The answer is of course yes, without a doubt.

In the current county game there is such a wide range of diff??erent forms of cri?cket that it is hard to break fitness down.

In Twenty20 there is the fast and furious side of fitness where for 3 hours you are like a Duracell bunny!! In the 50 over one-day game there are aspects of the Twenty20 game but also the game lasts for around 6 hours so it can be exhausting. Then there is the purist game, the County Championship. This game can be as tough as any, you can field for around 250 over’s in the game and also be relied up on to bat for days at a time.

So how do cricketers prepare physically for the ?season?

The season finishes at the end of September so most cricketers will spend October relaxing, catching up with Family or going on holiday. I tend to go on holiday but still like to do ??some sort of light fitness 3 days a week just to main??tain the levels.

During November and December at Yorkshire we do a lot of long distance C.V work to get the miles in the legs preparing our bodies for the ‘onslaught’ after Christmas! Personally I try to do between 20-30 miles per week running on the roads along with 2 full body weight sessions.

After Christmas the training begins to step up. We train as a team 3 times a week which will include circuits, power lifting and hill sprints. Our fitness trainer aims to get the power and speed in to our muscles. Cricket is mainly based around short, fast movements based over a long period of time, so ??hill sprints is an excellent session to do to help that. During this time the players start to do skill specific training, so the batters will do 3 sessions of batting a week and bowlers will work on bowling skills.

During the summer the schedule for a cricketer is hard to manage. You could play a 4 day Championship game followed the next day by a one day game, followed by a travelling day followed by another Championship game. Sometimes we can be away from home for up to 3 weeks, so being able to liv??e out of hotel rooms is a key part of the job. The ways in which to maintain fitness levels during the season is to manage your time the best you can. As a batsman I will fail during some games which gives me a lot of time sat around watching others score the runs that I should of!! This time can be spent going for a run of using the gym at the grounds to keep the fitness levels up. We have a full time fitness conditioner on hand so he will devise the sessions there and then to suit our needs.

Recovery is also a key part of a cricketer’s role in managing their own bodies. Ice baths are constantly used after games and when we are staying in hotels we often do a team pool session to help relieve the lactic acid out of the muscles.

One of my fellow team mates, Chris Taylor and me also run a cricket coaching business during the winter months called Pro Coach Cricket Academy which delivers cricket coaching to over 4?000 children across the UK. We are unique in a way in which all our sessions are delivered by current and ex professional cricketers.

If any of you would be interested please check out our website www.procricketcoachingacademy.com

Overall I hope I have been able to give you a brief background in to the physica??l demands of a professional cricketer and the ways we work.

* What sort of breakfast do you guys have on the morning of a match? Light or Heavy?

It depends what sort of cricket I am playing. If it’s a one day game I will have a big breakfast, as the start of the game is at 1pm it means skipping lunch. On a championship game I will have some cereal or fruit, followed by beans on toast or some scrabbled egg on toast.

* Who are your favourite cricketers?

Marcu??s Trescothi?ck is someone who I have tried to model my game on a lot but also Michael Vaughan as I have learnt from him. I also admire Darren Lehmann and Jaques Rudolph

* Which innings are you most proud of?

Probably my hu?ndre??d against Lancashire. It was a dogged innings but any roses hundred is very special.

* The English domestic structure has come under a lot of fire in recent times. Do the players see any inherent problems in the system and if so what are some areas for improvement.

I think there may be too many kolpak ??players within English cricket. Although I think kolpak players have improved the standard of the En??glish game, every kolpak player is taking the place of a young English player. I think 2 kolpacks per team and 1 overseas would be fair.

* Who are some young players to look out for?

Gary Balance at Yorkshire is an exciting young p?layer as is Adam Lyth. I think Adil Rashid and Joe Denly will represent England in the next year or so.

* Who should be wicketkeeping for England?

