The advent of camera and sensor technology has given players and coaches a completely new way to approach an athlete’s form and abilities in almost any sport. That includes even those sports with long histories and tradition — like cricket.
PitchVision is a London and Delhi-based cricket training company that is endorsed by some of the biggest names in cricket, like the England and Wales Cricket Board, the International Cricket Council and Cricket South Africa.
Their primary product is the PV/One system, which consists of two HD cameras and two sensors. Both the bowler and the batsman have one camera and one sensor pertaining to them. The cameras are set up behind each player, and the sensors are placed in front of them. This makes sure the bowler’s footwork is captured, along with the placement of the ball in front of the batsman.
PitchVision is able to track the ball in the air, and as it lands. The system is dually helpful for the batsman and the bowler—it tracks and analyzes the strong zones and weak zones of the batsman, and it presents the trajectory of the ball for the bowler.
The program takes about 10 minutes to set up, in any ground that can hold a wicket, and the end product is 25 detailed, graphic analyses of their play. The users can even look at every bowl over the course of the session.
Having a PitchVision account automatically qualifies the subscriber to a vast library of player analysis videos. And anybody can upload their own practice videos to the larger PitchVision community. This creates an ever-extensive set of data points, and the PitchVision database can be searched with specific requests.
The only issue with PitchVision at the moment is its steep price tag. This makes it difficult for most individuals to own a system, but a number of academies have invested in it and technology will surely continue to spread throughout the sport of Cricket.