I hate to be the bearer of bad tidings but most cricket teams fail to reach their expectations. Yours included.

It’s not because you want to fail, or that the side is untalented. It’s certainly not bad luck. These are handy excuses. Ways we use to justify our failure after the event.

What is your role in your cricket team? Leave a comment in the comments section to discuss it.

Having a successful club season doesn’t just happen by luck.

Cricket club selection meetings always bring up controversy.

In every club that puts out more than one team, there is bound to be the fringe player who splits the committee. In my club this is especially true of young players looking to break into the first XI.

I’ve sat on selection committee all this season and one of the qualifiers for whether a player is given a chance or not is if he ‘looks like a first team player’.

This is a guest article from Laurie Ward

In modern cricket-speak, losing captains are quick to say “we will take the positives from this game” when they have been played off the park.

But do they really? Or is it just fluff for the media?

In reality the team and coach will look at what went wrong in the cold light of day and then work hard to put things right.

As you know, we recently announced a brand new live PitchVision Academy event in London. It's a golden opportunity to combine traditional coaching with exiting interactive activities to create a fantastic experience for cricketers of all ages.

But what if you don't live in the UK and can't get to the event?

This is a guest post by Laurie Ward

Cricket is a simple game complicated by a myriad of variables: physical, technical, emotional, tactical and natural.

Every ball, wicket, match, day, situation, opposition, conditions and personal experience can vary tremendously.

So how can we prepare for something that can be so unpredictable?

Famously, Sir Don Bradman practiced for hours hitting a golf ball with a stump against an uneven wall to develop his incredible hand-eye co-ordination.

Talent: you either got it or you aint. It can't be coached.

Actually, according to research, talent can be developed by good coaching. You just have to know what to do to make it happen.

Think of it this way; how many sportsmen at the top of their game got there by God given talent alone?

This drill is part of the PitchVision Academy fielding drills series, for more in this series click here.

Purpose: To act as a warm up drill that practices every ground fielding skill required in a match. Each stump is a different skill to execute.