Game Notes: Preseason Friendlies

West of Scotland openers, Farndale and Watson, take the field for the first match of 2016. 

This weekend saw two 40 over preseason matches and a run out for most of the 1st and 2nd XI regulars.

The results were not important. The key for me was to see players putting off season work into some real cricket. Now is the time for focusing on getting processes in place and feeling like we are cricketers rather than blokes stuck in a shed.

The way I encourage players to deal with games is to ask, however well or poorly you did, three questions;

1. What do I need to stop doing?
2. What do I need to start doing?
3. What do I need to continue doing?

This takes the emotion out of it, which tend to make us focus on the bad stuff as the WORST EVER and the good stuff as the BEST EVER. Neither is true very often.

Instead, answer those questions and decide what it is you need to work on at practice. So, one player who scored a few runs (continue) but went slower than he is capable (stop), might look at ways to score from more balls (start). The bowler who bowled with good pace (continue) but pitched the ball on indoor length and got pulled too often (stop) might work on bowling outside and bowling fuller with more consistency (start).

More generally, the matches were played against good opposition in a 40 over format with batsmen retiring on about 50. Everyone on the West side got a chance to bat and bowl in at least one game. The pitch was slow but true and there was really only one batsman who scored freely, everyone else struggled to score faster than about a strike rate of 50. The positive point was a clear improvement on running between the wickets even when barely any boundaries were being scored. Last year our team strike rate could barely make it to 50.

The bowling in the first game was a little looser than hoped. With our main strike bowler away with rep cricket, the two other first team seamers got to bowl a few overs and both went well. The second string seamers were less successful, with one bowling too short and the other getting attacked successfully from an overseas player.

In the second game, both first team spinners bowled well with turn and bounce, but will look to improve their accuracy further. We used eight bowlers in total with several second string bowlers having a few overs too. It's clear the bowling is well stocked for the year.

The first league game is on Saturday.

Session Notes: Final Touches

The final session before our first preseason game was a little more laid back from me, and customised to adapt to our last session discussions.

I did less planning and did not lay out stations this time, mainly because I was unsure of numbers and didn't want to do a huge amount of prep for an unknown quantity.

We warmed up with basic ball skills, finished with a throwing drill then did some simple Skyer fielding drills working on ring fielding, low catches, chasing and returning and catching over the shoulder. I made my focus to put the pressure on the fielders by having smaller groups (4-5 in a drill at most) and really smashing the ball at those that wanted full force.

It was gratifying to me to see the ball burst through the hands of a player who had previous told me to hit it harder! One guy, who is often pushing me for more intense work, walked away from a high catch drill after I had send on sailing up with a six second hang time. He didn't say why, but my pride wants me to assume it was because the catching was so tough (although to be fair it could also be because he wanted a bat)!

The more I think about it, the more player mindset becomes important in these moments. There is one player who almost always seems grumpy with what is happening. His body language slumps, he walks away from drills, he complains to others but doesn't say anything to me. This is not the norm at the club and his mindset is 100% on him, yet I always feel bad because I feel I must be failing him.

What I should do is realise it's very little to do with me. I can't do anything if he doesn't tell me what he wants then gets upset he is not getting the training he needs. I have no control. The best I can do is make sure he knows he can be frank with me and ignore the pouting.

Anyway, back to the session; I also had a group do a self-directed drill on the Katchet which was a challenge to them, but they got it working. Another learning point for me here is to make sure people know they can adjust, change and switch things if it's not working, then let them get on with playing about.

We finished with some outdoor bowling; always easy to run, some throwdowns and guys going into the nets.

The nets were mainly players wanting a hit, so I left them to it. They were happy to get their undirected 10 minutes each and one of the players took control of the timings without prompting.

That's good to see, although I might take the opportunity to insist players write down a goal on the whiteboard even if it's just a basic hit. Then at least I'll have an idea of what stage they are at.

Next update - weather permitting - will be a match! After a long winter, this is where the rubber meets the road.

Session Notes: Delivery, Mindset and Data

In the last couple of session we have had good turnout and excellent weather. It was a great time to work on our fielding ahead of the start of the season.

In the big group session I wanted to focus both on sharpening the infield catching and getting players into "outdoor batting mode" (where timing is very different). So I set up a number of stations around the outfield.

After a group warm up of some basic movement and ball handling we did a throwdown drill at the stumps, then broke into groups.

I experimented with sending the players into the nets in groups of four to bat against the machine and real bowling. This worked well because I could group players of similar standard together. It was helped by two guys coming along who just wanted to bowl so could wheel away while others focused on batting.

This system worked well: A large group was broken into smaller groups and so could get more quality time on each skill.

The risk of this is that players are relied upon to do the drills themselves. No hand-holding from the coach. This means that if the players decide between themselves a drill is not for them, they don't do it.

So what was the reaction?

Fielding was high on the agenda, with a lot of guys gravitating to the high catch station and sticking there. The Katchet was popular too, but it didn't take long to change from Katchet catches to high catches and boundary fielding.

A small number also did throwdowns against the throwdown net, but most people were not concerned with batting drills and more into the fielding. No one did the tip and run game I set up on the outfield. This is all good feedback and I accept it without concern. Although, I do want to be careful to make sure we are taking our fair share of low and flat catches alongside the big ones.

Throwdowns and bowling practice outdoors

I'm still searching for drills that can be done without my input and also don't switch to high catching straight away. We need to get the balance between high, flat and low catches. We also need to track results better as the whiteboard still remains "forgotten" every session.

However, the guys are great at doing their own thing with little input from me and I feel this is an area where they are learning to be self-sufficient.

Realistic fielding

The second session, with the focus on bowlers, saw some interesting feedback.

I tried a couple of different drills, neither of which really worked with the numbers (not enough volume per player) but still had benefits: hitting the stumps from 20 yards and inner ring fielding against a real batsman.

