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Alex Carey: Advice For Young Cricketers

Alex Carey joined us recently as apart of our Junior Cricket Wellbeing and Activity Program and was so forthcoming with information and advice that we thought we'd put it all into a blog for all you budding cricketers out there, both young and old!

AFL VS CRICKET 

Alex is well-positioned as a multi-sport disciplined athlete to talk on the vigours of professional setups and the pressure that comes along with that.  We asked Alex his thoughts on this;

"When playing multiple sports and the commitments that come along with that, communication is key. Know who you trust and utilise that support network. Don’t be pigeonholed, do as much as you can. Don’t put pressure on yourself either. Just enjoy the different aspects of the games and challenge yourself with the differing skills. Sport is awesome and gives you a lot of life values, I still hold my junior days close to my heart and have a lot of fond memories."

Below we go into more detail about his mentality on the different disciplines within cricket.

‘When juggling a lot of commitments, be honest and talk to your coaches and staff members, speak about your situation and know what you're trying to achieve and people will support you wherever you go, always willing to assist.'

 

WICKET-KEEPING MENTALITY

"When keeping you have to be super focused and concentrated.  You also need to have good balance and be relaxed. When missing opportunities, you’ve got to be prepared to put them aside, assess them and move onto the next ball. Hard work and training is key! Glutes need to be super strong, high intensity because you’re squatting so much."

"White ball cricket is a little different compared to red ball.  You don't take as many balls, but when you do it’s usually a chance - so be alert and upbeat and bring the energy to every contest. Work is done in training to sort out performance!"

Alex answers a question to do specifically with keeping to spinners;

"It differs between hard wicket and playing on turf. Be wary of the bounce you’ll need to deal with on synthetic pitches. Stay nice and low, in a strong position and ready for the ball to get up around your ears sometimes. Watch that ball and more often than not you'll be able to take that chance whether it’s a stumping or catch. Turf will spin more, be more variable and stay a bit lower. The main point is being in a great position and set up when the ball is released. You also need to be able to trust your instincts and have your head in line with the ball when it bounces."

'We are human and you are going to feel those emotions of disappointment. Worry about the next opportunity instead. Good players are judged on their learnings from their setbacks. It’s a normal feeling, but try and make sure you don’t make those same mistakes twice. Keep a smile on your face and go around again!'

 

BATTING MENTALITY

Alex discusses his own batting technique:

"I’m still chasing perfection and always developing my batting technique. Don’t change things just to please people and coaches, setbacks will make you a better player and you’ll start to understand who you trust and what works for your game. You always need to be searching to be a better player. Whether it’s mentally or technically you need to be in whatever position is comfortable that helps you get the best out of yourself. Try different things but don’t just do something because someone tells you to or reckons you should. It may be something as simple as changing your stance on the crease, it may be the really little things that help you the most! There’ll always be an element of failure in your batting, even the pros are tinkering with their techniques, so keep working at it!"

Some key points around his mindest when chasing a score whilst batting:

"Don’t be too worried about the outcome. Have the target or chase in mind, but you can only react to what the bowler bowls. Don’t just try and score one side of the field, if you’re in a good frame of mind you’ll be able to utilise your technique to access different parts of the ground. Remember to stay calm throughout. When you’re in a run chase you can get ahead of yourself, you can be rushed and worry about things that are out of your control. Take a deep breath and understand what the bowler is trying to bowl with the field they set.  That should keep you away from those frantic thoughts. It’s a big part of my game to calm my thoughts, not everything will come off, so be it! Calm yourself and trust that you and your batting mate out in the middle will get the job done."

'If it’s technical or something that needs attention, get to training and try and work on it as much as you can.'

 

KEY ADVICE

Alex regularly captains his state and is the vice-captain of Australia's shorter form teams. His take on being a leader on-field;

"Captain while the ball is not being bowled. Meaning - make your decisions, have your fielders in the right place and then switch back onto catching that ball. Simplify it as much as possible and make sure you’ve got a good helper out there, whether it’s a mate or a vice-captain to bounce off of. You need to be able to communicate with a teammate. But when it comes to it, watch the ball and not the field."

