Belatedly, but finally cricket has embraced the technology era, and all the squads at this year's World Cup will have with them an analyst who will provide both player and coach with all the information he asks for and needs.

Indeed, there will be some teams whose analyst will download their innings or bowling spells on to each player's laptop in their rooms so that they can study them overnight! Naturally, the team that uses the information best will benefit the most.

Information technology is finally adding a new dimension to this great game. Amongst all the learning methods, such as feel and listening, it remains a fact that visual learning has bought a new edge to coaching. The combination of all three has proved a great boon to team managers and players throughout the world. I quote the words of David Leadbetter, the world renowned golf coach who said: "There are two types of coaching -- BV and AV [Before Video and After Video]. They are like chalk and cheese!"

This certainly applies to cricket.

Many moons ago, as the South African coach, after much badgering, we were finally able to embrace computerized video technology in the 1998-1999 season leading up to the 1999 World Cup. We were able to study the West Indies side that we beat 5-0, and New Zealand 1-0, and also beat them in the one-day series 3-2. Much of the credit for those results must go to the analyst who supplied us with information.

Initially there was some reluctance by both players and administrators to accept that computerized technology was going to help. The phrase most commonly used was paralysis by analysis! Because very few people in the early days understood the use of computers for more than writing a letter or sending an e-mail, there was a fear that jobs would be threatened if they did not accept this inevitable change!

Initially very few understood its benefits; nowadays it is part and parcel of the team's preparation. The analyst is part of the team. In 1998, the South Africa analyst was not allowed to stay in the team hotel. Indeed, it led to major frustration within the South African camp during the 1999 World Cup! So the real benefits were not exploited.

The players too were sceptical of this information. Certain players could not face watching themselves fail; however, if they scored runs then they were all over the computer! Facing the reality the camera provides you is not always easy to handle. There were other players who could not wait to see their dismissal and, in many cases, it was another way in which to have a go at the umpires.

Slowly but surely, players and coaches are beginning to understand the best ways in which to use the visual information. The reason is simple: mistakes, faulty technique in both themselves and the opposition, immediately led to quicker remedies. Recognition of this meant that their position in the team demanded that they study and get better.

For the coach, it saved endless hours of wading through videotapes, looking for a clip that would give you a clue. Now one could have the innings of one batsman immediately on screen, then frame by frame analysis made, correction and cure that much quicker.

In the early days, the analyst was stuck in a small room somewhere in the stadium; sometimes the local administration was less than happy that you were taking over space! How times have changed. Now there are two computers in the viewing area and the analyst is part of the team photograph and stays with and travels with the team.

There were two incidents that I remember very clearly, which helped players to start accepting the equipment. We first embraced the system in 1998 against the West Indies at home. We ended up winning 5-0, and the first incident happened when we were playing the West Indies at Port Elizabeth, in a low-scoring game on a difficult pitch.

After the first innings, both sides were fairly even and we had lost early wickets. Jonty Rhodes had been dismissed cheaply in the first innings and I had been studying his dismissal on the computer. I noticed that Jonty's rhythm movements were out of sync, and knowing Jonty, I thought he would like to see this. I immediately got him up to the machine and explained what I had seen. After having a good look he agreed and said: "Right, let's get it right."

So that evening and the next morning Jonty adjusted his timing of the rhythm movements until he was satisfied. It took about two hours' hard work, and when he went into the second innings he promptly scored a great 80 on a tricky pitch to ensure that we had a winning total to defend.

The second example was in New Zealand. Ever since South Africa had returned to the international fold they had struggled to beat New Zealand, especially in New Zealand. We were in the middle of our one-day series and the constant thorn in our side was Chris Harris, who always seemed to come in down the order and score telling runs to take the game away from us.

Even with our excellent bowling line-up we just could not contain him. So I asked our analyst, staying in a different hotel, to leave the machine in our team room overnight and I decided to study Chris Harris. I spent two hours, from about 10.30-12.30, watching, without too much success. So I stopped for a cup of coffee.

I was determined to find a clue or a signal when he was batting that would help us bowl better to him. At about 1.00 am Hansie [Cronje], who couldn't sleep either, came into the team room and asked me what I was watching. So, eventually, we sat together and studied, and then, as one, we suddenly noticed that Chris Harris, just before a big shot, changed his foot movements. His back foot moved slightly away from the stumps as opposed to across.

I had been watching hands, head and shoulders and had forgotten to go back to where the basics usually start -- from the bottom up! There it was; this slight change! The answer was that the bowler, as he was running up, had to watch Harris's feet.

Hansie himself bowled at Chris the next game and suddenly from being a match-winner, Harris got bogged down and eventually, through frustration, got out. The plan worked brilliantly and we were able to continue that into the World Cup when we played against him.

The modern day coach has to embrace technology -- John Buchanan, John Wright and many more have embraced and used it most successfully.

It is, without doubt, a whole new ball game! The modern player too will have to become techno-orientated and, indeed, this is happening already as most academies are training their young players to use computers. Yet, the game will still rely on skill and temperament, and technology is just another example of trying to get the edge!