Cricket Podiatry in MelbourneWhere the Front Foot Lands

Because of what happens at front-foot contact. The bowler decelerates a running body onto one foot and then vaults over it, driving several times body weight through the foot in a fraction of a second - then repeats it every ball, every over, all season.

The foot is absorbing forces it was never designed to take repeatedly, in a boot that offers little cushioning. That is why bowling injuries are overwhelmingly overuse injuries, and why workload management actually works. Read our guide to stress fractures.

That blocking, pinching sensation at the front of the ankle is characteristic of anterior ankle impingement. At front-foot contact the shin is driven hard over the foot, forcing the joint to its absolute end range.

Repeated thousands of times, the tissue and bone at the front of the joint become irritated. It is mechanical, and it responds to restoring joint movement and addressing the loading pattern - not to rest alone. Read more about ankle pain.

No. It is treated as an occupational hazard, but it is fundamentally a boot-fit and pressure problem. The back foot drags, the toe jams the front of the boot, the nail bruises and eventually lifts.

Toe-box shape, boot length, lacing technique and padding all change how much force reaches the nail. We treat the nail safely and fix the pressure that caused it.

Possibly, yes. A vague, deep ache across the top of the arch that comes on with bowling and settles with rest can be a navicular stress fracture. Because that bone has a limited blood supply, a delayed diagnosis makes recovery considerably harder and can lead to surgery.

It is the cricket niggle we would rather see early and rule out than miss. If it has been there more than a fortnight, book it.

No, and this is the one place we will not negotiate. A stress fracture is a bone that has begun to fail under repeated load. Continuing to bowl on it turns a stress reaction into a complete fracture, and in the navicular it can mean surgery and a lost season.

What we can do is manage the return properly: imaging to confirm the site, a period of protected loading, correcting the mechanics and boots that overloaded the bone, and a staged rebuild of your over count.

They are often a large part of it. Bowling boots are built stiff and low-cushioned for stability at the crease, which is exactly what you do not want when absorbing repeated high-impact landings.

Sole stiffness, spike layout, toe-box shape and how worn the midsole is all feed directly into heel pain, forefoot overload and bowler's toe. Reviewing your boots is one of the cheapest interventions available to a cricketer.

Pain that eases once you are warm but flares the next morning is a signal, not something to push through for a whole season. Tendons and the plantar fascia respond best to managed load and targeted strengthening, not to rest alone.

So we will usually keep you bowling while adjusting your overs and spells, and add shockwave therapy for cases that have dragged on. Read our guide to Achilles pain.

Yes - but they need to be made for the boot, not just for the foot. Bowling boots are a tight, low-volume environment, so a bulky device simply will not work.

Matt’s advanced orthotic manufacturing experience means we can build a device that fits the boot, tolerates front-foot impact, and still does its job. That said, plenty of cricketers need a better boot and a lower over count rather than an orthotic, and we will tell you if that is the case.

Yes, and it is a genuinely different problem to a bowler's. A keeper spends a day in deep knee flexion, rising and dropping through every delivery - sustained, repetitive loading of a joint in the position it least likes to be loaded.

Foot mechanics contribute more than most keepers realise, because a foot that collapses through the rise takes the knee inward with it. We assess the whole chain rather than the sore part. Read our guide to knee pain.

Junior fast bowlers warrant particular attention, because growing bones and open growth plates are absorbing adult-sized front-foot forces. Heel pain is commonly Sever’s disease, and persistent foot pain should be assessed rather than bowled through.

Sensible over limits, good boots and early assessment make an enormous difference. Alec is the exclusive podiatrist for the Maribyrnong Sports Academy and works with young athletes regularly. See our kids’ feet service.