I think Matt Prior is the man for the job, he had a good series against S.A, he just needs to find his form more consistently. I a?lso think Phil Mustard was a little unlucky to be left out, as? I think he is a good one day player.

* How has the Indian Champions League and the Stanford competition affected day to day stuff in the dressing rooms in county cricket? Do guys talk about it a lot and is it always in the back of your minds?

Obviously all the players would like the chance to play for the money that is being brand?ed about, but ??the Yorkshire lads are just trying to win some domestic trophies which leads to international exposure for ICL/IPL contracts.

* Are there any players outside of the current England squad that you feel should be regulars in the 1st XI?

I think Owais Shah has been a l??ittle unlucky?? not to play more, I think he is a great player.

* Who can hit the ball further between you two?

Ha, dunno, probably Chris, he’s fitter!!!

* Who is the fastest bowler you have faced in County Cricket?

Steve Harminson bowled a couple of lightening spells at me this year, which I have bruis?ers to prove it!!

* As openers, how often do you or the coaching staff analyze your own batting technique? I know that there is a general tendency to only scrutinize your technique when you are going through a bad run of form but do you watch videos of yourself to analyze your own batting technique? If so, have you noticed any errors in your technique that have crept into your game over time?

Yeah I constantly watch vid?eos of myself to analyse my game. Bad habits do creep in during the season so its important to wo??rk hard in the nets. As far as my own technique, there is always things to work on at the moment.

* Have you noticed any differences in the amount of swing with the Duke balls since your debut year?

The 2007 duke balls did tend to swing ?more than the 2008 ones, but a ball is a ball to me, see it, hit it.

* Do you have any superstitious activities that you carry out before or during your time at the crease?

I don’t like odd numbers on volume controls, don’t ask why. Chris is worse than me!!

* Who is the best bowler that you have faced in your career thus far?

Murali, he was so hard to pick.

* From talking to your overseas team mates at Yorkshire, how do they rate the standard of County Cricket compared to cricket in South Africa or Australia? And have either of you played club cricket abroad during your winter months? If so what is the standard like?

Jaques Rudolph tells me the English domestic game is fa?r stronger than the SA one. I have played one season is Sydney and the standard of club cricket was far better.

* Andy, it is well known that Darren Lehmann is a well respected person both on and off the field and is quite knowledgeable about the game, how significant has his presence at Yorkshire been for you? The same for you Chris as well.

‘Buffer’ helped me significantly. His positive approach and attitude towards the game was awesome. His game plans for each bowler were very particular and he talked me through the game whilst batting with him.

* How much difference is there to playing cricket at day compared to night, with regards to batting, fielding etc? Does the ball swing a lot at night? And what is your preference and why?

It depends on the quality of the lights. Permanent flood li??ghts seem to be far better than the temporary ones. ??I find it particularly hard to catch the high balls, it seems really hard to judge against the night sky.

* In the offseason, indoor nets aside, what is the main training routines that you take part in? (ie gym, running etc.)

I have had October off to relax and I went on holiday. I have ju??st recently had an elbow operation that will kepp me out till after xmas. After Christmas I will begin to really hit the fitness hard and the nets, doing about 10 hours gym work and 10 hours net time.

* Where do you see yourselves in five years time?

I would like to see myself being a regular in the England side, I would also like to captain Yorkshi??re at some stag??e.

* If could go back in time to any era of the game to watch and play, where would it be and why?

I would like to think I am playing in the best era of cricket now. There is more money involved and some of the best grounds ever seen at cricket. Cricket is on the up and it’s a very exciting time to play.

* How did either of you get involved with cricket? Was it family thing, or from your childhood friends or even school?

Grandfather played local league cricket, so I went to practice when I was 9 years old at my local club Gomersal, a year later I got chosen to represent Yorkshire u11’s.

* If it wasn’t for cricket, what you do for a living?

Probably running my coaching business full time, www.procricketcoachingacademy.com, I am p????assionate about business and really enjoy doing it.

