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.

“Cricketing excellence lies beyond physical talent. Sporting success emanates from the whole person within – his temperament, emotional make-up, thinking ability and even prejudices.” Frank Tyson once wrote.

Sometimes we use shorthand and call this ‘character’ or ‘attitude’.  I like to think of it as the way you see the world, at least in cricketing terms.

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.

Being a slow scorer is like being the person who takes the last cake at tea without asking; it smacks of selfishness.

And no one wants to be accused of being selfish.

Avoiding this accusation can do weird things to even talented batsmen. I've seen otherwise sane club 1st XI openers slash across the line to good length balls just to stop themselves playing out 2 maidens in a row.

This is a guest article by Daniel Maddocks of Kids Cricket Tips. Daniel is an ECB Coach with experience in coaching young cricketers in the North West of England.

When the bowler runs in and the batsman is ready to face the ball they are on their own. So why should cricketers worry about team spirit?

Because, despite appearances, team spirit is essential in cricket.

The show retains its shorter format this week as we look in detail at the question of how to deal with a bad captain.

If you want to get someone's hackles up, call them a hypocrite.

It's an insult against something we all hold dear: consistency between words and actions. Hypocrites talk the talk, but don't walk the walk.

Except if you want to be a better cricketer or coach, hypocrisy is a handy skill to have.

You just need to be able to get over the urge to be consistent.

Hobgoblin of the mind: Why consistency is a bad thing

This is a guest article by Daniel Maddocks of Kids Cricket Tips. Daniel is an ECB Coach with experience in coaching young cricketers in the North West of England.