International consensus statement on injury surveillance in cricket: a 2016 update
Consensus statement
John W Orchard1,2,
Craig Ranson3,
Benita Olivier4,
Mandeep Dhillon5,
Janine Gray6,7,
Ben Langley8,
Akshai Mansingh9,
Isabel S Moore3,
Ian Murphy10,
Jon Patricios11,12,
Thiagarajan Alwar13,
Christopher J Clark14,
Brett Harrop15,
Hussain I Khan16,
Alex Kountouris2,
Mairi Macphail17,
Stephen Mount18,
Anesu Mupotaringa19,
David Newman8,
Kieran O'Reilly20,
Nicholas Peirce8,21,
Sohail Saleem16,
Dayle Shackel10,
Richard Stretch22,
Caroline F Finch23
1School of Public Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
2Cricket Australia, National Cricket Centre, Brisbane, Australia
3Cardiff School of Sport, Cardiff Metropolitan University, Cardiff, Wales, UK
4Department of Physiotherapy, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa
5Department of Orthopaedics, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India
6Cricket South Africa, Cape Town, South Africa
7Exercise Science Camp, Sports Medicine, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
8England and Wales Cricket Board, National Cricket Performance Centre, Loughborough, UK
9Sports Medicine, University of the West Indies, Kingston, Jamaica
10New Zealand Cricket, High Performance Centre, Lincoln, New Zealand
11Section of Sports Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Pretoria, Johannesburg, South Africa
12Department of Emergency Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
13Sri Ramachandra University, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
14West Indies Cricket, St John's, Antigua and Barbuda
15Bangladesh Cricket Board, Sher-e- Bangla National Cricket Stadium, Dhaka, Bangladesh
16Sports Medicine Department, National Cricket Academy, Pakistan Cricket Board, Lahore, Pakistan
17National Cricket Academy, Cricket Scotland, Edinburgh, UK
18Sri Lanka Cricket, Colombo, Sri Lanka
19Zimbabwe Cricket, Harare, Zimbabwe
20Cricket Ireland, Dublin, Ireland
21Nottingham University Hospitals Trust, Centre for Sports Medicine, Nottingham, UK
22Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Port Elizabeth, South Africa
23Australian Centre for Research into Injury in Sport and its Prevention, Federation University Australia, Ballarat, Victoria, Australia
Correspondence to Dr John Orchard, Sports Medicine at Sydney University, Cnr Western Ave & Physics Rd, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia; johnworchard{at}gmail.com
Cricket was the first sport to publish recommended methods for injury surveillance in 2005. Since then, there have been changes to the nature of both cricket and injury surveillance. Researchers representing the major cricket playing nations met to propose changes to the previous recommendations, with an agreed voting block of 14. It was decided that 10 of 14 votes (70%) were required to add a new definition element and 11 of 14 (80%) were required to amend a previous definition. In addition to the previously agreed 'Match time-loss' injury, definitions of 'General time-loss', 'Medical presentation', 'Player-reported' and 'Imaging-abnormality' injuries are now provided. Further, new injury incidence units of match injuries per 1000 player days, and annual injuries per 100 players per year are recommended. There was a shift towards recommending a greater number of possible definitions, due to differing contexts and foci of cricket research (eg, professional vs amateur; injury surveillance systems vs specific injury category studies). It is recommended that researchers use and report as many of the definitions as possible to assist both comparisons between studies within cricket and with those from other sports.
In 2005, cricket was the first sport to publish recommended methods for injury surveillance.1 This has given rise to cricket injury surveillance publications that have employed relatively consistent methodologies.2–6 However, there has not been universal uptake of the original definitions due to issues such as the exclusion of non-time-loss injuries from the main injury definition,6–8 and updated definitions that have been introduced by some authors in response to the rise of T20 cricket.4 T20 cricket was a very minor part of the cricket calendar in 2005 and the original definitions were focused on longer forms of the game, but in the decade since, T20 cricket has emerged as an extremely prominent format of the game. For these reasons, during a series of meetings in 2014 and 2015, cricket injury researchers agreed to produce a revised injury surveillance consensus statement (to be called the 2016 update).
The original primary definition of a cricket injury was a 'match time-loss' definition (table 1).1 It was also noted that some cricket studies and surveillance systems might use a broader definition of injury such as a 'medical presentation' (table 1). Football (soccer)9 and rugby union10 followed cricket in publishing consensus statements, choosing to recommend three levels of definition, based on 'all physical complaints', 'medical presentations' and 'time-loss' (table 1). There has been debate about whether narrow/reliable definitions should be used in consensus statements11 or whether broader definitions are needed.7 It has also been proposed that tissue pathology/damage, which may be present even before an athlete becomes symptomatic, is the ultimate precursor to 'all injuries' (table 1).8 ,12
Types of definition of an injury possible in surveillance systems12 ,13
Since the definition of an injury may be different depending on the context of the study or research aim, an attempt by a consensus statement to encourage all research projects to use the same definitions is not necessarily appropriate.13 Therefore, this new consensus encourages research and injury surveillance projects to:
Be very clear on the exact methods that have been used, so that studies can be clearly understood and reproducible. Rather than only giving a brief statement that 'consensus methods were used', a description of the consensus methods employed should be provided;
When possible, multiple methods of presenting injury rates should be included so that other studies and systematic reviews can compare and compile different studies.
The process of updating definitions was initiated and formatted at several face-to-face meetings:
On 13 April 2014 at the 4th IOC World Conference on Prevention of Injury and Illness in Sport in Monaco, attended by CF, ISM, IM, JO, JP, CR and RS;
On 26 March 2015 at the 5th World Congress on Science and Medicine in Cricket, in Sydney, attended by MD, CF, JG, BL, AM, BO, JO, CR and TA;
On 28 August 2015 in Cardiff between the two senior authors JO and CR.
Sadly, one of our proposed consensus group and the first author to publish multiple studies14–17 on cricket injury surveillance, RS, died after a short illness in late 2014. It was decided unanimously to include him posthumously in this consensus publication.
The group determined by negotiation and eventual agreement that the following methods would be used as the basis for this new consensus statement:
That the previous consensus recommendations form the basis for this new statement, with the default definition for any component being the previous statement;
That changes and additions should be determined by a nomination process with a vote made on whether to accept or reject changes;
That voting for changes and additions would be primarily on the basis of country representation (one vote per International Cricket Council (ICC) member nation) with two additional voting blocks allowed outside the ICC members to represent; the ICC itself, community level (non-professional and age-group) cricket researchers;
That amending an item from previous recommendations required 11 of 14 (∼80%) of the new group to agree to any proposed change;
To add a new item required a slightly lower threshold of 10 of 14 (∼70%) of the new group to agree.
It was agreed that there should be 14 votes, shared among the 23 voting authors, as follows (voting authors in italics):
ICC (CR, IM), Community (non-elite) cricket (JP, DN), Australia (JO, AK), England (BL, NP), India (MD, AT), New Zealand (DS, IM), Pakistan (HIK, SS), South Africa (JG, BO), West Indies (AM, CJC), Bangladesh (BH), Sri Lanka (SM), Zimbabwe (AM), Ireland (KO'R), Scotland (MM).
CF, who was a key leader of the consensus process, temporarily withdrew from the process during voting for personal reasons. She was re-included as a non-voting author after the voting process had been concluded.
There was no funding provided for a stand-alone meeting for all authors to attend, so the negotiations and voting processes were carried out with the entire group via email (to include representatives from countries who could not attend any of the meetings). The time period of April–September 2015 was allocated to nominate additions and changes to the first author for consideration. All nominated additions and changes were circulated to the group on 17 October 2015, with a time period of 3 months given for representatives to discuss the changes among themselves and for the voting representatives to indicate their decision to the first author via email.
A subgroup of JO, CR, BO and CF (a non-voting author) managed the revision process.
Where no reference to previous methods is made in these results, the methods previously published are retained. The following definition elements have been changed or recommended for inclusion by this consensus group (for a summary of all definitions, refer to online supplementary appendix I and figure 1):
Summary of key injury definitions.
Injury definitions
'Match time-loss' injuries
A 'significant' cricket injury in 2005 was defined as:
Any injury or other medical condition that either: (1) prevents a player from being fully available for selection for a major match or (2) during a major match, causes a player to be unable to bat, bowl or keep wicket when required by either the rules or the team's captain.
This definition is retained, but not as the only recommended definition of a cricket injury. Although previously referred to as a 'significant' injury, the preferred new term is 'match time-loss' injury.
For this category (and all other categories below), the definition is inclusive of illnesses, so that the term 'injury' refers to injury or illness.
With respect to notes on the definition for match time-loss injury, a domestic, franchise or international T20 match is now to be considered a major match.
It is noted that mention of 'batting with a runner' in the previous definition terms has been removed as runners are no longer allowed in major matches.
A further note of clarification is that, on the basis of the definition of causing an actual match to be missed, a player can only be suffering from one 'match time-loss' injury at any given time. For example, if a player suffers a concussion and fractured nose in a single incident and misses match playing time, only the more severe of the two (as determined by the medical staff) would count as a 'match time-loss' injury. With respect to other definitions provided later, both of these could be considered as injuries.
