Chris is a reader with a dilemma. He has emailed in to seek advice. What do you think he should do?

Chris is a 28 year old club cricketer playing in the UK. He has had some success but never made it to a high enough level to play professionally. He still has ambitions to play a good level of club cricket, perhaps even at representative level.

As you know, I'm looking for someone to be the Case Study for 2009. With that in mind, I thought it would be interesting to get some more informal views of how everyone is playing and preparing at the moment.

So how is your season (or off season if you are in the winter like me) going?

photo credit: diongillard

It's long been known in the world of weight loss that the better your social support the more success you have in losing the pounds. It part of why weight watchers is such a successful business.

Why can't we use the same principles to improve our cricket?

I think we can it's something that, in my experience, can make a massive difference but is underused by club cricketers.

I'm currently compiling what I hope will be the definitive guide to bowling faster. It's my response to the many questions I get here and on the Simply Cricket forum.

However, I'm no paceman myself (I have never bowled a ball in competitive cricket at any level) so I need your help.

If you are a seam or swing bowler, what are your tips for increasing pace?

At Old Trafford in 1993 Mike Gatting faced Shane Warne's first ball in Ashes cricket. You probably know the rest already.

Despite this ball, Gatting is recognised as one of England's finest modern players of spin. In this article he gives some tips on how he used to do so well. They can be summarised like this:

In a new series I will be asking you for help for another reader of harrowdrive. Please leave your thoughts and opinions in the comments section.

Today Saif needs assistance with his swing bowling and accuracy. He left a comment here asking for help:

"My pace did increase when I bowled yesterday but I was very much off target. I also changed my bowling style but still I don't get how to make the ball to come back in to the right handed batsman."

Where do you draw the line when it comes to sledging in your own club games?

The whole Australia-India controversy was sparked by a possible comment by Harbhajan. Since then it has thrown up a number of issues and a lot of debate but I want to bring it back to club cricket.

Have you noticed a huge rise in chirping in your club games in the last 10 years? I have.