This is part one of a two part series. To go to part two click here.

There are a lot of ways to win a cricket match. The most effective is to bowl the opposition out. If you can take 10 (or 20) wickets in any format regularly you are going to win a lot of games.

Good bowling is the key to this and good bowling comes from intent: It's hard to take wickets if you don't have the killer instinct.

That may seem an obvious thing to say. It's not as obvious to do. I've played in games where teams are just drifting through the opposition's innings waiting for something to happen. The bowling is unimaginative, the captain barely adjusts the field and everyone is hoping for a run out.

I'm sure you have been there too. It's great if you are batting at the time, not much fun if you are in the field. You have given the momentum to your opponents.

It's at points like this that skill becomes less of a consideration. It's all about your mental approach.

Some might argue that skill is always the number one consideration. I disagree. Look at it like this: In most matches selected on ability (league cricket for example), most players will be about the same skill level. Everyone in a first grade Australian cricket match will be about first grade standard. You may get the odd person above or below their current level but they are the exception that proves the rule.

If everyone has roughly equal skill levels, attitude distinguishes the winners from the losers.

This has been called a number of things: Mental toughness, momentum, heart (or ticker), street smarts or steely. It's all the same.

What can you do to keep the quicks snarling, the spinners giving it a rip and the fielders feeling part of the attack? In short, how do you get the killer instinct?

Let's take the example of the Australians in India in 2008. In one game skipper Ponting used part time spin bowlers instead of his highly effective seam attack to catch up with the over rate. India won the game and the series. The critics had a field day.

A leader can install any kind of thinking into a team. In Australia's case it was the wrong approach if they wanted to win the match. The captain was the focus here, but respected players have a job to do too. You don't have to have the armband to be a leader.

If your approach is to try and win every game until there is no chance you can win it, then you need to help everyone keep a killer attitude whether you are a captain or member of the ranks.

In the next part we look at how you do this. To go there now, click here.