|
|
|
|
Cricket up Close *** Test cricket at its best *** - 24/01/07 |
|
|
|
Jul 18, 2007 at 08:59 AM |
What a fantastic test match it was between SA and Pakistan. It was played on a outstanding wicket where fast bowlers, spinners and batsmen all had a fair chance to prove their worth. And it was the high quality players in each team who made the most significant contributions.
The return of the unpredictable Shaoib Akthar was the killer blow as we were found wanting early on the first day. What a superb bowler he is. He came into this test match with very little game time, but he stamped his dominance over the batsmen with some clever bowling rather than sheer pace. He still, without doubt , has one of the most lethal bouncers in world cricket and I have been privileged to experience that close up!
There was no problem with batting first and the wicket bounced beautifully, something both sides were probably not familiar with this summer. I was disappointed with our batting performance. Too many players were not prepared to "set the base" in their innings's and were hoping for an easy road to scoring runs. As we are only too "aware", there is no such thing as easy runs when you are playing against a quality bowling attack.
Pakistan in Younis Khan, Mohammed Yousuf and Inzaman ul Haq have 3 test match batsmen of high quality with proven track records. They bat in the middle order and to get past all of them without any damage is unlikely. Without them their batting looks rather frail and it still amazes me that batsmen arrive in SA and still think they can be successful without getting" in line". It would be like SA batsmen going to the slow wickets of sub continent and thinking they can score runs by hitting the spinners down the ground.
Inzaman's 91 in the first inning's was one of the smartest test match knocks I have seen and he basically took the game away from us. The way he took control of the bowling and made sure Mohammed Asif faced very few balls was masterful. He is a class act and while other batsmen were struggling with the bounce, he played it with ease.
Again our second inning's batting performance was scratchy, especially with the news that Shaoib was injured. In excess of 400 runs was needed and on a wicket still playing beautifully, we stumbled along at 2 runs an over with no one in the top six, apart from Jacques, really looking comfortable. There is a real concern with our batting at present, Only two hundred's have been scored this summer, both by Ashwell Prince and I get the sense that four of our top six are either fighting form or their positions.
A rather disturbing statistic is that three of our top six batsmen have not scored a hundred in over 30 inning's. That alone tells a story of why we have been struggling in the batting department. These are all players with a lot of potential and have succeeded at this level already. Then why the inconsistency? Is it technical faults, lack of full proof game plans, awareness of match situations or lack of mental awareness? My suggestion is that it could be a combination of all of them, but where are the roots of the inconsistency? I think Paddy at Short leg might be able to shed some light on this issue.....
Thanks Gaz, it probably is a mixture of reasons. I think some of the players have felt they have been 'playing for their place' which often get's them focussed too much on the result of their innings, rather than the by-ball-ball process of building an innings.
When the bowler is running into bowl, the batsman needs to be completely in the moment and doing little other than watching the ball. Having a solid game plan and trusting his preparation and ability helps heaps with this. When he is thinking about anything beyond that moment, he cannnot find the zone.
Also Gaz, you are aware of my theory that second to golf, cricket is the game that most mimicks life. I believe a players personality off-the-field will play out on-the-field. In fact, I remember you being quoted as saying that when the pressure is on in test cricket, it's not your technique that is tested, but your character. I wonder if we looked closer at how some of these players are showing up off-the-field, if we will find some clues to the inconsistency you highlight?
Dale you might be able to provide an example in the business world in helping us understand what causes inconsistency in performance.
One commonly overlooked aspect and one which may relate to the our current top batsman, is that being up and coming is very different to being an incumbent. So in business the picture changes for the entrepreneur who has built a business based on his dream and now faces the reality of continuing performance. Success now is achieved through operationalising, reducing risk and managing rather than sheer grit effort, determination and lots of risk taking.
I wonder how different it must be for the batsman who has achieved success, fought and secured a place in the national side, being rewarded with all the recognition that comes with that and now needs to consistently perform?
For the entrepreneur, she will need to motivate herself differently once the business has achieved initial success. Many fail at this point and there are many stories of the entrepreneurs who stay around too long and end up ruining their own business. The successful ones know that they have to change their strategy which means changing themselves and how they operate or bringing in people who can do that for them.
So the question really is, what changes for these batsman and how does their strategy need to evolve to ensure continued performance once they have established themselves successfully at this level?
At this point I'd hand back to Gary and say, "how did you motivate yourself for ongoing success once you had secured your place in the national side?"
Gary: Dale for me the trick was how to achieve consistency and continued performance? There was something really repetitive about my process. I continued to build awareness of what I was experiencing and I asked, "what is the lesson? How can I build this into my game strategy."
In addition preperation was everything. I wanted to cover every aspect of what might happen before I went out to bat so as to give myself the best opportunity for success. It sounds very disciplined and it was. The discipline really worked for me, keeping me sharp and on top of my game.
Moving back to the last SA game...
I was impressed with the way Mohammemd Asif and Danish Kaneria took on the responsibility of getting the 10 second innings wickets. Asif was particularly impressive, he bowled straight and pitched the ball up and he made the batsmen play at a lot of deliveries. He certainly looks like another Glenn Mcgrath in the making.
So, our boys are under a little pressure, but we have proved many times we can come through these situations and I have no doubt that the likes of Shaun, Makhaya, Graeme, Ashwell, Mark and Jacques will stick their hand up and make an impact in the game. Why do I say that.... because they know how to and they have done it before.
On to Australia...
Moving away from our shores and heading down to Australia, we see the Aussies well below par, especially in their batting , but still winning games. This is the mark of a quality side. They have a number of "proven" match winners in their team who can turn it around if necessary. Why are they able to do this? Because many of those players have been in that situation before and they are aware of what they need to do to win games from that position. They also play with no fear and are prepared to play aggressive because they know they are not fighting for a place in the team.. It looks like one way traffic down under although I do think the New Zealanders will get to the final and, on their day, certainly have as much chance as any other to upset the Aussies.
How weird is it to see the Indians scoring 300 + again. They did not look like getting anywhere close to that when up against the South Africans. Could it be a fear thing, they seem to perform really well on flat wickets... What are your thoughts Pad?
Paddy: It would be guess-work Gazza, but what we do know is that most if not all temporary errors that creep into batsmens techniques is a result of something going wrong in the 6-inches between their ears. The Indian batsmen, with the exception of Dravid and Tendulkar, were pretty much found wanting when it came to getting into line and remaining compact in their technique - which is often a sign of fear.
Sharing with the readers your and my findings in working with the majority of the top cricketers in SA - whilst fear plays both a negative and positive role in all of their games, it is never acknowledged, thus it continues to undo them... even though this is avoidable. Gazza, you personally experienced and have recently been outspoken about the fear you carried for 15 years of your professional career - your fear of not looking good against the short ball.
Gary: You're right Pad. In fact strangely enough, it was that fear that got me to move out of my game plan and to attempt to hook Shoib Aktar - all I managed though was to have my cheekbone re-arranged! It was in my second last season of my career that I acknowldged my fear and learned to manage it, rather than it manage me... and I went on to have my most successful season as a result. I'm sure we'll share more in future newsletters about our thoughts on fear and ego, the fear of acknowledging fear, and how this is an obstacle to really succeeding.
Until next time
Gary
|
|
|
|
|
Who's Bowling? |
|
We have 8 guests online |
|
Back in the day.. |
Over to you, Aggers April 4 1960: A player-turned-commentator is born....More |
|
|
"Chirps" |
"He is essentially a bowling machine. He has had success by operating mechanically."
Vic Marks explains the workings of Monty Panesar, in the Guardian
More...... |
|
|
|
