Where do England’s cricketers go from here?

When you're in form and on that winning streak, it seems like nothing can stop you. But when you're at rock bottom and out of form, it's hard to see a way out.

Just look at Arsenal's roller coaster season last year. They got off to a great start and at one stage were eight points clear of Manchester City, only to be caught and miss out on the league. So, was it City's rise in form that won it for them, or did Arsenal throw it away?

Turning our attention to the Cricket World Cup, a competition England won in 2019, after winning one and losing four they are already preparing for an early bath. Among their defeats have been South Africa who smashed 399 against them, and low-ranked Afghanistan, even before yesterday's limp capitulation to Sri Lanka. What happened?

Overcoming disappointing results

It's important to remember that things didn't go perfectly in 2019. In the last World Cup England lost three of their first seven group games, and had to win their last two to make the semi-finals. The margins between winning and losing, and gaining and losing confidence, can be very fine.

There's also plenty of experience in the current England team of overcoming adversity and poor form - Ben Stokes and his mental health, Mark Wood and his injuries, and Jonny Bairstow and his lack of form and his critics. Many of this team were involved in the cup-winning squad of 2019 so they know how to improve their performances.

Poor form is part and parcel of all forms of sport, whether a competitor or supporter, and life in general contains its fair share of challenging scenarios. A run of poor performances can impact us physically, mentally and emotionally, so it's important to understand how to overcome it.

One key psychological variable in sport is confidence. Unfortunately, form and confidence go hand in hand. When we're winning, confidence is high, but on a losing streak confidence can seem impossible to find. No matter what, it's vital that we tell ourselves that we can do it, that there is a way out. Positive affirmations and beliefs can refuel confidence and so flipping our negative thought processes into positive ones can in turn motivate us to do better.

Another thing we can do when we're out of form is acknowledge small achievements – even if they're simple accomplishments like scoring a boundary, hitting the sweet spot of the bat or racket, or completing an effective pass. Rewarding ourselves verbally for achievements like this can help to build our confidence back up.

Views of a coach and player

Poor form can impact all sportspeople, but cricket can be ruthless. Cricket is an individual sport within a team game. In other sports your teammates can influence your actions and amend your mistakes but in cricket, it is just you and bat or ball.

The life of a batter can often be particularly challenging. When you are a bowler, if you bowl a bad ball, you have five other deliveries to make up for it, and sometimes even a bad ball can take a wicket. You also have 10 other teammates working with you. However, as a batter you get only one chance, and more often than not a bad shot will result in the end of your innings. You're also so much more on your own - only you can determine the outcome of each delivery.

As a coach, working with out of form players is a regular part of what I do. Reactions to continued bad performances vary across players. Some will train harder, remaining committed and striving for better results. Others will go about their business in the same way as if they were in form. Some may completely switch off from the game.

That doesn't have to be a negative move, though. Think of Ben Stokes, who took a long break from professional cricket to work on his mental health – he's since returned as the England Test Captain and is performing at the top of his game again.

It's important to note that everyone deals with poor form differently – an approach can be unique to that individual. Each process will have their positives and negatives but it's important to recognise symptoms of burnout before it occurs.

As a coach I have seen players who have become much more critical of themselves. At that point training can be a really poor time to judge performance. During net practice there aren't any constraints or competitive variables. You either hit the ball, miss it or get out. You don't know if a bad shot has gone for a boundary or if a good shot has been caught in the deep, so it's important not to get too caught up in judging the efficiency of your shots or deliveries.

Practice is extremely important, but perhaps during poor form relaxed and simple training sessions are more important in rebuilding confidence, and not overthinking your game.

Here are three tips if you're a sportsperson and struggling with poor form:

1. Have confidence in your ability - believe and trust that you will perform better. Positive affirmations and self-talk help to encourage more positive and healthy thought processes.
2. Try to think rationally. You're not the only one who has ever experienced a run of bad form. Think about the professional athletes that you might idolise who have also had a tough time (Ben Stokes, Cristiano Ronaldo, Simone Biles etc).
3. When it gets too much, or you're no longer enjoying the sport or hobby you used to be passionate about, take a break. It's important to avoid burnout.

Remember the old adage - 'Form is temporary but class is permanent'.

"You understand that, rather than performing every day, it's really more often than not – to be successful more often than not, to score runs more often than not. You have to hope that you will score runs every day, but it's never going to be like that."

Kumar Sangakkara, former Sri Lankan batsman

 

Isaac Porter (MSC, GMBPsS) is a trainee sport and exercise psychologist on the QSEP and proud owner of Forward Drive Performance Psychology. He is a level two cricket coach with eight years' experience of coaching players at varied level, and a graduate member of the BPS.

Follow Isaac on Twitter/X or email [email protected].