THE past fortnight has seen indifferent climatic conditions ranging from the good to the terrible.

This has somewhat mirrored the Gloucestershire fortunes at the Cheltenham Cricket Festival which saw only one win from five games..

This starkly highlights one of the many idiosyncrasies of cricket where a string of successes can be swiftly followed by a string of failures.

This is true to both the team and the individual.

For example, take Mitchell Johnson. Before the start of this Ashes Tour he was talked of as being one of the best fast bowlers in the world and the potential destroyer of English hopes of regaining the urn.

To date, he has posed greater threat to the safety of second and third slip who must be deciding whether or not to don a pair of keeping gloves!

What explanation exists for this turn in form for Gloucestershire over what has traditionally been a very enjoyable week of cricket for the players themselves?

Certainly the weather has played its part, and produced bowler-friendly pitches which combined with overhead climatic conditions have made batting difficult.

I heard mutterings that the Gloucestershire batsman were unable to play against the swinging ball as effectively as the opposition, which judging by the amount of LBWs in the final game against Durham is proof enough for this summation.

This however would suggest that the Gloucestershire batsman are only able to bat on flat decks when the sun is shining, which as professionals is doing them a disservice.

If one looks at some of the most successful bowlers in county cricket over more recent times they have been bowlers that are able to consistently achieve a degree of movement in the air, for example Gloucestershire’s own Mike Smith and Marin Bicknell of Surrey.

In Jon Lewis, Gloucestershire possesses one of the finest swing bowlers in the country who must surely have offered advice to any batsman unsure of his technique against a swinging ball.

That is assuming communication channels are open and flowing.

In an age when professionalism in sport has never been higher it is surely up to the individual to ensure that his own game is at a premium and deficiencies minimised.

If this deficiency is facing the swinging ball then the six months off season can be spent working on that very skill.

It is not acceptable to uncover such a weakness halfway through a season. The coach can act as a guiding hand but the end result rests squarely at the foot of the players who must take responsibility of their own performance.