With evolving times, fitness has become an integral part of sports, and cricket is no exception to this. The gentleman’s game, which was played as a luxury in its early days, now demands players be fit and healthy all the time.
To check a cricketer’s fitness and recovery levels, they need to go through an intense test, which is quite famous. Can you guess the name of the test?
It’s a Yo-Yo test.
Now what is this test? What exactly happens? And how are players evaluated?
In this article, I will explain everything you need to know about the Yo-Yo test in cricket.
The Yo-Yo Test
The Yo-Yo test is a way to assess a player’s athletic output. The test is conducted for a continuous period of time but in a phased manner.
This test is also helpful in examining a player’s cardiovascular endurance and stamina, which are important aspects of modern-day cricket.
How is the Yo-Yo Test Conducted?
Simply put, a player has to run between two cones placed at a length of 20 metres, which is close to the length of the cricket pitch.
Now, this might sound easy, but it’s not!
The players have to start at Cone A, reach Cone B, and then return to Cone A. Once the players complete the round-trip, they complete one shuttle.
This shuttle is measured with three beeps. That means, when the first beep sounds, a player has to start running from Cone A, reach Cone B before the second beep, and then return to Cone A before the third beep.
After a player completes a shuttle, there is a 10-second recovery period before they start their next shuttle.
The Yo-Yo test spans across different stages, which start at level 5 and can even go up to level 23. As the levels increase, the shuttles per level also go up.
For level 5, a player needs to complete one shuttle, which is approximately completed in 14 seconds. After level 5 comes level 9, which also consists of one shuttle.
The next stage is level 11, which requires a player to complete 2 shuttles. For level 12, there are 3 shuttles, and level 13 has 4 shuttles. From level 14 onwards, a player has to complete 8 shuttles.
As the levels increase, the players also need to increase their speed for completing a shuttle as the average time decreases.
What if a player couldn’t complete a shuttle?
If a player misses a beep while running, then they get a warning from the coach. And if they miss two beeps, then that is marked as the end of the Yo-Yo test.
Yo-Yo Test Evaluation
The evaluation is pretty straightforward. A player’s performance is evaluated based on levels and shuttles completed at the end of the test.
So for instance, if Player A reached level 17 and completed 3 shuttles before missing the fourth shuttle, then the score will be 17.3
This Yo-Yo test score is one of the aspects of selecting a player in the team, and every team has set a different benchmark score.
For example, the Indian cricket team has set a benchmark score of 16.1 for selection purposes.
Also Read | Indian Cricket Players Salary (BCCI Contract)
Final Words
Due to the adoption of the Yo-Yo test, cricketers have started to take their fitness more seriously. Moreover, this also sets a fitness standard among the players and team.
The Yo-Yo test is a great way to assess a player’s fitness level and recovery process by making sure that they are in good shape and ready to conquer the field.