What was interesting was the feedback. One player was busy making up modifications to drills to make them harder. Another was clearly grumpy about not getting enough balls (but said nothing) and a third engaged me after the session about how he didn't feel the intensity was high enough.

I enjoy both the third and first reactions, but the middle one less so. If you don't tell me what you want, how can I make it happen?

Nevertheless, the positive message I got was to think about how to create more volume and more intensity with the drills. Fielding in practice is about a few things and to get the balance right is tough. You need,

• Basic technique (especially throwing)
• Anticipation and reading the batsman
• Patience
• Athleticism
• Volume (number of catches, throws and stops)
• Endurance and recovery ability
• Intensity (power of hits)
• Context and pressure

In club cricket, you need to hit all of these in a limited time. In every drill some areas get more focus than others. Sometimes I get it wrong and it's not enough about any of them. I need to stamp that out.

But mostly there is something you can take from every drill. It's about the mindset of the players way more than how hard the ball is hit.

For example, the drill where we do slip catching practice is very tough to get right. It requires an accurate throw, a nick from me and a catch in the slips. It's easier from an underarm throw but the speed of feed is below match pace. Do we not bother with the underarm? My thinking is that you develop antipation, honing technique, developing patience and getting a high volume all in one drill. That's good, if you accept the limitations. Naturally you move on to faster overarm feeds later and that gives you a better intensity but will cost in volume. This is not bad either, just different.

So, my number one aim is to make sure I get the message across that every drill has something positive you can take from it.

Secondly, I want to ensure my delivery skills are good enough to provide the intensity and accuracy when I am hitting balls. Third, I want players to tell me what they want, rather than just complaining they don't get what they need. This is not the culture at the club, but it happens from time to time. It ties back in to players knowing themselves and what they need better than me. Until my mind reading skills develop, they will have to tell me!

A high catching drill with energy and enthusiasm. 

Last, I would like more proof these things work. If it's true that smashing the ball at someone so they are scared is the best way to take catches in games, I'll do it. But u till we have more data, how can we know? That's why tracking catching and throwing outcomes is important in both practice and games. Then we will have a better idea of what works.

Bowling outdoors

Finally, without an outdoor pitch, the bowlers had to work on the outfield. They lay down targets and bowled at them while someone practiced wicketkeeping at the other end.

Outdoor bowling, with some flat catching in the background

It was standard stuff and a good way to get bowling from a full run up outdoors after months inside. Ideally we would use PitchVison for this, but the setup time would have been too long moving it out of the indoor nets. Plus, it doesn't pick up as well on the long outfield grass, and the bowlers wanted to use spikes.

When I think about it, this is another example of mindset in drills. Bowling on the outfield without a batsman is far from optimal. Yet, we accept it as having benefits and get on with it.

So let's take that mindset into every drill.

Session Notes: What do You Want to Do?

The final session of the week was lower in numbers, but we had enough to get some quality work done, with the focus again on self-directed training and adding pressure. These sessions usually result in some creative training too!

The pressure part was handled by tracking performance in a couple of throwing and catching drills. We simply keep a whiteboard running while we try and hit the stumps or take catches. As the group was small I did it for them this week. The idea is to make players feel under pressure because we are keeping track of how they do.

We also set up the throwdown net to do some inner ring fielding, both off side and leg side. The punishment for a misfield or drop was a change of position in the ring. Enough to be a little bit embarrassing but nothing scarring. With a batsman hitting proper drives, cuts and pulls with a proper bat, this is super-realistic and can only result in better ring fielding for the guys in the game. 

After an hour and a lot of hands on balls, we got back together and said "what do you want to do?" 

This always gets a mixed response. Some players put their hands up to do something they have been looking to do straight away. Others stare at me blankly like I have asked them the time in Chinese. However, it's a superb question to get across the point of self-sufficiency. Players are starting to realise they need to guide their own games. My job is to facilitate that not tell them what to do. 

As always, after some umms and ahhs we nailed it. We had three groups: One batting in nets, one bowling on the outfield and one doing throwdown drills with the bat. The last two groups quickly amalgamated into one with spinners bowling to batsmen who were trying to get into the outdoor batting mentality of getting forward and playing late. Creative and effective self-led development.

For the batsmen, I am starting to think group nets fall into two basic categories: 

• Batting under scenario pressure.
• Batting specific fitness (running drills) .
• Picking line and length and shot selection. 

You can get a lot of tactical and mental skills from the first two, as long as you set them up right. Based on this, I will be expanding range of games from the 421 game throughout the season with the aim of developing players who are good under pressure, even in nets.

The last one is a little more vague and is at the intersection of technique and tactics. I'll need to think more about that. 

As the darkness crept up on us, a few guys finished up while I did some range hitting with two batsmen. It was simple stuff; I threw a full toss, the batter tried to welly it into next week. It's a skill neither was especially good at, but we learned a few things about how to improve. This stage of skill development can be frustrating with a lot of failure, but if you think beyond the last mis-hit you start to realise it's worth the pain. 

Session Notes: Outdoor Bowling, Throwdown Nets and Speaking Your Mind

Taking high catches

This session was again split between inside and outside. The focus was on the bowlers, so we did some general fielding work, bowled a little on the outfield then went indoors for nets.

The fielding was standard stuff: a quick pickup drill and throw drill to warm up, low catches against our new throwdown net and high catches from various angles. We didn't count catches because I want guys to feel like they are not having everything tracked all the time. It was good to get some volume in.

Some guys made up their own drills, which is always a pleasure for me to see. One area of caution for me is that when players do their own drills, they do about 10 times more high catches than low and flat catches and ground work. The ratio should really be 1:1 or even slightly in favour of the low ones. Still, this is a minor point. Volume is high and volume is the best way to improve catches in  games.

The outdoor bowling aim was to get seamers running in of their full run up. We didn't worry about accuracy or pace, just aiming to get the feel back for bowling outside after so many months of short run ups and hard surfaces. I will progress this later with PitchVision, target cones and multi stumps.

