Many global sports that captivate the eyes of sports enthusiasts are invariably and undeniably football and cricket, boasting a population of billion people tuning in vivaciously to watch the two sports. Football and Cricket are unique in their own ways, while football lords over cricket in terms of popularity which is palpable all over the globe, cricket has a fervent following from South Asian countries such as India and Pakistan, two countries where cricket is insanely big and is home to cricket superstars and legends. Historical rivalries like Pakistan and India and the Ashes series between England and Australia make cricket even more appetising.
Football on the other hand has innumerable rivalries that are ceaseless. Both football and cricket originate from England, while cricket used to be a sport majorly played by rich royal people of England, football was played by the locals of Britain more and it caught on with them and soon it found a mutual love for the sport all over the world. Another reason for the faster growth of football is pinned down to the fact that it was introduced earlier in history and played for 100 years before an international conglomeration for the sport was formed. Cricket is believed to have been picked up before football due to the history of British colonialism in India and the sport was introduced to the people of India and the rest of the commonwealth countries that took to the sport of bat and ball.
But if you’ve ever wondered about the core differences between modern footballers and cricketers, then this extensively written article may help satiate your curiosity.
The use of GPS has transformed team sports analysis. It allows coaches to study each individual's movement around the field during a match and means training, conditioning and nutrition can be tailored to an individual's specific needs. Professional footballers have pretty much every step they take monitored by GPS and matches are analysed in minute detail.
Speed and agility on the field of sports are what makes a sports watch, the thrill of it is something avid sports fans are suckers for, let's take a look at the difference between running the players from several sports get engaged in.
FOOTBALL
Football over the years since its inception has undergone changes and has been studied, researched and observed thoroughly.
If you are a regular football viewer, then it should not come as a surprise that it is common for central midfielders, even juniors to run for over 13 km in a game as they find themselves in the middle of both attacking and defensive gruelling play.
Though the strikers and defenders don’t run as much as their other counterparts and cover as much ground, they still average 10kms as they indulge in some intense high-speed sprinting.
Top-notch goalkeepers are well-established to run up and cover 5 km which considering their role is limited to a box is an incredible feat.
Footballers are expected to be on their feet 24/7 throughout the duration of the game and have a very demanding fitness body to keep up with hence one rarely sees a footballer with a protruding waistline.
Footballers are undeniably fitter and faster than cricketers and don’t enjoy the same luxuries as cricketers in terms of fitness do.
CRICKETERS
Studies have found that its fast bowlers account for most of the running in all three different formats of cricket.
Fast bowlers are seen to be putting in the hard yards of constant sprinting for six balls.
In a one-day match, a fast bowler can run up to 13.5 km which is a back-breaking task as a fast bowler, hence it's the fast bowlers who are always more susceptible to injury.
A busy fast bowler is obviously on the upper end of the scale but it is not uncommon for them to cover such distances in a day's play. Mitchell Johnson notched up 23 km on the first day of the 2013 Boxing Day Test.
As for spinners in an ODI match, on average they cover 11.3 km, wicketkeepers 9.5 km and fielders 10.5 km. The data is not rigid as the premise of the argument relies on the time spent on the field according to their role.
The same goes for the batters whose distance covered vastly hinges on the time spent on the field batting, however, there is data from 2021 which determines how much distance some of the elite batters have covered so far during their stay on the pitch.
Rohit Sharma – 133.38 km
Chris Gayle – 138.28 km
Mushfiqur Rahim – 138.32 km
Steve Smith – 139.97 km
David Warner – 141.28 km
Angelo Mathews – 147.27 km
Kane Williamson – 167.81 km
Joe Root – 179.05 km
Ross Taylor – 187.97 km
Virat Kohli – 248.03 km
Fitness difference between Footballers and Cricketers
Over the years the perception of cricketers being unfit with a rotund figure has changed ever since the likes of Virat Kohli, Steve Smith, Joe Root and David Warner have descended on the game with their trailblazing fitness. The culture has changed for the better and the up-and-comer cricketers are required to be fully fit.
Virat Kohli is a pioneer for world cricket and not least Indian cricket which has undergone severe changes as far as fitness is concerned. It wouldn’t be wrong to say that Virat Kohli is the fittest cricketer in world cricket which gets exemplified by his batting and fielding.
Cristiano Ronaldo is another footballer whose fitness in the footballing world stands out from the rest.
Virat v Ronaldo
- Virat
Former Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) chief MSK Prasad revealed that skipper Virat Kohli runs more than football greats Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. According to him, centrally contracted players are tracked using GPS.
Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo who play as forwards run around 7.6 km and 8.38 km, respectively.
Kohli is studied to run 17 km during a good knock which surpasses both Messi and Ronaldo by a long chalk.
Although it is chalk and cheese to compare as the two sports have different properties and components.
- Ronaldo
FIFA records suggest that the Portuguese centre-forward movements covered and totalled 35 km in the 0four matches that Ronaldo represented Portugal in Russia.
Manchester United’s attacker agility clocked 8.4 km in each game.
Though one of the greats of the game's nimbleness has slashed, he still manages to keep up with a striking average of 5.9 Km per game.
His fitness takes him above and beyond the boundaries of sprinting as he is hailed to take some high-flying headers.
In the Serie A game between Juventus and Sampdoria, Ronaldo demonstrated his ability to jump, when he reached a ball, which was 2.56 m high, and banged it with his head, scoring a ridiculous goal. Cristiano Ronaldo’s vertical leap was 71 cm, 28 inches when scoring that world-class goal.
Basketball - 4kms/game
A hard-working NBA starter will cover around four kilometres per game. Bulls Guard Jimmy Butler is one of the league's fittest players, averaging about 4.3 km a game.
Tennis - 5kms/game
Obviously, this changes a lot depending on an individual's play style and the length of the match. John Isner and Nicolas Mahut are estimated to have covered nearly 10km in their marathon match at Wimbledon in 2010.
Rugby - 7kms/game
International rugby players cover about 7kms per match with backs getting through slightly more work than the big men.
Field Hockey: 10kms
According to Tribesports, field hockey players travel more than athletes in almost any other sport, chasing and defending the ball for nearly 10km during 70 minutes of play.
Badminton - 6.4km
Although a badminton match goes for less than half the time of a typical tennis match (between two hours and 45 minutes and three hours for tennis), badminton players tend to run twice as far and hit nearly twice as many shots (badminton players run around 6.4km and tennis players around 3.2km).
Hence, it is important to see that every sport is extremely gruelling and has intensive routines attached to them. All sportspersons have different regimes to tackle the rigours of the sport and running is extremely important since they need to keep their fitness levels high in order to perform at 100%. Also, running loosens a sportsperson's muscles, and this is needed to prevent injuries like cramps, strains and muscle tears. On average, footballers run more than their compatriots in other sports, but this does not negate how physically taxing any sport can be.
A list of such sports:
Cricket:
Limited overs cricket: 2.4km per hour
Test cricket: 0.4 km per hour
Football: 11 km
Basketball: 4kms per game
Tennis - 5kms per game
Rugby - 7kms per game
Field Hockey - 10 kms
Badminton - 6.4 km
