If you are a Pakistani cricketer, you are automatically an enigma.  This is the only quality that Pakistani cricketers have in their mentality.

If you are performing in the zone it’s because you have all the natural talent in the world, much more so than any Australian.  If you are not it’s because you aren’t trying hard enough.

It’s easier for an English cricketer – your form simply means that you are either quite good, utterly rubbish or Ryan Sidebottom.  If you are a Pakistani cricketer then there is no such thing as “form” because you are enigmatic.  Even your menu choices are met with knowing shrugs and muffled coughs by your foreign dinner companions.

The most lucrative cricket league in the world is Indian.  This means that you are forever destined to be decidedly less wealthy than Roelof van der Merwe.  Never will you get the opportunity to be damned on TV with faint, patronising praise by Ravi Shastri and Sunny Gavaskar.

The opportunity to aim a vast, swiped DLF Maximum towards Shah Rukh Khan’s head will pass you by.  You will never achieve a Citi Moment of Success in your life, ever.

You will never be as popular as Shahid Afridi, even if you are Shahid Afridi.

One day you might be granted the honour of playing international cricket for the Pakistan team.  Likely you will be forced to share a room with Shoaib Akhtar and his dubious personal habits.

If you perform badly, you can expect to receive a phone call from Ijaz Butt telling you that you have been banned from the team indefinitely.  The cost of this phone call will be deducted from your match fee.

If you are part of a team that suffers some comprehensive overseas defeat, then expect to be hauled before your national leaders to explain yourself.  Remember that you are enigmatic, so the incompetence defence will result in you being tortured and imprisoned.

The only possible explanation is that you weren’t trying hard enough due to your enigmatic nature, at which you will be tortured and imprisoned.  This is a motivational technique that has never been used on Ian Bell, although the ECB has contracted a company of chartered accountants and convened a working party to consider the idea.

If, miraculously, you manage to avoid this fate throughout a five week period, you will be made captain of the Pakistan team to ensure that you are no longer blameless.  Instead, you will be held responsible for everything, ever, including the rising price of oil.

You are, it will be assumed, a cheat and a match fixer.  In addition to the above consequences of poor performance, you will forever be accused of losing on purpose in a desperate attempt to become nearly as wealthy as Roelof van der Merwe.  Even your team mates and the PCB will assume this, and they will ensure that everyone knows that you were the one that was cheating, not them.

Being an enigma, the world will never accept that you dropped all those catches due to your dodgy footwork or because you lost the ball against the backdrop of the crowd.

If you have ever moved the ball in the air, even in the nets, you will forever attract the undue attention of television producers.  They will always have a camera on you when you are walking back to your mark or fielding at long leg.  Under no circumstances should you pick you nose on the field of play as you will be accused of altering the condition of the ball by using a foreign substance and the match referee will trouser your wages.

The final insult will come when Ijaz Butt telephones your mother and tells her that you have been banned from cricket forever, and you will be pelted with rotten tomatoes whenever you step foot outside Pakistan.  Your name will never be referenced in televised cricket commentary anywhere in the world ever again, without the additional use of the words “shame”, “controversy”, “disgraceful” or “alleged”.

But apart from that, being a Pakistani cricketer is ok.

Does not Dionysius seem to have made it sufficiently clear that there can be nothing happy for the person over whom some fear always looms? – Marcus Tullius Cicero

Be not afraid of life. Believe that life is worth living, and your belief will help create the fact – Henry James

Our doubts are traitors and make us lose the good we often might win, by fearing to attempt – Jane Addams

The next installment of the World Twenty20 is almost upon us, and England expects.  Unfortunately, the expectation is not one of triumph and glory, but rather of ignominy and defeat.

Where international cricket tournaments are concerned, England can have no “years of hurt” to comfort them like a stuffed animal at night, for they have never been victorious.  World Cup, Champions Trophy and World Twenty20: these three ghosts of cricket past, present and future continue to haunt England.  Of the current senior cricketing nations, England sit alongside only Bangladesh in a select club of non-winners.

The psychology of fear is a subject much loved by sports psychologists, modernist coaches and John Buchanan alike.  The eradication of fear from their athletes’ performances is the holy-grail.

Fear is a fairly broad term, and can include a variety of emotions such as terror, paranoia, sudden fright or a persecution complex.  Unless we are referring to Phil Tufnell backing away to leg, a prime mental stumbling block for sportsmen is the fear of failure, which can encompass paranoia, the persecution complex and doubt or distrust.  It is the gnawing fear that eats away at conviction and belief.  Occasionally it can be the onset of panic brought about by a sudden application of pressure.

Not only does fear inhibit boldness, causing sportsmen and women to retreat into their shell, it can also disrupt the decision making process.  How often do we see a batsman stifled and under pressure give up his wicket in a desperate attempt to get the scoreboard moving again?  This happens as often in a match-saving situation as it does in one where the run-rate must be maintained.