Interestingly, one bowler took about 10 balls to find anything like a decent length. He was bowling the ball at his feet for a while! Eventually he sorted it out but it shows how different conditions can play havoc with your game.

In the nets, we played the 421 game with those I felt needed it. Others I let slide for various reasons. This was mainly about the bowlers hitting their lengths so I wasn't too concerned with batting performance.

There was another interesting point here. One batsman pushed back against the 421 game strongly after his net.

He sets himself impossibly high standards, puts huge pressure on himself and gets very frustrated when he - in his mind - fails.

So, when I added the extra mental load of calculating runs, dealing with bowlers who questioned his decisions and making getting out costing him his "average", he was pushed over the edge. He told me afterwards he just wanted to hit balls and thought the whole excercise was a waste of time.

I didn't want to argue. He is an experienced player. He knows what he needs far better than me. If he feels a different aim is better for him, who am I to argue anyway?

So, I clarified to him that all my silly games are merely suggestions. Some people like to be told what to do, so I always have a game on hand. Other people have a different intention in mind. And that's fine too. In fact, I prefer it. I am a coach not a teacher or guru. My job is to work with players to help them find their own best way.

I welcomed his feedback. Although perhaps I would not have had it delivered quite so angrily in front of everyone else! I wasn't offended, as it was clear he was frustrated and I had not made my position clear. Overall, I would prefer people were honest and revealed their frustration rather than steam in silence.

The rest of the net ran nicely. People got a bowl and bat. Someone who arrived for his first net mucked in and helped himself feel welcome. A leg spinner who is new to the club since February bowled like a dream. He will be an interesting addition, taking our senior leg spin pool to six! 

Session Notes: No Plan, No Problem. AKA: The Rain Advantage

With rain around we retired to the indoor school for a two lane net session. Here are a few thoughts and lessons:

• When it rains, fewer people come. This is fine because we only have a small space. However, this year, people are letting me know rather than not being around. Excellent.
• My detailed outdoor to indoor plan was basically chucked in the bin. This is not a problem. We adapted well and I quickly asked a few guys to turn up an hour later to stagger start times to stop it being too busy. This worked surprisingly well. Will try again with this plan.
• Some first team players cancelled when they realised they were indoors. However, helpfully, five first team guys decided to have a net before the main session. This left me with just one player who needed a focused session and a bunch of guys who were there to have a hit. I don't mind letting nets drift a little to standard batting and bowling in these situations. The guys at the session are not looking to do more than have a social run out. They don't respond as well to my nudging towards deliberate practice.
• Nevertheless, we still got quite a bit of tracking done on PitchVision, especially the bowlers. So, I am slowly pushing the entire culture at the club that way, even the third team guys. Sneaky!

My final thought was a little "aha!" moment: I was chatting to a second team batsman who was bemoaning the lack of a chance to bat outdoors.

Then I realised...

The indoor school gives a huge advantage. We have trained three times a week since January and now it's a bit wet in the preseason, we can continue to train. As long as we use the sessions well, we will be way ahead of everyone else who has trained less and could have an enforced break in training for a few weeks due to training.

If it's a wet spring, we have no excuses for a poor start. It's all on us!

Session Notes: Game Plans, Positive Intent and Trust

The final group session of the week was well attended with a mixture of abilities. We did plenty of fielding skills, particularly catching and hitting the stumps. We went indoors to finish with a "421" net.

I am staying on my twin mantras of bringing a goal to training, and tracking your catches.

Both are still a work in progress but people are still new to these ideas and I suspect it will take most of the season to become a habit. As a result, some people forgot to track their catches and no one remembered to track their throws. I am positive this will become habit eventually, but this is not easy to get right.

Even the 421 game has moments where we slip back to old ways. Two people simply did not bother to call their runs in the session despite my constant encouragement.

Positive training

The general tone seemed to be "don't get out" which is a goal in a way, although strike rates were well down for all the batsmen. I want more positive language and intentions at training. We play limited over cricket so you have to maximise every ball, especially batting first.

I mentioned more than once that a better intention is to "survive and thrive" because that gets you thinking about how well you could do rather than focusing on hanging in in there.

Preseason nets, even club nets, should be about batting as you would in the middle. If you have a game plan, play it in nets. If you get it wrong, keep trying until you get it right. If you need to make changes to the plan, try this at the next session.

Avoid the trap of playing poorly, deciding this is a waste of time and then doing things you don't do in games.

For example, one batsman was having trouble timing the ball so after about a dozen balls (against good quality bowling) he started to either block or slog. He is not that style of batsman and ended up increasingly frustrated. He stopped calling his runs. He wasn't practicing anymore.

To me, that's a waste of a session where he was facing good bowling. He doesn't get to train as regularly as he would like, so every session is vital to be taken as a chance to test himself. He will have days where it goes wrong. We all do. His challenge is to stay focused on his goal of testing his game plan to its limits.

Positive games

It's this positive mindset I also want to see in our early matches.

If a player knows his game plan, walks out to bat and tries to do that plan,  the rest of the team need to show confidence in him. We suffered a little last year from the "why did he play that stupid shot?" disease. My reply to that question is "was that in his game plan?"

If he plays a shot outside of his game plan it was a poor choice and we need to discuss it and help the player get a new plan (or better stick to the current one). However if it was his plan to play that shot and it didn't work out, there can be no judgement. The plan was good, the execution just needs work.

Play in games the way you practice. You earn the right to your plans and the trust of your team mates by practicing again and again.

So this year we are going to go into every innings thinking about what is the best we can do on this day if everything goes well, rather than hoping to survive. That comes from knowing and trusting your game plan, and the game plan of everyone else.

Session Notes: First Bowling-Specific Net

This was the first outdoor session aimed at bowlers over batsmen.

With no square to use and a sodden outfield, we decided to not bother with any outdoor bowling and instead had an hour of fielding and an hour in the nets with a handful of pre-arranged guys.

