Have you ever seen how strong, powerful and coordinated Gymnasts are? In this respect they are using skills that would be a great asset on the cricket field.

That's why my interest perked up when Scott at Straighttothebar suggested cricketers, especially bowlers, would benefit from ring training.

After all, powerful shoulders and back combined with precision balance and timing would transfer well to the art of bowling, right?

Your reactions will naturally vary from other peoples, but whatever your reaction time, you can improve it by practice.

The benefits to cricket are huge, giving you more time while batting and fielding, so reaction training should be part of your plan to improve your cricket.

One of the critical elements in a batsman's fitness development is the strength of his legs.

They are often overlooked but�strong legs allow you to run faster, reduce your chance of injury and reduce your fatigue when batting for long periods.

So don't be one of those batsmen who ignore their legs.

It's not long now until indoor nets start in the UK, which means the cricket season is fast approaching.

Great stuff!

It's very easy to waste this important practice time though: Especially at club level. So to help avoid that and make sure your pre season practice helps your in season form, here are my 9 tips to better indoor nets:

Celebrity interviewer and journalist Michael Parkinson was on the radio recently saying something that rings very true. He said that out of all the great sportsmen and women he has interviewed over the years, none were stupid.

What he was saying was this: knowledge is a vital part of sport performance.

• Can you lose fat and get stronger at the same time? Tricky but possible.
• It's seems I have a Vern Gambetta link every week at the moment. Here he gets some thoughts on sport specific fitness from Calvin Morris: National Fitness Coach of the RFU.
• A beginner's guide to improving your flexibility and range of motion through PNF.

Stretching before a game is one of those Good Things we have been brought up by PE teachers and coaches to do. Very often we feel guilty when they don't get done because they are dead boring.

Guilt no more: Stretching is a bad idea.

You see, research has been done into the effects of stretching on top athletes. Boffins compared 2 groups: One lot stretched as part of their warm up, the others didn't.

Everyone loves a cricket christmas present, or at least the idea of a christmas present. I mean, potentially you could be getting a new bat but you end up with a clock made out of a cricket ball.

But as it's 'gifting season' now is the time to get everyone you love unique cricket presents. An especially good tactic if your family actually like cricket.

Commitment, desire and hard work.

These are all valuable traits in a cricketer. Look at Steve Harmison. After a nightmare in the first Ashes Test he put in extra hours to sort out his action.

It stands to reason that he should do this. After all, the harder you train the more results you will get.

I admit it. I throw a lot of information about cricket fitness at you. It can be confusing to know what to do next.

I even confuse myself sometimes.

But there is a simple way to get fit for cricket (apart from subscribing of course).

The secret is nothing more that this:

Just start

It doesn't matter if you have the right balance of exercises or how much rest you are getting. It's doesn't matter if you are running too slowly or if one exercise routine is better than another.