Fred Flintoff hooking a fast bowler into the stand, Adam Gilchrist taking a diving leg side catch or Steve Harmison exploding into his action.

All examples of the need for explosive power as a cricketer.

While much of this is natural talent, you can dramatically improve your power through training. Particularly pre-season.

Improving your cricket can be a daunting prospect. Where do you start? Whats most important? Will you have the time?

These are the kind of questions I ask myself just as much as a club cricket wicketkeeper/batsman.

As a result, I thought it would be interesting to keep you up to date with my own current cricket programme. Hopefully you will feel inspired by my trials and tribulations.

Remember though, that training to improve your cricket is very personal and very specific. What works (or fails) for me may be different for you.

No, there isnt a double meaning in the title. What with the entire furore around Pakistan and ball tampering, you might have forgotten that Bob Woolmer is one of the worlds most respected coaches.

His theories are laid out in Cricket - The Bob Woolmer Way.

Like the Martin Crowe batting DVD, its a fairly straight up coaching video made around the time Bob was coaching the South African side.

• Team Building - The Aussies head out for a boot camp in the Bush. Dave Gilbert tries to explain what the benefit is.
• More Team Building - The Times is not impressed
• Cricket Links - SportsVL provide cricket links on just about every subject you can imagine. Im helping out with queries from the site.
• Tea healthier than water - Boffins have discovered that club cricketers favourite drink is better for you than water. Discovering the same for beer would be handy.

What are the basic principles behind your tactics on the cricket field?

How do you turn those principles into real life field placings, bowling changes and wins?

Each game may be different, but one thing always remains the same: You must always be trying to win, even at the risk of losing.

But that idea, no matter how sound, is not enough in itself. Here are the practical principles that lie underneath:

Controlling the game: Fielding 2nd

Update: This article is now out of date and has been superceded by the following information:

This workout is part of the Strength-speed workout for cricket. To see the full details click here.

Resisted Buggy Runs

• Put on a Power Speed Resistor.
• Run with your training buddy running behind providing resistance. Accelerate for 10 yards then decelerate for 10 yards.
• Complete 1 set of 6 runs. Take 30 seconds rest between runs then rest for 3 minutes. Repeat with partners swapped around.

Fitness in cricket is vital to improve performance.

Part of your pre-season training should be dedicated to developing your 'strength-speed'.

Strength-speed is defined by your ability to move heavier objects quickly under sport conditions (such as rugby tackling). Its a move from pure strength towards pure power.

From time to time, guest posters will give you a slightly different take on cricket. This is the first guest post from Ian Canaway of CricketSecrets.com.

Essential cricket fielding drills

Ever wanted to share your expertise or improve your cricket by reading the expertise of others? Squidoo is a great, free and easy to use website for doing just that.

There are already a few good pages (or lenses) on cricket for you to check out of you want to play better cricket.

You could start with my very own Fitness for Cricket and then make sure you drop by Ian Canaway's Cricket Tips.