Cramping is, and will continue to be, a problem for players at the Cricket World Cup, but Proteas doctor Hashendra Ramjee, speaking to the Sunday Times in Püne, has stressed it isn’t because the players are not fit enough.
In some cases, they’re actually not eating adequately. “It’s not about a level of fitness, it’s about acclimatising to these conditions, which were foreign to our players,” said Ramjee.
It has been a tournament in which players have battled the elements. Three times in the competition, Proteas players have not featured in the field because of problems adjusting to the heat and humidity and the need to recover after lengthy innings. It happened to Quinton de Kock twice — in Delhi in the Proteas’ opening match against Sri Lanka and then last Tuesday in Mumbai, when he scored 174 against Bangladesh.
While players have highlighted that their understanding of conditions has improved as a result of often touring India, and many also play in the Indian Premier League, a World Cup is very different. Besides the travel, the fact that they are playing 50 overs and not 20, like in the IPL, is physically taxing.
It’s not actually about a level of fitness, it’s about acclimatising to these conditions
— Hashendra Ramjee, Proteas doctor
“You can have someone who is less fit, but if he’s acclimatised better to these conditions, he won’t suffer as much,” said Ramjee.
“It’s the humidity that is the extra component. You sweat more and internal regulation is slightly off, so you lose more electrolytes, which leads to fatigue, dehydration and cramps.”
Following the Proteas’ innings against England, Heinrich Klaasen, who made 109, spending two hours at the crease, didn’t field and instead had to recover in the change-room, draped in towels.
Ramjee explained how the team’s medical staff were “very pedantic” when it came to fluid intake for the players. “We weigh them before and after training and matches, and for every kilogram they have lost, we tell them to top up with one litre of fluids,” he said.
“Again, different guys prefer different methods. Some like an ice bath, some like a cold shower, and Heinrich also used all those towels.”
The Proteas have consumed what Ramjee says is a concoction similar to “a slushy” to help replenish fluids. “It’s a bottle of water, with a pink or yellow ‘Rehydrate’ solution which we use to build up electrolytes. Some of the guys don’t actually like it. Some prefer a bit of water mixed with Coke, just to have something to taste.”
To increase stamina, the players are encouraged to eat, either protein bars or in some cases a Jungle Oats bar. Such is the intensity of competition, players can sometimes forget to eat. “We felt Quinny wasn’t eating enough (in the match in Mumbai against Bangladesh), so we had to encourage him to take two or three more bites of the bar.”
The extreme conditions have demanded flexibility on the part of everyone involved in the touring party. So during drinks breaks for the batters, chairs, ice wrapped in towels and an umbrella are brought out along with the “slushies”. It’s been a genuine squad effort in the field, with bowlers given a couple of overs in the changeroom as teammates do fielding duties.
Members of the coaching staff, including batting coach JP Duminy, walk around the boundary giving drinks to bowlers. In Chennai on Friday, physiotherapist Sizwe Hadebe adopted a novel approach, rubbing Lungi Ngidi — one of the most proficient perspirers in the squad — on the back with a bag filled with ice.
Ramjee expected next Sunday’s clash against India in Kolkata to also be played in difficult conditions, saying the lessons from the first few weeks would stand them in good stead there.
By then, having been in India for the better part of two months, he hopes the acclimatisation will have strengthened the players. “There really are fine margins on this,” he said.