* Outside of cricket what do you do in your spare time?

Like I said, I like to run the business along with C??hris, I also have a season ticket at Huddersfield Town, so I try to? get down to watch them as much as poss.

* Who is the practical joker amongst the team?

Probably have to say Anthony McGrath, he’s always taking the mick out of someone, usually the Fizz!!

* Favourite meal, drink, book, movie, music?

Meal – Fish and Chips (don’t tell the fitness coach)

Drink – Fanta

Book – Any James Patterson ones

Movie – Topgun

Music – Simply Red

* -What’s the funniest sledge someone’s given you?

Lets end this lads nightmare

* -Do you prefer 2020 or the longer one-day format & why?

I enjoy the 20’s but I get more satisfaction from winning in the longer form. The best team always wins over 4 days, but that doesn’t always happen in the 20’s.

* -Which football/rugby teams do you support?

Huddersfield Town, Bradford Bulls

* -League or union?

Definitely League, hate all that kicking in u??nion!!

* -Do you know of any players who sneak a look at CW or other cricket forums (no names, no packdrill)?

I am sure the lads c??heck out the cricket sights from time to time.

* As an opener, do you find extreme pace or swing a more difficult challenge to face early in an innings?

The swinging ball is probably the hardest thing.

* Do you agree with Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff when they say that young players should try and play their natural game and do what feels right to them, rather than trying to learn an applied technique out of a coaching manual?

Yeah, if you have a natural attacking game, don’t forget it. The best players are sometimes the most unorthodox ones as bowlers struggle to find the lines and lengths to bowl at them.

* From the players perspective is a 21st century Roses match just another fixture or is it still something different?

There is still a lot of prestige in playing in the roses game. it’s the first fixture I look for when they come out.

* Would you like to see the amount of domestic cricket played reduced?

Less cricket, more training, I t??hink this would improve the quality ??of the game and stop players from going stale.

* Other than Headingley, what is your favourite ground you’ve played at?

Scarborough

* Is Adil Rashid a better bowler or batsman?

Adil has the ability?? ??to be a genuine all rounder. At the moment I would say his bowling is better, but given time he has the attributes to be a top order batsmen.

One of the first courses of our winter coaching was the masterclass days. With our contacts in the Professional game we can call some really experienced names to run coaching for the children around the North and Midlands of England. Anthony McGrath (the newly appointed Yorkshire captain), Adil Rashid and Gerard Brophy were just a few of the Yorkshire 1st teamers who ran s??ome sessions for us. When you have these coaches working with groups of ten or less, the children have a great opportunity to learn from the wealth of experience and cricketing knowledge the stars bring with them.

Back to Professional cricket. What an escape we had from relegation! Going into day two on 80 for 7 needing 400 for the batting bonus points and our only chance of survival, everybody had written us off as relegated. Step up to the plate Adil Rashid and David Wainwright. A day later we had declared on 400 fo??r 9 with both lads scoring valuable centuries. We drew the game, got full bonus points and just survived the drop. Add to that promotion to the Pro 40 1st division and a semi final in the Friends Provident and it turned out to be quite a good season for us.

On a personal note it was a disastrous season from an injury point of view. I spent four months on the sidelines with two torn hamstrings and a torn calf muscle. Having never been injured in my life and been one of the fittest in the Yorkshire squad it was a bitter pill to swallow. I have sat down with the Physios and Fitness Coaches at Yorkshire and worked out a plan for this winter to hopefully solve my injury problems and come back fit?? and raring to go for the 2009 season.

On the business side of life as I have already said our coaching company ‘Pro Coach Cricket Academy’ is going really well. We have plans in place to branch out to all Northern and Midlands Counties and get Professionals from them Counties running the coaching. Look out for our new website which will be launched by the 20th of November which will include some coaching material (videos and interviews) from the stars of todays games who will guide any cricketers through their way of playing the game. We are also looking for a kit/website sponsor for next year. The exposure we can provide is huge with over 1000 children on our books now, a website with 2000 unique hits per week and a chance to be associated with the biggest cricket coaching company in England.