Alex continues when asked about on-field banter;

"I don’t bother with chirping too much, I like to focus on taking the ball and doing my job and the rest should sort itself out. The better players normally welcome the challenge so you have to be wary of what you’re saying."

And finally his advice on training;

"You certainly have to train across all three facets of the game. Not just batting and bowling, but fielding is essential too. This will help make you a vital team member and a really valuable asset, to be able to take the ball when needed or step up with the bat when required. I think on a personal note, I give everything I have and never have any regrets. When you leave your day at training just know you’ve done everything you can to achieve what you needed to."

For the full interview head to our Facebook page by clicking here

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ACI - Q&A Interview with Alex Carey

Alex Carey, the current Australian One-day and T20 vice-captain & wicket-keeper recently joined us for an interview as apart of the ACI's free 4-week Junior Wellbeing & Activity Program.  Below is an overview of the interview along with some questions & answers that some of our lucky members of the program got to ask.

Alex's had an interesting journey thus far, playing both footy and cricket growing up and right through his schooling days until year 12. Once things got serious, he elected to go down an AFL pathway into the national draft. He had to choose one, he definitely loved cricket but couldn't pass up the opportunity to play AFL. This meant no cricket for 2 full seasons, no practice, no skills. After his decision to return to cricket, this meant finding his way back into the South Australian system by making his way through grade cricket at Glenelg. He credits his brother and dad a lot - always being there for him in terms of coaching, participation & moral support. That's where we'll pick up the interview;

‘To be elite at whatever you choose to do in life, you’ve got to work really hard and be passionate. The best normally do the most.’

ACI: Who were your biggest role models growing up?

AC: My father and older brother are certainly my two biggest supporters. Lots of young cricketers have their parents around to be their role models in life and it’s such massive support. In a professional sense, I loved watching Adam Gilchrist play - obviously being a left-hand wicket keeping batter like myself. The way he handled himself on the field, he always had a big smile on his face. Now to have a relationship with him and call him a mate is pretty special. Not only playing-wise but morally to have him as a role model was fantastic to aspire towards. At the end of the day though, family is key!

ACI: Do you think AFL is a good crossover sport for cricket?

AC: Certainly, football and cricket are two awesome sports. Footy keeps you fit, you're outdoors and you have a heap of mates on that team. Basically any sport that involves a ball, hand-eye, and lots of activity are great options to do while you’re not playing cricket.

ACI: Do you have a wicket keeping routine?

AC: Yes and you definitely should have one in between balls, especially if you don’t need to run up to the stumps or be involved in the contest. You should try and switch off as much as you can but my routine is;

  1. Look around the field and the positions.
  2. Mark my spot and scratch where I need to stand.
  3. Crouch into the hands and knees…
  4. Into stance and switch back on.

ACI: How much time do you dedicate to your batting vs your keeping when training?

AC: Personally, keeping is my number one skill so I do some really solid sessions around that. Some days it’s one or the other - I have to be able to trust my preparation for that. The off-season can be a lot about recovery and making sure you’re mentally prepared to go around again. In this time there are probably more opportunities to do longer sessions, get more time into the legs and do some higher volume with my batting prep.

He continues...

‘You need to take ownership of your own game and make sure you have that feeling of achievement when you finish the training session. It can be a juggling act chasing the perfect preparation leading into a game, you need to be fresh but you also need to keep those skills relevant.’

ACI: During the World Cup semi-final, how did you respond to being hit by Jofra Archer?

AC: We were under a fair bit of pressure at the time already, not the ideal situation you want to be in when needing to post a big score. Jofra is an elite bowler and he’s so skilled, I don't know how he does it. I copped that bouncer on the chin and got a few stitches in but was lucky to be batting with Steve Smith at the other end. It was probably more uncomfortable if anything plus I had to hold up the game. As it started going numb and a bit sore, for me personally it was about us posting a score which we could defend. I was so focused on us getting the job done and playing a good innings, I would worry about the repercussions of injury later.