The first drill - rotating between a low catch, throw, backup and feed - was very challenging in wet conditions but we got a little rhythm going after a while. We then tracked some flat and high catches with the whiteboard.

Interestingly, people are already "forgetting" that they need to keep track of catches and drops and write them on the whiteboard after a drill. It's so easy for players to slip into old rhythms, but I will persevere with logging these skills. It's a simple task, requires discipline and will give us a leaderboard to motivate people to improve.

The indoor nets were played with the 421 game for the batsman, but the real point was to let bowlers bowl in scenarios against batters to feel match pressure. We have done this all preseason and is a well run drill now. It's 100 time better than just having a net in my mind.

Bowling focus nets, tracking line and length on PitchVision. 

I have also begun the process of ensuring people go into a net with a specific goal in mind, and a way of measuring the outcome. I have decided to do it in a case by case basis as some players get it already, some need to get it better and others don't want it.

Session Notes: Setting the Tone for a Long Summer

This week saw us fully emerge from indoors to start some outdoor practice. Weather permitting, we have a good long run before the season starts.

The session mainly focused on fielding skills as we have not had the space in the nets to do much. I set up stations for:

• Warm up
• Sprinting
• High and flat catching
• Throwing

We also tried a new drill on the outfield for tip and run. We used soft balls and a target area and got guys trying to run each other out.

We finished with indoor nets for those that wanted it.

This year my focus for training is:

1. Track bowling, catching and run out drill stats to show improvements.
2. Develop a culture of coming to nets with a specific, measurable goal.

This week we only focused on tracking catches vs. drops. The guys wrote down on a whiteboard this information and I have transferred it to a spreadsheet to pin up a leaderboard in the changing room.

I plan to bring in other measurements and goal setting in the next few sessions, and keep on the case with guys to have an intention at every net. Simplicity of message is a key thing I learned from last year.

Managing players

To better manage players win different goals, I am staggering start times by half an hour and rotating players through the drills as they arrive.

Last night this didn't quite work as intended. Some players arrived early and just joined in. Others cancelled last minute (meaning we had a big group and a very small group). As we were mainly fielding, this was not an issue. When we have actual outdoor nets, these issues can be tweaked away as long as I stay flexible. The key will be to ensure later arrivals don't just join the current group and start at the right place.

So, still some work to do to develop those self-sufficient cricketers, but we have started the process and are miles ahead of this time last year.

The Club Cricket Guide to Better Nets

If you are not trying, failing and adjusting at nets, you are not improving. You are having a social.

This idea of practice is fairly new to cricket. Most people at club level still come to nets to have a go without any specific direction. This is fine if all you want is a run out and to catch up with the boys in the week. You better be an absolute gun if you do this and expect to do well on Saturday. Because science has proven there is more to practice than turning up.

The good news is that this newer way of training is super easy to do, you just need the right mindset.

Here's what you do.

1. Come to every session with a specific, measurable goal.
2. Review how you do both during and after the session.

That's it! If you stop reading now and do these two things you will make your coach very happy.

But let me give you a touch more detail.

Training Goals

First - and most important - come to nets with a specific goal in mind of thing you want to achieve.

This must be challenging to you rather than something you know you can already do. For example, if you want to improve bowling accuracy, make your target to hit a smaller target area on PitchVision than you need to. If you are hitting your target zone more than 50% of the time, it's probably too big.

Second, make sure you can instantly review how you did.

So, with our bowling example, you can use PitchVison see see straight away if you hit your target or not. It's instant and measurable. This is important because you're need to be able to remember what you did when it went well, and adjust when it doesn't go right.

As a general rule, you know you are pushing your limits when you fail 40-60% of the time. More is too demotivating get, less is too easy. This sweet spot will keep you going when you get it wrong but not bore you with its simplicity.

What are a few goals you can measure?

For batsmen,

• Develop a new shot.
• Learn to hit an existing shot from more deliveries (for example drive a length ball).
• Improve your ability to rotate the strike.
• Bat under the pressure of a run chase.
• Pace an innings.
• Improve your speed or endurance running in pads.
• Judge line and length.
• Improve shot selection. 

For bowlers,

• Better accuracy of your stock length.
• Better accuracy of your variation (googly, yorker).
• Ability to bowl a series of balls to outsmart a batter.
• More pace.
• More turn.
• Ability to bowl under pressure.
• Caught and bowled chances.

You get the idea.

If you need ideas for ways to measure these things, ask your coach.

This creates a feedback loop of trying, failing, adjusting and trying again. That can be tough, because we are told failing is bad. In fact, it's only bad if you don't learn from it.

So, turn up at nets with a specific, challenging and measurable goal. Learn from your failures in practice and improve your chances of success in matches. 

Managing Change in Club Cricket

Change is hard because it takes you into the unknown. What if the new plan fails and makes you look a fool?

Last season at West was a disaster for the 1st XI and this provided the perfect chance for me to suggest changes in coaching approach at the club. Things couldn't have gone worse. We already looked foolish after finishing dead bottom with one win. Change is good in that circumstance.

In the winter I was left to my own devices with the players. We did quite a few new things. We changed the structure and pushed the "practice with purpose" mantra harder. It worked well.

With the summer approaching, we have been deciding how much of the winter plan will move into summer training. There has been quite the extended discussion. It's been fun to work with various stakeholders at the club to get their opinions and ideas. We have not always agreed with each other but it's always been friendly rather than aggressive: Good, open communication.

My argument is that changes have been a success: Attendance has been outstanding. There are several measurable improvements in players. Accountability is up. This has all come from training with smaller groups in more sessions that are shorter. For example, three groups of four training for an hour each, instead of one group of 12 for two hours.

On the other side, there has been a concern that the focus on small groups could lead to an elitist separation of the good players from the rest. Nets have always been inclusive large group sessions where young, old, good and bad are competing as a club. With the smaller sessions we had over the winter, lesser players and new players might be put off. Or worse, turned away.

