Revered, adored and - when you get out to a mistimed drive - hated. The cricket bat is the icon of of batting. It stands to reason you should spend a lot.

Except, what if cost is not tied to quality quite as closely as we all assume? And if that's true; how much do you really need to spend to get a "gun" bat?

We have all heard stories of the extremes. Your mate bought a second hand plank and it turned out to produce 1000 runs in a season. A friend of a friend bought a top-of-the-range branded beast that had a smaller middle than a supermodel on a crash diet. You don't want to spend extra if there is no need, but you also want to make sure you get enough. So, here are the things you need to consider when checking out your next blade:

Closing date: 20th January 2015

Bedfordshire Cricket Ltd is the governing body for cricket in Bedfordshire. Our purpose is to give the people of Bedfordshire the opportunity to play and enjoy cricket to the best of their ability.

We are currently looking to recruit a full-time Cricket Development Coach to join our development team in delivering high-quality cricket opportunities within our schools, disability and women and girls development programmes and widening participation community programmes.

Closing date: 26th January 2015

Denstone College continues to enjoy growth in pupil numbers, academic achievement and sporting success. We therefore seek teaching professionals of the highest calibre who can meet the expectations and ambitions of our thriving school.

We are currently seeking a passionate and inspiring individual to direct cricket coaching and player development at all levels and to ensure our continued success in inter-school competitions and on the national stage.

Closing date: 23rd January 2015

Hampshire Cricket are looking to recruit to the groundstaff department of the Ageas Bowl in preparation for the 2015 season.

Alongside its role as the home of Hampshire Cricket, the Iconic Ageas Bowl regularly hosts International matches.

The positions to be filled are full time and will include primarily cricket pitch and ground preparation but also general amenity and landscaped area maintenance.

We all have parts of our personalities we like and dislike. What's great is that whatever your personality, you can use it to motivate yourself to train better harder and longer.

And you know what that means: More runs and wickets!

You might be lucky and be the sort of person who loves training and playing all the time. This type of person tends to have an orderly, organised mind and high levels of resilience to call upon during hard and boring parts of training. Although that's not always the case.

But what if you are not like that? What if you have some barriers to training?

This week's winner of the Cricket Show podcast question competition is Pat. He wins a free coaching course from PitchVision Academy.

The winning question was,

"What do you think of Kieron Pollard's 25 yard deliveries?"

Listen to the panels answer to his question here.

Closing date: undisclosed

League Co-ordinators are required to assist in the running of the fastest growing cricket league in the UK.

Welcome to the PV/VIDEO Digest, your highlights summary of the weeks best videos from PitchVision Interactive

You can share these videos by email or onto facebook, and post your comments right here: From serious analysis to Friday fun. Here are the top videos uploaded from PitchVision systems around the world this week.

There is no doubt that genetics play a part in cricket: If you are tall and strong you can be better at fast bowling than if you are short and weak. If you have poor concentration your batting will suffer. These are hard-wired traits.

Yet you can make up the difference.