ACI: Who’s the best bowler that you’ve faced?

AC: Rashid Khan is the best I’ve kept to, he’s quite special. He’s also bowled to me and is really tough to pick.

ACI: Your favourite format?

AC: They’re all exciting for different reasons! T20 is certainly a rush, one-dayers are a real test of your skills over time and 4-day cricket is all about patience. I love them all for different reasons!

ACI: Favourite venue to play at?

AC: Adelaide Oval - it’s pretty cool. Otherwise, Lords. Lords is Lords, the history that’s there with the old stands. We won two world cup games there so it’s quite a special place to play! It’s a strange slope, but you’re overawed by the history there.

ACI: Who do you follow in the AFL?

AC: I follow the Adelaide Crows, as well as Dylan Shiel at Essendon and have a soft spot for the giants.

ACI: Do you prefer batting or keeping more?

Depends if I make runs (laughs) however, keeping gives you another chance to be a part of the game!

ACI: What have you been doing cricket wise during isolation? Are you training and still catching balls?

AC: Yep certainly doing lots of running, I really enjoy that. I’ve got some weights out in the backyard to get something through the legs. I’ve got my golf balls for catching as well. I’m also having a hit tomorrow going indoors to keep my skills up. I can’t sit still so I really enjoy trying to stay fit and strong as well as hitting balls - it’s what I love doing. Right now I’m really appreciative of the time I can have with my family.

ACI: Thanks so much for coming on Alex! We really appreciate it and we’ll be supporting you in the Aussie colours when you’re back! 

AC: My absolute pleasure and it’s so great to see these questions coming through and it’s great to have that support!

For the full interview head to our Facebook page by clicking here

IF YOU WOULD LIKE MORE INFO ABOUT THE 4-WEEK JUNIOR CRICKET WELLBEING & ACTIVITY PROGRAM - CLICK HERE

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ACI - Q&A Interview with Jason Behrendorff: 5 Tips For Seam Bowlers

As apart of the ACI’s free 4-week Junior Wellbeing & Activity Program, recently we were lucky enough to have current Australian international fast bowler, Jason Behrendorff join us for a Q & A session. 

Hundreds of young cricketers were glued to their computers, phones & tablets interacting and listening to the insights of his journey through cricket and his tips on how to become a consistent young fast bowler.

After our discussion, we thought it would be handy to jot down the 5 key takeaways that Jason spoke about for young developing fast bowlers.

1. Your Stock Ball is Key

You need to be aware of what your best ball is, after which you'll need to be able to execute it time after time!

Your ability to be consistent and take wickets or to build pressure for long periods of time comes down to this.

Jason's advice;

“100% the best thing for me is nailing a stock ball. For me, it’s an inswinger to the right-hander so that’s the ball I work on 90% of the time because that’s my banker. That’s the one I know 9/10 times, I’ll execute and whatever I need to do if I’m in a pressure situation that’s what I’ll go back to”.

2. Find Your Niche in the Swing vs Pace Balance

This tip is often highly debated about and can make or break players confidence. At the end of the day, is there a trade-off?

Should players be sacrificing swing to bowl quicker? Or can players play at a good level while still pulling back your pace and have the ball seam around?

Jason's advice;

“A few years ago people were sort of saying unless you bowl 140kph+ you won’t play international cricket. If you look around the international game, yes there are a few that do bowl 145kph or 150kph but there's only a handful who bowl super fast. Everyone else is doing something with the ball".

He continues.....

"That’s the thing for me that stands out - really try and hone YOUR craft, whether it’s seam bowling, swing bowling or an absolute out and out fast bowler. Again I go back to executing your skills, if you can execute your skills, being able to hit those lengths when you need to, all those things make a difference. If you are trying to bowl as fast as you possibly can and have no control over where the balls going that’s not really going to be good to anyone. You need to find your niche and once you have found it you need to do everything you can to own it”.

