Cricket is a game of the mind as much as the body. Emotions have a direct effect on your game. If you know how to tap into the right intensity you could end up winning the league with your team like mine did this season.

It was the last game of the season. We were top of the table by the smallest margin. We needed a win to be sure of gaining the league title. The team in second were unbeaten and unlikely to cave in at this late stage.

In our single innings game we batted first. It was a difficult wicket and at one point we thought 120 would be about as many as we could muster. Thanks to a late lower order rally we scored 160 in 49 overs and declared leaving the opposition 51 overs to score the runs. We needed to bowl them out for victory.

Due to our late innings hitting and strong bowling attack we started out assuming all we had to do was roll them over. We had been doing so against other teams most of the season. Things started poorly when we couldn't find our lines and one opener decided he was going to take the game away from us. Before we knew it the opening stand had passed 50 and there were barely 10 overs on the board.

Then the attacking opener went at a wide one and was caught one handed at point. We were still well behind the game so the captain called us in.

It was the biggest dressing down I have ever had on a cricket pitch. The captain, an experienced former club skipper, told us we were not going to win the league by going through the motions. If we wanted this game we would have to put in the effort.

The realisation suddenly spurred us into action and we were a different side. The opening bowlers switched ends and our medium pacer bowled an unplayable spell of 5 overs, going for just 2 runs and taking a crucial wicket.

At the other end our quickest bowler added a yard of pace, ripped out the top order and came back to finish the tail with 2 wickets in 2 balls to finish the season. They were still over 50 runs behind when the last wicket fell and the celebrations went on into the small hours of the morning.

What was crucial about this win was not the skill or fitness of the players; it wasn't even how they had prepared. The key was a switch in attitude. Had we carried on playing and hoping we would never have won the game (and would have finished second in the league). Thanks to making the most of a bit of luck we made the game ours.

It was a combination of effective man-management from the captain and a team of players with confidence. Something any side at any level can emulate.

image credit: kptyson

Want to be a better captain? Learn from the best with the interactive online course Cricket Captaincy by Mike Brearley.