A couple of seasons ago the cricket club I play for were in trouble in the league.

With one game to go the first team needed a win to avoid a fate worse than an England Twenty20 performance: Relegation to the depths of the third division.

We were confident victory could be ours. Home advantage and a weak opposition gave us the upper hand. The first team all turned up for extra training on Thursday. The captain demanded the selected team arrived at 11:30 the morning of the match (start time is 2pm) for practice and warm ups.

A while back I posted the top 10 books to help you play better cricket. The sales have kept coming in so it's time for an update on the most popular books you buy through me.

So what does everyone read to improve his or her game now? In order of popularity:

1. SAQ Cricket: Speed, Agility and Quickness For Cricket

Do you warm up with a pint and a plate of chips or do you have a highly developed ritual on match days?

Research and experience on pre-game preparation is unclear. What works for one player is pointless for another in many cases, although there are some constants we can all benefit from.

Rituals

My own, slightly obsessive, preparation starts early and keeps going right the way through the match. I'm big on routine and feel more relaxed when I know exactly what I‘m doing.

Purpose: A very tiring practice of the underarm pickup and throw at game pace, pressure and under fatigue.

Even as a pre-harrowdrive teenager I knew that carbs gave you energy. I had heard about long distance runners loading up on the bread and copied the stamina-booting technique.

I figured more carbohydrates means more energy to perform on the pitch. I filled my face with delicious pasta.

Science was on my side too. My degree course showed me that carbohydrate loading does indeed boost stamina levels in endurance athletes. As club cricket usually lasts all day the analogy fit perfectly.

Pasta, vegetables and good old chips. Not all carbs are created equally, but carbs are a part of a cricketer's diet.

Even the nutrition experts can't agree on the best way for sports players to use carbs. Conflicting research, fad diets and the vested interests of food companies all make things very confusing.

"Confidence can feel like a bank account sometimes and after making some solid investments today, I know that the skills will be there when a withdrawal is made under the pressure of a big match."

Jeremy Snape

I love this analogy for building confidence on the cricket pitch.

Purpose: To practice pickup, underarm throwing, backing up and returning to the keeper.

Here are the latest additions to the Select XI. I'm still looking for 3 batsmen and 2 seamers especially if you are from a nation not yet represented like Australia, New Zealand or Bangladesh.

Harrowdrive Select XI

1. Aqeel Iqbal (Opening Batter, Leg Spinner, Pakistan)
2. Jamie Dell (Opening Batter, Wicketkeeper, England)

I'm delighted to welcome a brand new contributor: Brisbane cricketer, Simon Eggins. Simon will be providing a regular view on the club game from Down Under. Inspired by a discussion he had with his captain, Simon tells us about the merit of using a third man in the early stages of a game.

Picture this situation in a typical unlimited overs game. Your team is bowling on the morning of the first day having lost the toss, and after 15 or so overs when you come off for the first drinks break you check the scorebook to find that the opposition is 1/40 (or 40/1 if you're not in Australia) – a disappointing result given your side's total dominance so far. Your opening bowlers have done brilliantly, getting the ball consistently in good areas and moving it away from the right handers, there's been play and miss after play and miss and balls falling just short of the slips, with only a lone edge going to hand. With the exception of one majestic off drive, very little has been hit successfully off the square.