Short Workshop With Young Cricketers - Imperial Cricket Club

Imperial Cricket Club has had an impressive run in the last three years getting promotions from C division to B division and again from B division to A division. Ravi's teams are made of young, promising cricketers, mostly from modest backgrounds. From what I have heard it's a rare team culture where team comes first and players play as one and manufacture results consistently without the pressure of winning at all costs. Perfect team culture.

I offered to do a small workshop on preparation and mindset for cricketers when he said he was planning to felicitate his players for their good show. He asked if he could get players from other teams as well and we had about 40 cricketers attending. The more the merrier.

I have often heard from young cricketers and students only two words when asked how they plan to play higher grade cricket - hard work. Beyond those two words they have no clarity on what to prepare in, how to prepare etc. Most do not know the parameters for physical fitness, have no idea of their strengths and weakness and how to correct them, no clue on how to train their mind. So sharing a few ideas could help them a bit. After all we have all been there at one time.

To begin with we discussed the values that built their champion team - honesty (playing the best XI with no preference to any player, team goals above individual goals (team spirit or playing as a team),  and certainly, hard work (resilience and hanging in there). We discussed why values are important - as principles we value, they guide our actions and choices. I also told them that though all of them may want to play for India, most may not make it. These values will at least help us become successful human beings. 

Everyone wants success and is seeking the success formula. Success comes to the best prepared. There is no luck as far as I am concerned. Your preparation reflects your preparation so if you are not delivering the results you want (500 runs or 50 wickets in the season) you have not prepared well. The successful formula then becomes Disciplined Effort. To get form point A to B and to show improvement every day, one must put in an organised and disciplined effort. I broke it down in the famous golden circle format - Why, How and What - so they could easily remember how to prepare. 

The Why is the purpose why we are playing - which is to help the team win (which is what gives us most joy and also helps promote our individual careers too). Next we looked at the HOW - Values and Processes. Processes include ways to gain expertise (deliberate practice), what to prepare on (physical (NCA parameters), skill (batting, bowling, fielding, strengths and weaknesses), mental (goal clarity, process orientation, resilience, learning mindset, effort, beliefs, owning their lives with no blame and excuse), what to work for (SMART goals for medium and short term). 

A cute memento 

We discussed how champions train the hardest. One has to work hard. If one is not getting the results one wants, one should look at one's process and figure where there is a shortfall. I also told them that as a selector I look for cricketers who have a good work ethic, who are match winners, team players, possess high skill in their category and bring good values to the team.

 

There were good questions from the cricketers. How to handle pressure, how to handle back to back failures, how to build mental strength and so on. After the session, there was a memento awarding session followed by lunch. Day well spent.