This afternoon, I had a conversation with ex-England captain, Michael Vaughan about the impact on batting tactics and shot execution in limited over cricket.

We discussed how - tactically - the game has gone full circle. The new ODI regulations have influenced the renaissance of an age old limited overs adage.

Keeping wickets is, once again, the holy grail of batting.

4 men outside the fielding circle in normal play, and 3 men out in the batting powerplay have changed the shape of ODI cricket.

How quickly will club and school players adapt to the trends in the International and professional game?

Sides are batting in a more circumspect fashion in the first two thirds of each innings in order to keep wickets in hand. This triggers "launch mode" in the last third of the batting stint.

Mid-wicket and extra cover-tastic

We discussed how the best players are now hitting over and through extra cover and straight mid wicket as their go-to boundary options.

Most batters are practising these two shots specifically to become the masterful in the last 15.

Crucially, good exponents set themselves early and challenge the bowler to nail their skill or disappear out of the park.

Flipping bonkers

How good have players come at flipping 130kph balls up and over the keeper, third man and fine leg?

There are two ways to do it.

Either by getting the head low and body sideways in a conventional (against spin) position prior to ball release and use the pace of the ball or the bounce from the pitch to "ramp" the ball up over the fielders at 3rd man or fine leg.

Or, square yourself up, often by getting deep in the crease and get yourself to ball level by bend the legs and reaching out with your arms to make contact with the ball.

This is the preferred method of Kevin Pietersen and Joss Buttler.

Captains struggle to defend both the flip and the power hit. They have to choose one or another area to cut off with their 3 or 4 fielders.

So what can captains do?

The only way is wickets

So my challenge this week for Captains, Coaches and Bowlers is to look for wickets throughout the first two thirds of the innings.

Take some risks, ask some questions, be unconventional!

If you can get opposition 5 or 6 down before reaching the last third you are effectively cutting their launch mode resources off.

Essex deployed a great field against Surrey, one I had not seen before. It worked perfectly in defending the boundaries and keeping catchers in the game:

The bowlers aimed for the top of off stump, with subtle variation in pace. The Surrey batters lost wickets at regular intervals.

Would this field help your quicker bowlers to snare wickets in the non-powerplay overs mid-innings?

Give it a go and let me know.