My nickname in India is “Gadget Garaway!”. I’m called that because I always have the heaps of coaching equipment and technology in my rather large kit bag.

One of the worst things I can hear at cricket training is the dreaded phrase "I just want to hit balls".

Why is this so bad?

Picture the scene, you are coaching a group of keen 9-11 year old players.

You tell a 10 year old to drive, and you ask him to demonstrate the shot. He shadows it perfectly. Excellent.

You do some drills with a tennis ball and, with a little effort, he hits it back straight. Now we are talking!

You finish the session with a soft ball game: He swipes at the first half volley and tries to put it over square leg.

Sigh.

I’m a music fan and it’s great to work in a student environment as the pupils keep me up to date with the latest tunes when we have music bouncing around the cricket bubble.

How easy is it to "just bat" in nets, and not be as engaged as you would in a game?

Maybe you don't have access to nets. Maybe your club nets are not very good. Maybe you are fed up of having the same old nets every time.

One of the most frustrating things in coaching is a line of cricketers standing in a queue waiting for their turn.

While watching other people play sport from the close vantage point of a queue can be fun, getting involved is much more productive and it also seems like a pretty good way to improve.

While a few areas of cricket have developed in this regard, one area that continues to see the queues build up is fielding practice. Not necessarily ground fielding, as there a lots of different fielding circuits that recycle the ball and can work without a coach at times.

Last night, the team I coach ran an experimental practice drill to improve game sense and raise the intensity of net practice. Here's how it went.

You may recall a post-tour review undertaken by our U14 Keeper Batter, Jamie. Well, Jamie is back and he is the focus of a drill that I do to test a players psychological attributes as well as their technique.

Imagine batting against a paceman who can get the ball up to 150kph. No one is comfortable, not even the best.

If you get it wrong at that speed, it’s going to hurt.