I am writing before the Surrey game to b??e played at Headingley Carnegie this week.

The season to date has been a decent one from a personnel point of view. I have almost cemented my place in the championship side with hundreds against Hampshire and Surrey. Hopefully I can push on now and I have also played well in the one-day format scoring a 60 odd in the semi final against Essex. As for the Twenty20’s, that is something that we will forget as a club and will only learn from.

From a team perspective it has been a season of ups and downs to date. Three weeks ago we was top of the championship, in the quarter finals of the Twenty20 and in the semi final on the FP Trophy. Unfortunately we have lost a little bit of form and lost the last three champo games. It has not been an easy time for the players after going out of the 20’s the way we did but that can’t be used as an excuse, the bottom line is that we have played some poor cricket at vital times in the games and that has really cost us.

The most positive thing to come out of the last couple? of? weeks is a superb hundred from a young lad from Whitby called Adam Lyth. He scored his maiden first class hundred against Notts last week and nearly got us to the total we required. Adam is certainly a character of the game and one for all you readers to watch out for in the future.

Hope you ??h?ave enjoyed the article and I look forward to doing another one shortly.

What followed was a magnificent century stand between Anthony McGrath and Jacques Rudolph. Unfortunately both were out in the same over and it left myself and Tim Bresnan needing 18 from three overs with the light deteriorating and us both new at the crease. The Leicestershire bowlers bowled consistent yorkers and we managed to get it down to three required from the final ball. I was facing Jim Allenby needing three to win. Thoughts were racing through my mind, I’d been out of cricket for a year, I was feeling out of nick, he had just bowled two perfect yorkers.

I managed to clear my mind and knew if I hit straight, we should get a minimum of two runs to tie the game out to long off or long on. There was also the chance of a straight four with no fielders directly behind the bowler and if I connected well it could even go for six runs. ‘Think positive’ I kept saying to myself and I visualised hitting a four over the bowler’s head. The crowd of 3000 or so were really loud chanting ‘Leicestershire la la la’ as Allenby ran in. I knew it was going to be another attempted yorker so I stepped back into my crease just as the bowler got into his delivery stride so as to turn the yorker into a half volley. I swung hard but made sure I kept a straight bat and my shape. The ball came right out of the middle of the bat and sailed well over long on into the stand and six runs! I began punching the air and was mobbed by my fellow batsman Tim Bresnan.

It was one of the greatest feelings I’ve had in the game and returned to the changing rooms to be hugged and high fived by all the Yorkshire lads and coaching team. Another excellent victory for an in-form Yorkshire team.

As I write th??is we have now won four out of six games in the Twenty/20 Cup with only two more wins from four games needed to qualify for the Quarter Finals. If we do that we will be just two wins away from the Champions League and a chance to win $5 million!!

Away from cricket the coaching business www.procricketcoachingacademy.com is going really well. With a little bit of time off in between games Andy and myself are working hard on marketing the courses and Academies. We are still on the lookout for any cricket related websites to link to our website (URL above) and are still searching for a website sponsor (who will also get their logo on all the children’s kit for this coming winter). If anyone is interested please email us at procoachcricketacademy@hotmail.co.uk . If anyone would like mo??re information on the coaching courses and Academies in the UK, or would like to book themselves or their child on a course, please call this number 07766024635.

Thanks again,

Chris Taylor

I will spend the next two weeks back on the rehab exercises and running drills. I will also restart my batting work which will involve quite a bit of time on the bowling machine. I will also hope to get as many nets in as possible. Having now only played 1 game of competitive cricket since the start of last June, i??t is crucial I face as much bowling as?? I can and get back into the mental thought processes you go through when you are batting. It will be good to be playing again and I can?t wait till my first game back!