It's true that club cricket is a delicate balancing act for the coach. You are judged by first team results above all else but you cannot treat the best players differently from the worst players. Everyone is equal in the eyes of the membership list.

My recent efforts have been about tipping the balance a little way towards the best players. Generally, good players train more than less good players. So, I can understand how this might look elitist.

Additionally, concerns were raised about training three times a week as we have a full programme of midweek games starting as soon as the season gets going in May. It's possible some sessions will be poorly attended as people choose playing first.

These details aside, we are broadly in agreement with the outcomes we want: Productive training in an inclusive environment, with an even stronger focus on fielding. So, we have made a compromise and will review after a few weeks to see how the players like it: Three training days, one big group session and two specialist sessions based on batting and bowling rather than ability.

I'll still get my accountability by asking players to let me know they are coming rather than asking for "appointments" (too exclusive). Once I know who's coming I can manage the sessions to match players of roughly equal ability together. I can track results of the players who want to track progress. I can rest easy if someone doesn't get a bat on bowling day or vice versa.

Of course the proof will be in the reaction of the players. As we are planning a review before the league begins, that's the best way to find out. If they can see progress and clear benefits we can keep doing it. That's the point after all!

Change is always tough. Training might be my remit as coach, but I can't ignore the needs of others just because I feel a certain way. It's a process that needs to find a way that works for all. We are well on the road to that already. Let's see how it goes.

Preseason Notes: Does Data Have a Role in Club Cricket?

If you are a master chef, you use the right tools to produce the most delicious dishes. You could use just a chef's knife and get away with it, but it makes it much harder to stir the soup.

This is how I feel about data in club cricket.

Data is another tool to produce cricketers. If you use it at the right time it works a charm. Just don't try and stir the soup with it.

Many people don't see stats in this way. They look at numbers and charts and feel wrong. Sport, they say, is about passion. It's about the fire and being in the moment. It's about the meta; the context and the story. Numbers take all that away.

And yes, sport is those things. Those moments where it's a real contest, you are challenged to your limits and you are influential in the result is why I love cricket so much. Where I disagree is that data is the opposite. Used right, stats give you the chance to reach your peak more often.

Using the data tool in cricket

Let me give you some examples from West of Scotland this winter, where we have had unprecedented use of data in a club setting:

Over the last few weeks of training we have kept data on "key measurables" for batsmen and bowlers. Basically, accuracy, pace, batting average and strike rate. Then I update the players every week with a league table of their performance at nets.

Suddenly, popping along for a net means something. As one player said to me this week, "I batted well but I got out a few times. I ruined my average". It's competitive both with others and with yourself. And, let's face it, all cricketers are super-competitive.

Beyond this, the numbers also start to show me things that I suspected:

• The young all rounder who has improved his accuracy and batting strike rate dramatically with high volume erratic training.
• The unreliable batsman who has committed to training so much he has the second highest number of balls faced at nets.
• The fast bowler who has doubled his accuracy.
• The spinner who has added several mph to his pace without losing accuracy or turn
• The paceman who has bowled more than anyone else but recently lost some pace and accuracy suggesting he's slightly over-bowling.

All these things are clear in the data but less clear to the eyeballs. Chances are I would have thought all the above were true without PitchVision, but with it I KNOW it to be true. It's right there.

Once we know things, we can plan around them better. Selection can be made more on proven facts. If we want to reward those who train more with selection preference, then we can look at who has faced or bowled more balls. If we are mulling over two players we can look at their training data alongside match stats to see who has a better chance of success.

For individuals, it highlights areas to work on. Whether we are building strengths or flattening weaknesses, we can apply time and attention to tactics and mental skills rather than focus on technical changes that are easy to spot but hard to implement (especially in season).

For example, one batsman has been concerned with his technique when playing straight. It is slightly unorthodox and - in theory - might make him vulnerable to swing bowling.

In fact, he has topped the batting averages all winter and has performed against some very challenging swing bowling on the bowling machine. He has learned what he needs to do to "switch on" early in his innings simply by measuring outcomes. Due to these numbers to support him, he is more confident his technique will serve him in all situations, rather than being worried he may not survive against good bowling.

Another good example is the right length to bowl to get wickets. With the data gathered we can see what lengths are "good" for different bowlers. It's easy to compare length bowled that took wickets with length that went for runs. In one case we adjusted a players length back by about 50cm. You might argue this is so small no one cares, but games are won and lost on much smaller margins. The more you hit your most successful length to more wickets you take. As proven by data.

Where does this leave the narrative?

As you can see, there are a lot of ways to use data to improve cricket at club level. But I want to stress, there is still a huge place for the other, instinctive side of cricket: the narrative.

Cricket is best played as a story. The raw challenge is batsman vs. bowler. The wider contexts of the match and the season loom overhead. We talk long into the night about those days where we came up against a challenge and overcame it. We speak of the drama and the emotions. The numbers are too cold to tell the story.

Telling stories is a powerful human need. That's why books and movies exist and why all cricketers need a narrative to make things interesting. This not only must continue, it always will. As long as we are human.

Stats don't add much, if anything, to this basic need. They may even take away from it. But what they can do is help you tell more stories of success because you are better prepared.

Use the numbers to help you with selection, tactics and self-awareness. Then train hard to get you skills right and go into your game ready to tell your story.

It doesn't need to be a dichotomy. Use stats, use stories and enjoy your cricket all the more.

Preseason Notes: Commitment and Creativity

Preseason is progressing well at West. The three times a week sessions have proven popular and the senior squad numbers 20, averaging over 1000 balls each since February nets began.

I've been proud of the commitment the guys have shown because it's hard for club players to find the time to practice. I feel my role has been to put on as many sessions as possible, follow up with everyone and making sure they get good, focused practice when they get along. So I have got creative.

I learned last year that some old habits are harder to break than others, so I have taken a softer approach this time, looking to gradually learn how each player responds to my nudging towards self-reliance. 

