This is the 2nd part of John Cook's guest spot on PitchVision Academy. Part 1 talked through the rationale for training and mobility. In this part we complete the picture.

A second attribute of fitness you can work on as a fast bowler is strength.

But where do we need strength and what is the best way to develop this?

This is a guest article from Strength and Conditioning Coach John Cook

Here is a no brainer: speed is one of the most important factors in bowling. By reducing the decision making time of the batsman, you increase your chances of taking wickets and reduce the chances of conceding runs.

An old school of thought is that simply bowling more will increase both your bowling speed and ‘toughen up’ your body to prevent injury.

But over-bowling is one of the primary predictors for injury.

Mark Garaway goes into more detail about the latest research into watching the ball and how you can apply it as a coach or player.

And the team discuss weighted balls for bowling faster, left arm wrist spin and cricket badgers.

Abishek emailed in a question:

"I am a 17 old leg spinner. I am 160cm tall and underweight. I have never tried doing any fitness exercises. Can you recommend some to start?"

You could do what the 17 year old lads do in my gym, and walk in, head straight for the bench press and try and lift too much weight without warming up.

But I wouldn't recommend it. You will get injured. And you look silly getting stuck under a bar.

Fact is, there are a load of different and safe ways to exercise.

Here is a question Regan posted on facebook:

"Do you think boxing will increase bowling speed? I thought because it's training your rotator cuff to fire quickly that it might increase the speed."

The answer to that question is both complex and simple. And as this is a quick tip, I'm going to give you the shortcut first.

Boxing will help with bowling speed a little, but it's not the magic pill to being able to hurl the ball down at 150kph.

In this video, I discuss how to best spend your time in warm ups for cricket.

The warm up is a ramp from everyday to best performance, and it's important to get it right.

Click here to view the video now

When Sachin Tendulkar was bowled for 17 in the 2nd Test against New Zealand he did something unusual.

Normally the Little Master walks off quietly, thoughtfully and focused.

This time he swung his bat in frustration.

Sounds like a tiny change?

Yes, but it shows something from which we can all learn as batters.

Only he can know what made the difference, but it showed a crack in the temperament of one of the greatest batsmen of all time.

This series is part of the Cricket Fitness Workouts monthly series. For the full list, click here.

Everyone knows how important it is to be fit as a cricketer. Modern Indian professionals now train in the gym 3-4 times a week regularly. Even the old school stalwart Rahul Dravid once said "It's important to stay and look fit to be able to play for the country."

And The Wall is absolutely right.

This is a guest article from Tom Matcham

No country can consistently produce fast bowlers.

Why?

It’s clearly desirable and clearly possible: the West Indies proved this in the 1980s. With all the science and coaching effort being put into understanding cricket, why do we understand bowling so poorly?

We are not training our bowlers correctly. We have not learnt enough from older, wiser sports, and this is evident in our variable results.

In fact, bowling over 161kph should not be a particularly exceptional achievement.

The lateral lunge works similar muscle groups as the anterior lunge in last weeks’ article.