The revolutionary PitchVision Academy Problem Solver has had a major upgrade.

Judging by the number of questions we get here at PitchVision Academy, a lot of players and coaches have a cricketing problem they need solving. Everyone has something; a technical flaw in the cover drive, not quick enough bowling, getting gassed with low fitness levels and a hundred other things.

We also know that there is a frustrating gap for most of us.

This is a guest article from AB, a club left arm spinner and aggressive batsman with more than 15 years experience. His claim to fame is a 50 run partnership with JP Duminy.

If you bowl obvious variations thinking you are going to outwit the idiot at the other end, all a decent batsman is going to do is make you look foolish by putting your well thought out “other one” into the trees over cow corner.

Captaincy at club level is the one place in cricket you can find better players than you see in the professional game.

And it’s also the place you can see some horrific butchering of the art of captaincy. If it’s bad enough it could cost your club dearly, as this story shows.

During a short stint at a club two years ago, I played with a captain who used to smoke while standing at mid-on.

As you know, to celebrate the launch of the new online twenty20 bowling course from Ian Pont we are giving away an exclusive video by Ian.

But all good things have to come to an end and so on Monday 16^th January we will be closing the offer. You won’t be able to get the video or exclusive follow-up content any more.

Burners and David discuss batting collapses and boiling eggs in the podcast this week.

For England fans the 2010-11 Ashes win has been a long time coming, but is there anything us humble club players can learn from it?

Clearly, you can’t put in the same time as the full-time contracted professionals. But you still want to do your best.

We all do. It’s more fun when you play well and win.

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

Purpose: To practice different throwing and backing up skills in a decision-making situation

We’ll do anything to look the part on a cricket field, to belong and to feel part of the ‘tribe’ of cricketers.

And nowhere is this more a point of pain than the cricket helmet.

Why is it that some teams can crush the opposition while others throw away winning positions?

In cricket, things can turn around very quickly. Celebrating one moment, you are frustrated the next.

Some years ago, it was in middle of cricket summer. My college team was competing in a one off fixture. Our team was superior to them and not just on paper; we had dominated much of the game and thought we had the other team nailed down to the floor.

Losing lingers in the mind.

Everyone dwells on bad bowling spells. If it’s really bad you even let it worry you right into the next match, making it more likely you will bowl badly. A vicious circle of failure.

And in Twenty20 there is a fair chance it wasn’t even your fault.