The complete guide to cricket warm ups | Cricket coaching, fitness and tips

The warm-up can be split into two parts: General and cricket-specific. If you are warming up for general training (such as weight training or speed training) you can skip the cricket specific part. Otherwise do both.

General

5-10 mins of gentle activity such as jogging or walking (or until you feel warm). This will increase your heart rate and body temperature.
5-10 mins of dynamic stretching and core work. See this video for a dynamic stretching warm up that is perfect for cricket.

Cricket Specific

10-20 mins of skill exercises such as nets, running between the wickets or fielding drills. See my posts on cricket drills and running a net. It's important to maintain a good tempo through this time so as not to let your body cool back down again. Make sure you are always doing something. You can work as a team or in small groups but on a match day finish with a drill the whole team can participate in to build team spirit.
Up to 5 mins of a team meeting lead by the captain. The aim of this is to focus the mind on the task ahead and outline particular tactics.

For more on warming up your body and mind for cricket, check out SAQ Cricket. It contains complete guides to warming up, improving your speed, endurance and strength in a cricket specific way.

posted by How to run an effective net on 24 Jul 06 at 07:06

[...] Play Better Cricket - Harrowdrive.com « The complete guide to cricket warm ups How to run an effective net [...]

posted by A wicketkeeping training session on 02 Aug 06 at 13:05

[...] The warm up is vital to reduce the risk of injury, so don’t do what most club players do and skip straight to the skills session. (As you will be working on cricket specifics for most of the session there is no need to undertake the ‘cricket specific’ portion of the warm up.) [...]

posted by How to improve your agility with a balloon on 09 Aug 06 at 17:55

[...] After a good warm up, start by tapping one balloon from hand to hand. Pretty easy so far? [...]

posted by 5 Ways to improve your fielding on 10 Aug 06 at 18:56

[...] Consider fielding as an equal skill - When you go to your club net practice, make sure you divide your time into equal parts, including fielding. Before the game, use your warm up as fielding practice. Have fielding high in your mind with all your preparations. [...]

posted by Running to cricket success on 21 Aug 06 at 07:28

[...] Remember to warm up and cool down. [...]

posted by 3 more things to do while waiting to bat on 15 Sep 06 at 12:49

[...] Keep warm. One of the problems of sitting still and watching the game is that your body will not be ready when you get out to the middle. While you may be waiting a long time to bat, it’s sensible to keep yourself supple and ready to run from the first ball you are out there. Do this through light warming up exercise every 15 minutes or so when you are the next person in: It might be a net for practice or just a few step ups on the bench in the changing room. [...]

posted by Fitness tips for bowlers on 18 Sep 06 at 18:44

[...] Warm up. [...]

posted by A cricket training session template on 19 Sep 06 at 18:37

[...] The warm up is vital to reduce the risk of injury, so don’t do what most club players do and skip straight to the skills session. [...]

posted by Now you can train on matchdays too on 22 Nov 06 at 21:01

[...] Warm up and cool down. This one is a no brainer. Warm ups are proven to have a huge impact on performance if done correctly. So get yourself ready for play with at least 15 minutes of warming up. A reduced warm up if you are taking the field 2nd is also highly recommended. The cool down is also vital for recovery. [...]

posted by Fitness for Cricket – First Steps on 06 Dec 06 at 13:33

[...] Warm up [...]

posted by Why stretching is a bad idea on 09 Dec 06 at 09:09

[...] Of course, it’s still very important to warm up properly. Just don’t stop your warm up to do all those stretches. Instead make sure your whole body gets moving through dynamic mobility so you can ease yourself into the first ball of the match. [...]

posted by The complete guide to cricket fitness on 26 Dec 06 at 17:28

[...] Why get fit for cricket? First steps to cricket fitness *updated* Make fitness training fun 10 keys to fast fitness How to warming up [...]

posted by 4 reasons to stretch your cricket muscles on 29 Dec 06 at 09:13

[...] Beware though, there are many different ways to stretch. For cricket the best way seems to be to work on dynamic flexibility as part of your warm up, and do your static stretching at the end of your game or training session while cooling down. [...]

posted by The complete guide to cricket fitness on 26 Feb 07 at 15:47

[...] cricket? First steps to cricket fitness *updated* Make fitness training fun 10 keys to fast fitness How to warm up part 1 How to warm up part [...]

posted by How to warm up for cricket on 10 May 07 at 04:59

[...] I have talked about warming up before, but I want to extend that further, turning the warm up from a necessary evil (as some see it) to a vital element in moving your muscles and nervous system from normal life to peak cricket performance. [...]

posted by jaman on 19 Jul 07 at 10:50

good

posted by David Hinchliffe on 19 Jul 07 at 11:02

Thaks Jaman, what did you like about it?

posted by 7 things that will make you worse at cricket : Play Better C on 10 Aug 07 at 09:51

[...] and playing shots all require quick contractions you would be best avoiding the stretches and do a dynamic warm up instead. Filed in:crunches fish oil fitness Nutrition [...]