You are a cricket coach, not a strength and conditioning expert. But I don’t care how good your bowling coaching is.  

You want your bowlers to be able to make it on the park every week. And that means at least a basic understanding of modern injury prevention strategies. And that’s true whether you coach 10 year olds, adults or anyone inbetween.

It’s not enough anymore to know what a mixed action is and to stick to the fast bowlers guidelines. Sure, that’s where we start.

This is part of the specialist fielding series of articles, for the full list of fielding positions covered click here.

This drill is part of the PitchVision Academy fielding drills series, for more in this series click here.

Purpose: The long barrier is a staple of fielding skills, but really being able to run in, attack the ball and return it quickly takes practice.

During a match in the 2005 Ashes, the 5^th wicket had just fallen and Adam Gilchrist strolled to the crease. The game was in the balance at 208-5. Orthodoxy dictated a couple of slips and a fine leg the only boundary runner.

But Vaughan directed a fielder to deep point.

Critics were up in arms. They accused the skipper of setting a field for bad bowling; a mistake a schoolboy captain would think twice about.

Don Draper, the brooding lead character in the award-winning TV show Mad Men, is quite the chap to look up to: Handsome, intelligent, masculine.

But what’s that got to do with being a cricketer?

He may be a fictional character from a bygone era, but he has more to do with bowling, batting and fielding than you might think.

Here are two things you can learn about being an exceptional player from everyone’s favourite womanising advertising genius:

The PitchVision Academy Live! events combine all the benefits of traditional coaching with PitchVision; the interactive technology that seamlessly tracks performance in batting, bowling and fielding.

At traditional coaching sessions a group will get advice and feedback from a coach, but until now there has been no way of measuring success.

Due to the unprecedented demand for coaching places at the first event, we are proud to announce a full tour of PitchVision Academy Live!

Now you have your chance to get coaching from PitchVision Academy coaches as we take the event to 5 first-class venues across England.

Imagine standing at the top of your mark on a warm summer day. The batsman is ready, the keeper and slips are way back in the distance.

You are the one with the ball; all the batsman can do is respond to what you deliver. What happens next is up to you.

But it’s how you view the batsman that is all important to your personality (and success) as a bowler.

Research has shown that it takes around 10 years of daily practice (2-3 hours a day) to reach the pinnacle of any discipline.

It’s where the famous 10,000 hour rule comes from. It’s a rule so powerful it can make anyone a decent cricketer no matter how much natural talent they have (or lack).