3. Variations - Don't Get Left Behind!

While it's important to make sure you can hit your stock ball whenever you need to, the game has changed a lot in the last decade especially with all the different formats now, players know it’s crucial to have variations in your arsenal that you can use.

Jason's advice;

“As a bowler nowadays, with all the inventive shots that batters play, the way that there is no fear in the game with that respect - it's important to have variations! Execution is everything, make sure you practice your yorkers, bouncers and slower balls. Anything you can do to be a little bit inventive. Try your own thing to get an advantage over the batters”.

4. Mindset & Body Language is Key

Cricket is as much, if not more mental than it is technical. If you can keep your thoughts, feelings and emotions in check, it will go a long way to you becoming more consistent as a bowler.

How players deal with having a bad day or spell is crucial and Jason believes it's integral as a bowler to keep these in check.

Jason's advice;

“It’s something that I definitely struggled with a lot with early in my cricket career. I would generally slump over if I had a bad spell or over, whatever it might have been. You would have seen me down at fine leg and I probably had my head down a bit not paying much attention and just sort of thinking way too much about what I was trying to do as opposed to staying in the contest and doing what I could to get better and get back”.

He continues...

“The biggest thing for me is not letting one ball, one spell or one over affect my day. The way I tend to do that is to try to stay up in the contest. Whether that be in the field, keeping the chat up to your mates, that’s one of the best things about being in the field is you’ve always got someone to chat to when you are fielding or bowling”.

5. Bowl the Ball, Don't Place it!

When players start to try to swing the ball, they tend to get into a habit of trying to place the ball and not “hit the deck”. Jason speaks about his issues with this in the past and how he overcame it to be able to continuously swing the ball.

Jason's advice;

“I was looking to bowl the ball not just to place it there. That’s something I fell into the trap of early days, I was trying to bowl it down there and swing it as opposed to actually bowling it and ripping down the back of the ball and letting the ball do the work”.

So there you have it, from the mouth of a current Australian International!  It’s critical to ensure that there are a host of areas that can contribute to your success as a bowler.

When you are planning your next training session, make sure that you factor some of these aspects into it rather than just bowling to a batter aimlessly.

For the full interview head to our Facebook page by clicking here

IF YOU WOULD LIKE MORE INFO ABOUT THE 4-WEEK JUNIOR CRICKET WELLBEING & ACTIVITY PROGRAM - CLICK HERE

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ACI - Q&A Interview with Matt Short

Matt Short, the Adelaide Strikers and Victorian Bushrangers young gun was our first live Q&A session special guest to kick off the ACI’s free 4-week Junior Wellbeing & Activity Program.

More than 400 online attendees joined Matt as he discusses early memories of starting out in cricket, his advice on batting and bowling, along with some answers to questions from our attendees.

Below are some edited highlights that were taken from that interview;

ACI: Really appreciate you coming on & joining us Matt, what have you been up to recently?

MS: Keeping pretty busy actually, doing an online University course - Bachelor of Health Science (Nutrition), a few other things around the house like painting - got someone else in to do it though, not me (laughs).

 ACI: Where are you from, where’d it all kick-off for you?

MS: I’m a country boy from Ballarat, I started pretty late around 12/13 years of age - I remember my older brother was playing a game and they were short, he had a spare pair of whites, so I filled in.  Didn’t bat or bowl, but took a catch and that was one of my first memories of all the boys getting around me. From there I filled in every week for them and enjoyed playing with my brother.  I played the next 4 years for East Ballarat, got chosen in the rep sides and my performances there led to playing for Victoria in the U/15’s,17’s & 19’s!

 ACI: What’s it like being a younger player trying to fit into that elite environment?

MS: It was really tough being a country boy and not having played too much senior cricket. To come into a locker room with Dave Hussey, Peter Siddle, Chris Rogers & Cam White - I initially felt like I didn’t belong.  So, the first year was massive and took me a while to fit in but you’re always going to be put into uncomfortable situations, the more you’re in them, the better off you’ll be.

