Ed Nuttal
Do you or did you have pre game nerves and how can you deal with them?
- I have nerves before every game I play, even some nerves at club cricket level as well as for Canterbury, the trick is to control them. I believe there are 2 types of nerves. 1 being the bad kind which is generated from fear and lack of confidence that you might not play well, these nerves we eliminate by training hard and nailing the skills we believe we'll need at practice over and over again so when we need to perform during the game we know we can as we have done it before at practice, this then develops confidence which can help eliminate that fear. Another tool I use is watching old videos of me bowling well and using that as a visualisation tool to generate positive thoughts in my mind going into the game. The final tool is having a prematch routine so on game day I make sure I have gone through my run up to make sure it feels good and listen to music to get me in a good mood.
The other type of nerves is the one I believe are good! these nerves are built out of excitement and wanting to get out there and play, the trick is to control them by slowing down your breath and not be too excited. Most cricketers will be nervous before a game and that is a good thing, the trick is to use your mental skills to get them at a good level where you can perform at your best!
Not having batting as your main skill when you go out to bat do you get nervous at all because you have a ball coming at you at over 100km/h?
This is a very good question and yes it can be the scariest part of cricket, even some of the good batsmen don't like it either!! I've had to bat against Lockie Ferguson a few times who bowls at 150kph!! and there is no way to make it easy but it is important to get yourself in the right head space so you can do a job for your team (which is always important). I take deep breaths as the bowler is running in and make sure I am watching the ball as close as I can so I can make the best decision and use my bat to hit the ball instead of it hitting my body! We talk a lot about being 'present' and concentrating only on the ball we are facing and not worrying about the previous balls we have faced. Another point is having a plan when batting against them, for example we may decide to play a pull shot if they bowl a bouncer at our head or we might decide to just duck underneath it (this is the option most go for). We want our decision making to be clear. Practice makes perfect in this too, we can practice facing fast bowling at training so we become use it more and become more confident facing it. Overall there will always be an element of fear but it is about controlling it and accepting it and then batting well for your team.
When you're fielding and the ball doesn't come to you for a while how do you stay focused?
Another great question! (Even some people in my team may need to improve on this too). I always want to do a good job for my team on the field so being focused and engaged on the field is important as we do not want to miss a run out or drop an important catch!! When the bowler is running in I make sure I walk in with him and then we he is about to bowl it I watch the batsmen hard to see if he is going to hit the ball in my direction and then be in a good body position to make sure I can move as quick as possible if I need to catch or field the ball. To stay so focused over a whole day in field is a very tough skill and almost impossible so it is important to be able to 'switch off' in between balls when there is nothing happening and then being able to quickly 'switch on' once the bowler is ready to bowl again. By walking in with the bowler allows me to be focused and in the 'present' to be ready for what comes my way. A big motivation for me to be ready is so I don't drop a catch as it can be the worst feeling in the world and I do not like letting my teammates down. We also like to have jokes with another on the field and even sledge the batsmen so we stay in the game!