A study in the 1960s showed that the amount of self discipline in a 4 year old related to the amount of success when you reach adulthood.
Success is basically a measure of your ability and how much you stay in control. In a game like Cricket, long periods of concentration are important especially in Test Cricket. But before we go on, what is discipline?
Discipline by definition is a practice of learning to obey instructions and to show obedience in your practical behaviour where punishment may be necessary as a measure to enforce the rules or expected behaviour.
In Cricket, we often talk about discipline being a requirement in order to be a good player but we often talk of the most successful players also having an exemplary discipline level from practice to execution not just as an individual but also as a team player.
Discipline in Cricket in my opinion is made-up of some of the following key components: Overcoming fear of failure, setting goals, having a switch, self-reward, own your mistakes, knowing your responsibilities, working with others, code of conduct, your commitment levels and last but not least, your attitude.
Overcoming fear of failure
In my last article, ‘Pressure’, I gave an example of overcoming my fear of getting hurt or injured by a cricket ball. Another great example is overcoming your fear of failure. Bottom line is mistakes need to happen in order to be learned from. By feeling disappointments of not scoring a 100 or not taking a catch of an important wicket are some examples. Only you know what was in your head and heart at the time so you first need to accept that you won’t always score 100 everytime you come into bat or you won’t catch everything that comes towards you. All you need to feel and know is that you tried your best at that moment and your team felt you did too. As they say, you can’t get up if you don’t fall in the first place.
Goal setting
Keep it simple. As you learn about yourself especially during the course of Cricket, don’t set yourself up to be ready to attempt facing 90 mph balls in the nets if you are struggling to face 50 mph for example. Everything has a time and place. What you must understand is that you are always developing physically and mentally, so your skills development will be in relation to this including how your coach recognizes where your strengths and weaknesses are.
Focus on the fixed practices then move onto the variables followed by having your coach create some game based training based on the skills you just learned. Typically there will be 3 levels of each skill and you should always continue to practice them all whenever you can followed by the art of making the best decisions you can based on what you’ve learned so far.
Have a switch
When you are out on the playing field, batting, bowling or fielding, each player has to concentrate. Usually the batsman has to concentrate the most because they have a natural pressure as an individual to score the runs for the team. When you’re not about to face the ball or you’re awaiting the bowler to bowl the next one, figure out a way to keep your mind positive. Whether you develop a certain movement that helps you get ready to focus or whether you need to look at the field or you learn to block out any banter towards you which is trying to break your focus, whatever it is, own it and use it to your advantage. Stay away from direct involvement or misdemeanor towards others especially and at all times.
Self-reward
If you have trained well prior to a match or a season and you feel you have improved in your development or that your coach feels you have done well, you should feel good and say that to yourself. If you have sacrificed that extra time in something else then you have earned a much needed break to enjoy something else you like to do. However don’t do this if you have not listened to your coach or haven’t done as well as you believe you could have. Instead try and figure out a solution to the issue and speak to your coach and I’m sure they will be happy to spend extra time with you because you have shown you really want to learn and improve. Just don’t give up and show you have a positive rather than a negative attitude.
Own your mistakes
I firmly believe we all know when we’ve made a mistake but a lot of us don’t like to admit to it or own up to it. It’s always a good idea to admit to something by informing others because if you don’t, you will continue to believe it was not a mistake. If others say you made a mistake then not all can be wrong and only you are right. If you apologize and accept the mistake then you will remember it even more knowing you want to try never to repeat it. In Cricket we play for the team. There is no ‘I’ in team.
Know your responsibilities
We all have our roles and responsibilities in Cricket. From the management, coaching staff, captain, players, medical team, umpires, grounds staff etc. If we don’t play our part then we have let Cricket down in one form or another. Best way for Cricket is for everyone to communicate effectively and make the decisions based on our roles and responsibilities without being coerced or influenced unnecessarily. These roles and responsibilities should clearly be defined amongst all parties so everyone knows what they have to do individually and also as a team across all levels of the infrastructure.
Working with others
If all players on the team can’t play together in the best interest of the game because some individuals feel they should be treated with extra preference based on their skill then this attitude automatically disqualifies you from Cricket. You need to be selfless not selfish overall to survive in Cricket. Scoring 100 individually is good but helping your partner build a partnership with you of 200+ is better. By being in gully after scoring 100 and taking a catch for the team that leads to the team’s confidence increasing is better than your personal confidence for taking the catch.
If your team loses despite you scoring a century or taking some good catches, the team’s confidence and morale levels are not less important than yours. A true team player will never feel good about their individual performance but the captain and coach should recognize that although some individuals are performing, how do they go about getting the others to improve too? If you can help your teammates then Cricket is for you. But if you care more about yourself then please go and play singles Tennis or similar sport.
Code of conduct
On and off the field, show you are a Cricketer or you are involved in Cricket. There will always be a handful who think they are something special as individuals but they are sadly mistaken. This type of attitude will not only let you down in Cricket but it will also let you down in life too!
By being someone who is willing to give more than they receive shows they are about others and care for their well being. In Cricket you want your teammates to score runs or catch and bowl well too. Helping and encouraging others will help you be a team player and one day you will appreciate just how much this is true but it won’t happen immediately. So don’t feel disappointed even though at times you will. Learn to try again until you feel better because only you know if you’ve given everything or not and whether you can continue. This will build your character with time and will form your general personality and your overall code of conduct which will help Cricket and be an asset to Cricket and the sport.
Commitment levels and attitude
Finally, to be able to claim being a Cricketer of discipline, you must be committed and show a high level of commitment and attitude to be successful. You don’t have to win every single game or score lots of runs to be a good or a great Cricketer. To enjoy Cricket you need to be a good human being who values others especially those who play alongside you. If you commit then your team commits and vice versa. This includes any team you change and go and play for. Put their performance ahead of your own as a goal and help them become better. When you have 10 players and your club behind you too, you will understand what real Cricket is all about. The passion and the results of discipline wasn’t all for nothing because the team made you, you didn’t make the team. Therefore be a team player not an individual player and this is what Cricketing discipline is all about.