Josh Kennedy: [00:00:00] This is the Cricket Matters podcast, and today's topic is why most cricketers don't improve year to year. Um, do most players, or are most players rather the same cricketer in August as they were in April? Would you say mate, or do they get worse? I'd say 

James Breese: it's a mixture of the two. Nothing really changes.

They just hope that experience will get 'em through a bit better. Yeah. They, I, god, I, the number of cricketers, I'll tell you what this, the number of cricketers you see in the in club crickets specifically that you see 'em, you see 'em in the, the last weekend in August. You don't see 'em again. You maybe see them in the, the end, the club cricket dinner at the end of September, start of October.

You don't see 'em then until January nights. Mm-hmm. And the amount of weight they put on in between that time is ridiculous. Like it's, it's like winter hibernation fat, let's call it that. And it might just possible way so [00:01:00] technically. Go on. They're the same cricketer, but physically they get worse most of the time, but not all of them, obviously.

That's picking people. Not all. We won't 

Josh Kennedy: tarnish everyone with that brushes, shall we? No but's all, is it sort of a case of, you know, people end the season, they go, okay, that's done. Switch off and then come January they go, right, let's hope something will be different this time. And they haven't actually done anything about it.

Exactly that. They just hope 

James Breese: for the best. They switch off, hope for the best and turn up and they get the same frustrations and the same problems. Like cricket is such, such, it's so like golf. Golf is like you hit that one perfect drive and you go, yeah, I'm the best player in the world. Then the next hole, you slice it miles and you are like.

It takes 12 shots to like put it in a hole. You know, it's, 

Josh Kennedy: yeah, 

James Breese: it's a variety of things. So Cricket has that, those elements and you just keep working on it. But again, the best players make a plan. Mm-hmm They don't hope for the best. [00:02:00] They plan for the worst and then hope for the best, essentially. Yeah.

They are trying to work on things bit by bit by bit. Now if you are a, no offense to Diviv 14 cricketers who are just turning up on a Saturday and having a bit of a laugh. That's cool that if that's the style of play you wanna play, great. But if you have aspirations, which I hope most people listening to this podcast to do of playing at the highest level they can do mm-hmm.

And do well at that level, then you've gotta think differently about it. Now, I'm not saying season's over, get back in the nets doing one-on-one stuff. You need a, a mental break. Like cricket is a rollercoaster of emotions. Right. It is one of the hardest games I think you can have mentally. Mm-hmm. Because it's mentally exhausting, particularly as a, a batter where you can have the highs or lows where you can do everything right and still get out and you go a shit day, that's like literally what happens.

It's mitigating those risks. So you need a break, but you [00:03:00] can work on things physically. Yeah, to start things off and see where you're at to begin with. So in terms of why most cookers don't improve year, year, they, they just hope and things will get better. You know, they can blame form, they're outta form, they'll blame, oh, like, you know, poor conditions.

Ours are a bit unlucky this year, but they won't look at actual preparation. What have they done to try and improve? Right? Yeah. So in my opinion, the off season is where the gains are made. Not in season. And you're doing all the physical work here now. So again, this, this time off, September to April is where you can work on so many aspects of the game that ca carry over, not just to cricket, but to life in general.

Yeah. Particularly in terms of physical health, movement, injury, injury reduction, that it's really important. And if you wanna play well next year, well, it starts October, November time, not, yeah, [00:04:00] March, April. Pick back, or as most boys do, or some people I know in the in cricket clubs do they get their kit bag out the greenhouse, which is covered in mold because they still haven't watched their kit from the, from the previous year.

You just know that happens. Yeah. So it's by developing this step by step by step. So again, you need to know where your level is. Now, you need to reflect. We, we did a podcast recently about this, about reflect, reflecting on the year and how to improve. Now we are thinking about what's the plan to move us forward?

And until you, until you assess, you're just guessing. So that's the first thing. Where are you at physically First, create some self-awareness around this. Then create the right structure and support networks to help you achieve that. 'cause you can't do it all alone. The best players in the world have coaches and support networks.

Accountability partners, right? That's all. That's, that's our business model essentially. This is what we're trying to do is help cricketers play their best better every ball. It's our motto, right? We wanna be better. Every ball we wanna train to help you do this. [00:05:00] So again, some of the best cricketers. That we work with are the ones who are already putting in plans for the off season right now.

How are we gonna train? How am I gonna reduce the number of injuries I had? What do I need to work on? It's conversation starters, not necessarily doing it. So we're working on physical aspects now to go into November, where we start the technical work to lead through the winter to get us ready for March, April, may next 

Josh Kennedy: year.

Exactly. And as you say, the, the, uh, physical training of course is massively important. We're giving our, most of our guys a little bit of a break during September, and then come October off season training will, uh, will kick off. But we will start with assessments as, as we, uh, as 

James Breese: we always do. Exactly. So September for most people is you just need a deload, like physically and mentally.

So we don't say stop training altogether. It's just a case of we need a bit of a break, do something different. Go have fun. Go hiking mountain, go and play football, go and play some rugby, go and hang out with family and friends. Have a swim cycle. [00:06:00] Have a Exactly Rec cycle do, yeah. Everything weather depending, right?

Yeah. So all these things are key to ref being refreshed and getting enthusiastic. Come the start of October now that's where we start. That's what we always think about in terms of development. So again, make a plan why you most could so improve union years. 'cause they don't have a plan. If you don't follow a plan, you don't have a system, and if you don't have a support network and structure in place, then you know you leave everything to chance.

And unfortunately, the best cricketers are the ones who prepare. Well, it's not just talent, it's not just experience. It. They all contribute to those factors. But I guarantee you the best producer score runs in week in, week out are the ones who prepare diligently and have a system behind them and a network of support 

Josh Kennedy: behind them to help them do so.

Yeah. Is it someone in football or just a general training philosophy? It says hard work will always, you know, beat talent. Work pays 

James Breese: off. That's Matt Fraser from the, uh, [00:07:00] former, yeah, he's retired now. He's one of the greatest CrossFit champions of all time. His motto is, hard work pays off. That's his t-shirt.

Hate. Hate WPO. Exactly. 

Josh Kennedy: You don't have to be the most talented, but you need to work hard. 

James Breese: Exactly. Make the 

Josh Kennedy: most of your talent. What if, 

James Breese: if that's a division six or the Premier League or professionally, or playing for England, right. Make the most of your talent. And the best players have to work somewhat to get there.

Some people harder than others, but the ones who work hard than others understand the process more and they can help other people too. 

Josh Kennedy: So, yeah, that's, I approach it. Absolutely. Yeah. Absolutely. And we can also help with that. Can we not with, uh, do a little thing called performance analysis juice? Yeah.

Well, 

James Breese: what a great plug that is. Great. Plug. There's anything we can help you with. Uh, number words. Yeah, if you just wanna know where you, where you're at, physically, mentally, tactically, and technically. Then we do a performance analysis. Well just help us, we'll help you, we'll assess you, we'll screen you, we'll tell you exactly what you need to know.

Whether you choose to work with us afterwards or not [00:08:00] isn't target to you, but at least you'll know where your starting point is. The other thing we can help with is training plans, and we give a free training plan away@cricketmatters.com slash train to get ready for the off season. So have a offer segue for you just taking over your role.

Josh Kennedy: Exactly. I don't need to say that anymore. I need to say now. Is that, is it for today? Mm-hmm. Please don't forget to rate, review, and subscribe and remember, our goal is to make you a better cricketer.