Part of the attraction of cricket and fitness is that both worlds generate so much debate: Everyone has an opinion. Rent-a-pundits are 10 a penny on Sky.

But it's important to question everyone's opinion because without asking why we accept as truth a lot of stuff that we can do better.

Look at the example of Jason Ferruggia, a man who has trained many athletes to peak performance. He says in his blog that supplements and fast acting sport drinks are a waste of time.

Had enough of being known as the jolly, roly-poly one in the team? You are not alone.

Most cricketers I speak to have weight loss as their main goal. And why not? It's good for your health, makes you look better and improves your cricket.

But losing weight is hard work and confusing. Especially during the season where a good tea is always just around the corner. With all those cakes and egg mayonnaise sarnies, no wonder you can't drop a pound.

With the league season fast approaching here, now is the time to set your cricket goals for the summer.

In the hope that you will be inspired to do this yourself, it's time for me to put my money where my mouth is. Here are my goals for the summer and how I plan to track them:

Overall Aim: To make 2007 my best cricket season ever.

Your club games and the World Cup have plenty in common.

Having pride in your cricket means raising your standards as high as you can whatever level you are at. Here are 6 innovations that you can bring to your level even without the talent and time that the top players have:

1. Fielding is vital. All World Cup teams drilled like mad almost every day. The influence of baseball is growing. Teams now practice getting the ball back to the keeper quickly every ball, focus on backing up a shy at the stumps rather than not throwing and double teaming to get throws in from the deep or from one set of stumps to the other. How much quality, intense and realistic practice does your club do?

If you can improve your coordination you will get stronger and faster on the cricket pitch.

This works because the more your body's nervous system is able to activate the fibres in your muscles quickly and in the right order, the more efficiently it operates.

Most club cricketers are not making the most of this efficiency potential and so are not using their hidden reserves. Lucky for you, it's quite easy to tap into them with the right approach.

You have to hand it to Beefy, he sticks to his guns long after he has finished playing. When it comes to cricket fitness though, he is wrong.

The offence in question was a comment he made during the World Cup Super 8 match between New Zealand and Bangladesh. A New Zealand bowler had hurt his calf in a similar way to Australia's Shane Watson so the commentators were discussing why this would happen twice in a row.

To improve your cricket power you need to train in a highly specific way. That means doing exercises and routines that strengthen your whole body in ways that can be transferred to the cricket pitch.

I have discussed this before without mentioning specific exercises so today I'm going to give you the 10 most important to me.

Sunny Saturday afternoons playing cricket wouldn't be the same without the weak orange cordial served up halfway through an innings.

But it should be different.

You see, while squash is a great way to get fluids and sugar into your body it's certainly not going to give you the edge.

Getting the edge

In the last over of a tense game, can you rely on yourself to draw on the energy needed to win the match? Lots of club players lack this capacity and it has cost more than one game over the years.

Playing regularly combined with good diet and a good fitness training programme is essential to combating this, but you improve it further with the use of humble caffeine.

"I think all sports evolve at some point where technique and skill level are almost equal and wins and losses are decided purely from a strength and conditioning angle."