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

This issue keeps you sharp with a team catching and run out drill, explains a few cricket bat dos and donts, tells of Malcolm Ashton's debut for Test Match Special, and gives a few tips and wrinkles on keeping cricket clothing whiter-than-white.

Team catching and run out drill

The best cricket drills simulate match skills, so that players can see the situation in practice that they’re going to see in a match. Drills like this are limited only by the imagination of the coach, and here’s one routine that teaches catching, throwing and running skills.

On cue, the wicket keeper throws the ball to the first fielder and the batsman sets off for two runs. The ball must be thrown and caught by all four fielders, and returned to the wicket keeper. The batsman must complete his two runs to avoid being run out. The grey arrows show the path of the ball, and the green arrows the path of the batsman.

Variations include using rolling and ground fielding instead of throwing and catching, making the game non-stop until the batsman is run out, and turning the whole routine into a game between fielders and batsmen. The length of the pitch takes some fine tuning, so that its always a close race between the ball and the batsman!

You can find out more about cricket fielding positions at http://www.cricket-for-parents.com/cricket-fielding-positions.html

Good care for your cricket bat

You bat will reward you with a long and useful life if its properly oiled, knocked-in and faced. But, here are a few more tips and wrinkles that will help to keep it in good shape.

• Don’t let it dry out - a hot car boot can be your bat’s worst enemy, especially during a hot cricket season. Always store it in a cool, dry place.
• More bats break during practice than in matches. Old, cheap practice balls are very hard – especially composition ones, or those used by bowling machines. If you have a choice, use an old bat for practice and save your best one for scoring runs.
• Keep your bat dry – moisture is a big enemy, especially in the toe region. OK, rain happens during cricket matches, but if your bat does get wet, dry it as soon as possible. Fitting a toe guard will make a big difference.
• If you don’t like your dismissal, don’t throw your bat – they’re not designed to fly or break furniture. Its just possible that your bat wasn’t the reason for you being out anyway!
• Give it a good service after every season. Remove any facing, give it a light sanding, repair small cracks with superglue or wood glue, give it a light oiling then replace the facing.

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

Malcolm Ashton joins Test Match Special

All followers of Test Match Special have mourned the loss to our game of Bill Frindall, “The Bearded Wonder”. Bill had been the statistician for TMS since 1966, and as one newspaper put it “nothing is historic in cricket until Bill Frindall says so”. No act can be more difficult to follow, however the BBC have just announced that Malcolm Ashton will join TMS as scorer for the remainder of England’s test matches in 2009.

Malcolm (nicknamed “Ashtray”) has been understudy to Bill Frindall in the past, and was eventually the Analyst for the England team. He was also a skilful footballer and hockey player in his youth; more recently he has been a keen thespian, and he has a great repertoire of jokes. His voice will be familiar to some, as he has scored during One Day Internationals in recent years, both for TMS and for other broadcasters.

So, while it will be very sad to hear TMS take the air this summer without the Bearded Wonder, there will be a familiar voice in his place and we wish him well. I hope that he can keep Jonathan Agnew under control!

Want to know more about Test Match Special? Visit http://www.cricket-for-parents.com/live-cricket-commentary.html

Keeping cricket clothes "whiter-than-white"

Committed cricketers don’t hesitate to dive to save a run or take a catch, or to keep a ball shiny by polishing it on their whites. But the resulting grass, mud and cricket ball stains can be a laundry problem. When it comes to cleaning, white was always a bad choice for cricket clothing, especially when the next match is just around the corner.

Throwing dirty clothes into a hot wash just doesn’t work, as the stains become ingrained. So, the offending marks must be removed first. I’ve had great success removing grass stains with “Vanish”, but also recommended are oxi-stain removers, washing powder paste or methylated spirits - using a nail brush for deep cleaning helps here. Cricket ball stains can be removed in the same way, or by a suitable colour-run remover. Mud needs a different technique - brush off as much dried mud as possible, then remove the rest with lots of cold water mixed with a dash of lemon juice. If stains still persist, soak overnight in a cold solution of biological washing powder, then try again.

Once all stains have been removed, rinse thoroughly in cold water then wash with detergent on the hottest setting possible. It’s quite a challenge to keep cricket clothes whiter-than-white, but its worth it - after all, standards on the field just have to be maintained!

You can find out more about cricket equipment at http://www.cricket-for-parents.com/cricket-equipment.html

Until next time!

Best wishes,