It should also be noted that when surveillance is being performed at community or amateur level, if a 'match time-loss' definition is used, then a major match will need to be defined.
Alternate injury definitions are optional in this new consensus statement and injury surveillance systems are encouraged to report injury rates in multiple formats. Since multiple definitions are permitted, studies which use 'consensus methods' need to make clear in their methods exactly which definitions were used.
'General time-loss' injuries
It was unanimously agreed to include an alternate injury definition of 'general time-loss' injuries. A general time-loss injury is any injury (or illness) that results in a player being considered unavailable for match-play, irrespective of whether a match or training was actually scheduled. The difference between a general time-loss injury and a match time-loss injury is that the latter only considers injuries that cause the player to be unavailable on scheduled match days, as opposed to at all times for general time-loss injuries, for example, training days, days off, off-season.
Three other injury definitions have been added to the new consensus statement.
'Medical attention' injuries
A medical attention injury is 'any health-related condition that required medical (or medical staff) attention and had the potential to affect cricket training or playing'. It therefore includes time-loss and non-time-loss injuries.
'Player-reported' injuries
A player-reported injury is any condition which was considered to represent an injury by the player (or parent/teacher on the player's behalf, with respect to junior players in teams without medical staff). This definition is highly subjective and reliant on player engagement with injury surveillance. It is recommended (only) for use in surveillance of community cricket where medical staff are not necessarily in attendance. When using this definition, only regional diagnoses should be used (eg, knee, shoulder and back) and broad onset of injury (eg, batting, bowling and fielding) rather than with additional details, as players do not necessarily have the expertise to make accurate diagnoses.
'Imaging-abnormality' injuries
An imaging-abnormality (injury) is any condition which gives rise to abnormal findings on specific medical imaging. This definition is not recommended for general injury surveillance. It should only be used in studies that examine a specific body part or cricket injury type (eg, lumbar bone stress injuries) in conjunction with other (clinical) definitions. Only non-invasive and non-radiating imaging (eg, ultrasound, MRI) should be used to assess tissue integrity in an asymptomatic player (ie, when peformed for research and not for clinical management purposes). Any use of this type of injury definition must recognise that there is a high prevalence of abnormal imaging findings in otherwise clinically normal athletes.
Mode of onset
We suggest differentiating between the following different modes of onset:
Sudden-onset non-contact injury (eg, ankle sprain during the bowling run-up);
Impact/traumatic injury (blow or contact) (eg, fractured rib due to collision with another player);
Gradual onset associated with bowling/running/throwing/batting practice/weight training (eg, low back pain with gradual onset which is experienced during and aggravated by the fast bowling action);
Insidious (gradual and no identifiable mode of onset) (eg, posterior thigh pain which started with no identifiable cause);
Medical illness (eg, the flu, gastroenteritis).
The mechanism of injury should be described as this will assist in an accurate mode of injury classification. It is furthermore important to specify whether the injury was sustained outside cricket as these may still affect cricket participation.
Definitions of injury recovery and recurrence
The definition of injury recurrence and injury recovery will depend on the specific injury definition employed. In general terms, a recurrent injury is one of the same type which reoccurs in the same season (surveillance year) after it has been defined as recovered.
Match time-loss injuries
As per the original recommendations, 'An injury is considered recovered once a player has returned to full (unrestricted) participation in at least one match (of any type or grade). A recurrent injury is one to the same side and body part, and of the same injury type, as an injury that previously qualified as an injury earlier in the same season, but which had recovered.' For a match time-loss injury, recovery is return to an actual match.
General time-loss injuries
Recovery from a general time-loss injury differs from recovery for a match time-loss injury, in that they have recovered once the medical staff consider that the player has returned to match availability, regardless of whether a match is scheduled for that day or not.
Medical presentation injuries
Recovery from a medical presentation injury is determined by the injury no longer needing 'active' medical management (or, if the injury required ongoing medical management for the entire surveillance period, at the end of that surveillance period). Recurrence occurs when an injury that no longer required medical management re-entered this category in the same year.
It should be noted that some cricket injuries may never fully recover during a player's career. However, ongoing treatments aimed at maintaining, rather than improving a player's condition (such as strapping, manual therapy and exercises aimed at injury prevention), are not considered 'active' medical interventions. Moreover, the occurrence of some injuries may be related to previous injuries, even when they are not defined as recurrences or have fully resolved.18
Injury incidence measures
Calculation of injury incidence
Injury incidence analyses the number of new injuries (or new plus recurrent) occurring over a given time period, and should be measured in either or all of the following major formats.
Match injury incidence
Match incidence considers only those injuries occurring during major matches. This can be calculated in two types of unit (overall, with a time-based denominator and with a delivery-based denominator if considering batting or bowling injuries separately). A 'delivery' is the preferred term in cricket for a ball, although the two terms are interchangeable (analogous to a baseball pitch). Six deliveries make up one over, which is the other major unit of counting bowling.
The numerator should be the 'number of injuries', and can include either new injuries or total injuries (new plus recurrent). The denominator should either be stated as injuries per number of player hours, or number of player days, or both (1).
Calculation of batting and/or bowling match incidence can be made with a delivery-based denominator. The numerator should be the number of batting injuries and/or bowling injuries, and can include either new injuries or total injuries (new plus recurrent). The denominator for bowling match injuries should be deliveries (or overs) bowled. The denominator for batting match injuries should be deliveries faced. The preferred units being:
Match injuries from all phases (batting, bowling and fielding): injuries per 1000 player days (or matches for community levels of cricket where multiple days are not played); bowling injuries: injuries per 10 000 deliveries bowled; batting injuries: injuries per 10 000 deliveries faced. Bowling injuries could alternatively be converted into a unit of bowling injuries per 1000 overs bowled (1 over=6 deliveries).
Match injury incidence is the preferred injury incidence measure to be used for tournaments where multiple teams play an intense period of matches in a specific time period.
Recommended new incidence unit: match injuries (new, recurrent or combined) per 1000 player days.
Training injury incidence
Training incidence can be separately measured from match incidence, although measuring exposure is extremely difficult, given the multiple phases of training (batting, bowling, fielding, general conditioning and resistance/strength training). The difficulty of subdividing training injuries for all phases (including exact calculation of exposure) is probably beyond even the most sophisticated current injury surveillance systems. However, specific measurement of bowling workload at training (number of deliveries bowled) is both recommended and now undertaken by many teams, so bowling injury incidence at matches and training can be measured. It is recommended to use the same units (and therefore count or calculate deliveries bowled, rather than overs bowled in training sessions, so as to be able to use the unit of bowling injuries per 10 000 deliveries bowled).
Seasonal and yearly injury incidence
Seasonal incidence is defined as the number of defined injuries occurring per squad per season. This allows match injuries, training injuries and also gradual onset and insidious onset injuries to be combined in the one measurement. A squad in 2005 was defined as 25 players, and a season was defined as 60 days of scheduled match play.1 ,4 ,19–21 The recommended unit of measurement was injuries per squad per season, with a 'squad season' being defined as 1500 (25 multiplied by 60) player days. The use of an injury incidence measurement which combined match, training and gradual onset injuries is particularly useful when performing longitudinal surveillance, especially given studies which have reported high workloads leading to delayed rather than immediate increase in injury risk.22 ,23
However, the choice of a squad being 25 players and a season being 60 match days is no longer representative of international cricket in particular, which has evolved into a 9–12-month schedule for the major teams. Squad size and number of days could be adjusted to compare different scenarios. However, for simplicity and ease of comparative calculation, we now recommend using annual injury incidence rather than seasonal injury incidence. This considers a temporal exposure of 365 calendar days rather than 60 match days, and given this change, a study should report the actual number of match days for a squad/team in a given year. In terms of determining the recommended size of a squad, 100 players is also recommended for simplicity. In practice, no squad is as large as 100 players, but there is also no longer a 'typical' squad size. If 100 players are chosen, the unit of injuries per 100 players per year can easily be recalculated to any preferred squad size. The number of injuries per 100 players per year can also rapidly be converted (with a move of the decimal point) as number of injuries per player per year.
Recommended new incidence unit: annual injuries (new, recurrent or combined) per 100 players per year. Incidence can be reported as a rate with an accompanying 95% CI. This should be always be carried out when surveying just a sample of the population (eg, a few of many teams in a competition).
Injury prevalence measures
Injury prevalence considers the average number of squad members not available for selection through injury or illness for a given time period, divided by the total number of squad members. Injury prevalence should be expressed as a percentage, representing the percentage of players missing through injury on average for that team for the season in question.
Injury prevalence as calculated in the 2005 recommendations should now be referred to as 'match injury prevalence'. It is calculated using the numerator of 'missed player games', with a denominator of number of games multiplied by the number of squad members. An injury prevalence figure of, say, 12% indicates that for the matches played in the time period under survey, on average 12% of players were unavailable for match-play because of injury or illness.
