| Sumario: | An individual Twenty20 batting innings requires prolonged cognitive control which may be influenced by the high physical intensity of run scoring. How batters perform through the exercise-cognition interaction is unknown and this study aimed to elucidate the impact of run scoring intensity (strike rate) on the cognitive efficiencies of skilled, amateur batters. Two innings simulations were investigated in a randomised cross-over design in fourteen batters (mean ± SD: age 22.3 ± 3.4 years; batting experience 15 ± 4 years). The high strike rate innings was perceived as marginally more strenuous to lower-limb musculature (β = 0.6, p = 0.049), although cardiovascular exertion was comparable to the low strike rate innings (β = −0.3, p = 0.432). Batters produced increased error-rates in executive functioning following high strike rate batting (r = 0.60, p = 0.05), and prefrontal cortex haemodynamics reveal increased concentrations of deoxygenated haemoglobin in the right dorsolateral pre-frontal cortex. The low strike rate innings resulted in smaller reductions to working memory response times (d = 0.76, p = 0.03 vs d = 1.20, p < 0.01), but executive functioning performance appears preserved (d = 0.08, p = 0.84) and oxygenated haemoglobin concentration is increased compared to the high strike rate innings. The cognitive exertion of a Twenty20 innings appears to be moderated by run scoring intensity. Batters should be routinely exposed to the combined mental and physical stressors of an innings to aid skill development.
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