Pakistan warmed up for the World Cup by having a practice match between themselves. It's quite a change from the normal nets, nets and more nets.

Why did they do this?

As David Gower says in his autobiography, there is a world of difference between having a net without any of the pressure of a game and actually being out in the middle.

What muscles do you need to train to be able to bat more powerfully and with better timing?

I always thought I knew the answer to that question and could reel off a list of muscle groups involved in every shot. But now I'm happy to admit that I was wrong.

Hitting a ball with a cricket bat is not about what muscles you use and the strength of each individual muscle. It's about generating power through correct coordination and timing.

As you can imagine, I get contacted a lot by cricketers asking all kinds of questions about their game.

I love it, so don't stop but it got me to wondering about some of the bigger questions we often forget to ask ourselves as players.

I think the number one question any player can ask is only 4 words but it can reveal so much:

Recently I was lucky enough to speak to Michael Boyle, one of the foremost experts sport strength and conditioning in America.

Michael was kind enough to give me a series of tips for cricketers at any level who want to improve their game by being stronger, faster and more powerful.

1. Train for speed and power. Cricket is a sport built on fast, powerful movements. Michael was quick to point out that this is what you need to train: "Long runs won't help with cricket. Neither will the light weights and lots of reps crap. Train like a speed and power athlete."

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I'm increasingly becoming a fan of core training. Not as some odd gimmick for gyms to use their Swiss balls, but as a way of teaching yourself to generate more speed and power for cricket.

That means doing core (or trunk or pillar) training in the right way: A way that allows you to transfer power from the "toes to the fingertips".

It's a way that we as cricketers can learn from the world of baseball.

• Following my North Gear 2020 League comments, a few other cricket bloggers have joined the conversation.
• Vern Gambetta on mini bands, cricket and muscle activation.
• A great exercise for balance and single leg strength: The Pistol
• How to sledge by Paul Nixon.
• An interesting warm up plan
• A comparison of warm up techniques on sprint speed (pdf file). you can see from this how important getting the warm up right is on sport performance.

This is the final part the "Principles of Cricket Fitness" series. To go to Part 1 click here.

The world of fitness is ever changing as new research, techniques and fads come to light. Some ideas work brilliantly for cricket and some are a waste of time.

That's why it's important to focus on the constants that have been proven over the years with real cricketers.

This is the 4th in the "Principles of Cricket Fitness" series. To go to Part 1 click here.

One of the most frustrating things about fitness training is as soon as you stop your improvements start to fade. Unlike getting back on a bike, your muscles and lungs do forget.

That's the third training principle: All fitness improvements reverse when training stops.

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