Injury prevalence can also be presented, also as a percentage of players unavailable, on the basis of general time-loss status taking into account daily status over a tournament or a 365-day period. This injury prevalence should be referred to as 'annual injury prevalence' when used for 365 days or 'general injury prevalence' if used, say, for a tournament. Match injury prevalence and annual injury prevalence will be related as the former is a subset of the latter. Match injury prevalence only takes into account status on days where major matches are actually scheduled, whereas annual injury prevalence includes the former plus training and off-days.
Characterisation of player role and activity at the time of injury
With respect to injury prevalence measures and yearly (or seasonal) injury incidence rates, a player should be categorised by his or her usual playing role as either a: batsman, fast (pace) bowler, slow (spin) bowler or wicketkeeper.
With respect to match injury incidence within the various phases of the game, a player should be categorised by the role they were undertaking at the time of injury, that is, batting, bowling or fielding. Therefore, a player who is usually a fast bowler is categorised as such when taking into account injury prevalence and yearly injury incidence; when considering the rate of bowling match injuries, this player is only considered as a bowler in the act of actually bowling. When batting, any injury sustained (even by a player who is considered a bowler) is a batting injury and when injured fielding one's own bowling, this injury is considered a fielding injury.
In the previous recommendations, a regular bowler was defined at the start of each season as a player who averaged more than five overs bowled in matches played during any of the previous two seasons. This criterion should be superseded, as a T20 bowler is only allowed to bowl a maximum of four overs per match. Bowlers, therefore, are now best defined as players who have bowled more than 10% of the overs bowled by their team in matches that they played in, for either of the two previous seasons ('either of two' qualifications included to capture an 'all-rounder' who may have played as a batsman only for a part of a single season due to injury). This 10% rule can also be applied to wicketkeepers (a wicketkeeper is a player who has kept wicket for more than 10% of overs that they have been on the field for, meaning that part-time wicketkeepers are defined generally as wicketkeepers rather than batsmen).
The position of 'all-rounder' is not generally recommended for surveillance purposes, as every bowler is required to bat at times and many batsmen can occasionally bowl. However, if it is to be used, the suggestion of using batting average as a cut-off (made in the previous recommendations) has been rendered unwieldy by the rise of T20 cricket. A preferred definition now is that an 'all-rounder' is a regular bowler (ie, someone who regularly bowls at least 10% of a team's overs) who, for the majority of the innings, bats in the top seven batting positions.
Bowlers should be stratified initially (and primarily) into fast (or pace) and slow (or spin). The categorisation between the two is usually clear-cut, with a key difference being that the wicketkeeper will always stand directly behind the stumps for slow/spin bowlers. Bowlers can be subcategorised, within the pace spectrum, as 'fast', 'fast-medium' and 'medium', and within the spin category as off/finger spin and leg/wrist spin. The player profiles listed by ESPN (Wisden) Cricinfo (http://www.espncricinfo.com/) tend to be universally accepted.
Additional definitions of time frames and cohorts
Definition of time-frames
Although cricket has traditionally (in the temperate countries) been played for ∼6 months of the year; at the international and professional level, the calendar now approaches 12 months of competition. At amateur levels, competition is typically held over shorter blocks, for example, 6 months. To account for this distinction, it is suggested to move from measures of 'seasonal' injuries to 'annual' injury rates.
A suggested start date for annual surveillance may be at the end of the southern hemisphere season or start of the Indian Premier League (IPL) competition (when many international teams have a 'window' in their schedule), although this should not be prescriptive. It remains sensible for some northern hemisphere teams to use the calendar year. Regardless of what start date is chosen, it should be included in the methods of injury surveillance research papers.
When conducting surveillance for periods less than a year, the following guidelines could be used:
The traditional 6–8-month cricket season could also report 'annual' injury rates with the notation that this may miss 'off-season' injuries. For (adult) players who only play one sport (ie, cricket), the injury rate for a cricket 'season' would almost equate to an 'annual' rate. For junior players who may play, say, one of the football codes in winter and cricket in summer, it would be important to note that a rate was a 'seasonal' incidence rate (not including injuries from the other sport) rather than an 'annual' incidence rate (which would include injuries sustained while playing other sports).
For a tournament that lasted for, say, 2 months, injury rates could theoretically be multiplied by six to give an 'annual' injury incidence based on the hypothetical situation of a similar tournament being indefinitely played six times per year. However, in reporting tournament injury incidence (eg, for a World Cup, or in a domestic T20 competition), it may be preferable to use match injury incidence rates rather than annual incidence rates.
Definition of cohorts
The cohort to be followed for a given team should be referred to as the 'squad'. A match-day team generally consists of 11 players (11 active players and the 12th man), whereas a squad for a team contains a varied number of players. The squad to be followed can consist of any number of players, which should be recorded for all times of surveillance (ie, for the entire year if annual surveillance is being undertaken).
A squad should be chosen at the start of the surveillance period, determined in advance. Therefore, injury rates will consider those players who become injured as well as those who avoid injury, and it is possible that a squad will contain injured players at the start of the surveillance period. A squad might consist of a team's designated list of contracted or registered players, or a group of players selected for a particular tournament. However, players may need to be added if they are chosen to play for the team from outside the initial squad. Similarly, players who are de-registered, or are dropped from a contracted professional or international squad, should be removed.
The definition of a squad member for a team may be varied, but an example is as follows:
Any player under contract to the team in question (or a 'registered' player at amateur level).
Any other player who plays in the team first XI (not including 12th man or a fielding substitute) or tours overseas with the team, from the time of his/her first game (or the first tour match) until the end of the cricket year or season (when a new round of contracts is awarded).
For tournament injury surveillance, if the cohort is determined to be the selected squad for the tournament, it should be noted that there would be a strong bias towards injured players not being selected (although occasionally they are, in the hope that they may become fit early on during the tournament). Injury prevalence for tournaments with cohorts chosen in this fashion are likely to be lower than injury prevalence for contracted players on an annual basis, as the tournament cohort is biased against players suffering from pre-existing injuries (who make up a high proportion of the injured cohort when considering injury prevalence).
For additional information pertaining to injury surveillance systems, refer to online supplementary appendix II.
This consensus statement has evolved from the original recommendations of 2005. The evolution of this consensus statement is from being prescriptive ('all studies should use the following methods') to descriptive ('all studies should conduct the most complete injury surveillance possible and clearly describe the methodology'), emulating statements such as PRISMA24 and STROBE.25
A greater motivation for an updated consensus statement is to lead to consistency within the sport of cricket as well as between sports, using definitions that may be compared to those used in other sports. There has also been a greater appreciation that it is impossible and unwise to try to formulate a fixed set of definitions to suit all types of studies within a single sport. Given the concession that definitions will therefore need to vary, the focus of this consensus statement has moved to clarity in choosing and reporting methods used.
The difficulty in providing a single injury definition that will suit all purposes with respect to a sport or injury surveillance system within a sport has been discussed.12 ,13 To illustrate this argument in a cricket context, consider how shoulder injuries might best be defined in the following circumstances:
To determine whether certain countries/teams or years had higher rates of shoulder injuries than others, a 'time-loss' injury definition may be preferable, as it is the most easily captured, objective and reliable indicator of a significant injury;
To determine shoulder injury rates during a cricket tournament, a 'medical presentation' injury definition may be preferable, as all teams will have medical and/or physiotherapy staff who could hopefully keep consistent data over a limited time period during a tournament;
To determine shoulder injury rates in amateur cricketers, a 'player-report' definition based on physical symptoms may be preferable, as amateurs may or may not have presented to any medical staff with their symptoms but should be able to recall symptoms that have occurred within a reasonable time period, for example, the past year;
To study the development of pathology in the shoulder and its relationship to symptom development in cricketers, a study using an 'abnormal imaging' injury definition, based on ultrasound scan or MRI findings performed on cricketers without shoulder symptoms, could be employed.
Although time-loss definitions are preferable to medical attention injuries in many circumstances, there is one emerging injury category of importance where a medical attention definition is preferable: concussion and head impact injuries. Given the long-term concerns relating to concussion, it is recommended that injury surveillance systems keep a record of all head/neck/helmet impacts irrespective of whether or not they meet the threshold for a concussion diagnosis. That is, any impact to the head or neck region which would prompt the medical staff to ask the player whether they had suffered any symptoms (ie, generate medical attention based on the observed event rather than any symptoms), even if the player claims to have not suffered any injury or symptoms.
Injuries per number of player hours is, in theory, most accurate, but its relevance has been lessened by the rise of T20 cricket.4 A day in which a T20 game is scheduled generating the same number of injuries as a day in which a 50-over match is scheduled would appear to have an injury incidence that was 2.5 times higher, because there were fewer overs bowled. Therefore, a unit of injuries (numerator) over player days (denominator, considering 11 players in action per day) could be used, which is simpler and more representative of actual risk (in a given time period).4 This is analogous to comparing injury rates of various Track athletic events in a per event rate (100 m=one event; Marathon=one event) rather than a rate per hour of competition participation, which would make sprint events appear to be far riskier than distance events.
