The best exercises for cricketers

Cricket performance · 4 min read

Walk into most gyms and you will find a hundred exercises competing for your time. Cricket does not need most of them. It needs rotational power, single-leg strength, a durable posterior chain, a healthy throwing shoulder and the speed to get between the wickets. Build a programme around those five demands and you are training like a cricketer, not just training near one.

Here is the shortlist we come back to again and again with our players, from juniors to club level.

1. Trap bar or barbell deadlift — for raw power

The deadlift builds the hips, hamstrings and back that drive your run-up, your bowling action and your bat swing. It is the single best return on investment in the gym for a cricketer, and the trap bar version is often the easiest to learn safely.

2. Split squat / Bulgarian split squat — for single-leg strength and stability

Cricket rarely happens on two feet at once. Your front leg block in bowling, your stride into a shot and your running between the wickets all demand single-leg strength and control. Split squats build exactly that, and they are far kinder to a busy in-season body than heavy back squats.

3. Medicine ball rotational throws — for bat speed and bowling power

Cricket is a rotational sport through and through. Rotational medicine ball throws train your body to generate and transfer force through the trunk quickly, which shows up directly in bat speed and bowling pace.

4. Pull-ups or rows — for throwing and shoulder health

Fielding and throwing put real, repeated demand on the shoulder. Balancing your pushing work with pulling exercises like rows and pull-ups keeps the shoulder healthy and supports a stronger, more accurate throwing arm.

5. Sprint intervals — for running between the wickets and fielding speed

Short, sharp sprint work builds the acceleration you need for quick singles and closing down the ball in the field. You do not need long, slow cardio, cricket is a game of short, repeated bursts, so train it that way.

You do not need twenty exercises. You need the right five, done properly, consistently, across a season.

How to fit this around a full cricket season

The off-season is when you build this base, lifting a little heavier and pushing your capacity. Once fixtures start, the goal shifts to maintaining what you have built without leaving you flat for match day, and easing off in the days before big games. Get that rhythm right and this list keeps paying off from the first game of the season to the last.

How we coach it

This exact approach, built around what the game actually demands, is the foundation of our Combined Performance programme, where your cricket skill work and your strength and conditioning are programmed together as one plan. If you are newer to the gym side of things, our guide to strength training for cricketers is a good place to start.