The Googly

The Coach: The art of pacing a one-day cricket innings

Watching Ian Bell and Alastair Cook bat together in the third ODI against India brought back memories of a time when England were good at one-day cricket; when well paced innings dominated over the big hitters. Is it time to start wondering what all the fuss about the long ball is about?

England, after all, scored nearly 300 without the expected fireworks. It was an innings built on 244 excellently judged balls. The Englishmen may be young, but both players showed how to pace themselves to hundreds with all the experience of a Jaysuria, Chanderpaul or Mohammad Yousuf.

Batting for the purists rather than the cheap seats you might say.

These are the types of players and innings that work best in England be it at International, first class or even club level. The ball might nibble around early on and big shots may just lead to early wickets. You need to pace yourself.

How did the pair do this? In the same way great batsmen have in any age:

• Don't get out. This has to be rule one and something English batters have struggled with. It's  pointless getting to 50 in 74 ball if you don't turn that into 100. Both Bell and Cook managed to accelerate through the 50 overs without failing.

• Don't lose your cool. Batting is about concentration. The pressure to score when time is short makes it tough to focus on playing naturally. A few dot balls and you could hole out going for the big shot that is not on. Cook didn't let a slow and scratchy start get to him though, and played himself in during the powerplays which paid off in the middle overs.

• Run well. If you are struggling to hit boundaries with pace off the ball and a slow outfield then you have to run well. England are exceptional at this in all formats. The players aim for the gaps, put pressure on the fielders, are superb judges of who to take a run to and trust each others judgement.

• Target weaker bowlers. A big score still needs big hits and England looked to score as many as possible from Tendulkar, Yuvraj and Ganguly. These are the bowlers least likely to take wickets so greater risks can be taken. One day cricket is all about calculating risk.

• Manipulate the field. As a batsman you are always looking to keep control of the game. One of the best ways to do this is to manipulate where the opposition captain is putting his fielders. A reverse sweep or two forces a man backward of square on the off side leaving a gap somewhere else. Hitting straight over the top puts mid off out and third man up so you have either an easy single straight or an end-of-innings boundary by flicking it over third man's head. This is why modern coaches also talk about having two shots for every ball.

Admittedly the big hitting innings will always grab the headlines and we are not going to go back to the old ways of building a platform first any time soon. One win in English conditions does not mean England should abandon their search for quick runs upfront. The World Cup showed that clearly. That said, until they can find someone who can play the big shots early on, well paced innings like these will result in more wins in all countries.

David Hinchliffe is a sport degree qualified cricket coach and fitness trainer. He runs a cricket coaching, fitness and tips website at www.harrowdrive.com

The Coach: Why Matt Prior is a good wicketkeeper

by The Googly's new technique and coaching guru David Hinchcliffe, in the first of his weekly Thursday columns.

You might think it's quite a claim to defend Matt Prior after his cymbal-like performance in the final Test against India. On close inspection though, the England gloveman's work is not as bad as it seems.

Before we get into technique, we need to understand everyone had it in for him from the off. Prior is seen as the coach’s choice, not the purist's: he is The Man Who Is Not Chris Read and he is constantly having to prove himself to armchair coaches, with folded arms, telling themselves this would never have happened 30 years ago.

You see, we do love to hate our keepers in England. There is always a rich choice and always, it seems, a sublime keeper verses a batsman who can keep: Russell and Stewart, Read and Jones, Taylor and Knott. As soon as the current man in possession makes an error the calls come out for the other one. What chance did the Sussex man have?

Be that as it may, is he up to the job?

Contrary to popular opinion, his basic technique is sound. Prior creates a solid base with his feet, taken with a wide catching area, and his head, hands and feet in line with the ball. He is mobile and balanced, especially in his hips, allowing him to deal with the late swinging ball well - this is an especially difficult skill. Denesh Ramdin, the West Indian keeper, to use one example, is technically much poorer as his thumbs stay closer together and his head is a long way out of line when taking the ball.

Prior is also athletic behind the stumps and is certainly a loud character, which is vital in modern cricket, whether we like it or not.

He does have a couple of technical weaknesses though. The main one being that he stands rather 'flat footed' instead on the balls of his feet, meaning he relies more on his ability to dive rather than move quickly to the ball. Hence he uses powerful dives rather than nimble footwork, which can backfire with dropped catches and leg side byes, as we so painfully found out. The good news is that this can change with hard work.

Alec Stewart was not much better when he started behind the stumps for England, he wasn't even keeping regularly for Surrey in fact, yet through hard work and mental toughness he learned how to become an excellent player. There is no reason Prior can't emulate this, he is already a better keeper than Stewart was after a handful of games with the gloves on.

All the technique in the world can't mask a lack of talent though. So the question really is, does Prior have the talent to do the job?

I think he does. Modern international keeping needs someone athletic to stand back for longer periods to faster bowlers on flatter pitches. Prior can do this now and with a bit of work can be one of the best at it.

The skills of keeping are less than they used to be, so the argument that a lesser keeper with better batting talent is required is stronger than ever. Does that mean England have to have a poor keeper who can bat? Of course not. While Prior had an average series against India, there is no need to dump him yet.

He's better than you think.

David Hinchliffe is a sport degree qualified cricket coach and fitness expert. He runs a cricket coaching, fitness and tips website at www.harrowdrive.com