This is a brilliant, simple trick for bowlers to get a big hitting batsman away from the strike if you are struggling to get them out.

Hit the thigh pad.

This trick works best for seamers who naturally angle the ball into the batsman, but it can work for anyone. Your aim is to bowl a ball that, after pitching, will hit the batter on their thigh pad.

Why?

Bowling is exciting when there is pace and power around, but the real work in the club game is done by the medium pace bowler.

Using PitchVision you can set an area for your bowlers to hit without the need for cones or other distracting visual aids.

Here's how.

With so many cameras to cricketers these days, it's easy to set up and forget about it. But here's a great fresh angle that will help identify a range of technical points for bowlers. Using PitchVision, I set a camera in the perfect place and there was no danger to the equipment or the coach in the process. Watch the video to find out the details:

Target bowling for cricket is a good practice that has several problems. All can be overcome with the drill in this video.

Click below to view:

If you can't see the video, click here.

Using PitchVision, bowlers can bowl in nets at a target with a batsmen to put them off and no visual cues. This is far more realistic.

Does it seem a bit old fashioned to say "pitch it up, hit the stumps"?

In these days of slower ball bouncers, enforcers and bowling dry outside off stump you might think so. Actually, it's still an effective way to bowl in most situations.

Swing bowler on a slow English pitch in May? Yes.

Spinner on a Bunsen burner? Absolutely.

Fast bowler on a flat deck? Without doubt.

Sam Lavery has been thinking about a good line and length, and he's not happy with the term. Read on for his solution.

"Just hit good areas".

That's a phrase I hear almost every day as coach. Whether it's bowlers, batsmen or coaches, "good areas" is a term used widely used but often blindly.

Let's all stop being afraid of bowling actions.

Coaches are increasingly afraid of coaching because of a culture of fear in cricket. Bowlers live in terror of ruining their natural action.

I argue we are all wasting a chance to improve both pace and accuracy. We just need to shake off the fear. You can see it in the media. In this article about James Harris we are told,

There is a world of difference between bowling in practice, and bowling under match pressure. If you are going ot be a good bowler, you need to be able to handle the latter. So, here's a simple drill you can do to add pressure to your net sessions.

Here's the video so you can see it in action:

If you can't view it above, click here.

Even today, where there are a hundred different types of ball, good old-fashioned line and length bowling is an incredibly effective way to bowl: Hit the spot, do a bit off the pitch or in the air, take wickets. Simple.

Yet it's also a world of pain to do consistently.

Sure, you bowl in nets as much as you can. You put up with slogging batsmen and you take time to work on your action.

Then you get out into a game and bowl two four balls every over, wondering where it all went wrong.

What's going on?

It's not the puzzle you think, but it does take some work on your part. It's easy improve your accuracy (and pace at the same time) with a simple process.