The second ball throwing drill in this series is the med ball push. Catch up with previous articles on throwing drills here and here.

This is drill to the drills often used by fast bowling coaches. Yet it used used to develop an understanding of how the body generates speed through the body and into our hands for many of the other disciplines.

“Stay down!”

It’s the age old call of the coach; often used as a go-to phrase when something has gone wrong and they’re not entirely sure what.

Maintaining a body position that keeps the keepers head close to the height and line of the ball is important, so how can we help?

I used to play cricket with a bodybuilder. He was a huge guy with muscles like Volkswagen Beatles trying to park. He was a good club batsman and accurate medium pace bowler too. Could he have been better if he spent less time in the gym and more time in the nets?

A powerful throw sends a message to a batting team.

The batsmen are looking for a second run and you are in the deep. The both look up to see your throw, as do most of the batsmen waiting to come in. There is a subtle moment of expectation: Just how good is this guy’s throw?

You sear it in head high, dipping into the keeper’s gloves so he doesn’t have to move.

If you are reluctant to do fitness training to improve your cricket because you are afraid of getting injured then this is the article for you.

I'm here to tell you that there is a very real injury risk in fitness training. I'm also here to tell you how you can reduce that risk to virtually zero while still getting all the benefits. It's not about if you should train - that's unquestionable - it's all about how you train.

It was a league match and we had just taken a wicket. A kid of about 15 came out looking nervous, as they often do. I reckon it was one of his first senior cricket games because he looked like a fish out of water.

He was small for his age anyway, and this was exacerbated by the wide framed men that stood around the bat. Our spinner was on. They were sharks circling their prey waiting for the slightest mistake.

He scratched around for a while and we soon came to the conclusion he was not going to last long. That was until he got a half volley on leg stump. He unleashed one of the finest on drives I have seen. The ball raced to the long boundary in a blur.

It's a scene that you can see at every level of cricket all over the world.

Why it is that seemingly 'weak' players like that kid can hit the ball so hard?

Unless you are a professional or academy cricketer, there is noone responsible for improving your strength and conditioning. And that's hurting your game.

But fear not, there is a man on a mission to help solve this problem for you and for millions of players who don't get access to good training. That man is Ross Dewar.

Your hips are the powerhouse of the bowling action: You have leapt to the crease, landed with a braced front leg and there is a surge of energy heading up your body like a pole vaulter's pole sends them over the bar.

It's a simple and effective training method to add "filler" exercises to net sessions to help with fitness training. You know the type of thing; adding in press ups and sprints between balls to increase fatigue and bump up fitness. Here is a perfect example. We have done this kind of work for years.

I'm sure if I asked you to name a few simple things players could do, you quickly think of exercises like press ups, chin ups, squats and lunges. How about we add a few more into the mix that will also prevent injury. Plus, it gets a bit dull doing lunges, so why not mix it up?

Naturally, you won't want to run fillers at every nets you do. It depends on your goal for the session, but the fact is that these movements tick a lot of boxes: They save time, they reduce injury and they test your technique under fatigue. If you want to do those things, get going!

Cricket is awesome. More cricket is more awesome, right?

Wrong.

If you want to be a cricketer, there is a balance to be had between playing, practising and doing something else completely. We know from the top level that burnout is a very real issue.

And it can happen to you as well.

Here is how you can use the power of rest and recovery to become a more powerful player.