It’s a mantra as old as overarm bowling: Put the ball on a good length for long enough and you will get your rewards. But in a world of slower balls, bouncers and inswinging yorkers, it’s an ideal we have forgotten.

Take Stuart Broad as an example. The England bowler spent a long time trying to work out what kind of role he had. Was he the enforcer; there to bowl bouncers and scare batsmen? Was he a line and length man; using swing and seam movement? How did this role change between formats, if at all?

From Harbhajan Singh to Dale Steyn, IPL 2012 has been littered with examples of cricketers pushing the Spirit of Cricket to its limits. The offenders will say it’s just passion over-spilling, but do you need a bad boy to succeed at your level?

The example of Harbhajan Singh is a good one to examine. The Mumbai Indian’s skipper argued for several minutes with the umpire, eventually forcing him to review his decision.

The team discuss the implications of the PitchVision CRC Batting Simulator this week. Burners talks us through who can use the technology from fun to functional and Mark Garaway takes the coaches’ perspective.

The rest of the show is focused on fast bowling with questions on mental strength and correcting a bowler who bowls off the wrong foot (or not). This week’s Tailender also has a shocking revelation about a current England International bowler: not to be missed!

Ashok Dinda’s reputation is rising. He has played for India, takes wickets for fun in the IPL - despite being in a team of International stars - and has been endorsed by no less than Allan Donald.

He may not have a perfect bowling action, but he is certainly successful as a fast bowler. He can keep speeds up near 145kph and can swing the new ball. What is it you can learn from a player like this?

I put it down to two key elements. One is technical, the other is mental.

PitchVision Academy has a ton of advice on how to bowl faster, but what if you are still getting it wrong? What if you still are not searing the ball down to the other end and scaring opposition batsmen?

In times like this it’s often the case that you are better off learning what NOT to do. So with that in mind, here are the 5 most common mistakes fast bowler’s make when learning the art:

Recently we had a question posted on PitchVision Academy asking this:

“I am trying to increase the speed of my bowling. I am already a keen gym goer and quite strong. I bench 150kg, deadlift 180kg and squat  170kg. So what can I do now to become faster?”

It’s a great question because, as we already know, strength is a crucial element in bowling fast.

The more you practice, the better you get. That idea is well established: but many bowlers with ambitions of bowling fast fail even when they do practice hard.

The problem is you are doing the wrong kind of practice. You turn up to nets and bowl. The coach offers useful advice while the batsmen go about their business at the other end. You finish with a vague sensation of having done well or badly, but you don’t know exactly why.

Yorkers will single-handedly win games of cricket in this year’s edition of the IPL. And they will do the same if you coach it well because the yorker is an exciting ball that can be practiced and developed through coaching routines and practices.

Malinga has made himself into one of the most valuable T20 players in the world in the IPL over the last 2 editions.  It’s no shock to learn that he attempts over twice as many yorkers than any other bowler in the IPL. 

Malinga is a diligent trainer and is often seen aiming his yorkers at targets before matches with unerring accuracy. Here’s how your bowling unit can copy his success.

The talented young bowler had broken into the first team at his club. But the Youth Coordinator insisted to the 1^st XI captain that he only bowled 7 overs in his spell because of the Bowling Directives.

Everything was fine until the day he bowled a destructive spell before having to be whipped off when he was in full flow.

Senior players muttered about the rules, saying it was a pointless exercise that would cost games.

A fellow coach and I were speaking last night about a perennial problem in our team: the ball stops swinging very early.

We blame the quality of the balls. This happens every season. The new ball wobbles a little but the deviation soon ends, often after as little as 10 overs.

But it’s not just about the ball. So here are 4 ways you can make a “bad” ball swing.