Skill Development and Elite Mental Preparation
Confidence
Middle stump: the bowler’s target. Your opponents want to knock your confidence, just like how they want to take out your middle stump. Confidence in your own abilities is your foundation, without which you will never be able to truly develop mental toughness in the game of cricket. Protect your confidence on and off the field like you protect your middle stump while you’re batting.
Motivation
Off stump: Your job is to know where it is. Knowing what you want to achieve and having a plan to achieve it is as important as knowing where your off stump is. Motivation provides a starting point for you and a direction for your actions. Motivated actions are more likely to be successful and are critical in the development of a mentally tough cricketer.
Response
Leg stump: It’s most obvious when it’s exposed. Your body will provide feedback when your arousal levels are too high or too low, like how your teammates will let you know that you’re exposing too much of your leg stump. Your job is to listen to your body, be aware of changes, and respond to these changes in a way that encourages high levels of performance under stressful circumstances. You need 4 to win off 1 ball? These are the moments that separate the great cricketers from the good, and the moments you need to be prepared for.
Concentration
Middle and Off Bail: Don’t lose it for a second. Being fulling focused or losing concentration in a cricket match can be the difference between keeping or losing your wicket by the narrowest of margins. It sits on the foundation of confidence and motivation. Concentration, like this bail, represents a person’s ability to use the top two inches to develop themselves from a good cricketer into a great one.
Visualisation
Middle and Leg Bail: The top two inches that completes the full picture. Visualisation is often underrated, but completes the full mental toughness image. It sits on the foundation of confidence and response and is often the missing piece in a cricketer’s gear bag that will help take them to the next level.
