Despite the fact that most of our cricket grounds are sporting football posts, there’s still plenty of cricket to be had.

It is great to have Test cricket back on the agenda after a long break and despite the big hitting of Twenty20 cricket, Test cricket still can’t be beaten for entertainment for me due to it’s ebbs and flows and the genuine contest of skill and temperament between batsmen and bowler.

Australia’s earned a hard fought win against a resurgent West Indies to go one up in the series.  It was great to see a close contest played out over the full five days and from a coaching point I think it is worth taking a close look at two of Australia’s key performers in the Test.

Ricky Ponting bounced back to form after a forgettable series in Australia against India and in the IPL tournament, with a brilliant century.  Significantly his performance was built on a lot of hard work, prior to the tour, in the nets at the Brisbane based Centre of Excellence using a giant video screen to analyse and then fine tune his game for peak performance.

Stuart Clark’s Man of the Match performance was engineered with meticulous preparation and his relentless ability to execute the basic skills of his game under pressure. Champion players, such as Clark, have the ability to execute the basic skills consistently and well and there is no better role model for a fast bowler than Clark in terms of relentless excellence in delivering line and length and although perhaps not spectacular, the pressure brought about through his level of skills enables him to dismiss the world’s top batsmen time and time again.

Importantly in addition to his wonderful command of line and length, prior to the Test, Clark made a point of studying video tape of Glenn McGrath’s previous outstanding performances in tours to the West Indies which underscores the value of preparation and shows no matter how good you are you can always keep learning.

The IPL is reaching the final stages of competition and has well and truly put Twenty20 cricket on the map.  How Twenty20 will change cricket is yet to be seen, but it is clearly an exciting form of the game and is certainly here to stay! For those players who’d like to have some fun playing this exciting form of the game, Elite Cricket will be holding a Twenty20 tournament in January 2009 – details and entry forms will be posted on the website in the coming months.

Elite Cricket has our annual pre-season Specialist Fast and Spin Bowling and Wicketkeeping Academy programs running in July, August and September. I will be running the Wicketkeeping Academy and I’m very pleased to let you know former NSW spinner and current NSW coach David Freedman will be one of our spin coaches and Mark Cameron NSW Blues speedster will be coaching in our Fast Bowling program.  The event and enrolment details for these programs will be posted on the website shortly.

The cricket season will roll around quickly and keen cricketers should soon be thinking about and planning their preparation for the season ahead. With this in mind I have posted a new series of articles on the website to help you think a little more about your cricket and would suggest you take some time to read them leading up to the season.

Cheers

Mark

Sydney Tigers Academy Squad 2008-9

Sydney Tiger Academy players hard at work

On Sunday May 18th, 36 young players swapped their football boots for cricket spikes and began training for the cricket season.

The boys were part of the inaugural Sydney Cricket Club’s Tiger Academy. The Sydney Cricket Club is a newly formed venture between the former UTS - Balmain Tigers and the Sydney Cricket Ground Trust.

Aged between 12 and 15, the players have been identified by their various local clubs as talented cricketers and over the winter will focus on forming correct techniques, developing tactical awareness, injury prevention and general preparation for competition.

The Academy, run by Mark Atkinson’s Elite Cricket Coaching for the Sydney Cricket Club, is designed to provide a complete pathway for the development, coaching and mentoring of talented young cricketers who will eventually see the Sydney Cricket Club as their home as they mature into Grade cricketers.

Daryl Chappelow, General Manager of the Sydney Cricket Club said to the players and parents yesterday, “The Club is committed to maintaining its position in the forefront of the Sydney Grade cricket scene and to do this we will be offering a training and coaching regime which will provide first class coaching at all levels – this Junior Tiger Academy is one example of our commitment”

It’s also offers a great opportunity for the boys to train and play with cricketers of similar talent and be exposed to coaches who offer expertise in areas of batting, pace and spin bowling and wicket keeping.

Further details

Daryl Chappelow
Sydney Cricket Club
dchappelow@scgt.nsw.gov.au
www.sydneycricketclub.com.au

The most difficult part of an innings is arguably the first forty minutes, if you have got this far (40 minutes) you have probably become used to the conditions and the bowlers to a degree and progress from this stage is more about continuing to apply the skills that have got you to where you are. That is after the first 40 minutes you are more likely to get yourself out by a mistake than by having the bowlers knock you over!

In contrast the first 40 minutes of an innings is more about dealing with uncertainty in terms of factors such as the bowlers, the pitch, your nerves and the game situation. It is fair to say that this is a fairly anxious, stressful and difficult time that requires a lot of skill to survive and thrive. The positive in this situation is that it presents a great challenge that will give you a lot of satisfaction and if you can be successful it will also set you up to make a big score. Below I have detailed a few thoughts for your consideration on starting your innings.

Keep it simple, have a simple plan, my plan is defend on the stumps, leave the width until I want to hit it (when I’m ready). When I execute this plan I remove caught behind, lbw and bowled (the most likely ways any batsman can get out), which pressures the bowler to try other deliveries that create run scoring opportunities for me.

