Why as a batsman you are choosing to be in bad form. When I was 14 I broke records scoring 4 hundreds in 5 games, I thought my career was taking off. But then it changed. The next week two first ball ducks in a row. In the weeks that followed I scored low score after low score. It felt like every half chance was caught, every decision was bad, and I seemed to always get the best balls. A month earlier everything I touched turned to gold - Every shot went in the gap, bowlers bowled to my strength and if I did edge it, it was dropped. I believed this was just luck. But then I read the courage to be disliked applied it to my knowledge of cricket. It all changed. I had a mental reframe that changed my batting. Better timing, faster reactions, more runs. Regardless of my previous score. It stems from Alderian philosophy. Your actions stem from the direction you aim, not the story behind you. Your thinking - how does this relate to batting. See, I realised I wasn’t perceiving reality. I wasn’t getting better balls, I wasn’t getting worse decisions, I wasn’t getting caught more. These things were happening because of me. My contact point was earlier → edges carry → balls seem better I wasn’t committing to the shot → less power → catches get caught more I wasn’t tracking the ball → less margin for error against movements → more LBWs. To me this was form. But remember. Your actions stem from the direction you aim, not the story behind you. It was tough to accept but I was choosing bad form. I was too scored to accept that I wasn’t good enough. So I said ‘it’s just form’ it will come back. As soon as I realised that in fact it wasn’t form my mindset, game plan and execution was poor. I had clarity about what I needed to work on. And rather than blaming form, I began to work hard. Runs came back, I scored my hundreds and I dominated the leaderboards again. To do this you need to detach from outcomes. I teach this in my free 3 step focus PDF and free Skool community

4* off around 15 at the weekend. Even in a rain affected game, where Alf and I went off there was still plenty to learn. Wins: I got up for the contest! Dealt with outside noise well by sticking my chest out and standing tall (this tells my brain I am safe). Learnings: tricky wicket for sure with loads of that wet stuff in the air again. Stayed neutral with my mindset (the rain and noise was not good or bad, it just was). I think despite them bowling well I could’ve been more aware of dropping and running / keeping strike rotating.

Cricket doesn’t care about my emotions, how well I’m feeling or how nervous I am. There is no optimal emotion for me to perform at. There is only the emotion that is currently present. ‘It just is’. Coming of the back of a decent score the week before was a factor to me feeling in a pretty calm spot pre game and during my innings. It was an interesting battle battling with a bowler spraying it giving me “yum yums” followed up by a ball that could get me out. I managed this by sticking to my anchored phrase which helped bring me back to the present moment and greater my chances on making good decisions and not throwing it away. My dismal from an external perspective I imagine would look like I just knicked a good ball spinning away from me. But internally I knew the ball i smashed on to my achilles which was still giving me some agro took me away from that clarity of just watching the ball and reacting. Resulting in me knicking and over hitting a ball that an over before I would’ve made a better decision over. Next time: I will reset better, maybe take some time out of the over to retie a lace, take some deep breaths and face up again.

Scored my 1st league ton on Saturday. Very happy with the result. But more happy with how I went about it and how actually imperfect I felt pre and during. Pre game / day before my prep was very average. Walking around London, abit of a later night on a phone call then travelling home but controlled what I could by eating a good meal, travelling home to my bed and going straight to sleep. This proves to me further that there’s no right or optimal way to get the result i want. There just is. Of course there’s things i can do to improve my chances of success. But then for me it’s about letting go, which I did to the best of my ability. Pre game for me was normal. I noticed self 1 a couple of times, then actually verbally saying it out loud. We enjoyed a live turf net session which was out of the ordinary because I didn’t hit at all in the week. This is good lesson for me for a couple of reasons. 1. Hitting in the week doesn’t ultimately care about my score on the weekend. It may give me confidence when I’m out there, but I know how to bat. 2. Going against something I wouldn’t normally do, I try to be psychologically adaptable and can change my routine if I feel necessary. I felt in slightly poor rhythm up until I was at 50. But managed my emotions and self 1 well not giving a fuck if I made a mistake and then focusing to the next ball. As the great philosopher Alfie Hunter says - “there is no good or bad”. I stuck around, gave myself a chance, still looking to score, but gave myself a chance to bat time. When I was on around 60, fuck I felt like I loved batting. I let go of my anchored phrase and just watched the ball. I think there’s something in that. My goal was to bat time, which I did well, and when I got to 100 I gave myself permission to fully express my game, going up the gears to great affect. I’m now even more motivated to finish the last 4 games well, hoping to help my team win. I won’t chase it / look for it to much, but i have a strong desire to go well

Some good learnings from the weekend battling my way to 37 of 70 rocks against a good bowling attack, bowling consistently to well set fields. 1. In previous weeks my body (mainly forearms / upperback) was more tense than I would’ve liked, leading to me over hitting at times. This week through me anchoring to a new phrase I like pre ball, not only was I not over hitting but my clarity of thought was clearer (after keeping for 53 overs to) and therefore making better decisions! 2. Don’t get me wrong, they bowled well, but it got to a point where the RR went up to 6’s. Spinners then came on and before I got out, me and my Mental Muscling partner managed to lessen the RR after a great few overs of taking some risks which lined up with my strengthens and the field. Next time I could be more proactive, earlier in my innings so it doesn’t get to this point. Using the width of my crease was an option that works well for me. 3. Another small win for me has to be the way I handled chat. Night and day compared to a year or two ago. Having the perspective of they just want to win is why they’re saying the things that they're saying seems to dismiss any chat having an affect over me (from reflection). It wasn’t until a team mate mentioned off the field how much they were giving I realised I must’ve handled it well.