Debunking "Going Quiet In The Field"

One of the popular mantras from the "old heads" at my cricket club is,

"The problem is that you all went quiet in the field. You have to back the bowler!"

Every time we lose, especially batting first, that line comes out in some way or another. And it certainly seems like sensible advice. 

But is it really?

Let's look at the evidence.

Everyone knows that these days a good fielding side work together to back the bowler. You clap, you cheer. You "ooh" and "ahh" when the ball beats the bat. You use well timed sledging to make the batsmen feel like he is taking on a beast with 11 heads.

When I coach I always throw in a line to the boys about encouraging the bowlers. 

And as a 'keeper I am often the last to shut up with the encouragement myself. I feel like it's my job to be team cheerleader so the captain can hatch his plans in peace.

The idea behind this strategy is two-fold:

1. It intimidates and distracts the batsman.
2. It keeps the bowler going.

I have little doubt that a fired-up, enthusiastic side is capable of one or both of these. Think back to a time when you were on top. Wickets fell. The bowler was charging in. You felt like something was going happen nearly every ball. As a result you naturally had greater energy as a team.

But that is also the problem: The noise and enthusiasm came from the fact you were on top. Not the other way around. You can't pretend to be on top when the batting side are blasting you to all corners. So you "go quiet" and the sages on the sidelines make a mental note to criticise your efforts.

That's why you have to know there are times when "going quiet" is a right and proper response. It doesn't mean that you have given up on winning, simply that you are focusing on something more important than making a pointless noise.

When to Go Quiet in The Field

The best teams in the world don't win games through passion.

Passion is important, but it can also cloud the mind. The better teams know that winning is about making a plan then, without distraction, putting it into action.

And that takes a cold, calculating and icy approach that goes beyond shouting "come on lads" after every ball. 

Say it's your strategy to squeeze a side out of the game bowling second. You are less interested in bowling them out than you are in drying up the runs so much that they can't keep up with the rate. What do you need to achieve that?

• Accurate bowling
• Well set fields
• Efficient fielding
• A touch of luck

Which one of those is improved by being loud in the field?

I'm going to go ahead and say that none of them. 

Sure, a bowler might feel encouraged by hand clapping, but he will also feel supported by fielders who take catches, throw themselves into dives to save boundaries and back up the back up fielders: The unspoken code of teamwork.

My point is simple; it's far more important to be well drilled, calculating and efficient than it is to be loud. The latter springs from the former.

Of course, it's also possible to go quiet because you have indeed given up on trying to win. That is not acceptable unless you are truly out of the game (a rare moment). In this case, the team do need to do some artificial encouragement to each other. Remind everyone that it's not over until "the fat lady sings". Even if she is in the wings warming up, she's not showing her pipes yet. Let's get on with it.

The job of the captain, and coach - and even the old heads - is to recognise the difference between getting on with a job and giving up. Then to decide whether going quiet was a symptom of poor team support or just a matter of being focused on the important task of trying to win a cricket match.

Cricket Coaching Lessons I Learned After Passing Level 2

I have been coaching cricket since 1993, taking the "new" level 2 in 2008 and so I have a lot of miles in my coaching engine. I have learned a huge amount in that time and now I want to pass on some of my thoughts.

In many ways it's my open letter to the 18 year old David Hinchliffe about what to expect as a coach. Whether you are newly qualified yourself, or have years of experience, I would like to hear what you think.

Respect Will Make or Break Your Coaching

I'm a total cricket badger. I always have obsessed about technique, tactics, fitness and the mental game. I devoured everything I could about the game because I wanted to improve myself and be able to coach others with the aid of my encyclopaedic knowledge.

What I know now is that knowledge is just the start: Real coaching is about developing respect.

Of course, you still need to get the information right. You will never get respect or results if your abilities to observe, identify and correct are lacking. But players who respect you will listen to you. Players who listen to you have a chance of improving.

That may seem simple, but just because you have a hoodie with "COACH" emblazoned on the back, doesn't mean you will garner respect. That takes a whole different set of skills that are not taught to you on Level 2 because they are highly individual.

How to Win Respect of Anyone You Coach

I've noticed that this is one reason why there are fewer coaches at senior level that at junior level. It's much easier to have respect of a group of 12 year old cricketers than it is a jaded bunch of 20-40 year old cricketers.

But whoever you coach at whatever level, you can gain their respect.

It starts by having the confidence to know what you are trying to achieve. You have to be a very different coach with a very different goal if you are only able to run senior warm ups compared to coordinating a junior rep level side.

And to know what you are trying to achieve, you better damn well know what every individual player is trying to achieve too. I learned pretty fast that my goals rarely matched most of the people I coach. So I learned to adapt. I changed my approach to help players get what they wanted, even if it wasn't the image of perfection that I had in my mind.

Perfection is in the eye of the beholder.

It was obvious that this worked for me. Players respected me more because they saw I was working for them and not trying to force things.

For example, when I started at a new club a few years back I was quickly developing a reputation as the "drills guy with all his cones". The players would rib me for it. I could have given up and fallen in line with the old way of warming up with a few catches before play. Instead, I talked to players. I found out what they wanted to do:

"We drop too many catches in the deep"

So we bought a skyer and made it a challenge to catch as many as possible before play.

"I bowl too many bad balls"

We marked out an area for the bowlers and put flat markers down for target bowling.

You get the idea.

I still go my precious drills, but the guys felt like they were doing them for a reason and so they respected my ability to come up with things that did what they wanted while also keeping them interested.

Better Sessions are About People Not Drills

There is a comedian called Pete Holmes who talks about the idea of the "$10,000 statement". It's the idea that a very simple statement is very difficult to really learn. So it takes $10,000 of therapy to really get it.

