How quickly do you give up the cause on the cricket pitch?

For some, no matter what level they are playing, the very idea of giving up is impossible to conceive. At the other end, there are many who throw up their hands at the first sign of team or individual failure. The latter approach may be more natural but it teaches you nothing but how to fail more often.

As SquatRX pointed out recently:

Still thinking about starting to get fit for the cricket season? A huge round of applause to you for trying and an even bigger one for this massive in-depth guide to losing weight:

Weight loss information is finite. Everything you actually need to know about it already exists and has existed for quite some time… It has not changed, and it never will change. It will never improve. It will never become easier, it will never become harder. The way cavemen lost weight is the exact same way flying-telepathic-super-humans will lose weight in 4028.

Do your thoughts turn around New Year to losing all the fat you piled on over Christmas?

You want to lose fat but keep the muscle that is critical to success on the pitch. Plus it's important for looking good on the beach, right?

Where do you start?

For a lot of club cricketers, starting is the hard part. There is a huge amount of information available, a lot of it trying to sell some bit of equipment that will be gathering dust in couple of weeks.

*Update: Applications are now closed.*

Do you want some free coaching and advice? This year I want to get more in depth and detailed with the advice I give you. I figure the best way to do this is to pick some readers as examples of what can be achieved.

After all, harrowdrive is in its 3rd year and it's time togive you some real life examples. I'm putting my money where my mouth is.

Brisbane cricketer, Simon Eggins is back with his view on club cricket from the other side of the world.

Getting the right batting order can be a tough job for a club captain.

Sometimes it's useful to experiment with different possibilities. Batsmen generally perform better when given the chance to get comfortable batting in one spot for an extended period.

If you find naval gazing posts about visitor stats dull, skip right to the end when I have something you might be interested in.

Thank you for your support in 2007. Here are those stats for the year (up to today anyway):

• 1,200 subscribers (up from 200 in 2006)
• 93,000 unique visitors who made 217,000 visits

Fielding is one guilt ridden pastime for most club cricketers. We feel bad because you don't practice it enough even though we know how important it is.

Let's face it, fielding drills ain't as much fun as batting or bowling.

On top of this, the focus professionals have on their own fielding skills has generated a number of new fangled theories to improve further.

Do you know anyone in the strength and conditioning field working with cricketers regularly at any level?

Strength coach and friend of harrowdrive Michael Boyle has a site dedicated to the best in strength and conditioning and is looking to expand it into cricket. I want to help him create this section.

I'm taking a week off from new harrowdrive articles to spend time with my great family. I'll be back after Christmas with a more new tips on helping you to play better cricket.

If you still want some cricket talk make sure you visit the forum at Simply Cricket. Plus the archive is open all year round. Just pick a category from the right hand side, do a search from the search box in the bottom right or pick a month from the monthly archives for something random.

One of the big aims of this site is to help club cricketers reach their goals. So today I want to know what those goals are.

Whether you are hoping to make it as a pro through to breaking into the club third XI I want to hear what you have.

Last year my own aim was to have my best season ever. I was stronger, faster, more prepared and as a result I had a better season despite the terrible weather here. Initially in 2008 I just want to be as ready for the season as I have ever been through my fitness and nutrition. Maybe you have a similar aim. Maybe you just want to improve technique.