Throughout the summer on a Wednesday night, the selection committee of my cricket club convene to decide the fate of the men who make up the 3 sides.

The debates can be long and hard, but decisions are made and the team sheets are posted.

Often the choices spark controversy, not least in those overlooked for the 1st XI. It's a thankless task.

Let's forget the sales pitch for a minute: Cricketers cheat.

Play or coach at any level and you already know the whole "gentleman's game" idea is about as true as San Serriffe.

Balls get tampered with, batsmen stand when they know they edged it and sledging is commonplace.

Premier League football club Manchester United can be envied for their glamour and success. But it's in a less obvious way that they can show your cricket team a lesson.

Over the years United seem to have become masters of snapping a draw from defeat: Playing badly and not losing.

Go off the record with any professional fast bowler and the mantra of "ball tampering is never acceptable" is quickly shown to be a myth.

This is part two of a series on how to lose weight for cricket.

In part one of the series we found out weight loss was nothing but a simple bit of maths. Less in and more out equals weight loss.

This is part one of a series on how to lose weight for cricket. To go to part 2 click here

Can losing fat, an industry worth billions, really be boiled down to one secret?

Have you ever been promoted to a higher level team, walked in to the dressing room and felt like a stranger among friends?

Being the new kid on the block can intimidate players so much it prevents them from doing well. But a good coach and captain knows how to dodge this and help a new player feel welcome enough to relax.

The 'pub' method

Senyo Nyakutse re-joins David on the show to talk about PitchVision and netting for hours. Gary Palmer is on the phone with more batting advice.

A few months back, with little to do on a Saturday since the cricket season ended I found myself watching TV game show The Cube.

"What a load of rubbish" I thought as the show explained how contestants could win vast sums of money for doing a series of tasks. They were so easy Geoff Boycott's mum could have done them with a stick of rhubarb.

This is a guest post by Laurie Ward from The Complete Cricketer Academy in Cape Town, South Africa.

Does this scene sound familiar?

As the game goes on barely watched, your team are involved in a mini game or kicking a football around. How many times have you seen one of these players scrabbling for kit and rushing out to the middle with no idea of what is happening?