Partial evidence for fine construct validity of a virtual reality batting test for women's pathway cricketers

Immersive technologies, such as virtual reality (VR), offer new opportunities for testing and training in sport. This is particularly the case in seasonal sports, such as cricket, where the climate can constrain outdoor representative training. An understanding of fine construct validity, which differentiates between closely matched players, and of players' perceptions of VR, is needed for high-performance organisations to be confident in their use. We compared performance in a VR cricket batting simulator across 50 specialist batters, bowlers and all-rounders from a women's professional cricket pathway. Follow-up questionnaires gathered player opinions on the technology. Results partially supported fine construct validity through detecting differences in runs scored between groups (p = 0.010, η² p = 0.178). However, this only occurred between batters and bowlers, and the number of wickets lost was high, with no difference between groups. Players perceived a wide range of potential uses for VR in cricket batting training and testing. Results show promise for integrating VR technologies into high-performance cricket, but further work is required to understand biomechanical and ergonomic fidelity, the mechanisms driving wicket loss, and the optimal use cases.