There are other circumstances specific to cricket where standard definitions are problematic. Within the realm of T20 cricket, some countries have moved to a 'franchise' model of T20 teams which are contractually and operationally distinct from the traditional domestic teams, whereas other countries still combine contracts to play T20 and longer forms of cricket for a single team. It would be inappropriate to state that T20 team cohorts should be either distinct from or combined with longer form surveillance cohorts, as the situation in different countries should lead to a different approach.
A somewhat unique cricket problem when assessing availability to play is the requirement of all players to be able to bat, but only some players need to bowl. The player who is fit to bat but not fit to bowl may be available for selection if their batting ability warrants, but not if selection would rely on also being fit to bowl. For some players who are 'part-time' bowlers but are unfit to bowl, it can be difficult and somewhat subjective to determine if they are missing a game whether this is truly due to injury or selector preference. This is particularly the case where a player continues to play as a batsman only and remains unfit to bowl. A guideline from these definitions is that this would equate to being unavailable through injury for a 'regular bowler', but we concede that these determinations may need to be made on a case-by-case basis. The difficulty is increased if a player is available to bowl but with workload limits recommended by medical staff that effectively result in non-selection in the longer forms of the game.
This complexity of role in cricket has led to our recommendation that injury surveillance systems avoid 'training time-loss' definitions, as many players regularly train in partial fashion. This would render the concept of a 'missed training session' to be too difficult to determine on too many occasions. For a 'general time-loss' injury, we have opted to recommend a daily binary status of 'considered fit to play a cricket match/not fit to play a cricket match' with the role and type of match necessarily being player-specific (ie, what type of match and in what role would a player be expected to be next fit for?).
In conclusion, these new consensus definitions are presented to offer greater flexibility to researchers at choosing methods which suit their study type and encouraging greater rigour in reporting to allow comparison between studies within cricket, and between sports.
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This web only file has been produced by the BMJ Publishing Group from an electronic file supplied by the author(s) and has not been edited for content.
Data supplement 1 - Online appendix
Twitter John Orchard @DrJohnOrchard, Craig Ranson @craigarxl, Isabel Moore @IzzyMoorePhD, Jon Patricios @jonpatricios, Nicholas Peirce @peirce123 and Caroline Finch, @CarolineFinch
Competing interests JO (and other authors affiliated with various national cricket boards and associations) declare an interest in being paid either salary or consultancies to provide services for the various associations that they are affiliated with. However, no author was funded or paid specifically to directly work on this paper or project.
Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/
'Keeping you active'—the Australasian College of Sport and Exercise Physicians
Hamish Osborne
British Journal of Sports Medicine 2016; 50 1227-1227 Published Online First: 30 Sep 2016. doi: 10.1136/bjsports-2016-096826


CARTER'S QUARTER
ON THE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
Originally the property of the Treasurer of the Cherokee Nation, Judge John Martin, the house was built around 1800. Bowing to the inevitable, Judge Martin, his two wives and their children, emigrated to the West in 1836. Records are unclear as to how many of their 80 slaves they took with them. By going when they did, the Martins were spared the horrors of the forced removal of the Cherokees remaining in present-day Murray County in 1838.
Original House Built Around 1800 by Judge John Martin
In the 1832 Land Lottery the Martin property (Lot Number 45) was awarded to Sarah Bosworth; she in turn sold it to Farish Carter the following year. Within a decade Carter had bought some 15,000 acres of land in north Georgia. His property in Murray County was the largest single unit, requiring hundreds of slaves to raise wheat, rye, oats, corn, tobacco, peas, beans, potatoes, rice and cotton. The Martin home became the summer residence for the Carter Family.
In 1850 Farish Carter reported to the U.S. Census that he owned 403 slaves involved with the operation of his Murray County property, by then called "Carter's Quarter." Later that year he turned the operation of this plantation over to his son James, who became the first of the family to live year-round in Murray County. The plantation continued to thrive under James and, even with the near-certainty that a war was about to start, the 1860 Census of Slaves indicates that 355 slaves remained at Carter's Quarter.
As a youth, Carter had run away from home, made himself a huge fortune, and was engaged in managing his numerous enterprises involving farms, steamboats, banks, ferries, factories, mills, and marble quarries spread across the southeastern United States and into the midwest.
Because Murray County was not in General Sherman's path, the plantation was spared. The family continued to manage the plantation employing most of the former slaves to work as paid laborers.
The Carters made several additions to the original Martin house. In 1935 they undertook a major renovation that involved removing the many additions, then building a duplicate of the original Martin house. The twins became wings flanking a new two-story section. The following year they installed electricity and indoor plumbing.
Carter's Quarter After Renovation of 1935
The house's 12 rooms feature plaster and pine-paneled walls with wainscoting. The original portion retains its original doors, ornate window casings and hand-carved mantels. Door hardware was wrought iron created on the premises. There is also a cantilevered staircase.
With exterior walls built of pine siding, accented by scalloped cornices, white columns, and gabled roofs, the renovated house is classified as "plain plantation" style. Somehow it's difficult to think of such a beautiful house as being "plain."
Nearby stand several outbuildings of by-gone eras. The old detached kitchen, a building for storing trunks of long-time visitors, the plantation office, and a slave cabin are all thought to date from about 1840. A dairy keeper's house, a barn, and a kettle house used for rendering lard were built in the early 1900s.
Reflecting the plantation's early association with the Cherokees, the various fields still carry the names used by the Martins in the early 1800s: Wood Fork Field, originally cultivated by Indians using tools that looked like wooden forks; the Race Field, so called because Indians ran races there; Six Toe Field was named for an Indian who had six toes;The Bell Field was named in honor of another wealthy Cherokee; and the Big Martin Field was named in honor of the builder of the original house on the site, Judge Martin. Other fields have less interesting names: the Town Field, Katherine Field, the Coniston Pasture, etc.
The Carter name has been applied to the town of Cartersville, Georgia as well as to the area immediately surrounding their Murray County plantation, which is now called Carters.
The family of Nancy Carter Bland currently owns the plantation and uses it for special family occasions.
A document in the National Archives in Washington, DC, regarding a debt owed to Colonel Farish Carter has been transcribed here:
Fort Gilmer, Ga.
I certify on honor that on or about the 1st of June 1838 Major M. Venable of the 2nd Regiment of Ga. Infantry who was at that time in command of this post issued an order that the cattle and ponies of captured Indians who were prisoners at this post, should be turned upon a field of oats containing ten acres more or less which was owned by Col. Farish Carter of this state.
I further certify that in obedience to said order that the stock of the said Indians above specified were turned upon the said field of oats and that they entirely consumed and destroyed all the oats growing upon said field before they were removed therefrom.
I also certify that Col. Farish Carter has received no compensation or renumeration from me as Qmaster of this post for the said field of oats.
W. J. Howard
A. A. 2 (illegible) Ga vols
Scholars interested in the business dealings of Farish Carter might want to consult his private papers, which were donated in 1940 to the University of North Carolina.
Univ of North Carolina has Carter papers described below:
Carter, Farish, 1780-1861. Farish Carter papers.
Finding aid available online: http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/inv/c/Carter,Farish
Manuscripts Department Library of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill SOUTHERN HISTORICAL COLLECTION #2230 FARISH CARTER PAPERS Inventory
Primarily business papers, 1830-1860, and some family correspondence. Most papers relate to Carter's buying, selling, and renting land in Georgia, Florida, and Tennessee; his financial interest in New Hope, a sugar plantation in Louisiana; his part ownership of the Coweta Falls Manufacturing Company, a textile mill in Columbus, Georgia; his buying, selling, and hiring out slaves; his investments in railroads, banks, gold mining, steamboats, toll bridges, ferries, mills, and other ventures; and his and his sons' operations of plantations in Georgia and Alabama.
Size: About 2800 items (2.5 linear feet). Provenance: Gift of Mrs. John L. Smith in 1940. Access: No restrictions. Copyright: Retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.


STUDIO PHOTOS
SHOW POSTERS
FAN ART & MEMES
Act Conceptualisation: Part 3
Song choice
A song that I'd had loitering in the back of my mind for some time, and thought might have act potential was I Let Love In by Nick Cave. It's a dark, gothic love song. I realized the lyrics were unexpectedly synchronous with the Ishtar concept I was planning for my Dark Act. I'm a little bit of a Nick Cave fan (ok fine, full disclosure – when he played at the Civic in Auckland recently I ended up going to both nights of the gig and went up the front with the Nick touchers). So I was fairly confident I wasn't going to get sick of hearing this song over and over while I rehearsed. Do you want to read the lyrics? Ok then, if you insist:
I Let Love In – Nick Cave
Despair and Deception, Love's ugly little twins
Came a-knocking on my door, I let them in
Darling, you're the punishment for all my former sins
I let love in
The door it opened just a crack, but love was shrewd and bold
My life flashed before my eyes, it was a horror to behold
A life sentence sweeping confetti from the floor of a concrete hole
Well, I've been bound and gagged and I've been terrorized
And I've been castrated and I've been lobotomized
But never has my tormentor come in such a cunning disguise
O Lord, tell me what I done
Please don't leave me here on my own
My friends are gone
So if you're sitting all alone and hear a-knocking at your door
And the air is full of promises, well buddy, you've been warned
Far worse to be Love's lover than the lover that Love has scorned
Dark, right? A song from the point of a view of a man who has been broken by his lover, but doesn't quite know how it happened….? Or maybe a cautionary tale about being in love with the idea of love… ? Perfect.