My $10,000 statement about coaching is this: It's about people, not drills.

I know it's obvious, but it took me a lot of years - and a lot of sessions - to really understand that fact. I would rather have a few drills and have a real connection with my players than hundred of drills and a bunch of players who are closed off to new ideas.

When you connect with players, they not only learn from you, they learn from themselves because they are open and mindful.

Maybe that openness and mindfulness is only for 15 minutes before your matches in the summer. Maybe it's part of a year long programme of talented cricketers. It doesn't matter because either way you are making a difference.

And that is what it's all about.

Why All Coaches Should Hate Draw Cricket

I love draw cricket, but these days it seems a little pointless to flog the dead horse.  In my latest vlog I take the view as a coach and as a player.

How to Build a Standing Desk for Free

The modern cricket coach at any level spends a lot of time at a computer. From writing reports to working out averages to keeping up to date with emails from players and parents there is always something that needs you to be tied to a desk.

I've wanted to use a standing desk for a long time now. I have been convinced by the research that says sitting is killing you. My job involves a lot of sitting down and I knew that an hour in the gym 3 times a week was not cutting it.

Thing is, I didn't want to pay the hundreds it costs to get a standing solution. Desks can be up to £800 and even cheap desk adaptors are a couple of hundred.

Then I found a site that showed me how to do the same thing for about £20.

It was reading that elegant solution that got me to thinking that I could do it for even less.

Here is how I did it for free. And you can too if you have stuff found in most homes or offices.

Free Standing Desk

You will need:

• A normal desk
• A sturdy box that is about 14" (35cm) high

Instructions:

1. Put the box on top of the desk.
2. Put your laptop or monitor, keyboard and mouse on top of the box.

That's it!

Is it beautiful? I guess it depends how nice the box and desk look to you. But the fact is that it works.

Here is how I laid out mine:

I have been using the desk for a few days now and I can tell you that I can work for long periods standing up with no discomfort.

Customising Your Standing Desk

I was lucky enough that I had a box that was the right height. I can stand with my elbows at 90 degrees and use the keyboard easily. I had to slightly raise the monitor to get it up to my eye line using a smaller box, but I had that lying around.

It's important that the desk is comfortable to use, so bear in mind those factors when setting up your standing desk. You might find that the investment of a a few pounds is worthwhile to get a box that is the right height. Only you can know, but you can still do it for much cheaper than a real standing desk.

I also have a laptop I can put at sitting height. I have found that standing all day is a little tough, so a couple of times in the day I will sit at the laptop and do a specific piece of work like checking email. This has had the added benefit of stopping me idly checking email through the day instead of making awesome stuff for PitchVision fans (more on that topic in another article).

My Standing Desk Experience

The question remains, would I recommend a standing desk?

If you work at a desk quite a lot I would heartily say yes. With a free standing desk you can try it out and see how you feel spending more time standing. My experience so far has been positive, but if I change my mind I can always just take the box off the desk and go back to the old way.

However, when I am standing up I feel more focused and energised. I am able to work at things with less distraction. Sitting down feels like a little treat to myself, and because I have a specific job to do when I sit (email) I can get on with it while feeling good.

It's too early to comment on the actual health benefits, but I certainly feel better about myself for doing it after all these years.

Give it a try and let me know how you go!

5 Tech Devices That Help Cricket Coaches

One of the themes of this site is how new technology can be integrated into good cricket coaching. This video shows you what I am using to balance things out.

About

As this is the first article, you are going to get an introduction to the site. I reserve the right to change how I do things as I go along, but for now here is the past and my ideas for the future at david25.com

What's with the name? 

It's one I made up in 2001 when I joined a web forum on a whim. I ended up working for the site full time and by then the name had stuck. Over a decade later I bought the domain because I figured it would be easy to say out loud to people. Wars have been started on less.

How did things start? 

 After leaving the forum for a networking tech job, I started a little site on the side about cricket coaching called harrowdrive.com which merged with PitchVision Academy in 2008. I became Director of Coaching there and have been living the dream ever since.

 PVA is a huge archive of material written, collected, recorded and edited by yours truly.  I'm super-proud of it and if you play or coach cricket you should absolutely go over there and do a deep dive into the pool of content. But there is also a corporate image to maintain. There are dependencies on other people. I can't always make stuff the way I want to make it. That's not a complaint, far from it, but it means I needed another outlet.

What to expect

So I created this site to be more personal, to put the stuff I would never dream of putting on the "day job" site. Equally, I won't be adding articles and videos that are better suited to PVA. This site is my place to play with formats, take longer to make things and to be more personal.

Franky, its also to show off, to have a lark about and to connect with like minded souls.

 Of course, as a cricket coach with over 20 years experience, and total cricket badger, that means I'm often going to be talking about cricket.  There will be advice and experiences,

So if you want a kind of personal sidebar to PVA, this is the place for you.

And if you want private coaching from me (as a speaker, coach or consultant) you can hit me up without my work cap getting in the way.

I'll also be talk about fitness, food, technology and anything else that swings across my life. My aim is to do it in an interesting and entertaining manner, but also to give you something practical from the site. My first bit of advice is to subscribe via email so you get the site updates when the come out. If you don't like it you can opt out. If you do like it, then let me know!

What's next? 

Honestly, if you subscribe via email you will not miss out. My plan is to update once or twice a week with long form articles, video blogs, how to guides, analysis of trends in technology relevant to cricket coaching. I might change that depending on how well it goes, but I guess that's up to you as much as it is me.

Join me for the ride and we might have a little fun.