Cricket Tips (Cricket Match Day Preparation For Club & School Level)
Cricket Match Day Preparation For Club & School Level
How should you prepare so you are at your best for your next club game?
©Cricket World
When the Ferrari team arrive at a track for a race, the car is ready to do its job of going round a track at breakneck speed. 90% of the work is done far away from race day.
But over the course of several days and trips round the track, the team fine-tune the car to the specifics of the race. The engine is tuned, the aerodynamics are tweaked and fractions of seconds are shaved from lap times.
It’s this last 10% that is the toughest, because it makes the most difference.
And when it comes to cricket, you are the car and your match day preparation is the fine-tuning.
Like that Ferrari, all the tuning in the world is going to make no difference if you arrive with a bad car in the first place. But if you have trained well, the final hours and minutes before you see your own green light are the difference between winning and losing.
What does this tuning look like?
There are 4 areas you need to think about as the game approaches.
Get in a routine
Whether we are conscious of it or not, we all go into a match in a certain mental state. This could be anything from hyped up as an opening bowler to calm focus as a top order batsman.
It can also be negative: flat in the field, distracted, even hung over.
And it all starts from the moment we get up. Long before the first ball is bowled.
Good players are aware of what works best for them and how to achieve control on the morning of the match. The key is to have a set routine.
Routine works because it gives you a feeling of control. You are not stressed by surprises like finding you are missing a boot 5 minutes before you have to go out and field.
But everyone is different so there are no rules for what this routine should be.
Some players thrive on order and will want a very precise routine for everything from how the kit is packed to what warm up drills they do. Others will be more laid back. Whatever your own opinions, don’t forget there may be team rules to consider too.
However, as long as you feel in control with an uncluttered mind then your mental preparation is on track.
Some simple tricks to help you get in the right place are:
- Having a checklist that covers equipment, food and drink that you need to take to the match, when you need to leave and other practical matters.
- Knowing what warm up exercises and drills you want to perform before play.
- Reviewing your goals for the match and season
- Visualising success by standing in the middle and thinking about how you will get your wickets and runs
- Thinking about how conditions will change your tactics
- Looking at cue cards
- Paying attention in the team talk
None of these are vital to your success, but getting your head right is and if these tools help you get there then they are doing a job. So experiment with them and if they work, make them part of your routine.
You are what you eat
Thinking back to our Ferrari, the Italian car-makers wouldn’t put bad fuel into the engine on race day. You shouldn’t put bad fuel into yourself on match day either.
Apart from the long term benefits of feeling better, having less fat and more muscle, a well fuelled body keeps the fatigue away longer.
That’s vital for the closing moments of a crucial match.
But eating right is a combination of factors that are more than just what you eat, and any eating rules you follow are only as good as your ability to stick to them 90% of the time. F1 cars never have a sneaky sip on inferior fuel.
I have faith in you though.
So here is what research says you should eat on the day of the match:
- Eat whole foods that are as unprocessed as possible (eggs, meat, vegetables, fruit, fish, nuts, etc.)
- Don’t worry about ‘carbing up’. It’s perfectly reasonably to eat starchy carbohydrates from whole food sources (rice, quinoa, potatoes, beans, oats) but there is no need to go mad. You’re not running a marathon.
- Eat during the tea and lunch intervals, ideally with whole foods.
- During the match feel free to take in ‘liquid energy’ in the form of a drink that combines protein and carbs (example: chocolate milk).
Warming up: Preparing the body and mind together
After getting your routine in order and eating right, it’s finally time to start your final countdown to the match: The qualifying laps of cricket.
That begins with the general part of your warm up, which is a warm up for both body and mind.
Traditionally a warm up is used in sport to get your heart rate up to game level. This works well in team games like football where you know you will be running around for a set time period.
This is fine if you are fielding, opening the bowling or batting. But what if you are a bowler whose side are batting first?
The warm up is still crucial to your preparation because it’s more than just getting your muscles warm. It’s also about getting your game head on. That is to say, you are psychologically prepared for the match, even if you have nothing to do immediately at the start of play.
Think about the way you are going to move during the game and get those muscles warm, stretched and ready to fire.
These are split into:
- Mobility drills: dynamic movements that stretch the muscles to improve the mobility around your ankle, hip, thoracic spine and shoulder.
- Activation drills: movements that ‘wake up’ muscles by moving them in ways they are going to move when you are playing. The important ones are glutes (for running), core anti-rotation and the trapezius, serratus anterior, rotator cuff and rhomboid muscles involved in shoulder movements (for bowling, batting and throwing).
Some movements combine the drills to get a bit of both. You can get examples of mobility and activation drills in this article and this one. There are literally hundreds more movements.
There is no need to do all of them, just a few to make sure your body is ready at a physical level.
Some coaches still advocate a ‘general’ warm up before these drills; 5-10 minutes of general activity that gets the blood pumping. Personally I’m not a fan because it’s hard to control how to do this. For example, a game of football or touch rugby can quickly get competitive juices flowing and everyone is gassed before movement preparation has even begun.
These drills would be enough before moving to the last part of the warm up.
However, to really ramp up the intensity you could finish this section with some sprint drills. This makes sense because if you sprint during a game to chase a ball you want to have at least practiced it a couple of times. 4-6 10m sprints with about a minute’s rest should do it. Make it competitive to really get people sprinting hard.
Blow away the technical cobwebs
Now you get more cricket-skill specific.
This part can be done a number of ways but as a coach I like to split it up like this:
- General fielding skills work. Fielding drills that cover throwing, and high and flat catching. As much as possible do this as a team. Keep them short and sharp to avoid boredom and fatigue.
- Batsman’s throwdowns. The batsmen can then move to having throw downs or a full net if time permits. Pair up non-batters with top order players as batting buddies. It’s important to avoid confusing yourself with technical adjustments. Save that for practice sessions and work within your limits for this match.
- Bowlers target practice and close catchers. Bowlers who want to get loose should mark out a pitch and bowl at a marker on the ground as a target. At the same time, the specialist close catchers can do their work (there is rarely a clash). Again, avoid any technical stuff; stick to ‘just bowling’ or ‘just catching’ and save the error correction for practice.
- Team game. Finish with a team based fielding drill that is high energy and gets everyone involved. This is a great example so is this.
The order is not fixed, but finishing on the high of a team game is a good way to get the energy up before individuals vanish off to have some final reflections before the game starts.
Take a moment to reflect
Finally you head back to the mental side before play starts.
You will already know what the team is doing, and what your role is. Reflect on this as much as you need to. For example if you are about to open the batting, take some time aside to visualise your innings and calm yourself down. Opening bowlers on the other hand might try hyping themselves up to get more pace.
For some people, finishing with a general positive statement helps keep them in the right frame of mind.
And then you will be physically and mentally ready for play to begin: A finely tuned F1 car on the grid and ready to go racing.
© 2014 Pitchvision Academy
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