop.

That may be particularly relevant during:

• fielding
• diving
• reaching
• unpredictable reactive movements

But cricket creates an important trade-off.

A brace cannot interfere excessively with the movement required for throwing or bowling.

So I would always test it during training first.

Can you throw normally?

Can you catch comfortably?

Can you dive?

Does it interfere with your bowling action?

Does it stay in position?

And does it actually help with the movement you are concerned about?

A brace should solve a problem. It should not simply be worn because you once dislocated your shoulder.

When can a shoulder brace help? →

View our shoulder braces →

Should I have surgery if I want to return to cricket?

There is no cricket-specific yes-or-no answer.

And I would be particularly cautious about assuming that the presence of a Bankart lesion automatically means a throwing athlete needs surgery.

Fast bowlers have an unusual requirement:

they need enough stability to tolerate enormous repetitive demand — but they also need enough mobility to perform effectively.

So I would consider:

• age
• recurrence risk
• number of instability episodes
• imaging findings
• bone loss
• whether it is the dominant arm
• whether it is the throwing or bowling arm
• playing role
• level of cricket
• symptoms during throwing or bowling
• goals
• tolerance of recurrence risk
• benefits and burdens of surgery and rehabilitation

The scan helps inform the decision.

It should not make the decision for you.

This should be a shared decision between the athlete and the clinicians involved in their care.

Read: Should I Have Surgery After a Shoulder Dislocation? →

Don't just return to cricket. Return to your cricket.

This is probably the main message I would leave you with.

A cricketer does not need a generically “strong shoulder”.

They need a shoulder capable of doing their job on the cricket field.

For one player that may mean batting for several hours and fielding at slip.

For another it might mean bowling at pace, completing repeated spells and then throwing from the boundary.

For a wicketkeeper it may mean hundreds of catches, rapid reaches and occasional unpredictable dives.

So before returning, ask:

CONTROL
Can I control the shoulder through the positions cricket requires?

CAPACITY
Can I produce and repeat the force required for throwing, bowling and fielding?

CONFIDENCE
Do I trust my shoulder when I reach, throw or dive without thinking about it?

DEMAND
Have I prepared it for my role, my level and my cricket?

Control • Capacity • Confidence • Demand

That is a much better target than simply waiting for the calendar to tell you that you are ready.

About the author

Dr Margie Olds, PhD is a shoulder physiotherapist and researcher specialising in shoulder instability, recurrence risk and return to sport. Her research has focused on predicting recurrent instability after first-time traumatic shoulder dislocation and improving rehabilitation and return-to-sport decision making.

References

• Pritchard G, Deshmukh P, Saw AE, Beerworth K, Sims K. Shoulder injuries in elite female cricket players: insights from eight seasons.
• Shoulder injury in professional cricketers. English professional cricket cohort.
• Incidence and impact of time-loss and non-time-loss shoulder injury in elite South African cricketers.
• Nimse A, Patel N, Pardiwala D. Criterion-Based Rehabilitation and Return to Play in Fast Bowlers Following Arthroscopic Bankart Repair.
• Newton L et al. The effect of a cricket fielding session on glenohumeral range of motion and active joint position sense.
• Throwing workload and injury risk in elite cricketers.

This guide provides general information and does not replace individual medical or physiotherapy advice. Rehabilitation and return-to-play decisions should be tailored to the injury, the athlete and the demands of their cricket.