This article is part of the miCricketCoach 2009 Case Study. To stay up to date with their progress get the free newsletter.

Both Naz and Geraint have begun their pre-season matches. Now is the time all that extra planning, training and organising starts to come to fruition.

Throughout the season Naz and Geraint will be keeping us up to date with their progress both on and off the field. You can contribute with your questions and suggestions by leaving a comment or sending an email. Let's find out more now.

Naz has been steady in his fitness improvements. He is still on the orginal workout (coming up to 3 months on the plan). As he is still improving there is little to worry about however we may need to tweak the plan to factor in recovery between matches.

If his training had stalled and he was not improving we would have to do a rethink. This could happen any time so we will monitor it carefully.

To help Naz clear some space to allow him to train and eat better I have also recommended he applies the "Getting Things Done" principles to his work and personal life. This system is proven to clear your mind of daily clutter and give you the freedom to do what you really want.

For me this shows how if you want to be as good as you can be as a cricketer you can't look at playing the game in isolation. It's important to take a holistic approach where you work on being well fed, well rested, organised, controlled and stress free. Naz has reported how effectively this has helped him trough his winter training.

So onto his first game. Ealing vs Nottingham University in a preseason friendly.

Here is Naz's report with my comments in italics.

Ealing 202-6, Nottingham University 148-7. Ealing won by 54 runs.

I batted 7 and made 17 not out at about a run a ball. It was a very slow pitch and outfield so runs were hard to come by. I was happy with my plan and the way I executed it. My plan was to take ones and twos to get the big hitter on strike. He ended up making 40 off about 20 balls! I struck the ball very well which I was also pleased about, particularly given the pitch.

Naz has taken several positives from a potentially negative situation of batting down the order. He had a plan and it paid off perfectly. In future it is worth him talking to the captain about what his role is supposed to be in the order.

I got three overs at the end which I wasn’t particularly happy with. The game was dead. I couldn’t get any swing (my stock ball is an inswinger) because the ball was so wet. Still it was good to get a couple of overs under my belt.

Naz is a little more negative about his bowling but he still finished with a positive to take away. I would ask him to focus more on the good things (perhaps keep a log of 5 good things he did in each game to help with this). Again to avoid frustration he could have a quick chat with the captain about getting more overs. Even if the skipper says no, at least he will explain why not.

I fielded pretty well apart from a nightmare when I just could not pick the ball up to effect a run-out! I lost concentration because the game was dead so it is my own fault really.   I nearly pulled off the catch of my life at mid-on but could not quite get enough of a hand on it. Still I was happy with my agility to get quite close to it.

Again, I would ask Naz to change how he frames his performance. How you explain something to yourself is important. He could have said he learned he need to improve his concentration in dead situations and will work on that actively. However, overall he was positive, especially about the dropped catch. Perhaps the training help him get a hand to it where before he would not have got near to it!

As you know, we had a long chat last week with Geraint and things are going well. He sends me a sheet once a week with his goals on it and whether he achieved them or not.

Mainly this is ball bowled and balls faced in training to help him focus on getting quality practice. It also includes gym sessions (2 per week) and nutrition compliance. I am happy to report he is meeting all his goals and has been doing so for several weeks now.

The next step is to review his training and eating to adapt it to in-season requirements.

Geraint has also started pre-season games. You can catch up with how he did on his training log here. He has had a quiet time of it but he has taken away some positives. He should also focus on putting the negatives out of him mind as quickly as possible.

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