Performing The Dark Act. Photo: Peter Jennings
Giant wrist tassels in motion during The Dark Act. Photo: Peter Jennings
So I began the choreography. I'm fairly terrible at music theory, so at this point I realise that I'm confused by the time signature, which seems to be… 12/8…? Maybe? What the hell is that? For the time being let us describe it as a 'fucked-up waltz', because that is how I approached the track when choreographing. It felt like it had the romance and old-time momentum of a waltz, but with the extra beats threading under it like a wire, creating a kind of relentless tension. So when I perform to this song I move slowly, much more slowly than I'm used to. I move on the first accented beat mostly, and try to use the under-notes unexpectedly. There's something about the piano in this track that reminds me of a clavichord, I can't put my finger on it, but it feels like part of this song exists a couple of hundred years ago.
I'd been inspired by a video of the inimitable Lou Lou d'Vil performing one of her signature acts, using boas attached to her wrists. I was fascinated with how she used the boas, particularly how having them attached to the wrist was both similar to and diverged from using a boa as it's more conventionally employed – slung around the shoulders or neck, and tossed around. This was when I though of Ishtar's bracelets (as I mentioned earlier regarding costume inspiration) and became interested in using giant wrist tassels.
I wanted to see how the weight and the movement of the tassels would affect my dancing. It turns out, they had a significant effect on my movements. Unsurprisingly, giving the heavier, swinging, whippier quality of giant DIY tassel, the movement of the tassels and the resultant choreography realised itself as very different to that which one would do with a boa. I loved it. I tend to dance and communicate a lot with my hands, so having tassels on my wrists added to the tension and expressive qualities I was trying to create with my hand and arm shapes.
An idea that underlies most of my acts is to intentionally set out to challenge what society conventionally tells us is considered sexy. I knew for this act I was using more or less a classic burlesque costume, so if I desired to challenge what we consider sexy with this act, I wouldn't be relying on costume. It would be though performance, and performance only.
I decided the particular flavor of sexy I would aim for in this act was 'powerful... and terrifying'. Dark-avenging-goddess sexy. This was going to be fun. I was going to create a horror act without any of the usual trappings of horror – no blood, no fangs, no chainsaws, no violence.
What's more, if I did my job well, I knew I would hear barely a peep out of the audience. It's unnerving as a performer if you have the audience go quiet on you, but some acts they do. It's usually when they are really paying attention. Or it can just mean they hate the act... This is why it can be unnerving. With comic acts I find the audience reaction is usually more boisterous. However, in order to grow as a performer I have tried not to let my love of a laughing audience put me off exploring different styles of performance.
The act itself I'm still learning to perform to it's full potential, currently it's in the refinement and polishing phase. But I love it. I'm very much looking forward to seeing how it evolves and what it's final form takes. If you've seen The Dark Act, or Coney Bow's Dancer in Green, does having an idea of the conceptual underpinning of this act make you consider the act in a different way? Is that a good thing? Or do you prefer to take performances at face value and make your own meanings of them? If you are a performer, how do you go about conceptualising your own acts? Feel free to comment!
Parts 1 & 2 of this series on act conceptualisation can be found on the main blog page
Theda Bara in Salome (1918)
Theda Bara as Cleopatra (1917)
Silent movie stars, playing to strengths, Egyptology & Theda Bara
When I was a new performer, one of my mentors Misty La Moore (who can always be relied on to boost a girl's ego when she needs it) used to say that on stage I had the face of a silent movie actress. So I decided that I'd explore this skill which I'd accidentally stumbled across, silent movie face-pulling (if that's a skill?), and try and build it into an entire act.
I went back to some of my favourite silent movies for research. I was focusing on Theda Bara, the original silent movie vamp. She was always portrayed as the dark character, the man-trap who used her sexuality to her advantage, the exotic 'other'. The vamp character originated, well, because people are sometimes really racist, and this character was created to play on stereotypes and demonise eastern European migrants in the West. (If you think this doesn't happen now take a look at how British Media portrays Roma Gypsies.)
I had also been looking into the 1920s' obsession with Egyptology. With the discovery of Tutenkhaman's tomb in 1922, the west went Egypt-mad. In 1893 the performer 'Little Egypt' (or one of three performers going under the name of 'Little Egypt's) had performed at the Chicago World's Fair. As a result the 'cooch' style of dancing, based on Syrian & Egyptian folkloric dance styles, had become a staple of burlesque shows in the following decades.
So I decided Eastern Mythology was my theme. Flowing on from this, I wanted to incorporate some old-style belly-dance influenced bump and grind moves into my act.
I loved the images of Theda Bara in her roles as Salome and Cleopatra, so I started looking at characters and costumes that would relate to this idea.
The character
I was attracted to the idea of doing an act based on the goddess Ishtar, as Theda Bara might have played her. Ishtar was the Babylonian/Assyrian goddess of love, the night, fertility, sexuality, and war, but who had a tendency to destroy her lovers. This was the perfect vamp character – exotic, seductive and destructive.
Old Babylonian period Queen of Night relief, often considered to represent an aspect of Ishtar.
Ishtar. Note the layered skirt and 'wings' which came to be a part of my final costume. I wanted a lion too.
"Woe to him whom Ishtar had honoured! The fickle goddess treated her passing lovers cruelly, and the unhappy wretches usually paid dearly for the favours heaped on them."
One of the most famous myths about Ishtar describes her descent to the underworld. In this myth, Ishtar approaches the gates of the underworld and demands that the gatekeeper open them:
If thou openest not the gate to let me enter,
I will break the door, I will wrench the lock,
I will smash the door-posts, I will force the doors.
I will bring up the dead to eat the living.
And the dead will outnumber the living.
The gatekeeper hurried to tell Ereshkigal, the Queen of the Underworld. Ereshkigal told the gatekeeper to let Ishtar enter, but "according to the ancient decree". The gatekeeper let Ishtar into the underworld, opening one gate at a time. At each gate, Ishtar had to shed one article of clothing. When she finally passed the seventh gate, she was naked.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ishtar
Shedding clothing? Why, it just so happens I'm into that!
Naked, you say? What a great idea!
But in all seriousness, if shedding clothing is a part of one of my routines, I do like to know the motivation for why a character I'm playing might be undressing.
The costume
I began to research Ishtar for costume inspiration. I was interested in Eastern-inspired 1920s costumes and sought out archival imagery as a starting point. Many sketches of swathes of shimmering beaded fringe and loops of beading were made.
left and far left: vintage belly dance costumes
above: Theda Bara
As a goddess of the night, I decided her dress must be dark and glittery. The sparkle was important not only for glamour, but to pick out the contours of the black costume, so it doesn't disappear against black stage backgrounds. I had a hunch the contrast between the black costume and my skin under stage lights would make my skin glow almost supernaturally.
I'm facinated by classic burlesque and showgirl headdresses, and wanted to take on the technical challenge of making a headdress with significant structural demands (my first). As Ishtar is referred to as a 'cow moon goddess', I decided to construct a horned headdress. The horns were literally made from number eight wire (or a wire gauge that was pretty damn close), and I constructed the form for the horns out of packaging that a motorcycle magazine had come in.
left: A burlesque performer with horned headdress, circa 1950s
above: the final headdress
The layered skirt is based on representations of Ishtar's dress in bas-relief carvings (above). The cape references the wing forms usually depicted behind her. She's most often depicted naked, wearing only an ornamental headdress, an ornate necklace and bracelets at her wrists. These costume elements are what I strip down to, forming the basis of my final reveal. On the eve of my first performance my flatmate told me the underwear piece that I constructed looked 'like sparkly pubes'. Success!
Under-layers of the costume
left: bellydance inspired panel skirt. photo: Peter Jennings
above: beaded G-string pant piece (a.k.a. sparkly pubes). photo: Adam Baines
I accompanied my luxe-gothic costume with period-appropriate makeup. This was based on photos of Theda Bara and a Russian actress that I had used for costume inspiration. Conveniently the Kryolan concept store had just opened in Newmarket (a glorious wonderland!). There I was able to find the blackest of black and cochineal coloured eye shadows to recreate 1920s makeup.
The actual makeup they used when filming silent movies was rather unusual. In order to be able to be registered by the primitive cameras, blues, lavenders and yellows were used to contour the face. I suspected it looked truly bizarre in real life, so I aimed to approximate how the make-up would have appeared on screen, rather than in reality.
left: a vintage photograph of a Russian actress
above: makeup for silent film
Part 3 of 3 to follow...
What is the thought process behind creating an act?
