Ignorance isn't Bliss: Easily Avoid Ireland's Simple Mistake
Can "context" win you matches?
Let's look at an example. I was as amazed as anyone when watching the striking power of the Netherlands in the World T20 match against Ireland.
Yet if you were to compare the two sides ability to strike big sixes at the start of the game then most would have sided with the Irish.
What was the difference?
It was simply that one team had basic match and qualification information at their disposal whilst the other one was oblivious to the match context and tournament connotations.
It seems preposterous to say.
I would be very disappointed if any Millfield School team went into a similar situation without knowing the crucial information that builds the match context.
But it meant that the clarity in which Netherlands approached their batting innings underpinned their shot making. This propelled the Dutch to 91-1 in the PowerPlay and to 193-4 in 13.5 just overs.
Information is power
It was tragic to see how this lack of detail from the coaches and support staff stifled captain William Porterfield.
He was only aware of the Netherlands game plan (and their drive towards qualification on run rate) in the last 10 balls of the innings.
By then it was too late. It shows how information is power.
I'm sure it was hard enough for 20 year old off-spinner Andy McBrine to open the bowling in only his second ever T20I. Now add in the fact that he didn't know that he was about to face an slog-sweep onslaught from his 1st ball.
Good luck kiddo!
What difference would knowing the Dutch plan have made?
I'm hoping that the captain and coach wouldn't have chosen to bowl McBrine at that early stage if they knew the match context.
Probabilities and possibilities are different
"Winners confirm probability and losers chase possibilities."
World class coach, Peter Moores talks a lot about this when it comes to deploying players into crucial situations.
The decision to ignore experienced bowlers at the start of a key innings smacks of chasing possibilities to me.
Who would you want to set the tone in the first few overs of a crucial T20 game for your school or club?
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What was the Dutch plan exactly and how were Ireland supposed to know what it was going to be? Surely teams change their plans on a match by match basis?
The Dutch plan was simple: to give it a red hot go and try and qualify: if we get bowled out for 90 then we have not lost anything. They knew that they were aiming for one thing only - to get the total in less than 14.2 overs. That would mean that they qualified.
Not only did the Dutch know it but the whole of the cricketing world watching it on Sky Sports also knew that was their aim as they made a feature of it in preparation for the innings. Seemingly, the only people who didn't were the Irish.
I'm sure if Ireland were faced with the same batting challenge (to get 193 in 14.2 overs) then they would have gone for it too.
My point is that Ireland as the bowling unit didn't know the tournament connotation and therefore didn't have that information to make decisions in the middle. William Porterfield said as much repeatedly after the game. If they had counteracted the onslaught with more experienced bowlers initially and made sure that Netherlands couldn't qualify then the game would have had a different context, motivations would have been different on the Netherlands bench, emotions would have been different and quite possibly the result would have been reversed.
The lack of information started an irreversible spiral.