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 Picture the scene: you have just had a stellar cricket season.
You get a trial and you do even better than you could have dreamed. Everything goes to plan and you are man of the match. Becoming a cricketer, you realise, is just a matter of time.
It's possible.
But it's also not going to happen.
You can't plan for insanely good performances at the right time. Cricket is hard, opponents are just as keen to show their potential as you. Pitches and weather are variable. You could be the next Tendulkar, Warne or Dhoni in talent, but lack the luck to show it off at the right moment.
That means you need another idea, an idea that is less about the headlines and more about a quick mention in paragraph 5 of the match report.
Because the fact is that even the most spectacular cricket heroes base their game on a consistently stronger performances than anyone else. And that comes through many small successes alongside the occasional mind-blowing performance.
Consistency is always rewarded
There are two ways to look at being a consistent cricketer as the cornerstone to your game.
First, if you are a decent but uninspiring player. There are many cricketers who fall into this category, some of whom achieve great success with the reason put down to "making the most of his talent".
Paul Collingwood is the classic example of this. But when you realise that he scored 15 International hundreds, took 119 wickets, was recognised as the best fielder in the world and captained England to a World Twenty20 triumph, you start to wonder if there is merit in his approach.
The fact is, that players who have a range of talents, the ones who "do a job" are the ones who will always get the nod. Imagine a situation where selectors have 2 players from trials:
- Player 1: Averages 41 batting, is a brilliant fielder and can bowl respectable medium pace.
- Player 2: Averages 45 batting, is a poor fielder and people laugh at his bowling.
You know who is going to get picked.
Of course, this is not to say that you can get away with being average at everything and become the utility all-rounder of old. But every person who is worse than you at fielding gives you that improved chance of moving up the levels.
Reliable is also spectacular
The second type of player this benefits is the occasionally brilliant. The match winning hundred or the hat-trick is always on the cards, but it doesn't always happen.
Even if you are this "inconsistent hero" you can benefit from the do-a-job mentality too.
You might wish to blaze the ball around but when you turn up at the ground on a terrible wicket against strong bowling you realise your job is not to hole out to extra cover while trying to drive on the up. Your job is to dig in and make an ugly score. You leave the cover drive in the locker and accumulate a dull 40 that wins the match.
Remember that your brilliant play might get you noticed but your below par areas will make you more trouble than you are worth.
So, be the best fielder. Work on you batting if you are a bunny or get your spin going if you bat.
By all means have your moments of genius, just keep the lows away between each one. Be as spectacular in your consistency as you are in your in-swinging yorker.
1 percenters alway add up
You might have heard the phrase "one percenters" recently; the idea that the little things you do all add up to a better overall performance.
That's exactly what I mean when I say you need to Do A Job.
If you have real ambitions to take your chance and become a cricketer, you must look at your whole game. It won't make you an average bits-and-pieces all rounder, it will make you a consistent, reliable and highly selectable player.
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This is a guest article from batting coach, 
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