There is not much that is more satisfying for a seam bowler than steaming in, beating the batsman for pace and seeing the stumps cart wheeling back.

If anyone knows how to tease that extra pace out of you it's Ian Pont: Who has coached at Essex, Worcestershire and Northamptonshire, as well as the Netherlands national team and been an ECB National Skills Set Coach.

Ian's secrets are outlined in his excellent online course here. While I highly recommend you pick up a copy, Ian has agreed to impart a few of his fast bowling secrets for nothing.

1. While you need a certain amount of natural ability to be able to bowl at 90mph, everyone can improve on their natural bowling speed no matter how fast they are.
2. Imagine you are bowling in a railway track. This will help you run-up straight, keep your weight moving in a straight line in your action and follow-through straight. If it doesn't go at the batsman, then change it!
3. Your non-bowling arm is far more important than your bowling arm. Use it properly by driving it out and down so it passes your side. When you do this properly, it will accelerate your bowling shoulder and help increase speed. Some have argued that this can stop genuine swing happening, so take care if you rely on traditional swing.
4. Keep your elbows and arms pumping in as you run up and load up into your action. Nothing throws your momentum and straight lines off like unnecessary side-to-side movements. Keeping your action tight helps you to control the release of the ball.
5. Start your run up leading with your arm. This drives force down your body and into the ground for greater speed. Drive your arms fast in short a short pumping action which will force you forward faster.
6. Make sure you fully rotate your shoulders on completion of action. If you have a name on your back imagine you are going to show it to the batsman when you finish. This will help you think about how much of a shoulder turn you're aiming for
7. Try to drive your chest through the crease just before you let the ball go. The sensation is that of being pulled forward by the batsman with a big rope attached to your chest. This gets you as far in front of the ball as possible and increases arm pull and speed of the arm
8. At the point of delivery, your hips and nose will be facing the batsman. If your bowling hip is lazy it will lag behind thus dropping your speed. If your nose isn't facing the batsman, your head is probably falling away. The hips are the powerhouse of your body. Get them in the right position
9. Try not to throw your non-bowling arm too high as it gets you off balance and affects your timing. Remember, you're trying to go forwards, not up and down.
10. Your bowling arm starts to bowl from the downswing, which is close to your bowling side hip. Getting your bowling hand into this position quickly from your load-up helps you improve your speed and timing.

To learn the drills and techniques for fast bowling success buy the online coaching course "How to Bowl Faster" on PitchVision Academy and get instant access.

It's the ball that either takes a great deal of skill or a total lack of it.

And it's been banned in English county cricket, but crucially not by the Laws making it a legal ball in club and school cricket.

Origins of the double-bouncer

Anyone who has played a questionable standard knows the double bouncing ball well. It's the hallmark of the occasional or beginner player. Also see: black trainers.

Some people think it is a no ball. However, Under Law 24.6 of the game the ball is permitted to bounce twice and only becomes a no ball on the third bounce.

Nevertheless, tradition dictates that the batsman smashes the filth to the boundary.

Tradition also dictates that such a ball is also a wicket-taker as the astounded batsman doesn't know how to deal with it. He swings to early and missed it altogether or hits it up in the air.

I don't know for sure, but I'm willing to bet that was the genesis of the idea developed by the Warwickshire bowling coach Graham Welch: To bowl one deliberately in T20 cricket.

The killjoys at the English Cricket Board quickly banned it in the county game; despite the MCC (the official lawmakers) saying it's a perfectly acceptable bowling variation.

What that means is the double-bouncing ball is still legal in most games.

So should you try and bowl it as a variation at the death or in Twenty20?

It would certainly be fun to try, but it wouldn't be easy to do on purpose as there is not much margin for error.

The first bounce must be dead on. If it's too short you end up with three bounces (and a no ball). If it's too full it's a long hop that a fielder has to retrieve from the pavilion roof.

The ideal would be a ball that reaches the batsman at yorker length on the 2nd bounce and hitting the stumps. It would be coming very slowly compared to your normal delivery but because of the length would be hard to hit.

As a shock ball at the end of an innings it's hard to fault. At the right, pace, length and line it is very hard to hit and very easy to get out to.

It would take quite some work to perfect as getting it wrong is a disaster.

My question to you would then be, if you are working on a shock variation, wouldn't a more traditional inswinging yorker or slower ball be just as effective against the standard of batsman you are up against?

I would guess in most cases, the answer is 'yes'.

In my mind perfecting a yorker would be easier and just as effective, and something I would encourage anyone I coach to work on first.

But if you are going to work on the double bouncer (and I applaud you if you do, cricket needs such ridiculousness) then don't just try it in a match. Take a box of balls to the nets, mark your target area with flat discs and get to work.

But let's not just get my opinion. After all, I'm a 'keeper who has never bowled a ball in a competitive match at any level.

What are your thoughts on the double-bouncing ball?

Have you tried it? How did it go? Are you prepared to practice it?

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