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[ruack]

In his book "Talent is Overrated", Geoff Colvin wrote that if someone practice something deliberately  4 hours a day, 5 days in a week for 10 years, with a little luck, he will be one of the best of the world in that subject.

So after reading that, I and one of my friend decided do train 3 hours a day for 5 years to see if we can make it to 1st class cricket.

One of the things we are planning to work is enhancing our strength. We have decided to exercise 1 hour everyday. Should we spend that much time on exercise? Is that too much?

I will work on my batting and keeping. My buddy will work on his fast bowling. We don't have access to a gym at this time. So what exercise shall we do?

Some help will be nice.

(Sorry for poor English)

[toenails97]

If you don't have access to a gym with dumbbells and machines such as chest press, excersises such as press ups, sit ups, leg raises, squats, jump squats, squat thrusts and mountain climbers could be done to improve upper and lower body strength

[jamferg]

do this every other day. your muscles need chance to repair and recover after a workout. failure to do so will lead to injury and no overall gains.

[rich041187]

You cant get anywhere without a bit of natural ability. Some things simply cant be taught

[Stuey]

I don't fully buy in to that theory, genetics also has a lot to do with it. But I've read some good books on the subject one being Bounce and practise definitely has a big part to play. Its a big commitment 4hours a day for 5 years so all the best at the very least you'll have an answer as to whether the theory works or not.
Regarding strength training this should be a supplement to your cricket training and your age, current physical well being and time available to train are factors to consider. No one on here can answer your question without knowing these factors and more. My advice would be to seek out a qualified strength and conditioning coach and go from there. There are many different programmes depending on your goals, some allow you to train every day (I do) these are moderate programmes and some require waving and rest days. If you can't find a local coach look at the Strongfirst website. Pavel, Dan John etc know more about strength work and the right programmes than you will ever forget. Good luck!

[smilley792]

3 nets a week with no coaching got me from nailed on no11 to 1st team opening bat,

So an extreme version with actual coaching could get you so far.

But how old are you, as I doubt the English county systems will look at anyone that is older than 22/23 and not already in a county set up.

[Seniorplayer]

Yes have to agree
Doubt if you will i get a county side interested in you when you are in your 20s unless you are already within the academy system or become an outstanding talent.
By all means work on your strength enhancement but what you learn from developing your skills is what will be your pathway  to achieving  your goals.

[ruack]

If you don't have access to a gym with dumbbells and machines such as chest press, excersises such as press ups, sit ups, leg raises, squats, jump squats, squat thrusts and mountain climbers could be done to improve upper and lower body strength

Thanks for the suggestion.

do this every other day. your muscles need chance to repair and recover after a workout. failure to do so will lead to injury and no overall gains.

Thanks. I read some article on this subject. Everyone is saying the same thing you said.

I don't fully buy in to that theory, genetics also has a lot to do with it. But I've read some good books on the subject one being Bounce and practise definitely has a big part to play. Its a big commitment 4hours a day for 5 years so all the best at the very least you'll have an answer as to whether the theory works or not.
Regarding strength training this should be a supplement to your cricket training and your age, current physical well being and time available to train are factors to consider. No one on here can answer your question without knowing these factors and more. My advice would be to seek out a qualified strength and conditioning coach and go from there. There are many different programmes depending on your goals, some allow you to train every day (I do) these are moderate programmes and some require waving and rest days. If you can't find a local coach look at the Strongfirst website. Pavel, Dan John etc know more about strength work and the right programmes than you will ever forget. Good luck!

We don't have a qualified strength and conditioning course in our area. Strongfirst looks like a good website. Thanks for the suggestion. Let's see what they answer in their forum. And thnaks for wishing me luck.

3 nets a week with no coaching got me from nailed on no11 to 1st team opening bat,

So an extreme version with actual coaching could get you so far.

But how old are you, as I doubt the English county systems will look at anyone that is older than 22/23 and not already in a county set up.

I am 17 and from Bangladesh. I don't think my age will be problem in here.

Yes have to agree
Doubt if you will i get a county side interested in you when you are in your 20s unless you are already within the academy system or become an outstanding talent.
By all means work on your strength enhancement but what you learn from developing your skills is what will be your pathway  to achieving  your goals.

Thanks for the suggestion. Yes, I will spend majority of my time developing my skill.

[jamielsn15]

Contrary to widespread belief, practice doesn't make perfect.  Purposeful practice helps, but perfect practice makes perfect.  For example, if you're not executing an off drive correctly (not necessarily by the coaching manual, little habits can creep in) or lifting in order to maximise the isolated muscle mass, you can do that for ever but it won't necessarily improve you significantly... 

If you are planning on undertaking this exercise, you have to ensure that all practice is sport-specific, purposeful and 'SMARTER.'  You have to set short, mid and long-term goals - all pros across all sports do.  They need to be (see acronym) - Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Time-Phased, Exciting and Recordable.  IN other words, everything you do needs to evaluated, assessed and progressive, whilst remaining motivational.

I remember my Sports Psychology tutor, who went on to work with the US Olympic kayaking team being adamant that 10,000 hours of practice will make an elite athlete and I have to say he was very persuasive.  I didn't totally agree and I'm not sure I do now (for what its worth!).  I'm not sure that genetics plays a factor solely, but you also need to take into account social factors (upbringing, exposure to sport [who with,  how often, quality of practice, both informal and structured] geographical location), growth spurts, which can be ascribed to genetics, to a point - diet, exercise, birth date, even sleep can be contributory to growth.  I'm not sure how old you are but if you're older than 10, the odds are significantly against you.  That's fact and there's no getting around that.

You should also read 'Bounce' by Matthew Syed - the chater on Kenyan athletes is particularly fascinating...