You might not realise, but your side has a management team.

We don't have the professional luxury of a huge support staff containing physiotherapists, sports psychologists, analysts and assistant coaches like the major international outfits. We do have have a group of people who shape our performance on and off the field.

And it's the coaches job to manage this team, or it will manage itself: badly!

Who is in your club management team?

If I was looking to run a management team in club cricket, I would compile my cast like this:

• Captain
• Vice Captain
• Coach
• Head of Selectors
• Young player representative
• Bowlers representative (most captains and vice captains are batters so a bowling representative is vital).

What does a management team do?

The selection of people for this group is vital. At Somerset I was lucky enough to have James Hildreth as the young player on the management team. "Hildy" was insightful, intuitive. He would often give me a heads up on how his team mates were feeling and if anyone had other issues going on that I needed to be aware of when communicating or intervening. He played a vital role in our development as a squad.

Alongside these important group dynamic elements, the group can discuss:

• Gameplans and player deployment (bowling and batting orders, what if planning)
• Training session planning
• Leadership development within the subgroups of bowlers, batters and slips.
• Social events for team building
• Milestone rewards (1st hundred momentos/5 wickets)
• Player management - communication
• Having someone on the management group keep and eye on the captain; providing advice when stressful situations arise or noticing the captains behaviour shifts. A great help to any captain as it's a tough job.

Having a strong and united management team gives a real sense of purpose and togetherness for the whole squad; whatever adversity and challenges come your way. You can be assured that solutions are possible when you work it through together.

It's really important that the coach gets to know the management group as people: Discuss and share insights into the game, get to know their key drivers and motivators.

Encourage your captain to collaborate with the management team to make the job easier. Then she can focus on cricketing elements: strategy, personal game and tactics to beat the opposition.

The most key relationship in any team is the captain and coach. Without a working relationship and a united front then the team will pick up on this, be distracted and ultimately under-perform.

But when it is strong, the sky is the limit.

India won the World Cup in 2011 with a strong partnership between Dhoni and Kirsten. England won the Ashes three times in succession with Strauss and Flower then Cook and Flower. Charlotte Edwards and Mark Lane produced England's Double Women's World Champions.

So build your team and get to know your captains on multiple levels. If this happens then you will have the trust and combined strength to cope with any situation or circumstance.