This is a guest article by powerlifter and club cricketer Brian Wardle.

Today’s article is a guest post from personal trainer Brian Wardle.

Cricket requires power: power to hit, power to bowl the ball with pace or with revolutions, power to sprint.

If there is one guy who knows about power its Louis Simmons.

He for decades he has got people powerful with a training methodology called the conjugate system.

It’s allowed his gym to produce powerlifters who regularly break records in the squat, deadlift and bench press.

A powerful throw sends a message to a batting team.

The batsmen are looking for a second run and you are in the deep. The both look up to see your throw, as do most of the batsmen waiting to come in. There is a subtle moment of expectation: Just how good is this guy’s throw?

You sear it in head high, dipping into the keeper’s gloves so he doesn’t have to move.

The batsmen make a mental note to keep it to one with you while the keeper and skipper applaud your arm.

Staying healthy during the season is one of the biggest challenges to fast bowlers at every level.

Bowling quick is tough on the body. The stress on muscles, joints and ligaments is huge and when you are playing regularly recovery times are never enough.

80s TV legend and chocolate bar advertiser, Mr. T knows a thing or two about being strong. You don’t get to be the muscle of the A-Team without getting under the bar now and again.

The big man wasn’t doing it for looks though.

It doesn’t matter how good your beach body is if you can’t floor a baddy with one punch or push a truck out of a ditch. Mr. T was all about real world strength.

We all accept the importance of a warm up to prepare your body and mind for the game if you play any serious level of cricket from school upwards.

We looked at the hour or so that our case study club, Watsonian CC, took to warm up in a league match in Edinburgh.

Who hasn’t had a little twinge in the throwing shoulder at least once?

It’s not surprising when you look at how the joint is brilliant and versatile, yet complex and unstable. If you don’t look after your shoulder, all that throwing, bowling and hitting will cause you a lot of pain!

Former England batsman Graeme Gooch is known for advising players to score “daddy” hundreds: When you get your eye in, take the chance and score very big.

It’s sound advice that as a coach you have no doubt given to players. Yet the way we practice is the opposite of the way we score big runs. It’s no wonder player’s score a pretty 25 and get out to a lazy shot.

This article is part of a series designed to show you how to adapt cricket drills for your needs. To see the full list of articles in this series click here.

Traditionalists breathe a sigh of relief: Modern training methods for developing fast and agile cricketers are a waste of time. We should be fielding instead.