This is a guest article from coach and PhD candidate Adam Kelly

Everyone says you should train hard but sometimes it's good to step back and ask a bigger question of ourselves.

What is the purpose of training?

We spend hours and hours in nets and on the field looking to enhance our performance. Drills are designed to improve our skills.

Logically we should train recognise which skill to execute and when to execute said skill.

Many of the leading Cricket nations now use "Talent Testing" for 13 and upwards as a part of their talent identification process. I want to show you how to use some of these tests in your coaching.

Here is the first of the talent test drills that you can use to test players and then provide feedback that improves performance. What's not to love?

Serious Cricket have teamed up with PitchVision Academy to provide online cricket coaching from some top name coaches.

To celebrate the launch of the first course, Batting with Toby Radford we are giving away a free video on how to play the back foot defence.

Cricket is a game, but to do well you need to get serious. So who better to help you on your journey than the coaches at Serious Cricket?

To celebrate the arrival of Serious Cricket on PitchVision Academy You can get a free 10 week email-based coaching course that covers batting, fast bowling, spin bowling and wicketkeeping exclusively from the Serious Cricket coaches. Just enter your email below to get the goods.

It's no secret that it's easy to struggle against spinners in the Sub-continent. England's batsmen have failed for decades.

Here is the inside guide to playing spin in slow, low turning conditions so you can coach your players to be a little more like Dravid.

This is a guest article from coach and PhD candidate Adam Kelly

We all talk to ourselves.

Being aware allows you to control your self-talk; once we control our self-talk it has a positive effect on performance.

I have researched self-talk as a cricket skill during my dissertation, where I analysed the self-talk of international and county fast bowlers.

The results show the power of talking to yourself in cricket.

Self-talk enhances:

This is a guest article from Darren Talbot: professional coach, Managing Director of Darren Talbot Cricket Coaching and founder committee member of the Surrey ECB Coaches Association.

The Australian great Glenn McGrath built an amazing career on consistency.

One of the myths that surround talent is that of the "natural"; the player who is brilliant from the moment they pick up a bat or ball.

For example, Irfan Pathan. The Indian seamer made his International debut as a 19 year old as a natural batsman and bowler.

In fact - like every natural player - he spent an extraordinary amount of time learning his craft.

How do you make your debut for India at age 27?

If we look at the stories of every player who has made it to the India side in the last 5 years, there is one element that is common.

This element is the same from the spin of Ashwin to the batting of Kohi. It never changes regardless of fielding skill, personality or potential.

So if you want to be the next Sharma, Rahane or anyone else you need to know this element.

It's the only way to pull on the shirt.

What is it?

To understand it, let's go back to the first time Sachin picked up a bat.

Gary Palmer's CCM Academy often plays at tournments with a lot of games in a short time.

As a coach this tests your skills in different ways to weekly coaching sessions and matches.

Watch the video below to find out how Gary handles the challenges including: