The key to batting early on is more about the shots you don’t play more than the ones you do.

From the opposition’s point of view, bowling with the new ball at new batsman and not making them play is wasting the chance to get wickets.

So as a batsman you must forget what shot to play next, and just consider what shots you aren’t going to play.

Preparation is the key; before you even face your first ball of the innings you must decide to play it safe, at least to start. 

Not being able to score runs is painful. I’m sure you have experienced something similar to Kevin Pietersen and his slump as England play Pakistan.

59 runs in 6 innings? Awful; especially when you decide the best form of defence is attack and hook straight down deep square leg’s throat.

So what are KP and his coaches Andy Flower and Graham Gooch going to do about it?

With Burners on holiday, David Hinchliffe and Mark Garaway get to discuss what it was like seeing Kevin Pietersen up close during filming at the Oval. You can see the results here.

The team also discuss the Ranji Trophy final and rant about writing people off too early.

Plus we answer your questions on how leg spinners and wicketkeepers can work together and how to look after a young talented fast bowler like Pat Cummins.

During a break in the filming of Kevin Pietersen’s coaching course, KP and I got to chatting about fitness training.

He said he spent a lot of his gym time working on his core. It wasn’t just so he could look good on the beach between Tests. He knows instinctively that the core is crucial to batting power.

That’s because timing and power with the bat are all based on the ability to transfer your weight from the ground, through your body and into the ball.

PitchVision Academy is delighted to present Kevin Pietersen as the man behind Keep Calm and Smash It, the online batting coaching course.

Revolution is an overused word but if one person personifies revolution it’s KP. And for the first time he is about to revolutionise the way you bat too.

Keep Calm and Smash It is the online batting guide from the England and Delhi Daredevils superstar. Direct from the man himself, you can discover how to emulate his stellar success with the bat.

Too many of us are guilty of the big Friday night out ahead of Saturday’s game; even professional players play the ‘rain card’,  trying to decide if it will rain the next day in order to justify a night out in town.

But how is this for a justification for your ill behaviour: Going out is research because batting is just like a big night out on the town.

The first pint, the first ball

You’ve scored an unbeaten ton in your last 3 innings.

You’re batting well, you feel good and most importantly, you look good!

You can carry as much form as you like coming into your next game, but unless the opposition study and follow your scorecard closely, they are unlikely to know your recent success.

But, they can sense it.  They know something special is coming out to bat when you walk out. It’s almost an aura.

 The great Des Haynes week continues on PitchVision Academy. In the show this week we interview the great man about his time playing in the outstanding West Indies sides of the 80s and 90s.

It’s a simple calculation:

Desmond Haynes was a world-class batsman. He is a world-class coach. The unique skills he can teach are invaluable to any player (or coach) with the desire to improve.

But you will never get to have coaching from him.

This video is the final free preview of the online coaching course Batting Lion: the Desmond Haynes Masterclass.

Everyone thinks that the best way to iron out mistakes is to get in the nets and work on your flaws.