We have been restricted to our indoor school because of light and weather. With two small lanes, nets are the only option. While this means we can run multiple group and one to one sessions every week, it also provides a constraint.  So, rather than do "PONP" (Plain Old Net Practice) I have tried to spice up sessions in a number of ways. Here's what I have done. 

Adding focus and pressure to nets

It's easy to turn up, have your go in nets and go home, having not improved. I wanted to make sure people had a better focus and felt like they were actually competing. 

Last year I did this by asking players what they wanted to work on. This lead to mixed results so this year I generalised it with what we call "the runs game". 

In this game we have a normal net with several bowlers and a batsman. The runs part is that batsman "keep score" by saying how many runs they think they got each ball. Clearly this is impossible, but you do get a rough idea based on the field set, the match scenario and how well you struck the ball.

These runs, along with any wickets - including self-confessed catches in the outfield  - are recorded on PitchVision. We then keep a running set of "net averages" recording balls faced, runs scored, average, strike rate and scoring ball percentage.

The benefits of this simple tweak are huge: balls matter more to the batsman, they try and play as they would in a game instead of playing "smash everything" net cricket, there is a competitive element of having a league table and I get data on players strong and weak areas.

Its also great to see the bowlers celebrating wickets like it really matters! Often the energy in the sessions is super high and intense because the competitive juices are flowing. 

We simplified the system to stop too much discussion over runs by making the batsman decide everything with no comeback from the bowler. The batsman also could only score a single or four. This stopped worry about whether it was a two or a three or if that hit over the top was a four or six. My theory is the extra ones and fours batsmen natural assume they get make up for the lack of these runs.

As the runs game is decided by the batsmen - and frankly some are easier on themselves than others - it wouldn't be fair to keep bowling averages too. So instead I monitor pace and accuracy of the bowlers with PitchVision. There is also a case of keeping track of wickets but I have not done it so far (although it's trivial with the PV data analysis we have). Again, bowlers look to compete with each other over who is most accurate and fastest. Again, I get to analyse the data for strengths and weaknesses.

But the real strength of the runs game is everyone plays it all the time. Often, accidentally playing it when they are not in the PitchVision net!  That's so much better than last season's bad habit of letting games drift into having a hit. Not bad for a silly, imperfect game huh? 

Creative ways as to make indoor nets feel outdoors

With a good focus on building tactical skills under pressure, my next challenge was to make the sessions feel more like outdoors. With a concrete surface, very cold weather, artificial lights and short run ups for bowlers, this is a big challenge! 

That said, I also challenged our assumptions about the way the conditions are different. We all assume that there is much more bounce inside, especially compared to early season wickets. However, when I compared the data from PitchVision, I saw only a 10cm difference in bounce! Admittedly the ball "skids" more than it "stops" indoors, and the light and temperatures are different, but it's not as crazy as we all assume.  

Nevertheless, the closer the better. Here's what we tried: 

• Always bowling and batting to a given scenario, rather than working on technical elements and getting nowhere.
• Adding a "game in a game" by playing the runs game while also giving batsmen 10 points that they can lose with certain mistakes such as play and miss or hit on the pads. It racks up the pressure as your score drops because when you are at zero, you are out.
• Bowling with the Sidearm to recreate the same pace as outdoors, while also allowing the batsman to see the ball being bowled (something you can't do with the bowling machine). I can bowl up to 80mph with it (although the average is 64mph, still decent 1st XI seamer pace).
• Using the bowling machine at higher speed to overload players reactions. Some of the better batsmen were facing 85mph for some drills. Against the machine, this feels much faster.
• Piling the mats on top of each other to deaden the bounce. This worked brilliantly and made the skiddy bounce become "tennis ball" bounce, just like outside. 

This last hack worked so well, I am itching to intergrate the idea further with more mats permenantly piled up in both nets. 

Keeping score adds pressure to net practice. All from a whiteboard. 

Despite all this, there is still nothing like getting outdoors. Even if it's just to bowl and field until we can get a practice wicket ready. So, I have been pushing the excellent groundsman to get something as soon as he can. I think he was a little surprised I'm asking for a wicket in March, but if weather allows what is stopping us? It's all about being creative and challenging dogma and getting the heck on with it!

Awesome commitment: West of Scotland Cricket Club 1st XI players stay after practice for fielding work.  

Preseason Notes: Attacking Tactics and Confidence

I have been writing and thinking a lot about tactics recently, and I'm wondering if it's time to rethink the classic club plan.

My thinking was sparked when I was watching a rejuvenated England ODI team blaze the ball around for fifty overs, even when wickets tumbled. It was brash and confident and "modern". It had been long called-for by those who saw other countries do the same.

I idly wondered "can the same be done at club level?"

Does aggression work? 

My first thought were to the negative: bad pitches and outfields, worse bats, balls that swing and seam more often. Average early season scores are often closer to 150 than 300. Most days, even in midsummer, 200 will win you a game.

If you consider these reasons as insurmountable barriers, you will not like the idea of being more aggressive. Taking an attack minded approach over a sensible "build a foundation" approach will reduce scores as you get bowled out within your 50 overs.

This is why club teams persevere with slowly building. It makes sense. It's tried, tested and effective.

But, I have seen club games where 300 has been scored in May too. It is possible to post above par scores in the amateur game, even if it's rare.

It made me wonder if we are "leaving runs on the pitch" by being over-cautious.

I suspected we were.

The Brendon McCullum happened.

It was a dodgy pitch against skillful swing and seam bowling - much like club games. He walked to the wicket after watching the top order shuffle to 32 in 20 overs. He then blazed the fastest ever hundred in Tests. This gentleman is not for scratching.

His tactic was born in simplicity: He was likely to get out to good bowling at any moment. There were gaps galore with all those slips. Why not smash it at the gaps as often as possible until you're out?

He knew it was his best chance of success. He was right. He left with New Zealand on 253 in 45 overs.