Backstage at a show towards the end of last year I had a conversation with burlesque performer Coney Bow about act conceptualisation. She mentioned that her Dancer in Green act was based on the Hollywood Ballet Green Duet between Cyd Charisse and Gene Kelly in the movie Singin' in the Rain. In this bar scene Charisse's character is drawn from her chair into a dance with Kelly's character Don Lockwood. Coney Bow's act is based on the extrapolation and interpretation of what Charisse's character would do if Don didn't turn up. The act explores how Charisse's character would move and act if she were dancing with herself.
I found it an interesting discussion, her comments gave me an insight into her act that I otherwise wouldn't have had. While this perspective is by no means essential to enjoying her act, I found it added an extra layer of depth to her performance. As someone who is very much the type of person who goes around art galleries reading the wall labels, I get a kick out of hearing the concept behind people's acts. As with wall labels, I don't think a conceptual explanation is essential to understanding or enjoying the art itself, but I like how the contextual information suggests ideas that I would have otherwise been unaware of. This is partly why I loved hearing about the inspiration for Coney Bow's performance, as it allowed me to view her act in an entirely different way.
Hollywood Ballet Green Duet from Singin' in the Rain
Coney Bow as The Dancer in Green. Photo: Peter Jennings.
At the time of this conversation I was in the position of nervously debuting a brand new act that was stylistically rather unfamiliar territory for me, while Coney was performing a polished and stunning signature act in a style that is very much her trademark. Despite the obvious differences in our acts, I realized the one thing they had in common was the similarity in the way we had both approached developing a 'classic' act conceptually.
So this led me to where I am now, writing a post about my most recently developed act, and the conceptualisation behind it. I call this act alternately Let Love In or The Dark Act. (It's still settling into its true form, so I'm more or less waiting to see which name sticks.) If any of you have seen me perform before, most of my acts are character-based neo-burlesque. This act is unusual for me, in that it is essentially a classic showgirl act, albeit a slightly unusual spin on the genre. Like Coney's act, the concept behind my routine probably isn't immediately apparent to the audience, but this concept colours the entire act and informs all the decisions made in creating, costuming, and choreographing the act.
image left: Performing The Dark Act at The Cat's Meow
photo: Adam Baines.
It begins…
The starting point for this act was being invited to take part in a 1920s themed show, The Cat's Meow, for the Rock n Roll Circus. I had been thinking for some time that I wanted to develop a new 'classic' routine. In the year or so since I'd last created a classic act, my style as a neo performer had become more developed and I had grown a much better sense of who I had become as a performer. However, the classic side of my performance had remained comparatively underdeveloped in style. But that set an interesting challenge – how would neo performer Amourous Ava perform a classic routine? Or more accurately, because you can't take the 'neo' out of a neo performer – how would she perform a neo-classic routine?
I also set myself another challenge – no Charleston. I knew other performers would be doing up-tempo numbers, so I wanted to do something that would set my act apart a little, play to my skills, and to push myself in a different direction. I'd also been watching a lot of classic-style acts and wanted to challenge myself to do a slow number. My usual performance style is high energy, frenetic and comedic. This to a certain extent is because of my physicality – I'm slight of build, so to get any sort of decent movement out of my costume I often need to move very, very fast. Torque is not my friend. I also tend to move quickly to dispel nervous energy, so I wanted to learn to control and direct it… and just for kicks see what would happen if I didn't try to be funny. It was terrifying...
Poll! What's your favourite act?
I know which are my favourite acts to perform, but which are your favourite acts to watch? Here's your chance to help me decide which acts to perform in my upcoming shows! Thanks!
Q & A with NZ Burlesque & Cabaret Events
I was interviewed recently by NZ Burlesque & Cabaret Events, here is the post:
Time for a Tuesday tease and our next performer of the week. Introducing the fastest ass in the west, part wolf, part girrl, part naked, Amourous Ava!
www.facebook.com/Ava.L.Amoureux
www.avalamoureux.com
We wanted to get inside the creative mind of this innovative performer, so asked her some questions...
What is your favourite routine to perform and why?
Teenwolf is my most performed act, though no matter how many times I perform it, I still love it. It's a character driven B-movie romp with clothes rending, satire, snarling and howling, with a bit of bonus feminist subtext. Teenwolf goes from embarrassed he-wolf teen angst to WOLF SPIRIT. Literally. Teenwolf becomes a hairy she-wolf cheerleader. It's an act about metamorphosis and embracing your quirks, which to me is one of the most worthy things that burlesque as a whole encourages. I think a lot of people have a soft spot for Teenwolf, because we all love an underdog (hurrr, pun). Plus Teenwolf has a pretty sweet pair of rhinestoned chucks and I do love a good shoe.
Best burlesque compliment?
I had a brilliant judge's comment at the Australian Burlesque Festival Baby Bombshells show last year: 'Loved it, very funny, a bit weird, but that's what you wanted, right?' - Cassandra Jane, commenting on my Teenwolf routine. Yep, that sums up my performance style alright. But the best is having other performers or aspiring performers tell you that you inspire them. That is the best compliment of all.
What was your most sparklelific accomplishment to date?
Performing in Baby Bombshells last year was a very positive experience for me and coming runner-up built my confidence as a new performer. It made me consider for the first time that working towards developing an international level of performance isn't a ridiculous or unachievable goal for any NZ performer. I can't wait to perform in the Nouvelle Royale Melbourne show this year!
Why did you start burlesque?
After a five year stint living in a smallish town with limited sparkle opportunities, I somewhat inevitably ran away to New York and went to burlesque school at New York School of Burlesque. The first class they had us tassel twirling (baptism/boobtism by fire) and I was hooked. When I got back to NZ I hassled Misty La Moore of Hootchy Kootchy Girls until she let me do classes and my first show, then I fell in with the fledgling Rock n Roll Circus with good time gals Sugar Spanx & Penny Pins (next R&R Circus show is Aloha! 1950 in Auckland, 12 July) . When I realised people were as interested in watching me put on ridiculous costumes and dance around in my underpants as I was in doing just that, I knew DREAMS COME TRUE. I love creating acts, building a costume and honing a concept, then the rush of performing. I love the satire of it, and that burlesque can be both pop and political at the same time.
Where can we see the fastest ass of the week performance?
I'm special guest performer at the Hootchy Cootchy Girls show in Auckland this Friday, come along – I'm performing my newest act! Then I'm down to Wellington for Nerdlesque next Sat, then off to the Australian Burlesque Festival to perform in the wonderful Nouvelle Royale Melbourne show 8 June.
You can see the original post here at NZ Burlesque & Cabaret Events
Colouring Competition!
For everyone who buys one of the Colouring with Amourous Ava colouring books – email in a photo or scan of your colouring of a page from the book and the best colourer will win a prize.
What prize? Let me raise an eyebow and whisper that the prize might be a signed Ava photo and a lock of Teenwolf's chest hair – COLLECTABLE.
The competition will be drawn (pun intended) in a few weeks or so, you have time to order a book if you want to enter. Happy colouring!
Books are NZ$15 + postage and can be purchased by emailing amourus.ava@gmail.com
Nouvelle Royale Melbourne
I'm excited to announce that I've been selected to perform in the Australian Burlesque Festival!
I'll be performing in a show which I'm delighted to be a part of – the Nouvelle Royale show in Melbourne.
If you're in Melbourne in June pop along and see some of the finest neo-burlesque talent from Australasia and beyond!
Nouvelle Royale
Howler Bar, 7-11 Dawson Street, Brunswick, VIC
Doors Open: 7pm Show: 8pm
www.australianburlesquefest.com
Colouring with Amourous Ava
I've made an Ava colouring book! I know it's a big ask to ask you to part with your hard-earned cash, so I tried to make it extra awesome. It is called Colouring with Amourous Ava, and will be $15. It's A4,12 pages of illustrations drawn by moi, and proceeds will be going towards my plane ticket to the Australian Burlesque Festival. (The centre spread has boobs, so maybe take that spread out before showing it to any kids.) Personally signed for you! Free postage within NZ for burlesquers (performers/photographers etc). Message me at amourous.ava@gmail.com if you want one and I'll send you the details! xx
Cabaret Royale
I'm very excited to be performing 1 February as part of the Cabaret Royale tour. The show is on at the Whitehouse here in Auckland and features international headlining performer Dusty Limits. It's going to be epic! I'm gluing some extra rhinestones onto my costume especially!
tickets available here
On Rape Jokes
It's Friday evening, I've gently quaffed three Peronis, spent far too long reading a Reddit AMA (ask me anything) post about a dude with two dongs (not related to this post, but fascinating nonetheless) and now I am thinking about such things as the sexualised nature of burlesque performance, feminism and the nature of consent.
In particular lately I've been thinking a lot about rape jokes. In real life no one actually thinks rape is fucking hilarious. If someone said at their office meeting on Monday 'so I raped my girlfriend last night, har-de-har-har', I guarantee no one would laugh, (unless you work in an office full of total rapist assholes).
A solid decade ago I went to a comedy show at Indigo (currently the empty venue formerly known as San Francisco Bath House). It was a great show. A comedian announced onstage to his girlfriend who was in the audience that he was going to rape her later. The joke tanked. From that point his act tanked. He was met with 40+ stony glares from the entire audience, he cut his act short and fled the stage. On the way out of the gig my friend and I discussed how proud we were of Wellington for not laughing. For not letting our instinct of sympathy for a fledgling performer override our sense of humanity.
