This page is designed to provide cricketers of all ages and levels with important cricketing tips that might help improve your game.

Tutorial 1. Hydration = Better Performance - A minimal decrease in the bodies fluid level can affect your health and energy levels out on the playing field. In order to combat the chances of heat stress you should try to follow some of the following intructions : Drink plenty of water the days before leading into game day and increase your salt intake with food. Obviously do not go overboard. - On Game day enjoy a few galsees of water upon waking and a few more prior to play. - During the game particularly on hotter days take any opportunity to ingest extra fluids such as water and sports drinks. - Using cooling aids such as compressions garments, fans, ice vests, cool ties and seek rest and shade during breaks in play. The colour of your Urine will give you an idea of how you are fairing : Clear urine means good hydration Dark yellow urine means dehydration and you should try and get some more fluid into your system - After the game consdier checking your weight as a guide - 1kg weight loss equals up to 1L fluid loss. You'll need to replenish these fluids after play and into the night (water or sports drink best) - Cool shower or Ice bath which also helps ease post game soreness as well and avoid too much caffeine intake. The following intructions may be the difference between a good score or a great score as well as keeping you generally healthier during and after a game. 

Tutorial 2. Increase your catching ability - The best way to improve your catching skills is to practise. Practising your catching allows you to improve all the aspects that will help you hold onto more catches for the season and potentially make you the difference between a win or a loss - remember catches win matches !!! Most importantly set yourself a goal at every training session. In grade cricket I set our players the target of taking 100 catches every session. They must mix up the types of drills they are doing so that the aren't limiting their fielding skills. Just by achieving 100 catches per session you would have worked on general catching skills and definately improved your reflexes. Make sure you are using the right techniques such as soft hands, not pointing your fingers at the ball and make sure you watch the ball all the way into your hands. Actual hard work is the key here (like most things in life).

Tutorial 3. Timing is the key - What is the benefit of timing the ball as opposed to smashing or slogging the ball. Firstly let's quickly try to understand the meaning of timing. Essentially timing the ball is hitting the ball off the middle of the bat and obtaining maximum rebound off the sweetspot with minimum effort. These type of shots are often referred to as "classical". So what is the main benefit of timing the ball - For me, it is control and this aspect of batting is very important. Control is what allows a batsman to stay at the crease for hours on end building big scores. If you are throwing the bat at the ball more than likely you don't really know exactly where it's going. More often than not you'll hit the ball too early therefore getting under the ball and hitting up in the air. Next time you are facing fast bowling, try using the pace of the ball and time it to the boundary. Having the right techniques, as always, helps dramatically as well.

Tutorial 4. Bending the Knee when playing the Drive - There are many benefits to bending the knee when driving. I often see players losing balance and one of the main reasons is that they were not transferring their weight forward by bending their front knee whilst driving. When we judge a full ball as drivable we all know that we need to step to the pitch of the ball but we also need to support this step by bending our knee into the shot. This helps us to lean forward, get over the ball, bring your head close into the line of the ball, transfer our weight forward and get over the ball. If you can play your drives with a " one step and balance" approach, it sounds like you are on your way to attaining better timing and control with your attacking drives.

Tutorial 5. Fitness - Most of you would have all started your seasons by now and if you are anything like me the most evident factor after your first few games just might be lack of fitness and soreness ! If this is the case you've got some work to do in the next few weeks otherwise you may risk injury or worse, a poor start to the season. Main examples are batsman and bowlers being out of breath too early therefore losing their wickets despite being in good form and bowling down legside etc. Some older players may even be cramping up. What's required here are small sacrifices. You need to do some game related fitness sessions preferably early on in the week. Short sharp stuff. My suggestion is mark out the length of a pitch and combine some sprints with slow jogs ie sprint up the pitch, slow jog back and continue this until you are out of gas. Try and improve the number of laps by a few each session. You'll start to feel immediate improvement and this will reflect in your performances. Don't forget, plenty of stretching too. If you are pulling up sore after a game, stretch down, ice up sore areas, a nice relaxing bath always helps and if you feel like you are injured seek professional advise. Don't forget, you are what you eat, so try to improve your diet where possible, especially on game day. Learn what foods will provide you with extra fuel.

Tutorial 6. Pre-Season Preparation - Pre-season training is essential as it prepares your body and mind for the first game. It is always best kept simple and basic so you can allow yourself to smoothly get back in the groove. Aside from your regular net sessions you should really focus on some drills that will help you tidy up the required techniques. I've seen the best cricketers in Australia start their pre-season with the simplest of drills. If it is good for them, it should be good for all of us. A bit of fitness these days is essential mainly because you can be assured your opposition have probably worked hard in order to get the upperhand on you. Lastly don't be affraid to seek the advice of qualified and well known coaches. This will give you an idea of what you should be working on for the whole of the season. Better training breeds better cricketers. Good luck and see you soon out on the paddock ! 

Tutorial 7. In Between Overs - What should a bowler do in between bowling his overs? What we do know for sure is that he has to play an important part as a fielder. Much of the time though it is at fine leg so the work load is not that great. So perhaps it’s a wise idea to think about doing the following - • Firstly if you are a bit puffed you need to re-hydrate and control your breathing. It helps to have a water bottle on the boundary. • Most importantly take the opportunity to analyse the batsman and see if you can spot any weaknesses. This might help you with a plan for your next over. Bowlers have brains too ! Remember that you still need to play your part as a fielder.

