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

Purpose: To practice slip catching concentration under a pressure situation. And to have a fun game.

Description: The coach hits the ball out randomly to players in the line for close catches. Any fielder who drops the catch moves to the bottom of the ‘ladder’ (as shown on the left), everyone else moves up a place.

This article is part of a series designed to show you how to adapt cricket drills for your needs. To see the full list of articles in this series click here.

Every team has a net player. Perhaps it’s even you.

Purpose: A drill that incorporates cricket skills into speed/endurance training. Can also be used as a pre-game warm up drill.

Description: Players get into equal team numbers. The first player in the queue at end A runs with the ball, places it down on the blue marker and runs to the back of end B.

This article is part 4 of the “How to use fitness training to make better young cricketers” series.

Some time in a cricketer’s early teens their focus shifts.

No, I’m not talking about the strange attraction to the opposite sex. I mean that the type of fitness training they can bear moves from movement skills to more traditional strength and endurance.

Purpose: To develop better reactions and close catching technique. This is a simple but effective drill for any age or skill level to groove close catching skills.

Description: Fielders get into pairs facing the wall. The fielder furthest from the wall underarm throws the ball so it bounces off the wall for his or her partner to catch it.

 This article is part of a series designed to show you how to adapt cricket drills for your needs. In this part we look at ways of increasing the speed of learning new skills. To see the full list of articles in this series click here.

You don’t have to be a kid to learn a skill but frankly, mostly it is kids.

If I do say so myself, we are pretty awesome at PitchVision Academy. Where else can you find so many drills for every cricket skill?

But we are only so great because you are so great right back. You are not about getting fed exactly what to do. You want to learn why you’re doing something so you can improve on things yourself without our help.

That’s why we showed you how to design your own drills.

As a coach, I’m always looking for ways to improve my methods. One of the best ways to do this is by sharing knowledge.

One of the great benefits of our current tour, “PitchVision Academy Live!” is that I get to share ideas with coaches I would otherwise be unlikely to meet.

Here are three of the ideas that we shared at the Birmingham event PitchVision Academy Live!

Purpose: A general team warm up that works on picking up and throwing in a competitive situation.

Description: The game is played with a tennis or cricket ball. Players are split into 2 teams with the aim of scoring by rolling the ball into the opposition’s goal (marked by cones 4m apart on a pitch 30-50m long).

Sometimes you just have to practice alone.

There is no one around to train with but you are eager improve your skills. A bowler can go to a net with a box of balls and practice hitting a target. Batsmen are not as lucky because they need someone or something to feed a ball.