Cricket wise, the most important thing I've always believed is to get your mind right: relaxed yet alert, focused but also calm. Have a gameplan but be prepared to adjust to the conditions and the quality of bowlers. Play vertical bat early on with a narrow V (tight between Mid off and mid on) off front and back foot then you can expand your V as you get yourself in.
One crucial thing - be positive in the way you play. Let me explain that as too many people misunderstand it:
Being positive is not playing loads of shots as that can be reckless and inappropriate.
Being positive is being 100% committed to the manner in which you are playing and the strokes you choose to play.
If you decide to take the short ball on, every 1% of doubt you have thinking "this might get me out or I might not clear the fielder etc." is 1% of your energy and commitment that you remove from the stroke. The same goes for a time when you're battling it out at the start of your innings and the ball is zipping around and beating the bat. If you start to think "this is difficult, I'm not sure I can stay in" or you worry about the sledges of the fielders when you play and miss, you're wasting mental energy, of which you only have a finite amount.
Be committed to what you're doing by saying "I do not give a toss if I play and miss. I'm going to play straight, leave the wide ones and hit any bad ball bowled to me for four. I will not doubt myself for a second."
Examples of players with complete conviction? Adam Gilchrist, Kevin Pietersen, Ricky Ponting and Shiv Chanderpaul. Do you see themselves doubting themselves for a moment? No way.
Back yourself – no one else can do it for you.
One crucial thing - be positive in the way you play. Let me explain that as too many people misunderstand it:
Being positive is not playing loads of shots as that can be reckless and inappropriate.
Being positive is being 100% committed to the manner in which you are playing and the strokes you choose to play.
If you decide to take the short ball on, every 1% of doubt you have thinking "this might get me out or I might not clear the fielder etc." is 1% of your energy and commitment that you remove from the stroke. The same goes for a time when you're battling it out at the start of your innings and the ball is zipping around and beating the bat. If you start to think "this is difficult, I'm not sure I can stay in" or you worry about the sledges of the fielders when you play and miss, you're wasting mental energy, of which you only have a finite amount.
Be committed to what you're doing by saying "I do not give a toss if I play and miss. I'm going to play straight, leave the wide ones and hit any bad ball bowled to me for four. I will not doubt myself for a second."
Examples of players with complete conviction? Adam Gilchrist, Kevin Pietersen, Ricky Ponting and Shiv Chanderpaul. Do you see themselves doubting themselves for a moment? No way.
Back yourself – no one else can do it for you.
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