October 23, 2009
Howzat! Newsletter
October 2009
Welcome to Howzat!, the free magazine from www.cricket-for-parents.com.
By special request, this issue describes three more cricket coaching games that are great for developing fielding and batting skills. They're fun for the players and their range is only limited by the imagination of the coach. And although they’re coaching games, they are just as much fun on the beach or in the garden.
In the diagrams, the fielders are labelled as F, the batsman as Ba, wicket keeper as Wk, bowler as Bo and the coach/scorer as S. Marker cones are labelled as M, or shown as different coloured doughnuts. Its best to use tennis balls for all three games.
The Lord’s Game
This is played between two teams of four or five players, and each side has two innings of 10 minutes. The fielding team picks a bowler, who bowls underarm. Each batsman faces six balls, and scores a run for hitting the ball between the two markers. He scores one bonus run for running to line one and back, two for running to line two and back, and four if the ball goes between the markers and over the boundary.
But, the batsman doesn’t have it all his own way, as he can be out bowled, hit wicket, caught, or run out at the wicket keeper’s end. If he is out, then his side forfeits any remaining balls of his six.
You can vary the challenge by increasing or decreasing distances or targets, and give an extra run if the ball hits the ground before crossing line two or two extra runs if it hits the ground before line one.
The object for the batsmen is to practice hitting the ball on the ground with a straight bat, and to improve their running skills. The fielding side must field as quickly and cleanly as possible to keep down the scoring and give themselves a low target to chase.
Continuous Cricket
This is a fast and furious game that keeps all the players on their toes until after the final ball. Its best played between two teams of five or six, but can be varied to suit the occasion. Each team bats for a set time – say 10 minutes. Each bowler bowls six underarm deliveries, from at least 10 metres for safety.
The non-stop action happens because the batsman must run whether or not he hits the ball, and the bowler can deliver the next ball as soon as he receives it back from the fielders – whether or not the batsman has regained his crease.
The batsman runs round a marker at square leg or cover point; he can run more than once, but needs to be back at the wicket to play the next ball.
Batsmen can be out bowled, caught or hit wicket, and when a wicket falls the next batsman must take his place quickly, as the bowler doesn’t have to wait for him. But, once a batsman has faced six balls he retires and the bowler waits for the next one to take his place.
Vary the game by increasing or decreasing the size of the pitch, the distance to the markers or the height of the wickets.
Hit the gap
This game is good for practicing placement skills for batsmen, and clean, fast fielding. The object is for the batsman to score runs by hitting the ball through the pairs of cones – shown as coloured doughnuts on the diagram. These can be a wide target if they are guarded by a fielder, or narrow if they are unguarded.
Wide targets score one run, and narrow targets score two. Bonus runs are scored by running between the wickets, and the batsman can be out bowled, hit wicket, caught, or run out by the wicketkeeper. Each undefeated batsman retires after two overs, and his final score is noted.
The bowler should deliver the balls at a high tempo, bowling it as soon as the batsman is back in position. This means lots of balls in a short time, which also keeps the fielders busy, and keeps the game intensity near to match level.
You can also ask the batsman to hit a different coloured target as the ball is bowled, to build up his placement skills all around the wicket. Once he is successful with this, put pressure on him by giving him a bonus run for naming and hitting his own target.
You can vary this game in lots of ways, to make it easier or harder for the batsman, for example changing the size or distance of the targets. For better players and with full protective batting kit, try bowling hard balls overarm or use a spin mat to exaggerate the amount of turn and bounce in the wicket.
There are no hard and fast rules for these games, and you can get even more fun by varying the rules to suit the occasion. Enjoy!
For more info on cricket skills, visit http://www.cricket-for-parents.com/cricket-coaching.html
Champions League Twenty20
Did you follow the Champions League? What a great competition! Trinidad and Tobago were excellent throughout, but New South Wales were deserved winners. Pity the Indian audiences switched off after the IPL teams were eliminated, because there was some great cricket right up to the last ball of the final. I had to follow the action on the Cricinfo over-by-over commentary, which is always fun, but I hope that next year’s competition is televised more widely, so that all cricket fans can join in the excitement.
For more info on world cricket, visit http://www.cricket-for-parents.com/world-cricket.html
Until next time!
Best wishes,
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