Local anaesthetic in cricket

[sydunisportsmed]

The circumstances didn't call for it last night, when Chris Harris batted with a torn rotator cuff in the ODI against Australia, but it illustrates that perhaps team doctors should travel to the World Cup for example.

Chris Harris showed great bravery in batting at no. 11 with a rotator cuff tear, but he couldn't bat to his normal ability and it may have cost New Zealand the match.

Given that this was a game in a series that is still a bit meaningless and may be quickly forgetten, it probably wasn't a big deal. However, in the same circumstances in a world cup final, and you would want to pull out all stops.

If a doctor fills the subacromial space up with local, then the player could get out and hit the ball around without feeling pain. Sure, he might rip his remaining tendon to shreds, but that is what you have surgeons for (to repair the thing back together and get the guy back out the year afterwards).

As I mentioned, you wouldn't do this for the type of ODI that Hansie Cronje would be prepared to accept money to throw, but you wonder whether if something like this happened in a world cup final whether the team involved would regret that they didn't have a doctor in the dressing room.

[hhh]

I thought in this day-and-age we would have taught the players to self inject??

[injuryupdate]

If the cricketers could self-inject they would be treating themselves more like pin cushions than the professional footy players get treated by their club doctors.

Any player with knee pain would fill his knee up with local and his career would last about another 2 months from the time of the original injury.

A player would have a big night on the piss and then try to inject his liver with local to stop spewing.

Club doctors with high IQs and even higher malpractice payments can't work out or agree on what is safe to inject, so the average player would just inject everything and die in the process.

[Gibbo]

There's that many doctors having a day off sitting in the SCG members stand at the cricket it can't be too hard to find someone who is prepared to jab an injured player up. Why not do it like at the tennis where 1 doctor serves the entire competition, except this way you just pull a doctor away from his charddy to do the job?

I know with some footy teams that players get fined by team mates everytime they get their mug in the papers. Is it true that amongst the sporting breed of doctors that you all put in a few bucks at the SMA conference and whoever features the most by the next conferences takes all the winnings?

[injuryupdate]

We may as well just start writing cheques to Peter Larkins every year if that was the case, as he is on Channel 9 AFL coverage three times a week and does the 'Medical Room' segment on the afl.com.au website.

There was an incident approximately 10 years ago where a player at the cricket suffered a serious injury and the doctor 'on duty' was called in to treat him and apparently was totally smashed. The player was very unimpressed and I think the doctor is no longer involved with cricket coverage. However, the 'arrangement' for doctors at the cricket in those days was (1) turn up on match days that we roster you; (2) sorry we can't afford to pay you but thanks for your help (3) help yourself to anything you can think of in lieu of pay. Given that French Champagne was available in the board box, this is how some doctors apparently got paid in kind.

It has improved a little since then in cricket, with some states getting quite professional (e.g. Victoria and Queensland virtually have the same doctor at every match so are providing a pretty continuous service), and the pay has increased.

Football codes are far more professional but then there is a much greater reason to pay the doctor in terms of getting value for money (more injuries per player hours). There is also greater competition in football - if you don't have what is perceived to be a good medical coverage at the team it may inspire players to change clubs. In cricket you are stuck in the country you are born in, and the state competition is a lame duck.

I have treated a few of the New Zealand players in the past and was actually in the stands on Wednesday night, but not being on call I had imbibed in the obligatory beers and white wine (they were serving sauv blanc on Wed rather than chardy, or as kath and kim call it "sauvignon plonk") so I'm glad they didn't call me on the mobile.