photo credit: Tc7

Have you ever found yourself standing on the boundary waiting to see if the batsman's huge hit will clear you or land right on your head?

It's perhaps not the best time to start wondering how to catch the ball like you see the professionals do on the TV. When you watch a good slip catch or deep catch on Sky Sports it looks simple and relaxed.

Today's post is a special report from Arvind Joshi, organiser of 3 and 4 day club cricket matches for Clintus CC in India.

We recently played two thrillers which brought to the fore the immense content and thrill of the longer version of the game and reinforced my belief that this is the real learning ground for youngsters .Both games were 3 days with no limit to overs.

photo credit: Scott (SA-Photo)

There is a popular toy that has been doing the rounds with club cricketers called Powerball. It claims to:

"dramatically increase the players ability to hit a ball further, straighter and with more authority as a direct result of this additional power in the upper body."

The Men's Health Book of Power Training may not seem to be the first choice for cricketers wanting to improve their cricket fitness. Delving under the cover reveals otherwise.

When I picked up the book from Amazon on recommendation I was worried. The book's cover made claims most cricketers would be put off by:

photo credit: FoolishCross

April in the UK means 2 great things and 1 frustrating thing for club cricketers.

Anticipation

Even when it snows (like it has been this season), spring is well on the way. You can feel the anticipation. Players are talking about getting outside for practice "as soon as we have some nice weather" and kit is being bought or dusted off in anticipation of the first game.

This is agility! Amazing what you can achieve with practice! This guy MUST have started just hopping over the rope....and now....