Improve your Cricket Coaching, with great drills, techniques & training plans

How Murali took a record 800 wickets

This week's spinning Sportplan session dons its cap to Muttiah Muralitharan, the Sri Lankan spin bowler, and looks at how you can coach the off spin bowling technique, the most popular type of spin in cricket.

With his last ever right-arm off spin bowl, Murali bowled his way in the history books and took his 800th Test wicket, 82 more than his nearest competitor, Australia's Shane Ward. Your bowlers are probably still a long way off taking quite as many wickets as Murlai but if you work on their spin bowling technique then there's a chance one day they'll surpass his extraordinary bowling accomplishment.

Before you even throw a single ball though it's important you get your grip right. To ensure your players put scorching spin on the ball we start right at the beginning by looking at the correct grip. After this we progress through a series of enjoyable and challenging bowling drills that will see your player trying to generate as many revolutions on the ball as possible.

By the end of this session your players will see just how devastating the spin bowl can be and as you send them on their way on the way to taking 801 wickets!

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Avoid giving away easy runs

This week's Sportplan session continues from last week's safe hands session by looking at accuracy when throwing.

You've gathered the ball and now need to send it safely on its way to your wicket-keeper to get the opposition out. However a lack of accuracy can not only mean you fail to get the batter out but that you gift them a further few runs by missing your target altogether and need to start fielding all over again to gather the mis-thrown ball.

To stop this happening to your team we've created this accurate fielding/ throwing session that works on making sure the ball gets to where it's supposed to and quickly! Ideal for large groups of players of varying ability, this session focuses on bullseye throwing as well as teaching other players to back up their fellow fielders in case of slip ups.

You'll start by splitting your team into pairs where they work on target throwing. Their partner, who stands opposite them, must be ready to gather up the ball and then equally try and strike the cone situated between them. Once you players have got their eye in they will then increase the pressure with a race between batters and fielders, where the focus is on fast throwing to run out the batters.

Throughout this session we use competition between the pairs and teams of players to keep the intensity and effort levels high - making sure all your players are working hard whilst working on their sharp throwing and team fielding techniques.

After using this further fielding session you would hope to see fewer balls going astray, helping to keep the opposition's batters at bay.

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Ground Fielding Principles in Practice

This week's Sportplan session looks at using ground fielding techniques in a pressured game situation to avoid mis-fielding nightmares.

The key to a good out-fielding side is that they attack the ball. By attacking we mean come towards the ball and meet it rather than simply waiting for it to come to you. By being positive and alert you can get to the ball quicker and subsequently plant doubt into the batsman's mind by reducing the space that they can openly hit the ball into.

By now your players should be used to getting their feet, legs and body behind the ball, even on the bumpiest of pitches. Using the long barrier in a non-game situation though is completely different to in a match situation where the stakes are raised. To put the fielding theory into practice this week's session uses a series of conditioned games to see how your players use the ground fielding techniques they know in a pressurised situation - ensuring your players keep their eyes on the ball right until the moment it's in their hands.

You'll need to divide your players into two equal teams for this session, as your players vie to be crowned the 'best fielding side'. Starting with a throwing and catching drill players will need to be on top of their game to reach the opposition's grid and knock the bails from their wicket before then working as individuals to gather the ball up from the wicket keeper's throw and get the ball back to them as fast as possible.

After using this session you would hope to see your team play more comfortably in their next game, focussing better on the incoming ball and stopping it in its tracks.

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