Notebook jottings can help me regain my first-team place

30 May 2012

All cricketers have their own way of dealing with things if they’re not going to plan on the field. Mine? I stew for a while, then I have a shave, and I go out and buy a new notebook. It’s good way of making a fresh start.

I’ve not been picked for our last two County Championship games and I find that by reviewing what I’m doing in training and matches, I’m giving myself the best chance of forcing my way back into the team.

I’m constantly analysing my performances and my flat is full of notebooks and scraps of paper in which I’ve written down my thoughts at a particular time.

In one, I’ve set down my targets for the winter, trying to make sure I eat the right things, improve my batting, make myself more agile in the field.

In another, there are my thoughts on the Worcestershire batsmen, which I wrote before our recent Championship game there.

In a third, there are some notes on Somerset players that I made after we played them in pre-season.

The strange thing is that I only ever fill a few pages of each one before I go and buy another, so they’re everywhere.

I see buying a new one as starting a new chapter and it helps me stay positive in the trickier moments.

If I’m in the mood to write, that’s what I’ll do, and I find the actual act of writing really helpful.

I don’t know if any other cricketers do it this way but it works for me.

Writing isn’t the only thing I do to keep myself upbeat. I’ve got all the wickets I’ve taken for Surrey on a DVD, so I’ll be having a look at those in the coming days.

I also read quite a few sports psychology books, and I’ve learned that images can work well as motivation, so I’ve got plenty of pictures in the flat. I’ve got one of Glenn McGrath holding the ball up after he’d taken five wickets for Australia at Lord’s, and one of Olympic rowing legend Steve Redgrave.

There are pictures of my family, my girlfriend, even Martin Luther King and Mahatma Gandhi.

None of this will guarantee that I’ll get my best form back, of course, but I know what helps me and this is it.

It’s frustrating to be out of the side, but I’ve got to take responsibility and admit that I’ve not been bowling as well as I would like.

Form can be like that but I’m pretty good at keeping my discipline.Sometimes, one over or one ball can turn things round and, hopefully, that moment will happen soon for me.

Watch Surrey CCC play in the Friends Life t20 against Essex (Wednesday, June 13), Kent (Thursday, July 5) and Middlesex (Friday, July 6) for just £39 with the London Calling package. Visit kiaoval.com/londoncalling to get your tickets

Notebook jottings can help me regain my first-team place

Read More