Dirk Nannes didn’t listen to conventional advice.

The wise sages of cricket all agree: If you have not made it into a first-class setup by the time you are 18, you may as well be on the cricketing scrap heap.

But Dirk was a skier. Sure, he played good club cricket in the summer but he never took it seriously. He was happy on the slopes.

Then he decided cricket would be a better bet. Convention dictated he was wasting his time; he was too late to make it as a professional. He switched anyway.

Who hasn’t had a little twinge in the throwing shoulder at least once?

It’s not surprising when you look at how the joint is brilliant and versatile, yet complex and unstable. If you don’t look after your shoulder, all that throwing, bowling and hitting will cause you a lot of pain!

In part one of this analysis of a 50 over club limited overs match, we looked at the first 15 overs. In this part we examine the tactics used by Craig Wright, former Scotland and current Watsonian CC captain, during the lull middle overs.

How do you manage the middle overs of a limited over match?

Martin Crowe, dodgy knees and all, announces his comeback to cricket at 48 years old. In the same week 46 year old boxer Bernard Hopkins became light-heavyweight world boxing champion.

Who says sport is for young men?

These men in their 40s – and countless thousands of others at amateur levels – prove that you can keep sport in your life without making a fool of yourself.

So how do you follow Crowe and adapt to your changing needs as you get older?

Simple; plan.

 If I’m being very kind, the standard of midweek league cricket in this part of the world is “mixed”. Despite that, my experience in a recent game showed me that playing bad cricket in poor conditions will help you improve.

It was the first game of the new season; a twenty over slog squeezed in before the sun went down; no umpires, no sightscreens. I was playing for a new team and two guys turned up in shorts and black trainers.

Black trainers are a solid indicator that general standards will be poor.

Today’s article is a guest post from Darren Talbot; Professional coach, Managing Director of Darren Talbot Cricket Coaching and founder committee member of the Surrey ECB Coaches Association.

It’s a moment we have all faced, and dreaded, as a cricket coach.

Standing in front of you is a group of 25 kids, all itching to get going. All you have is your own knowledge and perhaps – if you are lucky – the help of an unqualified parent.

Scoring runs is at the very heart of winning cricket matches. How do the professionals do it?

PitchVision Academy and 3 times World Cup coach Ian Pont shares with you the secrets of how to score more runs aggressively while keeping the percentages in your favour.

You can put these tips into action right away:

1. Pick your bat up high with your hands

Craig Wright, Scotland’s most capped player, captained over 100 times for his country. He is still captaining today with Watsonian CC.

When I was in Scotland I took the chance to examine his tactics and methods in the field and learn from someone with unrivalled experience as a skipper.

This is the blueprint of the limited over game against Grange CC.

How would you have managed the game as captain?