What would we do at club level if we scored 32 in 20? Look to get up to 50 or 60 by 30 overs then take a few more risks in the last 20 to get up to 120. There's every chance that would be enough. I've seen enough games where 140 is a winning score. I've played a game where 98 is a winning score!

253 would win you most games.

What McCullum personified was the "screw it, let's do it" mindset that can get you way past a par score. Yes, he was lucky, yes he was brilliant. Yes, his efforts can be emulated by lesser mortals.

That's when I knew we had a chance to grow and become a fast-scoring club side.

The attacking mindset

I think it's more about mindset than skill.

At club level we don't trust our skills as much. We feel we have to play safe. We don't want to be accused of making a "silly mistake" and we don't want to waste our one weekly chance with a frantic swipe.

Yet, we can change this fearful thinking and score more as a result.

Like McCullum, think of batting as a chance to get as many as possible before you inevitably fall (after all, you are out almost every time no matter how you play).

You can still play with skill and controlled risk, but I'm certain you can score more quickly. Even the fearful blocker has a way.

I talked about how to do this in detail over at PitchVision Academy.

Tactics, culture and practice

Now, team tactics and roles are not up to me at West. My job is to advise the captain and senior players, not set the policy. That's right and proper because the captain has to run the side on the day. He is ultimately responsible for the result so must set the tactics. I'll work with players within context of the captain's vision for success.

I also cannot set the culture at the club. I can influence it as coach - strongly - but I can't make up people's minds for them. That culture is crucial because we must continue to allow players to have the freedom to make mistakes if we want them post bigger totals. It means still not judging a "silly shot" by either ourselves or others. It means accepting days where the tactic was right but the implementation needs work. I will push for these things but the ultimate culture is down to the players.

As coach, what I do is help players see what they are capable of when they push themselves. So, when any given player walks out to bat in any given role he knows exactly what to do to push the score along.

For many, that's not McCullum style swinging but it is a more positive style of thriving by working the ball around and hitting boundaries in strong areas. For others it's knowing when to unleash the power shots. We have several players who have it in them.

It all goes back to knowing your skills and trusting your ability to put them into action.

Attacking is not slogging, it's confidence

What is my conclusion?

I believe club sides do leave runs on the table through over caution.

I believe that through a combination of practice, confidence and culture we can feed more runs into a par score.

As a result, sides who do this - as I hope we can do at West - will leave other club teams struggling to compete.

Preseason Notes: The Journey Begins

2016 Preseason nets at West of Scotland Cricket Club

Preseason has begun at West of Scotland.

I'm excited about the next few months in the run up to the start of the cricket season. The aim is to raise the standards of the entire club, from part time third team player through youth players all the way up to first team stars.

It's a huge challenge.

So how are we approaching it?

If I was going to put it into a statement I'd say, "Focused and flexible training".

Focused because I believe you improve by practicing specific things and flexible because the range of abilities, available time and motivation to train is wide.

We have started this year with an new experimental weekly structure, all based in the two lane indoor nets:

• One club net session
• Two junior net sessions
• One batting session, done in small groups.
• One bowling session, done in small groups.
• Multiple one to one coaching sessions

The joy of this is the flexibility. Casual guys can come to the club session and enjoy the usual banter. Serious guys can focus on their main skill in a more focused and skill-matched environment.

It's so flexible, even the exceptions can get what they need. For example, one player is mainly a batsman but can only get to the bowling session. So, he comes down half an hour early and faces the bowling machine. Then, when the fast bowlers arrive he faces them in the nets before finally bowling at the end.

I run the specialist skill sessions in small groups of 3-5 players an hour at a time. This means the batsmen get 40 minutes working on specifics and batting in tactical situations. The bowlers get 40 minutes working between target bowling and tactical bowling. There is no way this would happen if we had simply general nets.

Of course this is all backed by PitchVision to track both bowling and batting as much as possible.

I keep "averages" for the batsmen based on a game we play, and accuracy stats for the bowlers. This is designed to be a motivational tool

Is there a down side?

There is a heck of a lot of coaching for me to run: Planning sessions, setting up, throwing balls, talking through things, tracking and updating data. Even for a badger like me it's tiring.

It means I rely on players to take control of their own game and help each other because I can't be everywhere. However, even in this first week back I have seen guys swapping advice, helping each other and walking into to nets knowing what they want to do rather than "having a hit".

From my perspective, the first week was a huge success. We had high numbers at all sessions and the intensity was brilliant. Time will tell if I can maintain this frantic pace and players can keep standards as high as week one, but I believe we can.

If this experiment works, we will hit the new season more prepared than any team in the country.

I'll keep you posted.

Session Notes: Focusing on New Goals

An outdoor net session at West of Scotland CC. 

With better weather, we finally got some sessions on the square and took advantage by having some middle practice.

I was cautious as the last time we tried to do this it failed badly. I didn't want a repeat so we chatted as a group and came up with a set of rules based on building realistic pressure. Here's what we said,

• Bat in pairs with the minimum of a run every third ball.
• All forms of dismissal possible
• Two bowlers in tandem, bowling from one end.
• After 4 wickets, the pair are finished

Overall it was a success, despite their being one pair who got a longer bat and one pair who got out fairly quickly. This didn't go down well in all quarters so I pointed out that cricket is like that sometimes. We don't all get our 15 minutes to bat in games. I also said that how you respond to an "unfair" moment tells you a lot about your character. Sometimes, like cricket and life, training is unfair. The ability to shrug off the unfairness is part of your skill as a player.

On the plus side everyone fielded with intensity. Hopefully this was due to the words I had beforehand about staying up for it, and also the multiple run out chances because of the third ball run rule!

Then, as a counter-balance, we had a more traditional net at the next session. The session was low in both numbers and player motivation. I think this is because the season is drawing to a close and there is not much to play for. I let it drift along just keeping a general eye on people and offering some quiet words. It's not exactly what I wanted to do, but sometimes you have to read the tone of the day.

