The talented young bowler is doing well but suddenly bowls a long hop which is crashed away.

Heads go down, the captain can't look him in the eye, suddenly everyone is very interested in the bit of grass directly beneath them. The silence is uncomfortable.

Then someone shouts the most pointless bit of advice ever: "pitch it up".

Exactly what he wants to hear at that point I'm sure.

Yeah ,thats probably the most irritating advice someone can give you.As experienced players that have watched and played 1000's of matches ,we know exactly what we did wrong and how to fix it(most of the times)

Best bit of advice i ever got was to just play through the line on legside.I used to try and wrist it away but often missed or got leading edges.So a friend gave me that advice and eversince I have become very strong on my legs,my on-drive have improved imensly.

Bowling wise was to imagine a train on a track .To run ,bowl and follow through on the same line.

Hmmmm, ludicrous advice eh. After picking up 3 wickets with my legspinners - tossing the ball up, getting plenty of turn getting (2 bowleds and a stumping), I bowl a 'bad' over where every ball is comfortable defended off the back foot. The captain comes up to me and tells me to keep it like that or i'll be taken off.

Best advice I ever got - was actually watching Glen McGrath bowling like a metronome. Not huge amount of variation, just in the right zone ball after ball. Working on that consistency has really improved my bowling - and now when I want to bowl the 'variation' ball it has a real purpose: I really think about each over strategically now.

Best advice was 'never set a field for a bad ball'. If the bowler's bowling tripe, take him off. It makes my blood boil to see a bowler chucking long hops down and the skipper putting a man on cow corner!

catches win matches its true and will exist forever no good scoring 350 then dropping 5 catches and getting a loosing draw !!

Best bad advice/ bad example - - those captains who change the field after every scoring shot - you know moving the fielders to wherever the last shot went...and move the field again as soon as another run is scored!!!

Thats a good one- I call that "stable door captaincy"

Hey Guys,

Matt here from Australia. The best advice I ever received (as a young leggie) was that no matter how bad your day was going, keep your pace and keep tossing the ball up. I have found that really helpful. Often when they are being carted you see spinners start spearing them through. This may reduce run flow, but it will never beat a good batsman. If you keep the ball up and give it a chance to turn, you maximise your potential to take wickets!

Yes super advice Matt i would agree as a batsman if your having bad day stick with it get your head down grind out your 1's and 2's and the runs will flow. A good player will always achieve good results even when they play badly !!!

Keep your eye on the ball - oldy but a goody.

The best advice I have had is: If you have not played competatively for a while make sure not to field in the slips - better to hide at fine leg.

Best advice to an Umpire (Kinda).... Playing under 12's - it was pouring rain - but none of us wanted to come off because we all lived to play... and the Umpires seemed happy to leave us on..
but my dad, sitting in his car on the boundary gets out and yells "Do they have to drown before they come off".

We came off, I was soaking wet, half embarrassed, half knowing he was right.

Batsmen - Keep your head down.
Bowlers - Keep you chin up.

When fielding - never never pull out of fielding a ball because you're scared the ball is going to fast: its never going as fast as it looks, and its not going to hurt as bad as you think it is: and if you shirk it you look like an idiot and let the whole team down. Even if it does hurt a bit I'd rather have a sore hand for 5minutes and my teammates respect than come home with clean whites and everyone thinking I dont put in.

Neil, that post sounds like you are a bit of a plodder. Maybe you should go crazy and smack the ball all over the shop - PLAY EVERY BALL ON ITS MERITS! Can you change your screen name to Boycott Buddy. Actually being an englishman (POM) you can change it to Chris Tavare as well (spelling may be incorrect therefore I apologise).

whaaaaaaaaaaaa brilliant work from the aussie its not back yard cricket now mate !!!!!!!! Hang on i will just go and get the milo and cookies for half time !!! We use hard balls here not a plastic set you blokes get from woolworths ! Better not say too much more else you'll be knocking on my door this time next year when you white wash us in our own back yard. Peace Brother.

And one last thing Mr 20/20 smash the ball to the moon and back its not that bad being an aussie take a leaf out of Lynndon's book "CHIN UP"

My best piece of advice is it is not over until the fat lady sings. We played in pouring rain, opposition were batting after we made 186. They were 9 for 186, our 10th change bowler coming in off his run, pitches on leg hits the glove and balloons to the keeper. Caught all out for 186 and due to the fact we finished on top we won the title. I didn't think we could win when they were 5 for 173 - the fat lady was warming up but was singing a good song.

I was always told: If you get to 20, there is no excuse for not going on and getting 50.

When you need 4 runs to end your career with an average of 100 dont - repeat- DONT make a duck.

Best advice always tell your skipper to win the toss and field you can eat more tea !!! And yes i am slightly on the large side but some one has to cover 1st and 2nd slip its like having a 12th man !!!!!

If in doubt, give it a clout!