Does this remind you of anything you have seen as a player?

The home team players arrive at the ground at different times, some just before the start.

Three or four players are throwing the ball at the wicketkeeper with a distinct lack of focus. Throws were wild, many were fumbling the ball and all were more interested in talking about the upcoming night out.

Other team members sat outside the pavilion, smoking a cigarette or drinking a cup of tea. 

Meanwhile the opposing team arrives at the ground forty-five minutes before the scheduled start.

 They walk into the changing room, change into their kit, and make their way onto the ground and start, as a team, going through ground-fielding and catching drills. They only spend twenty minutes on this, and of course, some of them make mistakes. Encouragement is consistent and there was constructive criticism for those who drop a catch or fumble the ball.

The home team players are watching out of the corner of their eyes. 

It happened this season to my team.

We were the home team. It made us sit up and take notice. We had been inconsistent up until that point in the season.

Despite little difference in ability between the sides, we lost the match by eight wickets. However, the lasting impression was far more important for the club during the last few games of the season.

We decided to set a few ground rules. 

• Players should arrive at the ground an hour before the start of play. No later. 
• Players should arrive at the away ground, like the above team, 45 minutes before the start of play. 
  
• All players would be involved in a 20-minute practice session before the start of play. 
  
• All players were encouraged to suggest new practice drills. 
  
• All players would walk out at the start of play at the same time.
  

Nothing too difficult or demanding.

The discussion in the dressing room and the bar after the eight-wicket defeat centred on the impression the opposing teams actions had on us as individuals.

We might not have the best facilities or indeed the best players, but the ground rules were designed to help us create more of a team spirit.

We implemented them to improve as players, to look and act more professional, to try to win the little battles before the game started.

To create an impression.

The truth is the ability and skill levels between the two sides were minimal. We finished two places below the opposing team in the league at the end of the season. When we arrived at their ground for the penultimate game of the season, we went through exactly the same routine as they did at our place.

Only one team was ‘glancing out of the corner of their eyes’ and it certainly wasn’t us. It was arguably the best game we had all season, losing in a dramatic final over, but battling all the way.

In the bar afterwards their captain came over to us and said our actions, before the game, had made quite an impression.

We thanked him for giving us the inspiration in the first place. 

image credit: pj_in_oz

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

Purpose: A drill that incorporates cricket skills into competitive speed training. It can also be used as a finisher to a pre-game warm up drill.

Description: The player at the front of group 1 runs with the ball, putting it down on the marker 5m from the start. He or she then sprints around the stump 20m away and back to the start.

As player 1 puts the ball down, the player at the front of group 2 sprints up to the stump, touches it, turns and sprints to the ball.

The race is between player 1 and 2. Player 1 is trying to get back to his team before player 2 underarms the ball back to the first player in group 1.

Fitness note: This is an excellent cricket-specific sprint drill that has a competitive element to really make the players go all out. Therefore ensure there is at least 1.5-2 minutes rest between sprints per player to allow full recovery. Do not exceed 10 throws per player.