 Group Question: Nathan asked who was/is your biggest inspiration?

MS: Family is a big one for me, starting out, playing with my older brother. My dad also, out the back yard being adjudicator for us three boys, I also have a younger brother. And mum, the commitment and sacrifices she made especially being in the country and travelling a lot.

 GQ: A few have asked who’s the fastest bowler you’ve faced, how do you go about it and do you experience fear at all?

MS: Not necessarily, I try to back myself to get into good positions and watch the ball as best as I can!  Quickest bowlers I’ve faced would be Mitchell Starc and Jofra Archer.  Watching them on TV, their strengths, I’m able to prepare somewhat for when I face them. 

 GQ: Hunter asks, do you score from ball 1 in a T20, and what’s your general tactics when batting?

MS: Good question, I’m definitely trying to score first ball, whether it be a boundary or single.  Intensity goes up but it’s all about sticking to your cues.  If the ball is there to hit - hit it!  A lot of risk vs reward but stick to your plans and try not to premeditate, don’t second guess yourself and have the clear mindset to score.

 GQ: You better known as a batter but you do bowl as well, Sam asks what do you focus on when you come into bowl?

MS: I have a couple of cues when I’m at the top of my mark.  The main one being power: when I bowl my bad balls, it’s when I get lazy at the crease - not putting enough effort on the ball or not using my legs enough. So, I’m thinking power, up and over, that fast arm and good follow through!

 GQ: A lot of power-hitting questions, what’s some tips for gaining more power when batting?

MS:  I’m pretty lucky having some big leavers, being tall with long arms!  I’ve worked closely with Brad Hodge at the Vics and his message is always to have a nice stable base, keep your head in line with the ball, hold your shape & stay strong in the shot.

 GQ: An Adelaide Strikers fan asks - Rashid Khan, how do you pick his wrong-un, who is your favourite teammate and who’s the hardest worker?

MS: Rash - he’s pretty interesting, the thing with him is, his leg spinner doesn’t turn that much. So, I feel like he’s not going to beat me on the outside of my bat.  With his wrong-un, I’m only picking him 50% of the time (laughs)!  I try and come down the wicket to him a lot because he’s not going to spin it past my outside edge.  It’ not easy to face him though! A favourite teammate at the Strikers of mine is Liam O’Connor, another leggie from WA. He’s a ripper and one of those blokes you love to have around the change rooms.  Both being from interstate, we stay at the same hotel, we’re with each other every day and night for a couple of months. It’s been great to get to know him.  The hardest worker at the Strikers would have to be Alex Carey I think, not only in the nets but also in the gym - doing extra running etc. must be that footy upbringing. He’d be the first in the nets and the last to leave, always doing that bit extra. That must be his way for making him ready for what’s to come in his career.

 ACI: Your favourite part of being a professional cricketer?

MS: I love that I’m a professional in something that I’ve loved doing from when I was young and get a lot out of seeing my family react to when I’m doing well and also when I’m doing poorly.  They’ve always got my back and to know that I make them proud is something that I love doing!

 ACI: Finally, what tips would you give our youngsters out there to get the most out of this time in isolation?

MS: I know it’s the cricket offseason, but it’s always good to keep the skills up however you can, whether it be getting the tennis racquet out with a tennis ball, taking catches or hitting golf balls against the wall. If you’ve got a backyard big enough, get out there, but basically try and nail the basics so you’re ready to go for pre-season and keep listening to the ACI with all their videos and advice! 

 For the full interview head to our Facebook page by clicking here

IF YOU WOULD LIKE MORE INFO ABOUT THE 4-WEEK JUNIOR CRICKET WELLBEING & ACTIVITY PROGRAM - CLICK HERE

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Batting: How To Turn Your Starts Into Big Scores

We’ve all heard it before, runs are currency. Runs get you picked, score more runs and you will play higher.

The most frustrating aspect of this though is the fact that many players feel like they are hitting the ball really well and then all of a sudden they go out and get that dreaded “start”.