Bowlers will have their tails up when they have just taken a wicket and you have just come in, keep your expectation low at the start of an inning, play straight, leave width and relax is my thought process at this stage. There will be plenty of time for stroke play later when the bowlers are more tired and you are better set.

Play straight, this means to me if the ball is on the line of the stumps hit it back down the pitch where it came from, it is difficult to get out playing straight.

Get balanced, the most difficult time to pick the ball up is when you first come in, give yourself your best chance by being as stable/balanced as possible at all times.

Relax and enjoy the challenge, deep breathing helps me to get calm and even though its stressful I find enjoyment in the challenge, nothing worthwhile (including making runs) comes easy, you will have to work and fight for every run and also if you enjoy something you will do it well.   

Good luck

Mark

I heard an expression that made me think recently, it was ‘95% of people turn up’.  I think that the application of this expression to cricket is that in most cases 100% of people turn up to a game, but how many of the 24 people at the game turn up to do what it takes to win or to play the best game of their lives or to take responsibility for their team winning the match.
 
I believe that great performances don’t just happen, they are a result of making the effort to plan carefully and having the courage to make a disciplined effort to execute the plan with precision.  People don’t play for Australia or achieve any great success by accident it is the result planning and effort.
 
I think the easy thing to do is just turn up to a match and go with the flow of the game taking the attitude that if your team and team-mates have a good day you can cruise along with them. It’s easy not to think!  (95% of people turn up!)
 
The tough but rewarding thing to do is to make the effort to take the responsibility for being the very best you can be.  This path does not guarantee you success, however it does give you the chance to be the best you can be and if you never aim to do something, how can you achieve it other than by luck and let’s face it you could be waiting around a long time for a lucky break!
 
To be the best you can be means you need the courage to take the risk to commit fully to carrying out your game plan and accepting the consequences no matter the result.  You need the courage to test yourself and see how good you can be and this means taking the risk to fail.  However, failure is not a bad thing in fact I see it as an opportunity and if you can be honest with yourself every performance is an opportunity to learn weather you succeed of fail.  For example if you failed under a certain set of conditions or against a certain bowler what did other people do that worked in these circumstances that you can learn from or how can you do it better next time. 
 
When you turn up to your next game, will you be prepared to be the best you can be? Are you prepared to play the best game of your life or better your personal best performances?  If the answer to any of these questions is YES, then have you got the plan, discipline and courage to make the effort that it requires?
 
Good luck
 
Mark

I suppose the best place to start is what are the benefits. Well I reckon the main benefits of staying in are as follows. The longer you bat; The more bad balls you receive. Say on average you receive 1 bad ball for every 10 your face. If you bat for 10 balls you get 1 bad ball but if you can bat for 100 balls you get 10 bad balls. Assuming that you hit all the bad balls you face for 4, if you face 100 balls you’ll have 40 runs and if you bat 10 you’ll have 4!

The more tired the bowlers will become, which will accelerate the rate at which you receive opportunities to score. As bowlers tire their techniques can deteriorate which is likely to more opportunities for you. The more comfortable and confident with the conditions and the bowlers you become. You can’t beat time in the middle and you can’t score runs from the pavilion. When you are well set at the crease is the time to cash in and make a big score. The more fun you have. The next question is how do you make sure you bat for as long as possible, well I believe the answer is to minimise your risk.

What are the best ways to this, Have a plan that is realistic, that you can achieve and stick to it. My plan is defend balls on the stumps and leave the wide balls until I want to score from them. For example if I don’t want to score off a ball that I know is wide of the stumps, I don’t take the risk of hitting or nicking it for a reward of no runs!

Technically, stay balanced, play as straight as possible and restrict your swing in defence and full swing in attack. Be patient and wait for your opportunities instead of trying to force them, remember the longer you bat the more opportunities you will get.

Relax and enjoy the challenge, if scoring runs was easy you’d do it all the time!

Good luck

Mark

Cricket can be a very tough game at times and consistent success doesn’t come easy.

One thing for sure is that all players no matter their skill, experience or level struggle for form at some stage of their careers. When this occurs it is very easy to make excuses and feel sorry for yourself, however the tougher and more worthwhile road is to accept the great challenge that cricket presents and tackle it head on.

A key element in succeeding in the face of the challenge that struggling for form presents is to remember to enjoy the challenge.

After all when you enjoy something you do it well, so feeling upset, uptight or thinking that the game of cricket has got it in for you won’t work! When we play well we enjoy it and when we don’t play well we tend not to enjoy it, after all not performing isn’t much fun.

However while form may be temporary class is permanent and as such it is very important to continue to enjoy the game despite a personal lack of success in the short run. If you let a lack of short-term success destroy your enjoyment of the game you simply won’t play well.

Key tips for enjoying the challenge.