So why have rape jokes become A Thing in Burlesque shows? I've been to at least two shows in the last year, with difference MCs, where a component of the MCs patter has been commentary along the lines of "Wasn't that perfomer hot? She's so hot I'm going to rape her later." The first time people laughed. I didn't. Neither did the woman next to me. I felt uncomfortable. The jokes were repeated. After the show I wondered why I didn't heckle, or at least draw attention to the rape jokes. Some people left at half time. I didn't. I've always thought of heckling as rude, there was an international performer and I wanted to see her and the other performers do their second acts. The performers were amazing – blow your mind awesome – but I wondered about how hard it would be to go on and perform after a MC has made a joke about raping you later. I thought about emailing the producer afterwards about the rape jokes. I didn't.
The second time I saw a different MC telling rape jokes, I emailed the producer. I felt better, but I didn't get any reply.
As recently as November the Roastbusters story broke, which threw a spotlight, albeit a dirty and thoroughly rhinestone-free spotlight, on rape culture and how we discuss rape and the nature of consent in New Zealand. As it turns out, we are shit at it. Ten years on from rape jokes being met with an uncondoning and icy wall of silence in a dive bar, two mainstream media presenters on Radiolive victim blamed and slut shamed a young woman who rang in to share her experience of the reviled members of the 'Roastbusters' group. Rape: thoroughly trivialized. The older male 'journalists' implied that the thirteen year old girls who were raped by these boys were sluts and were asking for it.
One in three women in New Zealand will be physically or sexually abused by a partner in their lifetime. Around 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 10 boys in New Zealand have experienced sexual abuse. That's one in 4 girls in your audience and one in 10 boys. That percentage of your audience at least will be finding your rape jokes far less than hilarious.
This is why rape jokes bother me. A burlesque performer gets undressed on stage, a MC jokes he's going to rape her.
Just because you don't use the 'R' word doesn't mean what you are describing isn't rape. Saying that you'll tie someone up and force them to have sex with you is describing rape. Yes that is rape, even if it's your partner you are talking about. Especially if it's your partner you are taking about. Most rape and sexual abuse in New Zealand is committed by someone the victim is in a relationship with. Even if you've oked the 'joke' with the performer first – the audience doesn't know that – they aren't privy. All they are getting from it is that rape is supposed to be funny, and a reinforcement of rape culture.
As a performer and an audience member, one of the reasons I perform burlesque, and why I go to shows, is because I enjoy seeing women (and men) perform with sexual agency. It's exhilarating to see someone who thoroughly inhabits their own body, is aware and comfortable in front of an audience, is in command of their sexuality and able to use it in a way that both pleases them and entertains an audience. The best performers to me are those who are obviously having a blast and are truly engaging with their audience in a free and reciprocal exchange. Yes, we live in a culture that sexualizes and objectifies young women and burlesque is a performance style that intersects and plays with notions of sexuality, gender and objectification. This is why it's a delicate balance and why burlesque is so interesting and so exhilarating to watch. Rape jokes shit all over this dynamic and take away your power as a performer and your humanity as a human being. At best, they are trite, at worst there's a rapist in the audience (whether he considers himself one or not) who takes the nervous laughter as encouragement. Let's all not laugh next time. I want to be proud of burlesque audiences and the burlesque scene here in New Zealand. The audience takes it's behavioral cues from MCs, please don't let those cues be that it's ok to rape.
Amourous Ava
Australian Burlesque Festival
Ayla's Angels
Dr Sketchy
Glamilton
Miss Burlesque New Zealand
Rape Jokes
Rock N Roll Circus
Teenwolf


AKG N700NC M2 review: Nearly great
AKG N700NC M2 review
AKG's noise cancelling headphones sound fantastic, but fall just short of greatness. Read why in our full review.
A true noise cancelling rival to Sony and Bose?
By Anyron Copeman, Staff Writer | 31 Oct 2019
Should I buy the AKG N700NC M2?
Expert's Rating:
There's a lot to like about AKG's flagship headphones. A refinement of the original N700 NC, they provide everything most people are looking for in wireless cans.
Particular highlights are its excellent handling of old-school classics, solid implementation of the virtual assistant and superb battery life.
However, the main sticking point is the price. It's hard to justify buying these when class-leading headphones from both Sony and Bose are currently cheaper, as they offer superior noise cancellation and sound isolation.
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AKG N700NC M2 full review
AKG has long been considered one of the major players in the personal audio space.
The Austrian company seems to have gone from strength to strength since parent company Harman was acquired by Samsung in 2016, with a string of solid releases.
The N700NC M2 headphones (from here on referred to simply as 'NCM2') are AKG's flagship noise cancelling headphones. They feature a sleek design, simple controls and great portability, all of which we have come to associate with AKG.
The NCM2 cans are currently available through the Samsung website for £269/US$299.99.
At this price point, they have to go up against the very best noise cancelling headphones.
The Sony WH-1000XM3's and Bose QC35 II's sit top of that chart, and both are cheaper at the time of writing, at £255.99/US$269.95 and £260/US$259.99 respectively.
While there are more expensive options on the market, these headphones have to be pitted against the very best cans available right now.
More and more people are returning to over-ear headphones while travelling, so design has become of increasing importance. AKG has clearly made this a priority, with a sleek minimalist design free from excessive branding.
The NCM2 headphones are instantly familiar if you used the original N700NC, with an easily adjustable headband blending seamlessly into soft, foldable ear cups which completely encase your ears.
The controls on the headphones themselves are extremely simple, with power and noise ambient noise controls on one cup while volume and wired connection options are available on the other.
This is hardly a revolutionary design but more a tried and trusted formula - AKG wants you to focus on the internals rather than an eye-catching aesthetic. This is especially true considering the black version we tested is the only colour available.
The hard shell case is also typical of many modern headphones, but it's been made slightly more compact on the new version. There is the option for a wired connection thanks to the included 2.5mm to 3.5mm jack cable, while it's also worth noting that an airline adapter is included. AKG are clearly targeting people who used headphones while travelling.
There is little more to note from first impressions; what AKG provides here is typical of what you get with the majority of modern headphones. However, there are a number of observations about the design which only become apparent after longer listening sessions.
While they are sufficiently comfortable thanks to the memory foam and leatherette cups, we didn't particularly enjoy using them for an extended period of time. In order to prevent a fairly significant sound leak (more detail later) they would had to be fairly strongly secured in place, something which became unpleasant over time.
If comfort is your top priority, we'd recommend going for the Bose QC 35 II's instead.
The NCM2 headphones were also slightly underwhelming in durability. Despite a premium, sturdy looking design, there were noticeable signs of wear and tear after only a few days of use. While this didn't take away from the attractive design, it does leave us concerned as to what the situation might be like a few months down the line.
However, it's not all bad news. We really enjoyed using the controls available directly on the headphones. While premium cans such as the Microsoft Surface Headphones are moving to a touchpad-based control system, the AKG has chosen to retain physical keys, which are tactile and satisfyingly responsive. The simplicity means we were able to quickly learn their position for quick adjustments while the headphones were on.
The success of any pair of headphones is defined by how good they sound. The short answer is that these headphones sound excellent, with rich, balanced audio which consistently delivers across a wide range of music and vocals.
We tested a selection of songs from Spotify's 'Songs to Test Headphones With' playlist, in an attempt to give as balanced an overview of the sound as possible. We tested them via a Bluetooth connection with noise cancellation on, which is the default setting for these headphones.
'Take 5' by The Dave Brubeck Quartet sounds rich and full bodied, with an excellent range allowing you to hear the intricacies of each instrument.
However, TOTO's 'Africa', a party favourite, sounds curiously washed out, with its infectious chorus lacking some real oomph.
The deep bass on 'Slave Song' by Sade creates a really immersive sound, something that simply isn't possible on cheaper headphones.
They are particularly suited to Motown tracks, so Marvin Gaye's 'Inner City Blues' and 'You Keep Me Hangin' On' by The Supremes are particularly atmospheric, transporting you back in time.
If you're looking for something more modern, CeeLo Green's booming vocals on 'Bright Lights, Bigger City' make you feel like you're at one of the American singer's live shows.
'Crazy' from his time in Gnarls Barkley was similarly impressive, but it's the sort of song you want to be playing at high volumes, at which point people around you will easily be able to hear too.
Overall, in this mode the NCM2 headphones deliver premium sound quality which is befitting of its high price tag. Unless you regularly use high-end studio equipment, it's likely you'll be more than satisfied.
There is a notable decline in sound quality across the board when using the smart ambient button, but as this will only be used when in a conversation or from a safety perspective, it's not a big issue.
Within the app, you can choose what this physical toggle will do. Ambient Aware allows you to be more aware of your surroundings, allowing you to listen to potential announcements much more easily. TalkThru is designed to aid conversations with people nearby, making it particularly suitable in open-plan office environments or on long journeys. We didn't notice a great deal of difference between the two, but the general aim of allowing some background noise back in was achieved well.