With three senior sessions left this season, I may give people a new focus to finish the season well. 

Session Notes: Intent, Intent, Intent

I have to hand it to one of our young players. He gets what I am trying to do, as proven by the evidence of a net he had during our last session.

He knew he had trouble against spin, so he asked for only  spinners to bowl, while setting up target areas with cones. He then set about trying to hit the target areas along the ground and trying to hit everything else over the top. In short, a  self-driven net with a plan and an easy way to track the outcome. Brilliant.

Playing spin with a goal in mind

After the session I heard a criticism of this approach saying it was tactically wrong to think you can use your feet and hit spinners over the top in club cricket. Whether you agree with this or not (and I don't), we can't possibly criticise a player for making a plan then learning how to execute.

As our skipper said in response, "If you want to learn to use your feet, then use your feet to every ball in the net. It teaches you which ones you can hit, and which ones you can't". Quite right.

A few words of coaching advice...

Weather Notes: One Game in Five Weeks

Recent weeks have seen very little except battles against rain. The First XI have had two matches called off. The 2nds have managed a game but lost a tight chase against top of the table. There has been no Sunday, senior T20 or junior cricket for what seems like a month.

Frankly, it's depressing. The Firsts have completed one game in the last five.

We continue to train twice a week come rain or shine. It's mostly rain, but the indoor nets save us every time. Numbers have dwindled: This is understandable considering the lack of chance to play or train outside. From a training viewpoint this is is fine because there are two nets here, so any more than 10 is a tight squeeze.

I have also felt the lethargy. Training feels like "going through the motions", with people putting in work at nets - and even coming up with new fielding drills when the rain stops - yet the thought looms large that it will simply be grim on Saturday and no one will play.

One highlight has been a fielding drill for 5-7 players that is highly realistic and the players seem to enjoy it. 

I stand with a bat by a stump and a player feeds a ball to cut or back foot drive. 2-3 players field in the covers and try to stop it and throw down the stumps at the other end. The others back up and return. After 10 tries the teams swap, and most hits win.

I like the realism, and the fact I can hit it hard at fielders, or drop in into space. The forces players to anticipate much more than usual drills where one skill is practiced.

Alongside this drill, we have come up with some crackers this year. I am sure not original drills, but I am loving the creativity of the players.

Also, the hardcore of guys who train are putting in some serious work. We have a couple of bowlers who are striving for better accuracy and will bowl at cones on the outfield for hours between showers. At least four batsmen have put in some good technical and tactical work under the constraints of using the machine indoors.

Yet, without the challenge of games, we feel down. In season training is supposed to be about review of the previous game and prep for the next game. This feels more like the off season with so few games in the last month. If we had known we had a block without matches we could have planned something better, but they say it's the hope that kills you!

Let's focus on finishing the season with sun and wins.

Experimentation in nets

Experimenting is such a key part of practice.

We just finished a small group session in the nets where the aim was to try and put a batsman under pressure. 

After discussion we decided that setting a scenario was not enough because you could hit the ball in a net well and think it's gone for runs when in reality it hits a fielder. So we improvised.

First, we tried bowling from 17 yards. This made the bowling much quicker. We then tracked the control of the batsman. After 50 balls we realised he was in control 75% of the time, so there was very little pressure.

We chatted again and decided to give him a stump instead. This made it much harder and his control went down and focus went up. It was more pressure and more challenge and teaching him to adapt.

Was it perfect? No way, it was contrived. Did it do the job it was designed to do? Absolutely.

This kind of session should be the bedrock of our quest to improve. It just takes a little creative thinking and commitment from players.

Game Note: Low Confidence Chase

Saturday's First XI match saw one of our best performances of the year, yet resulted in another defeat. We were unable to chase 187.

Despite the result there were a lot of positive moments. We bowled well and recovered back from a weak start. One of our spinners finally got figures worth talking about. We took wickets and restricted scoring. The fielding was excellent.

The batting had its wobble moment, but the top four all got starts. That's a huge improvement on the collapses we have seen all year. It set us up to be on an unprecedented 57-2 after 20.

From this point, there is no doubt we should have won. The required rate was 4.4 and the opposition were tiring. We had two good, experienced batsmen at the crease.

Instead, the opposition set ring fields (only fine leg and third man outside the circle) with the keeper up and bowled tight medium pace. It's a classic strategy that we should have been able to overcome with no issue. However, we scored 26 runs in 12 overs. One batsman took 45 balls to score 12 runs and when he was out the rate had jumped to 5.5.

Afterwards he told me that he was frustrated with his inability to get the ball away. He was playing good cricket shots, but hitting the ball to the phalanx in the covers (five men in the ring on the off side). He couldn't hit a gap and didn't know what to do other than keep trying. He was out trying to hit over the top and miscueing. Sadly, it was this phase that had the biggest contribution to the loss.

With the rate climbing, the middle order started to try things and all failed. Between overs 31-41 we scored 36 and lost four wickets. The worst of them was a young player who was clearly feeling the stress before going out to bat. He looked incredibly frustrated by the slow scoring, but is really good at working the ball around. When he went in needing to score six an over he should have played his "hit the gap and run hard" game, but he felt the pressure and ran down the wicket to be stumped. It was synonymous of our lack of confidence and experience in a chase. 

A confident team could have easily scored five or even six an over for 10-15 overs. We needed 86 runs in 84 balls with six wickets in hand. That's at the top end of our skillset, but possible. Yet with an atmosphere of failure in the dressing room and no experience in knocking off the runs, we found the challenge too great.

In one last gasp we pinned everything on a big hitting lower order batsman who delivered hope in a 21 ball 24. It was fun to watch but the challenge of scoring 64 in 54 balls (the situation when he walked in) was highly unlikely by that point. All out for 154.

It's clear to me that we are as strong as ever in all departments. However, our lack of experience at a chase cost us. We didn't know how to react to the situation and let it slip away. My job with the batsmen at training is to try to build a method they can use to score in this situation.