Chin up, chaps: it's what gets results (6 December 1998)

6 December 1998

Chin up, chaps: it's what gets results

By Martin Bentham

ENGLAND'S cricketers should stride to the wicket swinging their bats above their heads like Ian Botham if they want to revive their test match fortunes and win the Ashes, according to a leading psychologist.

Dr Peter Totterdell, of Sheffield University, has monitored, with the help of 33 county cricketers, the impact of mood on their batting and bowling performance. He says that those who walk slowly, with their shoulders hunched and hands in their pockets are likely to do poorly and dent the confidence and performance of their team-mates.

The findings, which will be published next week at a British Psychological Society conference in London, produced a mixed response from cricketers. However, Dr Totterdell said that his research showed that players who were in a good frame of mind produced the best results at the crease.

Dr Totterdell said: "Various dimensions of players' moods were related to their batting and bowling averages for the matches. The best predictors were how happy, focused, enthusiastic and energetic they were. The mood of team-mates was important as well. If their team-mates were happy, players performed better. They seemed to be infected by the mood of their colleagues."

In his study, Dr Totterdell measured the mood of players from Yorkshire, Leicestershire and Durham during county matches. Each cricketer was equipped with a pocket computer on which they assessed their happiness, energy, focus, confidence, enthusiasm, effectiveness and tension levels during games, using a scale of one to 20. Additional readings taken before the start of play, during the lunch and tea intervals and at the end of the day, were recorded for team communication and confidence.

The only area where there was no clear link between mood and performance was tension, with anxiety causing some players to perform well and others to do badly. However, Dr Totterdell's study also showed that players, particularly those who are senior or expressive, can have a big impact on their colleagues' performance.

As a result, he recommends that players should appear positive and suggests that England players, who often seem lacking in confidence, should study some of the great cricketers of the past. He said: "One example is the difference in players when they come out of the pavilion to bat. Everyone knows the players who come out with very extravagant styles. The Bothams, the Clive Lloyds - that sends certain signals, which you don't see so often now. Walking out they are positive and look like they intend to stay. There are other players who you can almost see shrinking when they come out. They have hunched shoulders, their eyes down, and a slow walk."

Dr Totterdell says other tactics can be effective. "Simple things like geeing up your colleague work very well. Leicestershire have huddles and team talks and Warwickshire used to have smile breaks when things weren't going well. You can see the difference after a wicket. The team crowds round the wicket and it sends completely different signals. That's quite often when you get a batting collapse."

However, Ray Illingworth, the former England captain and manager, dismissed the idea that psychology could revive the country's cricketing fortunes. He said: "People tell you the game has changed and that new methods are needed but I think you can go over the top. When people took a wicket in my day they shook your hand, said well done and then got on with it. Nowadays, they run round the ground and kiss each other. I don't think it makes them bowl any better."

David Gower, who also captained England, said raw talent remained the key to success, but said: "It is perfectly valid to look at psychology. It might improve a team's performance by two or three per cent. That could be the difference between winning and losing."

Source :: Electronic Telegraph (https://www.telegraph.co.uk)