Professional cricketer Chris Tayor took some time recently from his busy schedule to answer some questions from me. We discussed coaching, fitness and club cricket standards.

Hi Chris, can you give us a run down of your experience in cricket?

I had a Professional Contract with Yorkshire for 5 years before moving to Derbyshire for 2 years. I have just recently re-signed for Yorkshire on a 3 year contract. I am a top order batsman and have played over 65 Professional matches.

In the Winter of 2006 I also founded 'Pro Cricket Coaching Academy': A coaching service for young cricketers in the Midlands and North of England. I wanted my service to be unique and something I would have wanted to be involved in when I was young, so I employ only Professional Cricketers as my coaches. They range from Level 1 to Level 4 qualified but the most important thing for me is the years of experience at the highest level, I believe that to be invaluable when coaching young aspiring cricketers. My belief is that coaches who have been professionals themselves can not only offer technical/textbook assistance to youngsters, but also experiences of the top level. I have also found that young cricketers tend to listen and respond more when they are been coached by their idols.

How do you see the role of the coach?

I believe the role of the coach is to be there when his players are struggling in a particular area or have a serious technical or mental fault. I am not a great believer in interrupting training sessions all the time to point out every little fault in a young cricketers game. I prefer to offer advice maybe once or twice during a session and at the end. That way the child doesn't feel like he is being told how to bat or bowl but can retain the advice he wants to and can dispose of the advice he doesn't feel he needs. I am also not a great believer in young cricketers being made to perfect their techniques so every young cricketer bats like a robot. With a young cricketer I would prefer to see them making good contact and timing with the ball rather than see their technique be flawless but they keep missing the ball or cant hit it off the square.

Fitness in cricket - do you need specialist fitness coaches?

A- The answer to this question is yes. Cricket is evolving year on year and people are becoming fitter, stronger and quicker. When you reach Professional level, the cricketing ability between teams doesn't differ too much so it makes sense to try and gain an extra 1 or 2% through been quicker or stronger than your opponent. I might make you bowl 1 or 2mph faster or be slightly quicker so you could cut the 4 off and the opposition instead get a 2. These little '1 percenters' can be the difference between the very good and the World Class. Fitness coaches who specialise in this field are of paramount importance just as a batting coach is to a team. They can also help to strengthen players and prevent injuries which can ultimately help results.

How can standards improve in the club game?

I believe one of the main problems with Club Cricket is the standard of the wickets and th practice facilities. The wickets at Club level are so much slower and less bouncier that it is very difficult for youngsters to bridge the gap to 1st class level when they consistently play on surfaces that would never be seen in 1st class cricket. I also believe Practice facilities have to improve. How do Club Cricketers improve their games without good practise on a decent surface simulating Saturday's wicket?

One of my main criticisms of the English Club game has been the lack of desire/interest in playing longer games over 2 Saturdays or a weekend. Having spent 7 Winters playing 1st Grade cricket in Sydney, I have seen first hand what a great system the Aussies have in place. In fact a good example of the way Australian Club Cricket works is a cricketer called Doug Bollinger. When I first went to Sydney 8 years ago I became friendly with Doug. He was playing 5th grade cricket which is basically a Club 5th team at 18 years old. Now someone like that in England would have no ambitions to play County cricket and quite frankly would never get the chance from a Club 5th team. However, Doug worked hard at training (which I must add took place on wickets as good as 1st class wickets in England) and was rewarded with quite a few wickets in 5th grade. Then, unlike in England where he probably would have stayed in 5th grade or maybe got a move up to 4th team, he was pushed into 2nd grade, a big jump in standard. Doug was soon in 1st grade and within in 3 years he had made his 1st class début for New South Wales. He was recently one of the leading wicket takers in Domestic Aussie cricket and played for Australia A. Worcestershire then signed him as overseas player.

Because Aussie cricket simulates Aussie 1st class cricket, i.e. 100 0vers a team/day, regular 2 night a week compulsory training, similar rules etc. the transition is not that big. They select players from club cricket every week where as in England it is very very rare.

What 3 tips would you give a player wanting to improve their game?

There are hundreds of tips I could give young cricketers wanting to improve the game. I believe 3 important tips would be:-

Be prepared for hard work. Nobody becomes a Professional or even a better cricketer without putting in the hard yards. Do the drills, have the nets, work on your fitness as often as you can and never be satisfied with just performing okay, be the best you can be in training and matches. Be prepared to sacrifice other things in your life to improve, why sit in and watch the TV or play on the computer when you could be doing some fitness or practising some drills.

Always know what you are wanting to practise. Do not turn up to practise and just go through the motions. Set yourself goals, i.e.- I won't get out in this net, or I am going to tie this batsman down and not bowl anything but length. Also, never just keep practising for the sake of it. It is better to have shorter intense session than a long session with no real direction. I would always advise to practise like you would play in a match.

Watch as much cricket on TV as you can. The chances are you will pick up a great deal from watching the stars on TV. Watch carefully the way they go about their game and the techniques and thought patterns they use.

I hear you have a new product on the market?

Myself and Andrew Gale (Yorkshire) have designed and are launching a new batting coaching aid. It is called the 'Play in the V' Cricket Bat and is designed as the name suggests to get cricketers hitting with a full face through the V. The bat is only 4cm wide and the ball it comes with is just as wide as the bat. Unless you hit the ball perfectly in the middle of the bat, you either miscue or simply miss the ball. We feel this is a great way of showing to cricketers just how closely you have to watch the ball onto the bat and that if you play across the line, you more often than not miss the ball. It is particularly good for developing hand/eye coordination and can seriously improve cricketer's techniques with regular use. We are selling these bats at the website. The websites explains the benefits and how to use the bats.