Tutorial 8. Backlift - Comes a time when we come up against bowlers whom we find too quick. How can we get some kind of advantage ? The answer can be a simple movement before the bowler even releases the ball. Some batsman don’t live up their bat until the make their first movement after the ball is released. This might be too late. You should first lift your bat towards the top of the off stumps before the bowler shapes to release the ball. This will give you a head start on the bowler and little more time to concentrate on the ball. The reason why we lift towards to the off stump is that this gives us our best chance of playing with a straight bat. Best rehearsing this in front of a mirror so you can see for yourself where your bat is going.

Tutorial 9. Spinners pick up wickets with bad balls - Let’s try to understand why this happens. Quite often we receive a loose ball, our eyes light up and as batsman we lose control of the situation in our efforts of trying to hit the ball into the middle of next week. In the nets you should practise playing “Safe Aggressive” shots when the spinners bowl you loose deliveries. The main mistake batsman make in this situation is lifting your head or taking your eye off the ball. If you work hard in the nets, this will reflect in a game and your confidence against spin bowling will improve dramatically. Playing safe aggressive cricket against spinners puts more pressure on spin bowlers and in turn you may just get more loose bowling. You just need to be sensible in your approach and planning !

Tutorial 10. A Simple Plan for playing Spin bowling - Spinners often pick up extra wickets with bad deliveries and prey upon batsman that they can feel are not very confident playing spin bowling. The best way to improve your confidence is to have a steady plan and to try and play as much spin bowling as possible. Next time you are in the nets, don’t avoid the spinners. Work out the different spinners you have, the type of spin they get, the amount of flight and bounce they extract. This will prepare you better. Understand that most spinners bowl up to 2 loose balls an over. This means you must survive the good deliveries and the best method is respect. Judge which are the good deliveries and do the best you can to survive which usually means defend. This also means judging the correct length. Should you go back or forward with your feet. Either way you need to ensure that you keep your shot compact and the bat over the ball. 

Tutorial 11. Make the first few deliveries count - Last week we discussed Nerves and batsman not being in the zone when they first face up to bat. Well this week we look at how bowlers can make the most of this situation. Most batsman take a little while to get settled in and if bowlers don’t strike early, batting gets easier and easier. What a bowler must concentrate on is making his first 5 or 6 deliveries to a new batsman count. If the batsman gets to leave the ball he is getting his eye in without the risk of playing a shot. Make sure you remind yourself at the top of your mark to try to bowl at middle and off, it will be your best chance of getting the new batsman out for a duck. Remember not to waste your few deliveries to a new and nervous batsman.

Tutorial 12. Nerves / Butterflies - Most cricketers from all walks of life suffer from butterflies or being nervous before batting. Firstly nerves actually show that a player indeed cares about how they perform so there’s a positive to start with ! However nerves can also leave a player feeling a little low on confidence. One of the most common results of nerves whilst waiting to bat is tiredness / sleepyness and this is why many players get out for low scores before they get settled in. They say this was the main cause of Mark Waugh’s incredible run of ducks, 4 in a row, in Sri Lanka. So what can we do to overcome this problem? For starters the problem is made far worse by a batsman sitting down the whole time that they are waiting to bat. This will only increase your sleepiness. Every now and then get up and go for a little walk or a short run. Perhaps do a few stretches or hit a few balls. This will also get your eye in. A Small catching drill can also help switch you on. Most high level players all have their own procedures in order to ensure they are alert before facing those first crucial deliveries.

Tutorial 13. Shining the Ball - During a game a pace bowler should treat the ball like a true batsman treats his bat – with love and plenty of care. After all, it is the bowlers tool of the trade. In order to obtain more swing for longer periods the bowler needs to not only shine the ball but to shine the ball with the correct techniques and with more vigor than just simply wiping the ball a few times. Do not use too much moisture; this will just help to rub the shine off the ball. Use a little moisture and more “Elbow Grease” meaning more rubbing. After the first few overs one side of the ball will become a better option to shine than the other. Concentrate on one side as this will help promote swing (with the correct bowling actions and techniques). Make sure the rest of the team is aware of this especially your bowling partner at the other end so you are all working together. Train your mid on or mid off to help you out with your efforts. If the ball swings for five overs longer it just might make the difference helping you get a few extra wickets to your name.

Tutorial 14. Gaps and Running Between Wickets - When you first arrive at the crease take care in observing the field placings. It’s a good idea to actually focus on the gaps rather than the fielders. This will give you a greater chance of finding the gaps. Also take note on the areas where you might be able to pickup quick or easy singles and ensure this is communicated to your batting partner so that he is ready. 10 extra singles in you innings can be the difference between you scoring 40 and a half century. Remember, there should only be 3 loud calls – Yes, No or Wait !

Tutorial 15. Fielding - Fielding is one of the most important aspects of cricket. It is certainly the part of cricket that we spend the most time doing so it makes sense to try and be good at it. The Australian team is so good partly because they are one of the best fielding teams in the world. Would the great Glen McGrath have taken as many wickets if his team couldn’t catch? At trials selectors will pay great attention to good fielders especially when cricketers are of equal talent with the bat and ball. They will always select the better fielder. All it takes is for you to decide to start enjoyng fielding and working harder at training. Next time you are watching the Aussies play observe players like Ricky Ponting and Michael Clarke and take some of those fielding techniques to your training session and try them out but remember, don’t get to fancy. Concentrate on the ball as always.

Tutorial 16. Getting Caught Out - At the end of the season most batsman will realize that the most common way of being dismissed is CAUGHT. This is a “no brainer”. Work at keeping the ball along the ground especially in the nets. If you find you can not control yourself from hitting the ball in the air perhaps you are using too much bottom hand. Another reason for popping the ball in the air is simply hitting the ball too early. Don’t reach for the ball, try and remain compact and let the ball come to you. Remember to get those feet moving towards the ball. Front foot for pitched up deliveries and back for short deliveries and always respect the GOOD BALL.