Coach Education | Cricket coaching, fitness and tips

Perfect the 7 Man Unit to Squeeze the Life from Opponents

As you know, I love coaching fielding and perfecting elements of the game that gives teams the best chance of squeezing life out of the opposition batters and taking wickets.

One of the tactics I use to achieve this is the "7 man fielding unit". I challenge the team to commit at least 7 active players to each delivery that is hit into or through the inner ring.

How to Manage Groups of Different Abilities and Experiences

One of the biggest challenges I have faced this week is to cater for everyone's individual needs within a group of 20 children in Sardinia as part of a coaching camp.

Camera, Action, Coach: How to Get the Most from Your Video Camera

It's never been easier to get video footage of players with cameras everywhere from phones to specialist equipment. But very few coaches understand the optimal angles of filming to get the best from video analysis.

I'm going to let you into the secrets of the way that we analyse the fast bowlers using a digital zoom camera.

You can then use the principles to adjust the distance from the point of release depending on the camera type that you are using at the time (phone, iPad or digitial camera).

The Run Out Technique that Blasts Through Batting Orders

England's Paul Collingwood was a master at this throw, changing games in a matter of seconds with a direct hit.

It's called the Attacking Side technique. It works when the ball gets dropped into the cover point fielders attacking side (throwing side) and the fielder runs onto the slow moving ball at pace to throw the stumps down at the keepers end.

Spin your way to Run Out Success

When fielding in the outfield, sometimes the ball gets hit to our non-throwing side at pace, or we get to the ball with it being slightly behind us.

The pick-up that we looked at last week would not give us the balance to execute a accurate throw into the stumps.

How 3 Simple Fitness Exercises Improve Spin Bowling Guile

We all understand how important being strong, balanced and powerful is to a fast bowler, yet we are generally "take it or leave it" when we talk fitness to our spinners.

So, how can being strong benefit a spinner?

To Plan or Not to Plan: The Power of Out the Box Thinking

In the world of analysts, TV replays, team meetings and data mining it is easy to forget the value of instinctive tactical thinking.

As an analyst in a previous life, it was my job to come up with the plans for our bowling attack that maximises the impact against any given batsmen or batting line up.

What a TRAM And a Pair of Bowling Boots Will do to Your Fast Bowler's KPH

We check fast bowling actions, wrist positions and are fastidious with their strength and conditioning.

Yet do we check their shoes?

The Fast Bowling Talent Test

Many of the leading Cricket nations now use "Talent Testing" for 13 and upwards as a part of their talent identification process. I want to show you how to use some of these tests in your coaching.

Here is the first of the talent test drills that you can use to test players and then provide feedback that improves performance. What's not to love?

Are You Coaching 'Towards' or 'Away'?

A few weeks ago I was asked to do a session with a top class player who had lost his 'mojo' against spin.

When I asked him to tell me about his plans for our time together he said,

"I don't want to feel shotless when the ball spins, don't want to feel as if I am going to nick it to slip or short leg and I don't want to be stuck in the crease".