• Remember what you love about playing the game
• Think back and remember how you play best and how good it feels when you play well
• Enjoy the challenge of getting back to form and when you overcome it this time it will help you to do it better when it occurs again
• Realise everybody misses out from time to time and this is a natural part of the game
• Enjoy your teammates success and keep contributing to the team effort

Good luck

Mark

Getting nervous is a positive sign.  It is your body’s way of telling you that you are ready for action and that you want to do well in a situation.  Nerves seem to affect people in different ways, sometimes they make you feel sleepy, sometimes they make you quiet, sometimes talkative and I’m sure the’re many more reactions than these! 
 
One thing that is for sure is that everybody gets nervous! Which means you are not alone, even though nerves can sometimes be a bit daunting before you perform but even the guys who look very calm and relaxed are probably just as nervous about their performance as you, maybe more!  In fact I would say the time to worry before a game is when you don’t get nervous!
 
As I said before, getting nervous is your body’s way of preparing you for a performance and means that you want to do well. The other side of wanting to do well is fearing failure.

Good luck.

Mark

‘In all things, success depends upon previous preparation, and without such preparation there is sure to be failure’ - Confucius

An expression you often hear around cricket is ‘back yourself’.

What does it mean to back yourself?

Some of the things it means to me are:

• Trust yourself to perform
• Be confident in your own ability

In order to trust yourself and be confident about your performance you need to be prepared, for example if you lived in France and studied French for ten years you would probably face a basic exam on how to speak French very confidently - in fact you might even enjoy the opportunity to apply your skills!

However, if you know nothing about the language, have never studied it, but still need to pass the exam you wouldn’t enjoy or face the exam with any confidence, in fact you’d probably expect to fail…and you’d be right!

Confidence comes from knowing that you have done everything you can to be the best you can be in terms of your planning, physical preparation and mental and technical skills.

Backing yourself to succeed goes hand-in-hand with confidence and as we see with the French exam example above, your confidence is related to the quality of your preparation. The trick is to know what to do in the situation before you get there, this is where your planning and practice comes in and is where you pay the price for your success with hard work and as Justin Langer says he’s never met a successful person who hasn’t worked hard!

Playing against a high quality opponent is as much about knowing what to do as doing it! Excellent players will test your technique and temperament. If you have done the work in preparation you will have a solution (that works) for the challenges you are facing and will have practiced your skills to the point where you can execute them in a match. You can confidently face the competitive challenges and enjoy them, however if you don’t have the answer and haven’t done the work, you will be unlikely to play with confidence and more likely to fail!

If you plan and prepare to the best of your ability and commit to the discipline of the hard work required to achieve excellence in your game, then you will earn the confidence you will need to succeed and can back yourself when the going gets tough.

Good Luck.

Mark

An expression that I often use in the batting coaching context is ‘don’t make a good ball into a bad one’. Boony rarely, more so than any player I have played with, attempted to hit a good ball for runs. If you bowled him a good ball, he would respect it with a fortress like defensive stroke. However, if you bowled to Boony in one of his key scoring areas, cut, drive and off his legs, he would pick off runs with machine like efficiency. This was part of the skill set that allowed him to play 106 tests in Australia’s top order against teams including the then formidable West Indies.

Boony’s greatness as a batsman was not brilliant strokeplay or rapid scoring (not that he didn’t play great shots or score at a good pace), his key strength was an understanding of what he needed to do to make runs against the world’s top bowlers and the discipline and courage to execute it.

Boony had a simple plan (defend the good ball and score off other opportunities) that allowed him to succeed and he was able to consistently execute it.

Keep it simple!

Good luck.

Mark

Like it or not, negative thoughts are a part of the game, everyone has them!

No one will hand you 5 wickets or 100 runs on a plate. It is natural to have negative thoughts from time to time and you will need to learn to deal with these to overcome the adversity you face from external challenges, such as competitors and conditions, and from internal challenges i.e. your own thoughts.

A critical mental skill is to be able to turn your negative thoughts into positive thoughts.

Negative thoughts aren’t all bad as they help to make us aware of the things that can go wrong in a performance and tell us that our performance is important to us, making us aware of the consequences of failure. However, in order to be the best you can be, you will need to manage your thinking.  If negative thoughts take control of you they can become overwhelming and lead to you being defeated before you even get into the contest!

An important thing to realise is that you control your thinking and that your thinking does not control you! You need to take responsibility for your thinking including managing and controlling your negative thoughts.

By turning a negative thought around into a positive one you can turn an obstacle into an opportunity. Ask yourself ‘What is the opportunity here?’ For example, if you are concerned that you will perform poorly due to a recent run of poor form, instead of being resigned to another failure, look for an opportunity.  A batsman faced with a wicket where the ball bounces and moves, assisting the fast bowlers may be worried about nicking the ball.  An opportunity here would be to use the bounce and movement the wicket offers the bowlers to leave the ball alone and frustrate the bowlers into bowling to you in your scoring areas.  A bowler may be worried that he won’t get a wicket because the pitch is very flat and offering no bounce or movement.  This is an opportunity to bowl the best line and length of your life and to see how well you go in tough conditions.

Next time you get a negative thought, will you let it control and eventually erode your performance or will you take control and seize the opportunity it presents?

Cheers.

Mark