Steve Waugh was the master of 'mental disintegration': the process of wearing down a team's confidence until he is paralysed by self doubt.

It's a powerful, often aggressive weapon that won't make you many friends if you use it as a bowler or captain.

You can still use a version of the technique that can be just as effective as Waugh used and still be able to have a drink in the bar with the opposition batsman afterwards.

As you know, if you begin to doubt yourself as a batsman you can either get yourself out or become stuck batting too defensively.

Why leave the batsman to build up this doubt himself?

The trick is not to be too aggressive.

Instead wait until the batsman does something that is not quite perfect like a shot in the air or a play and miss, then make a comment loud enough to be heard but not directed at him.

You could note how all his shots are aerial, comment on how you were surprised he got beaten on such a slow track or note how the run rate is particularly slow on a good batting day.

All you need to do is say enough to get the batsman to believe the hype, start analysing his technique or approach and put him off to make a mistake.

While you always need to back up a mental approach like this with good bowling, reducing a batters confidence could get you several wickets a season.

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