The twin evils of the sporting mindset

Watching England, particularly in the Ashes, during the last 20 years has been almost an object lesson in the cricketing psychology of fear.  In equal measures they have fallen victim to those twin evils of the sporting mindset – self-doubt and pressure.

Take the 2nd Test against Pakistan in 2001 as an example.  At tea on the 5th day, England had reached 196/2 in their second innings.  The game was meandering towards a draw, and England were anticipating a series victory having won the 1st Test by an innings.  Shortly after tea, Graham Thorpe lost his wicket.

In their first innings, England had reached 282/2 with Thorpe scoring a century.  As soon as Thorpe was out, the innings fell apart, and they were dismissed for 357, just 75 runs for the final 8 wickets.

Rather than being a one-off, the pattern was repeated as England succumbed to the pressure in that final session, this time losing their last eight wickets for just 60 to lose the match by 108 runs.  Yet there should not have been any pressure.  England had done the hard work, had a 1-0 lead already in the series, and needed merely to while away a couple of hours to see the job through to a conclusion.

Just 24 hours previously, the talk had been of a famous England run-chase after a good start to their innings saw them reach 85/0 in just 22 overs.  In 83 overs on that final day, they managed to score only 176.

So what happened?  The Pakistanis played their part by creating the conditions that triggered England’s collapse.  Recognising that England had started confidently, they initially set out to slow the scoring rate rather than take wickets.  Finding themselves struggling to score runs, England began to let doubt gnaw away at them throughout the afternoon without trying to change tack in order to break the shackles.

After tea, the dismissal of Thorpe and the taking of the new ball was the catalyst for the panicky collapse, a repeat of the first innings.  Pakistan had played well, and the umpires missed at least three no-balls on wicket taking deliveries, but England should still have held out for a draw.

Fear is always present in some way within sportsmen – the coaching holy-grail is impossible to instill completely.  Resistance to it can be nurtured and strengthened, but it has to be present to begin with.

One of the key aspects of the psychology of fear is the emotional response that the sensation of fear triggers, often referred to as “fight or flight”.  On that occasion in 2001, England’s batsmen chose flight, as they were wont to do throughout the nineties.  It took Nasser Hussain’s steely single-mindedness for England to learn to repel fear, and Michael Vaughan’s attacking instincts for them to learn how to impose fear upon their opponents.

The Dionysius of cricket

The Warne effect

In contrast, watching Australia in the last 20 years has been an object lesson in the art of instilling fear in your opponent.  Of course, it helps a great deal if you have some of the greatest players in the history of cricket, but it is not necessarily a pre-requisite.

The greatest of those greats, Shane Warne, was probably the best exponent of this art.  In addition to being a genius of technique, Warne was (is) a genius of the mind-game, without needing to result to sledging insults (although he does that too).

Virtually every ball was accompanied by a shout that said “so close”, even the long-hops that were smacked for four.  This wasn’t misguided optimism, rather part of a calculated plan to create pressure on the batsman even where none existed.

Warne was the Dionysius of cricket, suspending a metaphorical Sword of Damocles above the head of each and every opponent.  He would stand at the end of his follow through, hands on hips, or perhaps with one hand lifted to his mouth, staring at the batsman almost with a look of wonderment, as if to say “how did you survive that one, mate”?

More often than not the batsman, on noticing the sword suspended above him, would swiftly find some way to vacate his throne.

Some were better than others at resisting Warne’s pressure.  Sachin Tendulkar was perhaps the most successful, whereas Daryl Cullinan was famously almost destroyed by it.

Cricket is a game played mostly in the mind. No amount of technique and panache can compensate for the mental frailties that have reigned so tyrannically over potential throughout the years.  It is the reason why a battler, a yeoman such as Paul Collingwood can stand firm against the odds, and the reason why a stylist like Ian Bell can often crumble in the face of them.

It is the psychology of fear that makes Test cricket great.

Add that to an early season blitz of Worcestershire for Middlesex, including 9-37 in the second innings, and it’s easy to see why people are excited. Andrew Strauss, who is turning out for Middlesex whilst the World T20 is going on, has been talking on ECB.co.uk about his prospects:

It’s now about being consistent. He’s got a good six weeks with Middlesex at the beginning of the season to show his form, to show he’s ready to play international cricket.

So far, so common sense.  This could be a good summer for Finn to ease his way further into the setup, with Test series against Bangladesh and Pakistan being more low-key than those of the previous two summers against South Africa and Australia.  But then, as the article compared the attributes of Finn to those of Stuart Broad and Steve Harmison, Strauss said something else which caught my attention:

Steven Finn is not exactly the same bowlers [sic] as Steve Harmison, they’re quite different in a lot of ways, but he gets up to 86/87mph with good bounce. In other parts of the world in particular it could be a great asset for us as a side.