You know what I’m talking about, the 20’s or 30’s. Feeling great and then all of a sudden, boom! Wicket and you're out for another score in the mid 20’s.

This is a common occurrence that I hear on the daily, not just in junior cricket but a lot in senior cricket too. Tying to shake it can become the hardest part of a batters game.

When a player comes to me with this issue, the first thing I say is that it’s not always a technical flaw.

Many player's look at their technical side to find the error which is normal, but in my time as a player and now coach, there are many other contributing factors as to why you have yet again not turned your start into something bigger.

More times than not we use the technical deficiency as the outcome, but you have to look a little further back in the chain sometimes to find out why. Why did you play that particular shot, or what brought you to make that decision which resulted in an error in skill.

Below we take a look at 5 key reasons why you might be missing out on those bigger scores....

1.  Your Limited Ability to Focus Over Long Periods of Time

Some of you may have what we call, the “shiny light syndrome”. I find that many players are only capable of concentrating for a certain amount of time/balls.

After that, they are mentally fatigued and find it hard to make the right decision.

The key to this is to make sure you are using your focus and mental energy in a better way. Your ability to switch off between balls is key here so as that you are not expending so much energy when you don’t need to. Save it for when you have to hit the ball!

Think of your concentration levels as a jug of water, if there is a hole in the bottom that leaks all your concentration and focus out.

If you can plug that hole when you don’t need to expend it, it’s going to last much longer than if you let it all just flow out in one big gush for a certain amount of time. That’s basically what you are doing when most of you bat.

If you are on 100% of the time, all of the time, with so many things happening in your brain you will tend to fade much faster.

? How To Improve ?: Look to develop a between ball routine/process to ensure that you can switch off and on between balls/overs. This allows your focus to be more concise when you are looking to bat as the bowler is coming in and relieves you of the mental stress that you feel in your downtime between balls.

2. You Haven’t Developed Transition Plans for Different Game Phases

This is quite a common one that many batters don’t think they have an issue with. Some players find it tough to move into their next phase of the game.

For example, you spend a lot of time getting in, face a lot of balls and then all of a sudden the pressure to start scoring is put on yourself.  You end up throwing it away to try and go big and hit a boundary to get out of your run of dot balls… Sound familiar?

You need to learn how to transition from each phase of the game so it makes scoring runs much more natural.

If you can develop plans around each stage of the game off the field (early in the innings, middle of the innings, end of the innings), you will be able to execute these much easier when you are out in the middle.

The key to this is to make sure you are able to transition clearly from getting in, to upping your strike rate (run a ball) and then when you are really seeing them well, how to capitalise on that and score greater than a run a ball.

? How To Improve ?: Sit down and identify 3 of your strengths as a batter. These 3 key strengths form the basis of your innings. Early on practice ways of being patient and only scoring in the 2 biggest strength areas. From there start to identify how you can transition and take a few more risks to up your run rate. Your boundary options are your 3 strengths, and then train ways to find singles off other balls.

3. You Have Trouble Reading Different Stages of the Game

In my opinion, this is one of the biggest factors in what leads to you losing your wicket in these scenarios.

If you have trouble identifying the stage that the game is in then your plans will not match these and you will find it builds unnecessary pressure that leads you to making critical errors at important times.

This takes time to learn and making errors and reviewing them afterwards is the traditional way for most people to develop a greater understanding of this.

However, we don’t have that much time! I don’t want the light bulb to turn on all of a sudden when you are 23 and played over 100 senior games. There is a way to fast track this.

We use a little framework called the traffic lights. Red light (defend) , yellow light (contain), Green Light (Attack).

Your game plan (Reason No.2) should be dictated partly by what stage of the game you are in. If you read this wrong then you find that your batting methods can be a catalyst to losing your wicket at the wrong time.

Example -  you're 14 off 50, you start to panic because you’ve been bogged down and need to score quick runs now because you are under 50% strike rate.  The pressure is on for quick boundaries to make up for all the dot balls you've taken. See how it can escalate so quickly?