An often overlooked area with wireless headphones is call quality. For what it's worth, these headphones were superb in this area, with clear crisp vocals. The microphones seemed similarly effective, with the receiver impressed with what they were hearing too.
At over £250, these headphones have to be expected to excel across the board. AKG has prioritised quality over quantity with the feature set here, meaning they have to deliver.
Chief among these is the aforementioned active noise cancellation (ANC), activated automatically when you turn the headphones on. Unless you're using the included cable, the benefits will be available as soon as you connect via Bluetooth.
In testing, the noise cancellation worked quite well, even without music playing. While it may not rival those at the top of our best noise cancelling headphones chart, it is a more than respectable performance. In noisy environments, this made a real difference.
The companion app is simple to set up and use, although you do need to be connected to Bluetooth and have your location services on at all times for it to work.
This is where you can choose what to use the Smart Ambient button for, adjust the EQ and install software updates. It's a very basic in look and feel, but worked well in our testing.
A double tap of the play/pause button can activate the virtual assistant. Upon activation via a Samsung phone we were presented with the option of Google, Alexa and Bixby (we choose Google). This is a nice addition to have, and probably something to get you using the Assistant more.
Battery life is an area where the headphones excel. While AKG don't provide a specific capacity, it claims 23 hours of battery life with Bluetooth and ANC turned on, while this jumps up to 32 hours if you're happy to use them with the included cable. Battery life can also be managed by using turning the auto-off function via the app, which will turn the headphones off while not in use.
While we can't specifically comment on the accuracy of those figures, we tested them pretty extensively and didn't have to worry about how much juice was left for a number of days. Fortunately, charging is now via USB-C, and seemed to top up the headphones pretty quickly.
The NCM2 headphones are a solid update, providing great sound quality across the board and intuitive controls.
While the design and feature set are relatively stripped back, everything works well with the exception of some very patchy sound isolation.
Our main complaint is the price - Sony and Bose's noise cancelling headphones have both been reduced and are now cheaper than the NCM2's. This ultimately makes them much harder to recommend.
AKG N700NC M2: Specs
40mm drivers
Li-ion Battery (23hrs talk/play time)
Author: Anyron Copeman, Staff Writer
As the resident expert on Windows, Anyron's main focus is PCs and laptops. Much of the rest of his time is split between smartphones, tablets and audio, with a particular focus on Android devices.
Recent stories by Anyron Copeman:
PuroPro review
Qualcomm's Adaptive ANC technology is built for true wireless earbuds
Samsung's Galaxy Buds and Galaxy Buds+ now at lowest-ever prices


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Riccardo Speziari
(1626–97). The 17th-century Italian physician Francesco Redi cast the first serious doubts on the theory of spontaneous generation. He demonstrated that maggots develop in rotting meat not spontaneously but rather from eggs laid on the meat by flies.
Redi was born on Feb. 19, 1626, in Arezzo, Italy. He read in a book on generation by physician William Harvey a speculation that vermin such as insects, worms, and frogs do not arise spontaneously, as was then commonly believed, but from seeds or eggs too small to be seen. In 1668, in one of the first examples of a biological experiment with proper controls, Redi set up a series of flasks containing different meats, half of the flasks sealed, half open. He then repeated the experiment but, instead of sealing the flasks, covered half of them with gauze so that air could enter. Although the meat in all of the flasks rotted, he found that only in the open and uncovered flasks, which flies had entered freely, did the meat contain maggots. Although he correctly concluded that the maggots came from eggs laid on the meat by flies, Redi, surprisingly, still believed that the process of spontaneous generation applied in such cases as gall flies and intestinal worms. (See also evolution.)
Redi is also known as a poet, chiefly for his Bacco in Toscana (1685; Bacchus in Tuscany). He died on March 1, 1697, in Pisa, Italy.
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MMJ International Holdings Following FDA Guidance in Cannabis Drug Development Process
ST. PETERSBURG, FL / ACCESSWIRE / May 10, 2019 / MMJ International Holdings, the premier medical cannabis research company, recently announced that the FDA has made an award for ''Orphan Drug Designation'' for its THC and CBD proprietary drug formulation which will be used for the treatment of Huntington's Disease. The drug, MMJ-002 is one of MMJ's lead drugs and the company is confident that it will bring much needed relief to patients suffering from the debilitating effects of Huntington's Disease.
Since 2015, MMJ has been advancing the science of medical marijuana federally legal through development of patient clinical trials and research. This latest award of Orphan Drug Designation is in keeping with MMJ's mission to do everything possible to improve the lives of patients.
This MMJ Orphan Drug award by the FDA means that MMJ has demonstrated its promise for the diagnosis and/or treatment of rare diseases or conditions. Orphan designation qualifies MMJ International Holdings for various development incentives provided by the Orphan Drug Award, including tax credits for qualified clinical testing.
As stated by MMJ's CEO, Duane Boise, ''MMJ's Orphan Drug award is another milestone that the company has meet as we continue to set industry standards. MMJ has established a leading position in the development of plant-derived cannabinoid therapeutics through its proven drug discovery and development processes, intellectual property portfolio and regulatory and manufacturing expertise''.
FDA's 'March Assault' on others companies egregious CBD Claims
On March 28, when teamed with the FTC, the FDA issued warning letters to three CBD product sellers alleging false, unfounded, unsubstantiated and egregious health claims about their products' ability to limit, treat or cure without sufficient evidence or FDA approval and threatening product seizures, injunctions and sales proceeds reimbursement.
Not generally recognized as safe and effective for these uses and, therefore, rendered 'new drugs' under Section 201(p) of the FDA Act that are barred from being introduced into interstate commerce without prior FDA approval (which is solely provided on the basis of scientific data and information demonstrating that drug is safe and effective);
Misbranded under Section 502(f)(1) of the FDA Act for failing to bear adequate 'intended use(s) directions' defined as 'directions under which a layperson can use a drug safely and for the {intended} purposes' or as 'prescription drugs' which 'can only be used safely at the direction, and under the supervision, of a licensed practitioner'; and
Intended for treatment of one or more diseases that are not amenable to self-diagnosis or treatment without a licensed practitioner's supervision' and for which it is 'impossible to write adequate directions for.
MMJ International Holdings continues its process of scientific drug development and discovery by FDA protocol development processes, intellectual property portfolio and DEA regulatory manufacturing guidelines.
Michael Sharpe
media@mmjih.com
SOURCE: MMJ International Holdings
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What's Happening to the Earth's Underground Weather?
The earth's magnetic fields are shifting at an accelerated rate and scientists cannot explain why it is doing this
The earth's magnetic field is something most of the people living on this planet never think about, however without it life would not be sustainable. It keeps water and atmosphere in place, and shields us from harmful radiation. Throughout millenia it has changed, but recently it's acting up in such a way that geologists cannot explain why.
Source: World Data Center for Geomagnetism/Kyoto Univ
If anyone has ever used a compass, you can understand how this magnetic field exists even though it can't be seen. The North Pole is moving, but not just moving, it's doing it much quicker than anticipated from Canada towards Siberia.
The magnetic field is affected by liquid iron that churns in the Earth's core, and it is known that it does this on a consistent basis, which is why geophysicists check it on a yearly basis.
In 2016 satellites captured a temporary acceleration of the magnetic fields under northern South America and the eastern Pacific Ocean. A large area of the magnetic field from Chile to Zimbabwe had become so weak that it risked allowing hazardous level of radiation to damage electronics from passing satellites.
In 2018, the pole crossed the International Date Line into the Eastern Hemisphere, shifting towards Siberia.
At the end of January 2019, the World Magnetic Model (WMM) which was issued in 2015, is updating a year earlier than planned. This model is used for all technology that uses geopositioning. It was determined that so many changes have been made that it had to be revised much earlier than planned.
The earth's magnetic field has been shifting for the last 1000 years. The location appears to be affected by two large magnetic fields, one beneath Canada, the other beneath Siberia.
In 1831 the movement of the poles started to be tracked. It was found that the north magnetic pole in the Arctic Ocean moved at a rate of less than 10 miles per year. This changed in the 1990s, and since then it has sped up to about 30 miles per year. It appears that the magnetic field underneath Siberia has more pull.
This is not the first time that the Earth's magnetic pole switches place. Scientists have found evidence of this in ancients rocks which reflect that every 200,000 to 300,00 years this happens, and the last major reversal occurred over 750,000 years ago.
If you do the arithmetic we are overdue for a shift and it appears imminent, however polar flips occur at a sluggish pace that lasts thousands of years. The ultimate change when it is complete is that the directions will be reversed, and that animals that use the magnetic fields for navigation could get lost during their migratory patterns.
The only way this would be a doomsday event is if this occurs rapidly, which it is not set to do based on prior evidence of pole shifts.
An insidious negative effect though is that weakened magnetic fields allow the earth to be exposed to higher levels of radiation, that will affect humans, animals and power grids on the planet. However even at the pace this would happen allows us to plan ways to protect from these effects.
Source - Nature