Programme 1

Outline

• Darren welcomes viewers to his academy and introduces the test players and the series of programmes with the young players
• He stresses the importance of warming up before taking part in activity
• Darren explains the importance of the grip on the ball and the rhythm during the run up
• He describes the differences in delivering the ball from 3 positions - side-on, midway, and open, and links these to himself, Alan Donald and Courtney Walsh. He warns against mixing the actions to prevent injury
• Darren begins to explore possible changes to improve performance
• The vital role of good fielding is promoted, and Darren notes that England always include drills in their practice sessions
• Darren gives 5 tips for fielding and some exercises for improvement
• Darren introduces Michael Vaughan to demonstrate batting
• Michael starts by going through the complete kit needed to be comfortable and safe
• He gives particular emphasis to finding the right bat for each individual, before explaining about the grip, stance and back swing
• Michael describes the key role of footwork (and thus the skill to read the length early to move forward or backwards as appropriate)
• He explains that he enjoys driving off the front foot and identifies the area between mid-on and mid-off as the target area to hit
• Michael describes the role of the forward defensive and the cover drive
• He identifies the half volley as a rich source of runs and suggests a number of exercises to improve timing and develop a feel for front foot shots
• The lofted drive is shown as an exciting way of clearing the close fielders
• Simon Hughes analyses some play before Darren promotes the use of a cool down.