On a positive note, my business partner and best mate, Andy Gale, scored another century this week at The Oval. He has played really well in the Championship this year and hopefully will keep this going all season. As a team we have played well in patches but seem to be relying on individuals at the moment. I’m sure as soon as it clicks though we will be challenging for the Championship title and some good performances this week and we will be in the Friends Provident Quarter Finals.

The weeks of being on the sidelines has allowed me a lot of free time (very boring and frustrating). I have spent a large chunk of this time working on developing mine and Andy’s coaching business, ‘Pro Coach Cricket Academy’. All the venues and courses are filling up nicely with young cricketers aged 6 to 16. We have also been in recent negotiations with Yorkshire Bank and Asda to become the main sponsor of ‘Pro Coach’. We are also searching for a kit and website sponsor. If anyone may be interested or knows someone who is, please get in touch at procoachcricketacademy@hotmail.co.uk

I have also spent some of my time trawling the internet for cricket related sites to link with our coaching website. Can I firstly say that ‘Cricket Web’ is comprehensively the best cricket news, information and forum site I have come across so far, keep up the good work James and the team.

Andrew and I would also like to ask for some help from ‘Cricket Web’ viewers. We are trying to get our website seen by as many young cricketers around the world as possible. We would be most grateful if anyone who has the website authority or knows anyone with a cricket related (cricket related in any way) website, if you could link to our coaching website. The URL is //www.procricketcoachingacademy.com and if you could put the description as ‘Cricket coaching for juniors from current professional cricketers’ that would be great. Similarly if anyone could mention the website and the website address (2 lines above) in a cricketing blog, we would really appreciate it. If you would like anymore information on this please email at procoachcricketacademy@hotmail.co.uk or simply log onto our website at www.procricketcoachingacademy.com.

After an excellent pre-season tour in Abu Dhabi I came back in good form and with the confidenc??e I needed for a successful season.

I started the season off with 138 against Hampshire, I put the?? team in a great position on a tricky wicket and Matthew Hoggard bowled amazingly, showing that he is still worthy of Test cricket. We won the game by an innings. I was more than happy with my performance as the Hampshire bowling attack included Shane Bond, Chris Tremlett and Dimi Mascarenhas.

We have had a good start in the Friends Provident Trophy, we lost our first game against Durham but since then we have won two games on the boun?ce. We beat Durham on Bank Holiday Monday, in which I scored 68 at faster?? than a run a ball.

As a team we are growing in confidence game by game. Morne Morkel bowled the speed of light before?? he pulled up with a hamsrting strain, hopefully he will be fit again for our Roses clash on Sunday.

The key to our season is how well the younger lads perform, the likes of Chris Taylor, Joe Sayers, Tim Bresnan and myself. In recent years the likes of Anthony McGrath, Jaques Rudolth and Darre??n Gough have been left to produce match winning performances but I now feel the younger guys are finding their feet a bit and are starting to produce the performa??nces we need to be a successful unit.

For me I have had a great start to the season but a couple of good performances doesn’t make a season, hopefully I can now kick on and continue to produce consistent performances and really cement my place in the side.

We are back on the road next week to play against Durham, Scotland, Surrey and Derbyshire but I will try and fill you all ?in on our ups and downs in a few weeks time.

The Yorkshire tour to Abu Dhabi was an amazing experience. All the lads got some good practice outdoors which is impossible in England in March. I played in the first match, the Roses game vs Lancashire in what was a good win against a strong Lancashire side which featured Andrew Flintoff. The weather was great, the people really friendly, the hotel amazing and to cap it all we won the Pro Arch tournament – The first silverware of the season!!

