Let the cricket sink naturally and if your sense of smell is right it won't go far before the bream will get it. I may also use a long slender cane pole with neither weight nor float. With a light line as long as the pole you can stay far enough away from the bank not to spook the fish and still have the bait fall off the rocks. I have caught the limit of bream in under two hours more than a few times using this method. On Pickwick the north bank seems to work better at most times.
Fish have no eyelids and their eyes are sensitive to the glare of the sun.
Therefore as they face the rocks along the north bank they will have the sun at their backs. Since they are facing away from you they are less easily spooked. If there is a secret to this type of fishing, it is quiet. A rod bumping the boat or any other noise that causes a vibration in the water turns them off instantly. Shuffling your feet, moving around in the boat, a stringer scraping the side of the boat, any noise at all is too much.