The phrase that stood out to me was “In other parts of the world in particular”, and I immediately assumed that Strauss actually meant “In Australia in particular”.

England’s pace department is not exactly a crowded house at present, so it is very possible that Finn has a good chance to take the weather with him (sorry, I can’t help myself) this winter.  It will be interesting to see if he is included for the squad for the first Test against Bangladesh.

Foolish Ashes Prediction #2: Finn will be included in the England squad after further impressing in the summer Test series.

Ah, that’s right, they were playing against England at the time, and he had been twelth man for England the week before.  So, a filthy traitor to the English cause will be the gist of every headline in every paper in the land.  Here’s the aforementioned inflammatory remark:

It was a sad day for English cricket that on my last day against South Africa I saw Jonathan Trott celebrating with South Africa, when the week before he had been our 12th man at Headingley.

I was going into the press conference and I saw him patting them on the back. It hit home what English cricket has become like.

What should be our independent, Non-Media-Influenced-Reaction to this – are we to expect the man to renounce all former ties to his mother-land and complete a ceremonial flag-burning initiation ritual?  Or should we be saying “what do you expect old boy, he is South African after all”?

Vaughan’s point was to highlight the fact that England have no qualms about picking foreign players in their team in the absence of any decent English ones.  Hence the “what English cricket has become like” part.  By which he means that the selectors have long since decided that they prefer to be mocked for picking foreigners than for losing cricket matches, although they managed both when they went for Darren Pattinson.

He wasn’t highlighting the act of the celebration itself – a pat on the back is hardly incriminating, opposition players often do it, and that doesn’t make them turncoats.

Ultimately, the ECB have decided that it doesn’t matter as long as Trott scores more runs than Ian Bell.  So look out for that happening this winter against…South Africa.

That would be like an episode of Star Trek where the traditional lamb-to-the-slaughter member of the away team in the red uniform suddenly had control of the bridge.  Unthinkable.

Whether or not Anderson would make a good captain is irrelevant.  He’s a fast bowler, therefore no chance.  Except that it’s not quite true.  Here’s a list of some of the fast bowlers who have captained England down the years:

• Bob Willis – 18 Tests, 7 wins, 5 defeats
• JWHT Douglas – 18 Tests, 8 wins, 8 defeats
• Ian Botham – 12 Tests, 0 wins, 4 defeats
• Gubby Allen – 11 Tests, 4 wins, 5 defeats
• Andrew Flintoff – 11 Tests, 2 wins, 7 defeats
• Arthur Gilligan – 9 Tests, 4 wins, 4 defeats

Unfortunately for Anderson, all of those except Willis could be classed as all-rounders.  So let’s say that his ambition is one step above Monty Panesar’s desire to open the innings.  And he knows it:

It’s something I’d like to do – be captain – but as a fast bowler and from the north, I suppose I’m very unlikely to get a look in

This extract, about the tour to New Zealand early in 2008 is revealing:

Before I arrived in New Zealand the squad had been particularly demoralised by an episode immediately after the thrilling fourth one-day international in Napier on February 20. The match had ended in a tie, with the Kiwis equalling our total of 340 in what the pundits would call a pulsating encounter. Having traipsed off the pitch after giving it their all, the players were ordered by Peter to do a full training session.

Vaughan continues by telling us that the idea was to intimidate the Kiwis with their hard work ethic, and how amusing they actually found the whole episode.  Moores comes across as somewhat insecure and controlling, “wantng to do everyone’s jobs for them” as Vaughan puts it.

After working with Moores for just six months, Vaughan says he felt that they would never forge a good working relationship.  Moores’ style might have been suitable for a young, inexperienced cricketer but for someone of Vaughan’s nous and experience, or Pietersen’s forthright self-confidence it is thoroughly incompatible.

But he didn’t perform well at the Champions League Twenty20, and has admitted as much in an interview with Cricinfo:

I put added pressure on myself by wanting to do well on this stage. It has not come off and I have learned lessons about cricket and off the field as well [source]

He also speaks about the advice given to him by Adam Gilchrist whilst in India, including the legendary

just catch it as a keeper and don’t worry about how you look

The reason England are excited about him, aside from his nationality, is his run-making for Somerset.  This sets the England selectors dribbling all over their England one-day shirts, especially as he is prone to mistakes behind the stumps, which they consider to be an indication of how seriously he takes his batting.

And Kieswetter is eager to play.  Here is the quote, which Cricinfo did not use in full in their profile piece, that shows us just how far he is willing to go:

I always felt English and felt I could live here and hopefully in time my accent will change and be more English.

