Cricket is a simple game, but getting good during preseason gets complex when you look at the hundreds of different methods espoused by coaches and fitness gurus.

These are the things I have tried and tested over a 20 year period as both a cricket coach and fitness trainer.

Controversial? Only if you don’t follow the evidence.

I stand by every one (and have made them all at one point or another).

Distance running for cricketers was made popular in the 1970’s as fitness levels in professional cricketers went on the upward curve. At the time it was a big step forward.

Nowadays we realise that despite the improvements in general aerobic capacity there is little crossover to the cricket pitch.

And even worse, the repetitive nature of long jogs causes injury through reduced hip mobility and reinforcing muscle imbalances.

These days it’s less about jogging and more about work capacity and strength as the core building block of your cricket fitness.

2. Bodybuilding

For some reason, despite many different ways to train, the dominant method in gyms is to follow the bodybuilder style of training body-parts.

It’s odd because as a method it doesn’t work unless you are a bodybuilder.

If you are training for any other reason - general health, sports performance and even just to look a bit better in your underwear - training movements is more effective and less time-consuming.

So forget the chest and arms day and go for squatting, deadlifting, pushing and pulling with resistance.

3. Staying sideways

There is an old adage that cricket is a sideways game but - to paraphrase Gary Palmer - that’s nonsense.

So many batsmen spend their winter training working on getting sideways but in reality to play shots all round the ground you need to be able to be sideways for off side shots and open for on side shots.

You can practice the open position by getting feeds from around the wicket before you have your net.

You are drilling before you go into nets, right?

4. Having a hit/turning your arm over

This is less common than it used to be, but it still happens. I like to think of it as mindless netting. You are just batting or bowling with no specific aim in mind.

While it’s not a total waste of time, you can do so much more just with a little bit of planning.

When you have a specific goal in mind that can be measured you turn your training into deliberate practice. It’s a simple process:

1. Decide what you want to achieve
2. Find the best way of training to achieve it
3. Do it

If general netting doesn’t fit, then throw it out.

5. Stopping your learning

This is a classic for coaches and players alike. I know; I’ve done it myself. I read a couple of books, did my ECB coaches course and thought I had it licked.

But you never stop learning, so you should never stop seeking out new and better ways to train and be trained. Nobody knows it all.

Which is why I created a preseason bundle for you to get your teeth into this winter. It’s a combination of all the best preseason online coaching courses, drills and eBooks on PitchVision Academy at a marvellously discounted rate.

Click here to enrol on them all and get reading today.