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CRICKET JOBS: Academy Director - Leicestershire CCC (UK)

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Closing date: 15th September 2015

Our vision is ‘To become the leading non-International Cricket Club by 2019’  
Established in 1879, Leicestershire County Cricket Club (LCCC) is one of the nation’s 18 first class cricket counties and operates within the sports and entertainment industry. Since September 2014, LCCC has embarked on a period of significant change, resulting in the recruitment of a new Chief Executive, Head Coach and Club Captain - signalling an exciting new era in the history of the club. 

What the Ashes Taught Us about Playing Swing and Seam Bowling

2015 was a very odd Ashes. When the ball swung significantly England won. When the ball didn't swing for long periods Australia compiled heavy first innings scores and won as a result of scoreboard pressure.

Only 6 batters (Root, Rogers, Warner, Smith, Cook and Ali) averaged over 30 in the series. Cook and Rogers are Test match specialists, Warner adapted his method during the series, Smith and Root swapped over as World number one batters and there is a good chance that England's number 8 in this series will open the batting in the next one!

Other than these players, there were a lot of "walking wickets" on show in the series. Especially when either side got the ball to move laterally. As coaches, we have a huge role to play in the development of cricketers who have the skills to cope with balls that swerve in and out and also deck off of the pitch.

This comes in the technical wisdom that we impart on the players and also in the way that we expose the batters to tough conditions and to swinging balls.

Technically, when the ball swings, the feet have a tendency not to move.

Jos Buttler showed this in the last couple of test matches. His only method was to try and save himself with his excellent hand to eye coordination. But even that wasn't enough in tough batting conditions.

So what could Jos do to prepare himself for lateral moving conditions in the future?

Revealed: The Secret of How to Bowl Fast

Research into fast bowling has revealed two simple changes to your action goes 50% of the way to top bowling speed.

Forget about "hip drive", "chest drive" and "pulling your non-bowling arm in": It's all about the feet and legs at the crease. This simple knowledge, which so far has been ignored by coaches, can be turned to your advantage.

Tactics You Should Be Using: Bowl at the Stumps

Does it seem a bit old fashioned to say "pitch it up, hit the stumps"?

In these days of slower ball bouncers, enforcers and bowling dry outside off stump you might think so. Actually, it's still an effective way to bowl in most situations.

Swing bowler on a slow English pitch in May? Yes.

Spinner on a Bunsen burner? Absolutely.

Fast bowler on a flat deck? Without doubt.

Keep Fighting: A Cricketer's Guide to Motivation

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It was the summer of 2009. My club side had romped to victory in the league.

I could not have had a more demotivating season.

In fact, I was more motivated a couple of seasons later when the same side finished dead bottom of the division and were on the opposite side of weekly drubbings.

I'm not crazy.

It's a common situation because motivation is about far more than how you do as a player or a team.

When you know this, you can make changes to stay motivated through the whole year, even when things are not going as planned.

How Much Practice Does It Really Take to Become a Cricketer?

Go to nets, do your drills and play cricket. These are the steps to improving your skills. But how much time does it really take to make it as a cricketer?

One answer looked at in the last 10 years is 10,000 hours: A number plucked off the back of a study into top class violists, and popularised by authors like Malcolm Gladwell and Geoff Colvin. The idea has since been expanded to cricket. People have stated that simply training every day for 10 years will take you to of the cricket tree.

Hard work, yes, but you know what you need to do. It's been proven by science.

I got 10,000 problems

Except, in recent times, the headline of "10,000 hours" has demotivating to people who play club and school cricket. Most of us can't dedicate so much time to the game. If you train, on average, four hours a month, mastery will take 208 years!

PV/VIDEO Weekly Highlights: The Joy of Bowling Your Mate

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Welcome to the PV/VIDEO Digest, your highlights summary of the weeks best videos from PitchVision Interactive

You can share these videos by email or onto facebook, and post your comments right here: From serious analysis to Friday fun. Here are the top videos uploaded from PitchVision systems around the world this week.

Cricket Show S6 Episode 33: Bouncebackability

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PitchVision Academy - PitchVision Academy Cricket Show 325.mp3
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"Bouncebackability" is not a word. The ability to come back after failure is a skill you want as a cricketer or coach. David Hinchliffe discusses his own woes with Mark Garaway and Sam Lavery.

How to Use "Britain's Got Talent" to Boost Your Batting Talent

Here's a brilliant batting drill based on a TV show.

First the back story: I ran a session this week with four cricketers from school who haven't played a great deal over the summer holidays. One of the players in the session has made huge progress this year.

Cricket Show 324: Competition Winner

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This week's winner of the Cricket Show podcast question competition is Wajeeh. He wins a free coaching course from PitchVision Academy.

The winning question was,