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Richard Branson's autobiography 'Losing my Virginity' seems a strange point of reference for a Northern League cricket professional.

In it, Britain's most famous millionaire bares his soul about his extraordinary life, from sex and balloons to intrigue and money.

Already a bestseller, it's also the latest addition to Richard Petrie's growing library.

And when the Kiwi gets to chapter 12, he's sure to give it his undivided attention.

Entitled 'Success can take off without warning', it reveals how Branson made it to the top.

And that's something Petrie can relate to following his own astonishing impact at Birch Hall.

When he linked up with Darwen at the start of the season, he found a club in the doldrums.

After seasons of underachievement, confidence at the struggling Northern League club had hit rock-bottom.

Last year, they finished in the lower reaches of the table again, winning only four league games all season.

Success seemed a million miles away.

But the 31-year-old New Zealander called a team meeting on his arrival, outlined his blueprint for the season ahead, and the subsequent turnaround has been nothing short of phenomenal.

Six wins out of six finished league games and already through to the semi-finals of the cup, Birch Hall is buzzing again.

And it's all down to the new wave of thinking Petrie has brought to the club.

``I could spend my year trying to get an average of 50, or maybe even 60 if I was very lucky,'' said Petrie.

``But I'm far better off trying to improve everyone's game by 10 per cent.

``If 10 people improve by 10 per cent then that will make a massive difference to a team. ``And I think the team has already improved by far more than that compared to last year.''

Something of a self-taught sports psychologist, he strongly believes in the mental aspect of the game.

And as a consequence, net sessions have been scrapped and replaced by innovative new training methods.

``I've been going to cricket practice for years and half the time you come away thinking you haven't improved at all - it feels like a waste of an hour and a half.

``So we don't go batting and bowling in the nets. We've only done that once this season and it was a waste of time because people were mucking about.

``Instead, we'll practice match situations out in the middle, like striking a ball between two markers or setting a field where batsmen have to work the ones.''

But it's not just in practice where things have changed either.

After a similar experiment with Wellington back in New Zealand, Petrie has designed a form which players fill in immediately after matches analysing their own performance.

On a sliding scale from 1-10, each man marks himself under a variety of headings, from enthusiasm and desire to achieve, to accuracy and consistency.

Such a rigid scheme could have fallen flat on it's face.

But the Darwen players have welcomed the new approach with open arms and the results can be seen by one glance at the league table. ``People can work out pretty quickly whether stuff is going to be beneficial to them or not, even if you've got to sell them the idea with certain things,'' said Petrie.

``And now they can see the value of it, they've been coming up to me asking if we can do it for the rest of the season.

``By filling in the forms, the players can work out what aspect of their game they're committed to improving before the next game.

``And it's now got to the stage where people are able to diagnose their own problems for themselves.''

Petrie has acquired his knowledge of sports psychology after studying a variety of courses and books over the years.

But he's also adapted a lot of his theories and philosophies from what he has picked up in the world of business.

After completing a degree in marketing, he made a name for himself selling photocopiers for an office equipment supplier.

And his natural gift of the gab won him a top marketing job with the owners of a new multi-purpose sports stadium in the centre of Wellington.

In between times, he's enjoyed a flourishing cricket career of his own.

After starting out with New Zealand's top team, Canterbury, he came over to England as a 19-year-old and played in Sussex.

He moved on to Rotterdam for a couple of seasons and had a year with Paisley in Scotland before returning home to join Wellington.

In 1991, he broke into the New Zealand team for a series against England and Sri Lanka.

And a year later, he made the squad for the 1992 World Cup, until a stress fracture in his back prevented him from making the final 16.

The following couple of years were spent battling back to full fitness.

Those injury problems are now behind him and last season he finished leading wicket-taker in the Shell Cup, New Zealand's one-day competition.

That wasn't enough to earn him an international recall, though, in time for this summer's World Cup.

But he's not bitter about his omission and, in between share-dealing on the American stock-market via the Internet, he's keeping a keen eye on their progress. I think they'll do well. There are no stars in the team but they all work for each other and they seem to have a good balance.''

The Kiwi's could have been knocked out in controversial style last weekend, though, by arch-rivals Australia.

Steve Waugh's men purposely dragged on their run-chase against the West Indies in a bid to damage New Zealand's chances.

But their actions had Petrie's full support.

He found himself in a similar position two years ago when Wellington and Southern Districts met in the penultimate game of the domestic season.

Both sides needed to win to make the final of the Shell Trophy at the end of the year but they were so far behind on over-rates it was practically impossible.

Petrie, however, exploited a loophole in the rules and contrived a situation with opposition skipper Mark Greatbatch which wiped out the deficit. Both sides spent the day bowling at a rate of 30 overs an hour until a target was set which Wellington knocked off.

``There was quite a bit of fuss about it because people said we were making a mockery of the over-rates. But they were stupid anyway.

``Ultimately, your only responsibility is to get your team through and do whatever it takes to win.''

That's a theory the Darwen players have grasped very quickly.