How to adopt the killer instinct in your cricket club (part 2)
This is part two of a two part series. To go to part one click here.
In the last part of these series we found out why a killer instinct is critical to your clubs success whatever level you are at. Today we look at the three ways you can do it as a captain or player.
1. Keep wickets at the front of your mind
Wickets can come from good bowling, good fielding, good captaincy or bad batting but you must keep the aim of taking them at the front of your mind. There is a world of difference between thinking "how are we going to get this one out" and "we will never get this one out".
The former way of thinking gives you hope even when the score is 300-1. The latter makes you sit back, defend and hope. It's a control thing.
This approach applies to everyone on the pitch. The bowler should be making plans to set batsmen up. the captain will work with him to set the field and motivate the fielders. The fielders will be ready to take catches and hit the stumps with run outs because they know every chance is golden.
There will be some exceptions to this rule. For example, at the end of an innings where it's clear a side will not be bowled out and are playing for the declaration or end of their allotted overs. It's here that defence is your only option.
No matter what the situation, you can set a personal or team target to keep the momentum going your way. This could be to bowl maidens, keep a certain player off strike or anything else relevant.
The captain is in charge of this, but fielders can set personal targets. Staying focused every ball or stopping boundaries. Even wicketkeepers can think to themselves 'no byes today'. It all helps keep the screw turned.
If things are going wrong and catches get dropped or bowlers are serving up half volleys every other ball don't despair. Reset your targets and keep focusing on what you can do. I'm a wicketkeeper for example and I often use the 'no byes today' trick. If I do concede a bye (or worse, four byes) I don't think that I have failed for the day I just think: "OK mistake made. Nothing I can do about it. No more byes".
You should always have a plan A. It's important to know what you are doing as you bowl rather than just sending it up the other end hoping something will happen. Good players also formulate other plans in case the first one fails.
No matter what is happening, keep coming up with new ideas. Your first plan may work. If so keep the other plans in the back of your head and carry on. If the original plan fails keep trying new things until you make a breakthrough. It's all about going back to that 'never say die' attitude.
What can you try? Changing line, changing angle on the crease, going around the wicket, slower balls, quicker balls, unusual fielding positions, changing the bowling, winding up your opponent or even winding up the bowler (Mike Brearley famously used to call Ian Botham a medium pacer which made him bowl faster than ever).
What are your experiences with adopting a killer intent?
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Comments
I think having something to say every ball helps as it can motivate the bowler and fielding team and can put pressure on the batsman.
A trick I use when bowling is to try to bowl boring, but still be trying to get the batsman out. Just by bowling maidens and in the same spot. It can make the batsman frustrated because they continue to play the same shot for no runs so they come up with a different shot which is usually the incorrect one and voila a wicket. It may not necessarily be line and length. But even wide outside off with a packed off side field. I recall India used this trick in the series against Australia and worked quite well. Becuase it forced them to play different shots as they needed to win.
If things aren't going your way. Variation is effective. A slower ball or a bouncer or whatever every 3-4 overs is what I keep it too. If I'm bowling it too regularly they'll be wary of it. Even setting him up by bowling 4 wide balls and then 1 straight. Stuff like that.
If your main bowlers aren't getting the breakthrough, the captain can bring on a part timer and may get a quick wicket. The batsman will think the bowler is easy to play meaning they're not 100% focused on the ball. Even if they bowl a bad ball, they generally take wickets because the batsman take it easy and get out. You know the saying "**** gets wickets".
I think sledges are part of this...stare the opponent..say a word or 2...(within the spirit of the game) ..always helps bring a smile to your teammates..and at the same time disturbs the opposition batsman's mind set...
a funny sledge from the fielder will only help lift the spirit of your club.....i know some people are against sledging..but for me its alright to a certain extent
You should know who and when to "sledge" though, it's always worth keeping on eye on the younger, less- experienced members of the team when the banter starts to fly, as they often get carried away with the “verbals” and loose sight of what they are actually trying to achieve. My experience has shown me that some batsman thrive on receiving "stick." I know this, because I'm one of them! The wrong comment or "dig" at the wrong batsman can only do to bolster their resolve... some batsman will actively encourage sledging. As a captain it's your duty to know the opposition and in doing so, who's an easy target and who you shouldn't even say a word to.
Yes i agree Peter, some batsman can surely counter it and actually trash bowlers after that...but it does keep your side charged up...and lets the batsman know that you are there to get him out....
Perfect subject! We've lost our killer instinct in our firt XI at the moment and no matter what we try we can't seem to re capture it.
We've spoken about having light training sessions as the possibility of over working has come up.
We've spoken about outside activities unrelated to cricket, going to the movies as a group, out for a meal, to the beach etc, of course this doesn't build or re capture the killer instinct but enjoying your cricket and the ten guys you play with certainly goes along way to finding it.
From our loss today, i felt we lacked self belief, most of the bowlers were bowling to contain rather than take wickets (in a one day game and defending 154!)
It seems to be we conceed that we can't get their best batsman out so we'll do the next best thing and give him easy runs to keep him off strike as much as possible.
Obviously when you're losing, your enjoyment wavers, and when you stop enjoying cricket (a sport that takes up alot of spare time) you tend to just drift away.
Get back to enjoying the game, the blokes you play with and everything else that goes with being a member of a club.