The cricket bat is more than a lump of willow with a rubber handle. It is your only weapon in the quest for the runs you need to succeed.

No wonder so many batsmen love their blade so much they can’t even be parted with it at bedtime. It‘s like losing a beloved family pet when the time comes to replace it. Sometimes it has to be done. Sometimes tape and sandpaper and oil are no longer enough.

This article is a story of fast bowling success from a young reader who emailed in to PitchVision Academy.

I’m a  13 year-old fast bowler. Last season I learned a trick which helped me turn a season around.

In another guest article, club left arm spinner AB talks us through exactly where to land the ball to cause maximum damage to batsmen’s averages.

We all know the key to top quality spin bowling is to bowl a consistent line and length. But what does that actually mean?

First we need to figure out where is the best length to bowl.

We want a length that is full enough that the batsman is forced to come forward, but not so full that he is able to reach the ball on the half volley without mis-hitting it.

Do you bowl or coach leg spin? Do you want to improve your skills?

If you said ‘yes’ to that you want to act fast because I’m about to close both offers of free leg spin advice.

As you know I have been giving away free leg spin videos and articles to celebrate the launch of online coaching courses by Mohammed Haroon, our leg spin coach.

But we can’t do it forever so we are giving you a last chance to:

Let me be the first to welcome you to the exciting new PitchVision Academy pages, come in, take a look around and make yourself at home.

As you know, we have had the virtual decorators in to give the place a full makeover (if you are reading this in an RSS feed or email you can click here to check out our pimped ride).

This drill is part of the PitchVision Academy fielding drills series, for more in this series click here.

Purpose: A pre-match warm up that practices the skills of chasing down a ball in pairs and backing up.

Looking, thinking and acting like a batsman will give you the confidence to bat well, whatever your batting skills.

Jonathan Trott averaged 89 with the bat in the 2010-11 Ashes series in Australia, rising to number four in the Test rankings. He's become famous for his pre-shot batting routine, making a mark with his bat, and then marking the same spot with his foot.

When you play a team you’ve beaten before you relax. You have figured them out.

You don’t need special strategies you can play the cookie-cutter way: win the toss and bat first. It’s in the bag.

Every cricketer can benefit from being strong. And every cricketer can get stronger.

Unfortunately, a lot of players turn away from the idea of strength because they assume to be strong you need to look like a bulky bodybuilder. It’s a reasonable assumption, especially when you see that most gyms base training around bodybuilding methods made popular in the 1970s and ‘80s.