As we know cricket is a very challenging game!  Every time we step onto the field our strategy, skills, thinking, fitness and technique are tested.  Additionally, (and if this was not enough), we also face a lot of uncertain and at times rapidly changing elements that influence our performances such as the weather, ground and pitch conditions, umpires and opponents.

It is very easy to become distracted during a performance, as there are lots of things to focus on both from the past e.g. your last match or the previous ball and future events such as how many wickets you will take or how many runs you will score or is a selector watching you!  Focusing on events that are over or haven’t happened do not help you deal with the most important thing in the game, the next ball!

One of the most stressful things you can do during a performance is try to control something that you cannot change and this is because no matter how badly you want it you can’t do anything about it.

There are no guarantees in cricket and this is partly due to the high level of uncertainty we face within a game.  For example you can be the best prepared you have ever been for a match and the umpire gives you out first ball when you didn’t hit it!  Regardless of the quality of the decision and although it is frustrating, you have very little control over the outcome, you cannot control the umpire as much as we would like to in this case!

So what can we do as players to manage the uncertainty we face?

• Recognise and accept the elements of your performance you cannot influence
• Control the controllable elements of your performance that do influence the quality of your performance.

The great challenge we face in playing cricket is the main reason we enjoy it - let’s face it - it’s pretty satisfying to master your opponents and conditions to score a century or take a big bag of wickets.

The most important thing you ever have to deal with in cricket is the next ball and you will need to focus all your effort on doing the very best you can when it arrives and to do so you can’t really afford to be distracted by events that have already passed or events that haven’t happened!

All can really do on game day (after you have done all the preparation) is to understand what are the key elements of your performance that you can influence and let the unimportant things pass.  In other words control the controllables.

Good luck

Mark