Every now and again someone will challenge one of the central pillars of our coaching philosophy.

As you know, we feel that fitness is important to cricket. Others put less of an emphasis on it, which can lead to some interesting debates. Where is the truth?

In the death match between skill and fitness, who is the winner?

Before we can answer the question, we need to know what the terms mean. That's because if you ask 10 people how they define the terms 'skill' and 'fitness' and you will probably get 10 different answers. For me it's simple:

• Skill is the ability to perform cricket techniques (bowling, batting and fielding) within a game situation in order to take runs and wickets. 
• Fitness is a non-specific combination of physical abilities that include speed, agility, strength, endurance (or work capacity) power, mobility and stability.

Both fitness and skill are physical. The basic difference is that skill applies only to cricket whereas fitness is applicable to any sport. Different sports may require a different balance (for example rugby players may need more maximum strength and marathon runners more endurance), but the elements are consistent.

Are these really two polar opposites destined to fight each other? I don't believe they are. You can be fit and skilful. In fact, I would suggest that most players in the professional game have both fitness and skill as shown in this diagram:

The large cloud shows the majority of good cricketers in the scale. The smaller clouds show where others are. Someone like Inzamam ul Haq would be in the smaller cloud area: Higher on skill than on fitness.

However, that does not justify saying to any player they should follow the example of the few. The fact is that if you want to be a successful player (at any level) the more skill and fitness you have combined will make you a better player.

Good players strive to be in the big cloud to maximise their chances.

If the best approach is to be fit and skilful, how do you strike a balance in training?

It's an art to get right. On the one hand you don't want to do too much as you will be fatigued, on the other hand too little will lead to no progress and a waste of time.

Only you will know how much time you have available to you, and it will vary throughout the year. In season you may play so much you might only have time for a single fitness session every week. During the winter you may find you have more time to dedicate to the fitness side.

A good place to help you work out your own plan is Rob Ahmun's strength and conditioning course on PitchVision Academy. Rob's course is sympathetic to the needs of cricketers to work on skill and fight off fatigue while still improving their fitness levels. It's a perfect place to learn to manage both equally.

Image credit: Bill M