Welcome to summer sports!

As the rugby season ends and the cricket season gets underway, there will no doubt be a few folk trying to squeeze themselves into last year's whites! If it hasn't happened already, one or two will no doubt have also noticed a stiffness in a few joints and a tightness in a few muscles that didn't seem to be there last year.

I played cricket from quite an early age into my late twenties. A back injury, not from sport, didn't help, and I stopped playing seriously by the time I was thirty. As a left arm, reasonably quick bowler, I knew the ups and downs of hamstring and lower back problems. Shoulders were never an issue, but had I known then what I now know about gait, body mechanics and muscle balance, I think I could have sorted out a number of issues before they got too bad.

If you want to stay loose, get good rotation through the shoulder and back, then don't ignore the value of sports massage and soft tissue work. If you're collapsing through your bowling action, it might be because of a soft tissue issue that can be addressed through massage.

Bowler, batsman, fielder and wicketkeeper all need to stretch too. A few good dynamic stretches before you take to the field can make all the difference.