Visitors to the Zummerzett dressing room during 2009 can testify to this ambition, as Kieswetter’s iPod is set to play the Wurzels on continuous repeat.

Rumours that Steve Davies will be learning Afrikaans with the assistance of Andre Nel next season to improve his chances of an England place have yet to be substantiated.

Boyd Rankin – aims to play Test cricket

You may have noticed the name of Boyd Rankin featuring in the recently announced England Performance Programme.  Rankin has already played international cricket for Ireland, and could become the next of their players to be poached across the Irish Sea, after Ed Joyce and Eoin Morgan.  Understandably, Cricket Ireland are not best pleased particularly as it will result in Rankin missing cricket for them whilst he is at the ECB’s training camps.

The training camps take place in Florida, Loughborough and Chennai this winter, during which time Ireland are to play Inter-Continental Cup and one day matches against a rapidly improving Afghanistan team. So Ireland could lose out without Rankin ever actually playing international cricket for England.

For Rankin personally, training with England is potentially more profitable than playing competitive cricket with Ireland.  Rankin himself highlights the problem that Ireland have despite being far and away the strongest associate nation:

I am still keen to play for Ireland as much as I can but I can’t play Test cricket for Ireland and I have to do what I can to get that opening.

Neither Joyce or Morgan have yet played Test cricket, and Joyce has recently expressed his frustration at being left out of England’s one day squads for the winter as well.  Neither does he feature in the EPP.  Morgan’s prospects are somewhat better as he has featured in the Champions Trophy and is in the one day squad for South Africa.

For Ireland, the impasse remains.  They are the strongest associate team, yet have no way to advance beyond that.  Bangladesh’s promotion to Test status is commonly viewed as having been premature, and the ICC will not want to be seen to be repeating the mistake.  Calls for a multi-tiered system of international cricket are for the time being no more than that.

ICC really need to find a better way to protect the associate nations from the poaching of their players.  Ireland are the prime example, but Holland have also recently seen Dirk Nannes turn out for Australia.  The answer probably does lie in providing a clear route to advancement for the stronger associate nations, as this would solve multiple problems as well as encouraging the global spread of the game.

Three categories – imaginatively named A, B and C – include those closest to selection (A), those “one to three years away” from selection (B) and those younger players who might make the jump in the future (C).  So, here’s the list:

Grade A

1. Mark Davies (Durham)
2. Amjad Khan (Kent)
3. Stephen Moore (Lancashire)
4. Michael Carberry (Hampshire)

I’m surprise to see Davies in this list, but not because he’s not worthy of it – he’s one of those players who has performed well at county level for years yet is generally percieved to be too medium paced for higher honours.  Stephen Moore gets in on the basis of deeds in 2008 in division two and one innings against Australia for England Lions this summer.  Carberry is a better pick, but Moore came from South Africa so is almost guaranteed first chance.  Khan played a Test in West Indies at the beginning of the year.

Grade B

1. Stephen Finn (Middlesex)
2. Andrew Gale (Yorkshire)
3. Rory Hamilton-Brown (Sussex)
4. Chris Jordan (Surrey)
5. Chris Nash (Sussex)
6. Joe Sayers (Yorkshire)
7. Ajmal Shahzad (Yorkshire)
8. James Taylor (Leicestershire)
9. David Wainwright (Yorkshire)
10. Chris Woakes (Warwickshire)

Finn and Woakes have been hyped up in the last couple of years, but James Taylor is probably the best prospect from this list.  He was the PCA Young Player of the Year, topping Leicestershire’s batting charts.

Grade C

1. Jonathan Bairstow (Yorkshire)
2. Vikram Banerjee (Gloucestershire)
3. Keith Barker (Warwickshire)
4. Will Beer (Sussex)
5. Alex Blake (Kent)
6. Andy Carter (Nottinghamshire)
7. Liam Dawson (Hampshire)
8. Luke Fletcher (Nottinghamshire)
9. Billy Godleman (Essex)
10. Alex Hales (Nottinghamshire)
11. Richard Johnson (Warwickshire)
12. Richard Jones (Worcestershire)
13. Adam Lyth (Yorkshire)
14. Jake Mickleburgh (Essex)
15. Sam Northeast (Kent)
16. Ollie Rayner (Sussex)
17. Ian Saxelby (Gloucestershire)
18. John Simpson (Middlesex)
19. Tom Smith (Middlesex)
20. Max Waller (Somerset)
21. Adam Wheater (Essex)
22. David Willey (Northamptonshire)

Fast bowling program

1. Jade Dernbach (Surrey)
2. David Griffiths (Hampshire)
3. James Harris (Glamorgan)
4. Stuart Meaker (Surrey)
5. Boyd Rankin (Warwickshire)