Away games are a perennial problem.

You can be a high level International side like India, or a plucky Under 10 beginner side. The issue of a change in conditions leading to a drop in performance is common across the board.

Take the example of the Norway national cricket team. This summer the side are traveling to the UK to play in an ICC Europe tournament. But the team are newcomers to the international game and are used to playing on the very batting friendly artificial pitches of home.

How are they going to adapt to the grass wickets and swinging or turning ball they will discover in Essex?

It's a familiar problem, so I caught up with PitchVision Academy author and new Head Coach of Cricket Norway, Muhammed Haroon. Haroon is an experienced player and coach in English conditions, and so has been charged with preparing the senior squads and Under 19 talented players with learning how to adapt.

Haroon called me from Oslo on a fine day, and we chatted for a long time over Skype about his plans and ideas. Here are some of the Norwegian cricketing tactics you can take to your own team and game, even if your idea of “different conditions” is playing at the ground up the road with a tricky pitch and a swing bowling attack.

Start where you are

All plans for changes need to be grounded in where your basics begin.

For example, in Norway, cricket is a batsman's game. Artificial pitches have a true and high bounce. Batsman can be confident of the deviation, even against spinners and seam movement bowlers. The pace is lower because bowlers can't wear spikes. The top order hit through the line with the confidence of Shewag at his pomp. The back foot is king.

In response, bowling and fielding is defensive. Fielders sit back and look to stop booming shots. Bowlers are happy to focus on one side of the wicket and hope for a mistake from the man with the willow.

So Norway know they are strong in back foot attacking batting, defensive bowling and fielding. Meanwhile they lack experience in attacking fielding and bowling, and batting against a dominant bowler.

Haroon was starting to make plans. And if you are thinking about your own game at this point, you can work out where a change in conditions is counter to your “natural game” too.

Build experience

One of Haroon's first plans to build players who can excel on grass is to put them on grass.

Obvious, yes, but easier said than done in a country where there are no grass wickets. So arrangements have been made to place top level cricketers into club sides in the UK. The English club system has a history of bringing in overseas professionals to the non-professional game. Many legend of the game from Australia and West Indies got used to English conditions by playing club cricket as an upcoming youngster.

It's a hard school and even the best struggle at first. The good ones learn quickly and swim rather than sink, developing confidence in a method that can really only be learned by playing on a wet, green top in Preston.

In fact, the same “apprenticeship” system is now used by talented English, South African and Australian cricketers who go out to India to learn conditions before one day being selected for their country.

So, if you know you are going to come up against a certain set of conditions, prepare for it as best you can.

An example at the local level is to use a practice pitch that is the same as your opponents for a week before the match. You can alter a pitch by using mats to slow down the pace. You can also use different balls to create conditions: Scuff up a new ball for practice to get booming swing.

Get hyper-specific

Of course, not all players can dash off the England for a few months. There is only so much real-game experience available. But that's OK, because the other key plank to Haroon's strategy is to use very deliberate practice in an imperfect training environment.

In other words: Practice as if you were playing on grass, even when you are not.

Haroon is doing this with:

• One to one bowling machine practice for batsmen with the swinging ball, especially from the front foot.
• Attacking fielding drill sessions.
• Target bowling for bowlers with a more attacking line and length, encouraging spinners to spin it and seamers to present an strong seam.
• Running team middle practice focused on scenarios likely in English conditions.
• Regular reviews of one to one and team sessions discussing how to deal with different conditions.

The important element of all these sessions is to drill repeatedly the same thing: for example, batsmen learning that hitting 'on the up' is riskier when the ball deviates. It's easy to know that from the sidelines, but hard to put into action when all you have ever done is cream length balls through extra cover. But setting up and repeating practice that forces to learn a new method is the fastest way to adapt.

Most of these things are simple to set up at any level. Perhaps the equipment you have varies, but the key is to take the spirit of specific, repeatable practice to learn a new condition.

Simple, not easy

And that's all there is to it. Simple, effective steps that are being used right now at International level to develop skills.

Steps that you can take too.

But remember, these things are simple, not easy to put into action. It takes work and time, often you are prepared to do the former but are lacking in the latter. Put is as much effort as you can and you will be taking a leaf from Norway's plans.

I bet you never thought you would be reading that sentence!

Muhammad Haroon is and ECB Level 4 coach, Head Coach of Norway and also an experienced leg spinner and coach.For leg spin coaching videos from Haroon, click here.