Newsletter | Cricket coaching, fitness and tips

Hi,

On a day of almost unavoidable Royal Wedding coverage, you can rely on us to keep our eyes firmly fixed on more important things. The IPL is on.

So, it’s all cricket in this newsletter, from a field-setting dilemma through a neat new way to compare your bowling speed to others around the world to a drill to warm up your catching hands. It seems every week is a right royal celebration round here...

Have a great weekend,

David Hinchliffe

Ask the Readers: Set a Slow Left Arm Field and Win a Prize

I have a problem. With your help I can solve it, so read on and leave a comment in the comments box with your field.

As a little incentive, the best field will win the prize of an online coaching course from our library at PitchVision Academy.

The question is simple:

What is the best field for a slow left arm bowler in a club league match?

First, a little background: My club has 3 spinners. One well established off-spinner, a leg spinner and, new to the club this season, a slow left arm bowler.

Normally there would be no issue. The off spinner plays in the 1^st XI. He is a top 6 bat, a reliable middle overs bowler and an excellent gully fielder. He currently has a broken wrist. His backup, the leg spinner, is a student and away on holidays.

That leaves the new guy. His slow left arm was calm and effective in preseason games so he was selected. Bowling around the wicket he has good control of line and length. His stock ball doesn’t turn much but holds its line, pitching on off, hitting off.

He also has an arm ball that is well disguised. It follows the same line before pitching but goes in to the right handed batsman with the arm:

Our league plays 100 over games (maximum of 50 overs per innings, declarations possible). Draws are possible but because of the labyrinthine points system, teams treat games like straight 50 over limited over games.

This means our slow left arm hero will look to:

Bowl straight through the middle of the innings.
Tie batsmen down, bowling dots.
Pick up wickets through mistakes.

The standard club slow left arm field is not right in this situation.

He is a fairly young bowler and not confident of his field yet. As he is new to the club there is an unknown factor.

What field should the slow left arm bowler have?

So, leave a comment below and let me know what field he should have in your view.

There are no field restrictions other than covered in the Laws.

Remember the most useful field will win a prize, so don’t forget to check back to find out if you have won.

Leave a comment in the comments box with your field.

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Cricket Show 111: Show 110b for the Superstitious

After a special request this show is numbered 110b because some people think 111 is unlucky. Personally we think its rubbish and nothing can possibly go wrong.

The show, of course, is a slice of perfection. We talk injury prevention in bowling actions with Richard Browning, the head of LCA Cricket Coaching. Plus we hear first-hand the inspiring story of Pete Fairburn, who lost 4 stone in his quest to become a better cricketer.

We also answer your questions. This week we look at how to get more wickets when you are bowling well. We also discuss a simple drill to stop “falling away” in the action.

How to Get in Touch With the Show

Our contact email can be found here.

Use our twitter or facebook accounts.

Or you can call and leave a message (it’s an answer phone, not manned but we check it every day). If it’s a good story or question we will call you back for a chat.

UK +44 (0) 208 816 7691
AUST: +61 (02) 8005 7925
USA: +1 347 722 1981

How to Listen to the Show

You can download the show onto your computer by right clicking on the link below and choosing "Save Target as..."

You can also subscribe to the show:

Click here to subscribe in iTunes.

If you don't use iTunes You can add the feed manually.

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Fielding Drills: High Catch Warm-Up

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

Purpose: To practice high catches in a pre-game/training warm up situation

Description: There are 2 balls in the game, starting in opposite corners. At the same time, fielders lob the ball up into space for a fielder to run and catch the ball about halfway.

Having caught the ball, the players throw a catch into the other gap between fielders and move on to the next corner. These balls are caught by fielders running in.

Continue the practice as long as you like, pausing if a ball is dropped.

Variations: The drill can be performed with players running the other way.

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Here's A Simple Way to Instantly Compare Yourself to Other Bowlers

It’s a question every cricketer considers: Just how well do I compare to others?

You watch the bowlers on TV and wonder just how much quicker they really can be. You mull over how much more accurate that star opposition bowler is.

Is he overrated and lucky or is he actually a pinpoint accurate demon?

Now there is an easy way to find out using the online tools at PitchVision Interactive.

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