Cricket coaching, fitness and tips | PitchVision Academy

Have you got your cricket goals in place?

With the league season fast approaching here, now is the time to set your cricket goals for the summer.

In the hope that you will be inspired to do this yourself, it's time for me to put my money where my mouth is. Here are my goals for the summer and how I plan to track them:

Overall Aim: To make 2007 my best cricket season ever.

School and club cricket podcast

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Yesterday I suggested I could do a regular cricket podcast.

As a little test run, here is a conversation I had with Ben Barton, the man in charge of cricket at The Leys school in Cambridgeshire. We discuss the state of school and club cricket and the challenges of developing players.

Let me know what you think by leaving a comment or contacting me. Especially if you want more. I am relying on your feedback as a harrowdrive reader to know if it's worth doing more or not!

How to make the most of your fielding practice

There is often little time or motivation for club players to practice fielding. That means doing everything possible to maximise what chance you have.

Good practice can give a club the edge. Based on experience and the advice of South African fielding coach Jonty Rhodes here is how you can do it:

  • Keep it short and intense. Never drill for the sake of it. The intensity of your fielding practice should be close to game intensity. Do a few drills as hard as you can then move onto something else when the quality starts to go.

7 Cricket World Cup tactics your club can use

Your club games and the World Cup have plenty in common.

Having pride in your cricket means raising your standards as high as you can whatever level you are at. Here are 6 innovations that you can bring to your level even without the talent and time that the top players have:

  1. Fielding is vital. All World Cup teams drilled like mad almost every day. The influence of baseball is growing. Teams now practice getting the ball back to the keeper quickly every ball, focus on backing up a shy at the stumps rather than not throwing and double teaming to get throws in from the deep or from one set of stumps to the other. How much quality, intense and realistic practice does your club do?

Make the groundsman love you

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Get the groundsman to love you and you will improve your game. That's a secret many club players have learned to their benefit over the years.

This is because the groundsman controls and understand the pitch: One of the most important factors in any game. He is proud of what he has achieved and wants someone else to appreciate his efforts too, yet only the best players and captains seek him out.

Weekly Links 15th April 2007

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Why sleep is so good for your cricket

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While almost everyone agrees on the importance of regular sleep to sport performance, it seems nobody can agree on the right amount.

Sleep is a vital element in your cricket training plan no matter what your goals. According to studies (and probably your own common sense) the main reasons are all preventative:

The secret of keeping your bowling tactics simple

It's very easy to overcomplicate your bowling and it's even easier to get too simple and just wang it down without any tactics at all. As a keeper I have seen both sorts of bowling get the same result: punishment by the batsmen.

In reality there are only a few things you need to think about on the pitch and as soon as you keep it simple you have a clearer mind and are more likely to get wickets. Here are the 3 elements I always advise bowlers to think about:

How to improve your batting by talking

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One of the biggest signs of a team in trouble is when the batsmen are not talking to each other between overs. If I see a pair do that I know they are out of ideas.

Talking to each other while batting and waiting to bat is vital. It allows you to discuss tactics and motivate each other. There is always something to say, even if it's just to take your mind off the pressure for a few moments.