Fast bowlers are supposed to snarl and prowl. So what do you do if you have the physical attributes but not the mean, glaring attitude?

English fast bowler Chris Tremlett knows it’s not enough to be able to bowl with pace and accuracy. Fast bowling is also about putting the batsman in two minds.

You need to make the batsman think, “Does he really want to hurt me?”

When he has that doubt in his mind he plays nervously and you get a wicket through poor footwork.

The captain scratched his head as he examined the team sheet. He had 8 names written on it.

“Who can we find to play?” he muttered to himself, scrolling through his phone contacts.

He was already coming up with creative ideas like asking Fred if his brother still fancied a game because he “played a bit in school” and expressed some interest a couple of seasons ago.

Have you ever arrived at a party late and it’s already jumping?

If you have, you know that it’s difficult to jump right in and start having fun. That’s because everyone at the party have had enough time to get into the food, music, drink and atmosphere.

Imagine that at the party you sit in the corner refusing to speak to anyone because you might say the wrong thing.

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

Description: The coach hits the ball towards the fielders split into 2 groups. There must be 1 less fielder in the front group.

This is the final part of the blueprint of a one day innings series we look at the tactics of a typical club game in the last 10 overs. Part one is here, part two is here.

The death of any innings is a shoot out. The battle is about who can keep control when the shackles are off.

 Dirk Nannes didn’t listen to conventional advice.

The wise sages of cricket all agree: If you have not made it into a first-class setup by the time you are 18, you may as well be on the cricketing scrap heap.

But Dirk was a skier. Sure, he played good club cricket in the summer but he never took it seriously. He was happy on the slopes.

Then he decided cricket would be a better bet. Convention dictated he was wasting his time; he was too late to make it as a professional. He switched anyway.

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!

In part one of this analysis of a 50 over club limited overs match, we looked at the first 15 overs. In this part we examine the tactics used by Craig Wright, former Scotland and current Watsonian CC captain, during the lull middle overs.

How do you manage the middle overs of a limited over match?

Martin Crowe, dodgy knees and all, announces his comeback to cricket at 48 years old. In the same week 46 year old boxer Bernard Hopkins became light-heavyweight world boxing champion.

Who says sport is for young men?

These men in their 40s – and countless thousands of others at amateur levels – prove that you can keep sport in your life without making a fool of yourself.

So how do you follow Crowe and adapt to your changing needs as you get older?

Simple; plan.

 If I’m being very kind, the standard of midweek league cricket in this part of the world is “mixed”. Despite that, my experience in a recent game showed me that playing bad cricket in poor conditions will help you improve.

It was the first game of the new season; a twenty over slog squeezed in before the sun went down; no umpires, no sightscreens. I was playing for a new team and two guys turned up in shorts and black trainers.

Black trainers are a solid indicator that general standards will be poor.