Cricket Matters

Cricket Matters We help cricketers perform better so that they can score more runs, take more wickets and change games. Cricket coaching, performance & injury — connected.

Progress that goes beyond the nets

02/10/2026

Level three: 30 seconds flat out, 30 seconds seated rest, four times. No pacing.

We compare your first sprint to your last. How much you drop off tells us more than how fast you start.

That's the end of a game. Running twos and threes with the match on the line, over after over.

For advanced athletes. Build the engine first.

30/09/2026

Cleared from injury isn't the same as ready to bowl.

After a back injury, the brain stays in protective mode. Its job is to keep you safe, so the body braces and holds back.

That's why every bowler I bring back starts slow. Walk-throughs first, then build. It might take a week or a month, depending on the case.

Get the software (your brain) and the hardware (your body) back in sync before you add pace.

Take your time. Especially with backs.

29/09/2026

Cricket is repeat efforts. Ones, twos and threes, ball after ball, over after over.

Level two: 90 seconds all out, 90 seconds seated rest, then 90 seconds all out again.

Compare the two efforts. If the second is almost the same as the first, you probably held back or can't dig deep enough yet. If it falls off a cliff, the engine underneath isn't supporting the hard work.

Same total, different training.

28/09/2026

On my way to see my friend and mentor Andrew Read (). Something he told me years ago sticks with me every time I write a programme:

'Any old fool can get you hot and sweaty in 10 minutes. Go and sit in a sauna and I'll beat you with a stick.'

Getting tired is easy. The off-season question is what the session is for, why you're doing it, and how it relates to your body.

That's why we test first.

27/09/2026

Two miles on the bike, flat out. One of the first conditioning tests I run with every cricketer.

The conditioning in S&C gets forgotten. It's what carries a fast bowler through a six-over spell and keeps a batter running hard, and thinking clearly, past 30.

Our standards: men under 5:00, women under 5:30, on a Rogue Echo. Other air bikes read differently, so test against yourself.

24/09/2026

Asked twice today which foam roller we use in clinic, so here it is.

The Rollga () - the one we reach for 99.9% of the time. Not affiliated, it's just the best one I've used. A bit more expensive, but worth it.

RumbleRoller () for trigger point work, especially calves. Does the job, not as comfy.

Half foam rollers for rehab and balance work.

If you're only getting one, get the Rollga.

22/09/2026

Try this. Half kneeling, kettlebell upside down, press it overhead.

Sam gets five right. Three left.

Not a strength problem - a control problem. Something in the chain isn't doing its job and the bell tells you instantly.

Before you load heavy overhead pressing this winter, check you own the position. Otherwise you compensate from somewhere else to get it up, and that's where it goes wrong.

Real strength is the whole body working as one.

21/09/2026

Six weeks of hip pain. Two weeks out from pathway trials. He hadn't told his parents.

You could see it in his batting. Everything he'd built over the summer had quietly changed shape, because when something hurts the body finds the fastest way around it.

Pain going quiet doesn't mean it's sorted. It means the body found another way to cope.

Ask them tonight. More than 2-3 weeks, night pain, or one finger on one spot - get it checked.

18/09/2026

Coordination test for junior cricketers — try this tonight. Stand your child in one spot, eyes closed, and ask them to march. Watch what happens. Most fall apart: same arm and same leg together, some end up facing the other way. It tells me a lot about their coordination — and if we teach something as complex as batting or bowling before the basics are there, we'll always struggle. Kids are wobbly. This isn't pass or fail. Tell me what you find.

17/09/2026

Muscle imbalance test for cricketers — try this at home. Kettlebell locked out overhead, one arm, 30 seconds. Then the other arm. Then the same bell held upside down at your ribs, squat down, stand up — both sides. Four goes: right shoulder, left shoulder, right hip, left hip. Work up in weight until the position breaks down — that's your number. 24kg is the goal for men, 12-16kg for women. And you're looking for the side that was harder.

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