Cricket

[Lanolin]

In general I think we over coach kids/players. If you are trying to bat with 100 things in your head, you've got no chance. Players are most confident when they get into a groove, and keep it simple. I'm not in favour of not coaching, but it should start for me with how you can score runs, not how you avoid getting out.

It's like the old golfing adage, if you look at the water off the tea, where's the ball going?

I think there's a lot to be said for letting naturally gifted players keep doing as many of the things that have made them such a talent as possible. I'm not a fan of modifying successful bowling actions to make them look better, or trying to make batsmen who score runs playing across the line stop doing it. As with anything, it's about moderation I think. Without sounding like a motivational poster on an office wall, one of the things I always tried to do as a coach was to improve the mental part of the game. If you're a batsman with the shots in your armoury to score runs, then identifying the right situations to use those shots would be my focus, not working too much on the technical aspects of it. I think there is very much a tendency to overwork the latter, and 'coach things out' of players rather than just improving the way they think about the game.

 

[catcherintherye]

I think there's a lot to be said for letting naturally gifted players keep doing as many of the things that have made them such a talent as possible. I'm not a fan of modifying successful bowling actions to make them look better, or trying to make batsmen who score runs playing across the line stop doing it. As with anything, it's about moderation I think. Without sounding like a motivational poster on an office wall, one of the things I always tried to do as a coach was to improve the mental part of the game. If you're a batsman with the shots in your armoury to score runs, then identifying the right situations to use those shots would be my focus, not working too much on the technical aspects of it. I think there is very much a tendency to overwork the latter, and 'coach things out' of players rather than just improving the way they think about the game.

Yes all very good points.

I don't know if you have seen a sequence with Kevin Peitersen where he talks about this? It's a couple of years old. He basically states, the most important thing to do, is get your head going towards the ball (which also is about that positive mental outlook you have outlined above) and then the rest follows. Your feet follow, your hands follow, your bat follow, your weight follows. But essentially trying to change feet position etc, over just trying to get your head towards the ball is just going to lead tounnatural motions.

Most of his practice was based around doing this, and when he hit the ball, placing cones for fielders and missing them. I think there's a lot re coaching to be done, if a batsman is not really confident in getting bat to ball. So suggestions can be made, but as you say I see half the stuff on TV and from the Boycotts on radio and I just think you're going to coach the natural aptitude out of them by giving them a confused mind.

When I bat, and I've improved my batting it's really been just trying to pretend its a net. Clearing my mind, watch the ball and pretend it's a net. I'm sure it wouldn't work for everyone. I know where I can and can't score, I try to be relaxed, watch the ball and hit it. If you're relaxed, positive and have realistic goals (not trying to reverse sweep it for 6 or whatever) you'll be amaed how much better positions you get in anywhere as a result.

 

[Chris O'Connor]

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I worry about Pope a bit, as it seems a shot of a guy who's overthinking the game, rather than just trying to score runs. The game is simple really, try and hit the ball for runs, as often and as many as you can. You will eventually get out, so try to get as many as you can before that. We seem to obsess over the not getting out thing, which I do think runs counter intuitively to what top batsman will do.

He's playing back to balls he has to go forward to. He could be proactive and use his feet a lot more to the spinner, forcing him to alter lengths and trajectories. Staying on the crease he's misjudging length and the ball rushes onto him.

 

[BigMick]

He's playing back to balls he has to go forward to. He could be proactive and use his feet a lot more to the spinner, forcing him to alter lengths and trajectories. Staying on the crease he's misjudging length and the ball rushes onto him.

There's no doubt that Yassir has found a chink in Pope'd defence, but that's the challenge of test cricket. There aren't too many world class leg spinners around but he needs to learn his lesson before he meets the next one.

 

[JimmyJeffers]

Always nice to see a player get a maiden 100

 

[BigMick]

Lancs without 8 players for tomorrow's Roses match. Luke Wood out with the hamstring strain he picked up on the first day of the Notts game, Livingstone and Mahmood off to join up with England. Gleeson, Onions and Parkinson all still out. Young quickie George Burrows has been added to the squad, with Danny Lamb and Ed Moulton recalled.

 

[summerisle]

Lancs without 8 players for tomorrow's Roses match. Luke Wood out with the hamstring strain he picked up on the first day of the Notts game, Livingstone and Mahmood off to join up with England. Gleeson, Onions and Parkinson all still out. Young quickie George Burrows has been added to the squad, with Danny Lamb and Ed Moulton recalled.

*prays for rain.

 

[Mildredblues]

Grand stuff from Buttler. Watching him is giving me as much pleasure as I used to get watching KP. Maybe Stokes as well.

 

[Handball]

It's been excellent fayre this afternoon, a really good partnership, quick scoring after bedding in.
a 50 for Buttler, good knock that.

 

[Eggs]

....for all the oldies, Zak Crawley is no relation to former Lancashire & England cricketer, John Crawley.

 

[PITA]

I like the fact that whenever the bitches on here start crying about England they respond very well.

 

[ToffeeTim]

This is one heck of a knock

 

[PITA]

Crawley will also be found out soon enough. He only has an FC average of 30. Not good enough for test cricket.

Good call.

 

[Blue Shoes]

Yeah, try not to drop crawley again England, abysmal decision to drop him for a few tests imo.

 

[Mildredblues]

Good call.

If you continue following that line of discussion, you'll see that my opinion of his inadequate FC average changes. Another poster offered some interesting details about why his stats might be low.