Scoring a hundred in Twenty20 is a rare skill. So how did Ajinkya Rahane -  the latest ton-up hero of the IPL - practice to make sure he could nail three figures in 60 balls in Bangalore?

The truth is that there is no magic to practice for any format.

Surajit Lahiri is the centre piece of this week’s truncated show (due to technical issues). Surajit is a top cricketer from Bengal and in this interview he talks us through how to become a professional cricketer in India.

He covers the structure of the game, what age is best to make it, how to balance work and study and what you need to do to move from tape ball/gully cricket into playing for India.

He also examines the attitudes you need to play cricket for a living; a theme that applies to any aspiring player needing advice.

The show will be back to normal next week, so get in touch with your feedback and questions.

I am often asked if the "English" method of high catching (fingers down) is better than its "Australian" counterpart.

 Using technology to improve your cricket isn’t always about spending a lot of money. Sometimes you can get excellent results without a large investment upfront.

But you have to be careful too. There are many products on the market making big claims. Not all of them are as good as they make out. So here are 5 of my top picks for technology that you can pick up cheaply and make a difference to your game.

 It shouldn’t come as a surprise that cricketers disrespect umpires.

The incident in the IPL where Harbhajan Singh argued with the umpire so hard he forced a review is just another example of the Spirit of Cricket being ignored. Dissent goes back as far as WG Grace (probably further). Cricket is not a gentleman’s game.

But the thing that got me about the Mumbai Indians vs. Deccan Chargers flare up was that Harbajan wasn’t playing the game to his advantage.

This week’s winner of the Cricket Show podcast question competition is Varun. He wins a free coaching course from PitchVision Academy.

"Sir can u pls give me some tips on improvising & scoring more runs of the good length balls? I'm not a very good runner between the wickets so i want to score more runs off them in order to maintain a good average. Also the skill level of the bowlers is also very good ."

Listen to the panel’s answer to his question here.

To enter your own question for the chance to win your choice of online coaching course send your questions in here. 

It seems a Test series can’t be played without a controversy around the Decision Review System (DRS) technology. The system has utilised computer modelling and even military grade heat cameras to help the top level come to the right decision.

And there is a knock on effect to the games played at grass-roots level, even when the highest-tech item on the oval is a cricket bat.

And as far as I’m concerned it’s good for the game.

The IPL is high on people’s minds because it is such a good showcase for learning Twenty20 cricket. That’s why the team look at the impact of the IPL on grass-roots playing and coaching.

On the show Mark Garaway, Burners and David Hinchliffe talk about the science of selection, how to measure fielding performance (if you don’t have access to video feeds and hawkeye data), scoring runs of good length balls and preparing young players for Twenty20.

Kevin Pietersen was banned from playing his switch hit by the umpires in the Test match against Sri Lanka. But it’s still a perfectly legal shot to play for most batters.

The action by Umpire Asad Rauf on day two of the Test came about because Pietersen was adjusting his grip position early and the bowler - Dilshan - was refusing to bowl. It was a stalemate that was both funny and frustrating.

Yorkers will single-handedly win games of cricket in this year’s edition of the IPL. And they will do the same if you coach it well because the yorker is an exciting ball that can be practiced and developed through coaching routines and practices.

Malinga has made himself into one of the most valuable T20 players in the world in the IPL over the last 2 editions.  It’s no shock to learn that he attempts over twice as many yorkers than any other bowler in the IPL. 

Malinga is a diligent trainer and is often seen aiming his yorkers at targets before matches with unerring accuracy. Here’s how your bowling unit can copy his success.