Luck is not a matter of chance.

Studies have shown wishing people luck makes them more likely to succeed. Boffins think this is because of the confidence boost you get as a result of knowing someone is looking out for you.

So it's not just superstition that makes you tell the next batsman "go well" as they walk past. It really does help.

And that's not the only bit of "luck" you can influence.

With a batting line up, there are six or more guys who are expected to do well. Not everyone can get big runs every week, but if you have a good line up, someone should be able to do it.

If they don't, well, perhaps you were just unlucky today.

Except it's rarely actually bad luck.

You see, another bunch of scientists have also proven that in any activity, people will try less hard in a group than if they were on their own. In a tug-of-war test, each person pulled 15% less hard in a group of five than when it was one on one.

They coined the phrase "social loafing" to describe it.

I'm willing to bet that if everyone in the team added 15% more runs over a season you would win a lot more games. Makes it a sensible goal to remove the social loafing, doesn't it?

The fix to this issue has also been researched. It's pretty simple, but not that easy.

Someone in the team needs to give their all.

Then, everyone follows the example.

Have You got a battling batter with the ugly technique who finds a way to grind out runs? That's your 100 percenter. They may not even contribute much themselves in pure runs, but they leave nothing behind in the effort.

And that makes everyone else try harder too.

Find that person.

They are the one who is angry the game is off when it's raining cats and dogs because it might clear up. They are the one who trains hardest. They are the one who battles every ball in the field in word or action (or both). The heartbeat. The nugget. The rock.

With someone like that in your team, you're bound to be inspired to do better.

That's just science.

Don't leave luck to luck, whatever you do.