How to exploit batting weaknesses: Introduction
In cricket, all batsmen have technical weaknesses. Really good bowlers and captains are able to use them to get the player out.
In this new series we will examine the more common technical faults, show you how to spot them and give you the bowling and field setting tactics you need to exploit them.
So if you are a bowler or a captain and you find yourself scratching your head for ideas on how to get a player out, this is the guide for you.
What's your first job as new captain?
Last night I took the job of captain of my club second team.
It's been a few years since I was in charge of a side, and what instantly sprung to mind was: What should I do first?
As new captain, a hundred ideas flash through your brain as you try to work out how to get the best from your inherited team.
How to be a remarkable cricket club
When did the bowling machine become a crucial bit of kit?
15 years ago, most people still scoffed at the idea. "It's crazy. What would be the point?" they said. "We already have human bowlers".
10 years ago there were plenty of machines around and they started to think there was a benefit in having one.
Hunt in a pack: How to become a stellar fast bowling unit
Bowlers win cricket matches. Because of this, the fast bowlers are a team within a team and need to put unrelenting pressure on the opposition.
What does a pack of fast bowlers look like?
When you think of a pack of fast bowlers the first thing that springs to mind is the great West Indian teams of the 1970's and 80's.
Be a better cricket coach by giving less information
Coaching isn't like filling a jug with water. Minds don't work by having information poured into them until they are full. For a start, jugs don't wonder if it's the right kind of water for their needs.
Warning: Thinking can seriously hurt your cricket
Who wouldn't want to be streetwise with thoughts and plans at their fingertips?
Raj is an opening batsman. He is a slow starter, but is able to score freely once he gets his feet moving. His coach has been helping him with some technical points.
Meanwhile his team-mates have been teasing him for his slow starts.
Here's an easy way to stay focused during your bowling spell
Bowling is hard. At least when you bat and you are out you can hide in the pavilion, but when you bowl and are clattered for 3 boundaries in a row there is nowhere to hide. You have to finish the over.
No wonder the mind becomes cluttered with thoughts and plans when you stand at the top of the mark.
But an unfocused mind makes it difficult to bowl. How many times have you bowled wide outside the off stump, tried to compensate and end up throwing it down he leg side instead?
The secret to playing straight and scoring quickly
Gary Palmer, the PitchVision Academy batting coach, takes fresh look at an old idea and finds out that you can be technically correct and score quickly. If you would like coaching from Gary, check out CCM Academy.
Playing straight with a checked drive in the 'V' from both front and back foot is something that all the great players have done well, and still do well today.
Laws of cricket: Rebound off the fielder and batsman is recalled
This edition of Laws of Cricket, in association with the International Institute of Cricket Umpiring and Scoring, covers some more tricky questions of the Laws.
What happened at the coaching conference?
Knowledge is a tool used by coaches to make better cricketers.
That's why the ECBCA conference is such an important event for all coaches: You surround yourself with such passionate and knowledgeable people, all of whom love sharing their knowledge of the game.