Since our return from Abu Dhabi the team has managed just one day of cricket with 4 days of pre season friendlies being rained off. At this time of year any match play on grass is priceless to get back into the feel of being out in the middle and familiarise yourself with playing again after 6 months off. For me, this will have to wait another 10 days or so. It will probably mean a couple of games in the 2nd XI to prove my fitness and score some runs to force my way back into the 1st XI. The 1st team’s first Championship game is next Wednesday vs Hampshire. It should be a really good game as we have both Michael Vaughan and Matthew Hoggard available and Hampshire have Shane Bond, Kevin Pietersen and Chris Tremlett available!! I firmly believe the boys will take the points though if they perform the way we did in Abu Dhabi.

Away from Professional cricket, myself and Andrew have been developing and working on our cricket coaching business ‘Pro Coach Cricket Academy’. All the courses and Academies are in place and booked for next Autumn/Winter now. We have expanded to cover most of Yorkshire, Derbyshire, Lancashire and Cheshire. The website has also been updated and we are going to be selling cheap cricket equipment from the site //www.procricketcoachingacademy.com in the next couple of weeks. We are also on the lookout for any other areas of the country that may be interested in us setting up coaching academies for their junior cricketers. Please get in touch at procoachcricketacademy@hotmail.co.uk .

Hope?? you have enjoyed reading my progress so far this season. I will be updating things again in a couple of weeks when I will hopefully be back playing!!

There is a little bit of uncertainty at Yorkshire at the moment, which lies around the signing of Rana Ul-Naved. Rana signed for us back in September before he badly injured his shoulder playing for the champions Sussex. His injury meant that he wouldn’t be available from the start of the season but he would join us mid season when he was fully fit. He has now signed for the ICL for the for coming April which is the rebel cricket league. Personally I don?t fully understand how the ICL and the IPL work, but all I do know is Rana was somebody who I have played against a lot in league and county cricket and I rate him very highly. I hope the matter is solved soon and Rana will forfill his contract with Yorkshire as I think he would be a great asset to our bowling attack.

Next week the whole squad will travel to Dubai for our pre-season tour. This is the first one we have had for six years so all the lads are really looking forward to it. We play four games out there again?st Lancashire, Somerset, Sussex and the U.A.E.

I think pre season tours are an excellent thing for clubs to do. It doesn?t matter how many nets you have nothing replicates the emotions and pressure you feel in the heat on the battle in a game situation. Personally I am looki??ng for a few run??s to give me some confidence to get a good start to the season.

I hope all the readers are enjoying the pieces and I will speak to ?you all again before the start of the season.

On the 11th of February I flew to India, Mohali to attend the Global Cricket Academy. I was there with all the Yorkshire batsmen and a coup??le of the spinners to get some pre-season batting under my belt.

I have been to India a couple of times be?fore and find the country a great place in which to learn cricket. Yes, the food is difficult to eat day in day out, but Pizza Hut really was a life saver to most of the lads.

They have a real love for the game out ?there, every spare bit?? of land is covered by children and adults playing cricket. Young cricketers travel from miles around to bowl in the nets at us, you never hear a complaint about how long they have bowled for, they just thrive on cricket. The practice over there is very different to ours. You see a lot of children doing skill based drills such as replicating the forward defensive, playing the sweep shot. Children seem to have a great desire in India to work hard on their games without getting bored, I guess some see cricket as a way out of poverty and genuinely love the game.

While I was out there I was predominately working on batting against spin. In England mid summer on third and fourth day pitches the ball can turn big and it is tough to replicate that sort of practice but India offers the facilities to do so. I worked closely with our batting coach Kevin Sharpe an??d an Indian? coach called Umesh on ways to defend and score against spin. We would work on drills that involved sweeping tennis balls, coming down the pitch and hitting small basketballs, manipulating spin off the back foot. We would then spend about an hour in the nets in the morning and an hour in the nets in the afternoon. Practice like this really is priceless at this time of the year and really helps to build confidence before the season.

Now that I am back it’s back to the indoor school, not quite as glamorous as India but it will have to do. I will be continuing the fitness work with the squad, and prepare myself for the trip to Dubai on the 16th of March.