When you strive for the edge you hear a lot of new ideas. "Sensory development" is one of these ideas. On the PitchVision Academy Cricket Show we often ask questions like, "Does eye training really work, or is it a myth?" and "Can we improve our communication methods by removing our auditory systems?"

All very good questions, but when I tested them, in a series of training sessions recently, I wasn't interested in answering any of these questions.

What was I doing?

I created a number of sessions with the Academy cricketers at the school where I work. All the cricketers were high quality junior players, having achieved representative honours or some level or another within the various local counties.

Within the sessions the players were challenged to bat against a bowling machine at ever increasing speeds. This started at 35mph, bouncing a couple of times, and moved progressively higher and higher, in line with the success they were having.

The difference was that in each instance players would have their eyes, or ears, restricted.

Players only batted with one eye for a period of time, while the other was covered with an eye patch. They repeated the drill with the other eye covered. Similarly, we tampered with their ears and hearing, with ear plugs in one or other ear, or even both.

So what did we achieve?

An increased understanding of how their eyes work?

Probably.

An enhanced level of vision?

Possibly, but it’s unlikely that any significant gains were made during the small time frame.

What about a better appreciation for balance, and role that your ears and hearing play in managing your centre of gravity?

Honestly I don’t know.

Reading these conclusions you may be forgiven for thinking that we didn’t learn anything at all and it was all a bit of a waste of time. But the real results were fascinating. I know these players strengths and weaknesses. I know how they react under different circumstances, and how well they take information in different ways.

What I found was - across the board - the focus and concentration for an entire 90 minute session was faultless.

As a result the quality of cricket they played was as high as it's ever been. Players were continually attentive, aware of their own movement and positioning, questioning their own skills, and continually striving to develop the skills of others. In fact, following on from the session, I asked all the players to rate their concentration levels and attention to detail, as well as the quality of the outcomes they achieved.

Every one of them felt like they had been more focussed and hardworking than ever before, as well as feeling the quality of their outcomes had been high.

So why this sudden shift in performance, or attitude?

To pin it down to one single point would be wrong. The sample size was minimal, while we know players will react often differently to varying stimuli. But here are a few suggestions, none of them mine. In fact these have all come from the group of players involved, after the sessions, once I've explained the real process they were working through.

"I knew that my sight was restricted, so I placed extra attention on keeping still and watching the ball which actually worked really well for me."

"As my eyes weren’t going to work as well as normal, I knew that other things I did had to be good. So I focussed on my movement and tried to get as close to the ball as I could."

"By the time I was batting with one eye against the machine over 65mph, I felt that no one expected me to succeed. As there was no pressure of me I felt quite free to just try and hit the ball."

"I thought it was going to be difficult so I worked harder."

"I thought that only being able to use one ear and one eye could disrupt my balance, so I paid special attention to maintaining a strong base throughout my shot."

"I felt that if we worked as a team we could help each other out, and as the task was getting harder and harder, this was our best was of improving."

So can we pin point what each player was learning during the session? For me, the major gains weren't made during the 90 minutes of hitting balls, they were made during the reflection after the session.

• Each player realised the level of focus they can maintain for an extended period of time.
• Each player realised that they could achieve things that were possibly beyond their expectations.
• Each player realised they had set new standards of training from which all future training session would be gauged.
• Each player was a great trainer, if only for 90 minutes. I'll leave you with a quote, as I left them:

"Good players occasionally turn greatness on. Great players never seem to be able to turn it off."