Welcome to Howzat!, the free magazine from www.cricket-for-parents.com.

In this issue, read about "Cricket Information", the new e-book from www.cricket-for-parents.com; catches win matches, so discover top tips on catching techniques and the "beat the catches" skills game; and discover where and how to watch IPL 2010 on YouTube.


Cricket Information e-book

Look out for the Cricket-for–Parents e-book, which will available on my web site from 12 March 2010. Its a 40 page PDF book titled “How to Play Cricket”, and is packed with articles on how to enjoy cricket as a parent, player and fan.

It’s fully hyperlinked to the key cricket sites on the web, and will also be packaged with three free bonus features that you won’t find anywhere else – a checklist of 50 essential items to keep in your cricket bag, top tips on how to organise a junior cricket match, and a hyperlinked list of the 50 BEST cricket websites.

You’ll be able to find out more from 12 March at http://www.cricket-for-parents.com/how-to-play-cricket-ebook.html.

Catches Win Matches

Cricketers can’t be good at just batting or bowling. To be a good team member you’ve also got to be a good all round fielder. The old saying that "catches win matches" is very true, and good catching technique plus lots of practice will help your team to win. So here are a few basic technique tips for high and low catches.

For high catches, avoid the instinct to run towards the ball until you’ve assessed its flight, as over-running the catch can cause a big problem. Try to position your body in line with the ball, feet planted firmly in position, knees slightly bent, and with your hands at least chest high. It helps me to have my hands high enough so I can actually watch them close around the ball.

Keep your hands close together with the fingers pointing up and spread wide, and the two little fingers crossed so that the ball won’t slip through your hands. Keep your head still and fix your eyes on the ball until you’ve taken the catch. As you catch the ball, clasp your fingers around it tightly and let your hands “give” so that they bring the ball to your chest.

If you’re fielding closer to the wicket where the ball can come harder, faster and flatter then you need a different technique. Be in the ready position, in line with the ball, with knees bent more and hands ready. For a low catch your fingers will be pointing at the ground, but for anything above waist high the reverse cup with the fingers pointing upward makes it much easier to manoeuvre your hands into the line of the ball when its travelling flat and hard. Keep your fingers spread as wide as possible, watch the ball enter the cup of your hands then clasp them tightly around the ball.

Anticipation, concentration and determination are vital for catching. Miss out any one of these and your chance of dropping the catch will increase dramatically. Cricket balls are hard, especially when moving fast, but if you take a catch cleanly then you’ll avoid sore fingers or worse.

All you need now is to go and practice; slip cradles and catching frames are great for practising close catching but for high catches you’ll need a partner who is skilled at hitting high catches with a bat. Its amazing how even a little practice improves your match catching skills, and gives your team a much better chance of winning.

For more info on cricket skills, visit http://www.cricket-for-parents.com/cricket-skills.html


Beat the Catches Skills Game

Try this game to improve your catching skills. The players are in two groups, catchers (F1 to F4) and Batsmen (Ba). Batsmen start from a batting stance position at a marked crease, while their replacements wait behind the stumps.

On command, player 1 from the batting team runs down the wicket, grounds his bat at the opposite crease, turns then runs back to his original position, sliding in his bat over the crease.

This works with either one batsman or with two working as a pair. When each batsman/pair have completed two runs, they are replaced by new batsmen, who repeat the process until all the batsmen in the team have scored two runs.

At the same time, the fielding team throws the ball underarm to each other, their object being to make as many catches as possible before the batting team have completed their shuttles. The picture shows just two throwing directions, but any others are allowed. Teams swap over after a completed innings, and the side that takes the most catches is the winner.

For more info on cricket skills, visit http://www.cricket-for-parents.com/cricket-coaching.html

IPL 2010 on YouTube

Get ready for the Indian Premier League 2010, which starts on 12 March and will be broadcast free and interactive on YouTube. Viewers will be able to choose any of 20 camera angles including the stump cam, as well as freeze, rewind and fast forward footage and watch on-demand highlights. You can catch all the action at http://www.youtube.com/user/IPL.


Until next time!

Best wishes,