Every schoolboy cricketer worth his salt makes sure he learns the names of all the fielding positions with a torch under the covers after lights out.

But just like the alphabet, knowing the letters is only the start. If you want to be able to write you have to know how to use the letters to make words and sentences and paragraphs.

In the same way, if you want to know field settings you have to know when to use positions. Field settings are the

This is part two of a two part series by Laurie Ward from The Complete Cricketer Academy in Cape Town, South Africa. To go to part one click here.

This is the first part of a two part series by Laurie Ward from The Complete Cricketer Academy in Cape Town, South Africa.

The start of a match dictates how it will develop. Getting a flyer or taking early wickets puts pressure on the opposition. As a team you should look to dominate from ball one.

I recently played in an afternoon declaration club cricket game where the scores were:

• Team A: 237-5 (50 overs)
• Team B: 170-6 (50 overs)

I'm sure you have played in games with similar scores, and were similarly fed up by the end of the match.

You might say that Team B's bowlers were just not good enough to roll a half decent batting side over.

It's the ball that either takes a great deal of skill or a total lack of it.

And it's been banned in English county cricket, but crucially not by the Laws making it a legal ball in club and school cricket.

Origins of the double-bouncer

How many good players of spin are there in club cricket?

Playing spin is difficult and takes practice, but good spinners are rare in the non-professional game and so batsmen don't get to face them much in the nets or in matches.

The result is batsman who can defend or slog, with not much in-between.

Picture the scene; you are playing in a English declaration game. The weather is set fair and after batting first you have enjoyed an excellent tea.

The opposition start well, but lose a flurry of quick wickets. With 6 over to go 22 runs are needed but numbers 10 and 11 are at the wicket.

So they shut up shop, batting out to save the draw.

 This is part of a series on how to exploit batsman's weaknesses. To see the other weaknesses click here.

Talk to any school cricketer about gripping the bat and Vs and he will know what you mean. Everyone knows how to grip a cricket bat.

But players of all ages still get the top hand position wrong.

Leg spin is the greatest bowling asset a captain can have. But the combination of lesser accuracy and greater variations means the leggie is also the most difficult to manage.

And that means it's easy to misuse the treasure of the wrist spinner.

Fortunately, there are three simple rules you can keep in mind as captain to help you get the most from leg spin.

1. There is no orthodox leg spinner

This is part of a series on How to exploit batsman's weaknesses. To see the other weaknesses click here.

The position of the hands on the handle of a cricket bat makes a big difference to the way a batsman plays.

If you are a bowler or captain who can spot this small technical error you can come up with a plan to restrict a batsman's scoring and get a wicket.