Ian Bell and his academy colleagues in Australia know him only as "Crouchy" but there is no doubt that the man employed by Rodney Marsh to knock some sense into England's future stars is making quite an impact Down Under.

Five kilometre runs on sand while still jet-lagged, biathlons, and gym circuits until "you couldn't move any more" are, according to Bell in his BBC Online diary, as nothing compared to the sessions with Crouchy, the former professional boxer.

But never has a cricketer reacted as Bell did to his first week under Marsh at the Australian Cricket Academy.

"The hardest sessions of the week are the boxing lessons," Bell revealed to BBC Online.

"There were a few red faces and shaky legs after the first introduction to his gym."

Andrew Strauss, in his tour diary, simply referred to Crouchy's boxing sessions as "killer".

Cricketing skills

If nothing more, therefore, the first draft of the England academy will come home ready for a change of career.

But Marsh might be on to something here.

Jim McDonnell, the man who famously defeated Barry McGuigan in McGuigan's last fight and who has since gained a reputation as a leading fitness and conditioning coach for boxers, is convinced that this first real taste of boxing can only improve the students as cricketers.

"I've always thought that it should be brought into football, and I don't see why cricket should be any different."

Apart from the obvious - quickening up reflexes and the physical exercise involved - McDonnell believes that boxing is the ideal way to prepare individuals for the psychological demands of a sport.

"If you ask any coach what he wants from most from his players it is aggression - killer instinct we call it in boxing - and mental strength," he says.

"It is here that boxing really stands out. When you're in the ring, in the middle of a training drill, and I'm sure when you're waiting to receive a ball from a bowler, you're on your own.

"There's no one to turn to.

"It is only then that you can judge someone's mental strength.

"I once had to choose between football and boxing as a career and I chose boxing because I knew that when I had won it was down to me.

"It's common in team sports to have collective excuses or to leave the work to your team-mates. In boxing, there is nowhere to hide."

Useful for batsmen

And of course there are the physical demands of boxing which, McDonnell argues, are greater than most other sports.

"I would defy any footballer to do the sort of training that most boxers do," he says.