BOSS Eddie Howe admitted there were some “unusual techniques” on show when he took his squad for a team bonding session over the international break.

In an effort to “inspire” his troops, Howe took the initiative to expose his players to one of his other passions – cricket.

Explaining his thought process, Howe said: “We took the lads for something different, trying to inspire them to enjoy themselves. It was cricket this time, with just players playing.

“It was indoors – we didn’t want the elements ruining the game.”

With Cherries’ squad boasting talent from all over the world, there were a few members of the team that had never even seen a cricket bat before.

When quizzed how the players got on, Howe said: “There were some unusual techniques I’d not seen before, in terms of how you hold a cricket bat or bowl a cricket ball, but it was all good fun.

“Jack Simpson gave himself a very big build-up, and he never delivered on that build-up!

“He’s a good bowler, you can see it with his technique but he kept no-balling – he had problems with his run-up."

Just like with their footballing abilities, Howe avoided ranking his charges’ ability batting or bowling – playing coy when asked for the best and worst.

“Steve Cook did very well, he looked a powerful hitter," Howe said. "I can’t give you the worst one! Of course I can’t – there are some players that haven’t picked up a bat, and you can imagine who they might be.

“He wasn’t there unfortunately (but) I would like to have seen Ryan [Fraser] pick up a bat.

“As I said, there was some unusual techniques, put it that way.”

In his youth Howe was a keen cricketer that flirted with the idea of a career in the sport, but the Cherries legend quickly rubbished claims he could have made it in the pro-cricket world.

“It’s a big statement to say I could have been a professional cricket player. I enjoy cricket and I was reasonably good at it, but when you see how fast that cricket ball is thrown these days, I think I made the right decision not to get involved!”