Toby Radford knows what it takes to become a professional cricketer.

He is the new Head Coach of Glamorgan County Cricket Club. He's also coached for the ECB, West Indies, Middlesex and Berkshire. He's coached talented players who have made the grade, and those who fell before the challenge.

So when I sat in his office at the SWALEC stadium in Cardiff recently, I had to ask him, "what advice would you give to a young player who wants to impress the coach of a professional cricket team?"

Here is what he said.

"Cricket is still a skill-based game. It's about honing your skills and finding time to practice those skills. When I started coaching I realised there were three things players need. I still use them now to assess a player's potential to go on."

1. Desire to change

The most talented cricketers are always striving to improve. You would think that "naturals" have no need to strive, but as you move up in standard you come across better players who challenge you in new ways.

If you are unwilling to make changes to overcome the challenge, you will get stuck at a certain level.

2. Time to change

We all know the 10,000 hour rule: You have to put in a great deal of time to achieve mastery of your skills. SO you have to spend a lot of time practising hard.

It means going to the nets when you want to be somewhere else. It means training in the gym to be fit. It means fitting your life around your cricket to chalk up more hours.

But you also need to be working towards a goal: practising with a purpose that is driven by your desire.

3. Ability to change

Back to Toby again:

"There are players who did work hard but didn't have the ability to make changes. They just couldn't make the key technical changes. Other players had this ability so they kept going up. I don't know if this is genetic but I have seen some who can do it in 3 days and others take 3 years."

Researchers sometimes call this "physical literacy" and it's a crucial element because if it takes you three years to make a change that someone else can do in three days then you miss your chance.

Of course, everyone has different ways to learn, and that's where a good coach like Radford can make a difference. He has different drills and different ideas for different players. He can experiment to find what works for the individual. Even if you don't have a Toby Radford on hand, you can experiment your self.

However, it's here you have to be realistic about your chances. If you just can't do the things you need to do, then you will never reach the highest level.

But don't write yourself off either. The only way to find out is to do that long, hard slog while maintaining your desire.

If you do that, you will still be an excellent player, even if you never scale the heights of being an international. And either way, as long as you are enjoying it, then you will be up on the deal.