In that situation being 14 off 50 isn’t the end of the world, it's actually a great platform! But instead of going from Red Light  to Green Light and being ultra attacking, maybe let's look at ways we can slowly build up your strike rate and look to be a little more busy at the crease?

That middle phase is called the Yellow Light; building that solid base and then progressing into slightly more attacking mentality, while still having an understanding that you need to contain and not lose your wicket.

Low risk, high reward shots are key in this stage and it helps you create a slightly more attacking mindset while not throwing the kitchen sink at everything.

? How To Improve ?: Spend time at training batting in these different situations. Put a runs and balls value on them e.g. First 7 minutes no wickets lost for Red Light, Yellow Light might be 10 off 12, with the Green Light being 14 off 12. Have fields set out so you can see where you can score as this brings Reason No.2 into the equation (making sure you have a set plan in place).

4. You Aren't Fit Enough

Some cricketers take fitness for granted. Put simply, being physically fitter will mean you tire less quickly.

How does that affect your batting? Well easy…

The fitter you are the less tired you become over a longer period, which means that your brain also doesn’t become fatigued as quickly.

If your brain isn’t fatigued you have more clarity in decision making and judgement. If you have better clarity and judgement you won’t play that rash shot or chase a wider ball and knick it like you may do if you are starting to feel the signs of mental and physical fatigue.

As I said, many people underestimate this but cricket is a tough game played in the summer in harsh conditions. If you can meet the physical demands of this, it becomes much easier to bat for long periods of time.

? How To Improve ?: Look to invest in a strength and conditioning coach.  Learn how interval training can influence your performance and incorporate this into your batting training. Rather than just standing at the striker's end and lacing balls into the net, actually have intent and run between the wickets. After 10 minutes you will work up your heart rate and find that these areas of your game are more tested because you are having to use them at training now.

5. You Haven’t Batted for Long Enough

One aspect that many don’t think about is that you may not have batted for an extended amount of time before.

If you expect to score 50’s and 100’s you will have to face 100 - 200 balls. If you’ve not scored that amount of runs before then you actually don’t really know what to do and how it feels facing those amounts of balls in one go.

If you only bat for 10 minutes in a net a week, you probably will find it hard to face more than 30 balls consistently on a weekend.

In order to get better at batting for long periods of time, you have to do it more often outside of a game.

10 minutes of nets mean facing maybe 30 balls. If you want those big scores and bat for long periods of time, you have to eventually learn to do that at training as well.

Don’t be happy with just one hit at training for the week. Learn to bat for long periods of time and what comes with that as well. Learn that after batting for 10 minutes your mind starts to wander and you get a little hot and dehydrated. This is where it's good practice to start constructing your innings and use all the tips we've been over in this article.

The reason why you get out in the 20’s is likely because you haven’t trained to bat any longer than 30 or 40 balls.

? How To Improve ?: Bat, bat, and bat some more! Sometimes you might want to find someone to go down the nets with and create an innings. What I mean is actually go down and face 70 balls in a game style situation. Learn to build your innings and bat for long periods of time with the game situations in mind by setting fields etc. If you are out, start again and only take drinks after facing an hour of balls. All of that will help you learn and put into practice all of the 4 reasons before this one.

Naturally, you can’t do this at training every week but even just having a hit outside of your allocated net during training will help.

Hit balls with a purpose if you aren’t a bowler, get to training early and work with a mate. All of these things can help you become better at this.

Final Thoughts

As you can see, the issue that players have when they say they are getting starts but not going on with it can come from many different areas of their game.

The question you need to ask yourself is which of these areas is most likely your downfall?

If you can answer that straight away that’s great! If you can’t that's okay as well.  It may take time to tinker with a host of these different areas to make sure that you turn that start into a big score!

The biggest takeaway message here, however, is that scoring big scores takes effort and you cannot just expect them to happen. Work hard and be diligent in your preparation and the rest will take care of itself!

Good Luck!

Author: Joel Hamilton - ACI Co-Founder and Head Coach

Joel Hamilton

 

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