The Sport Psychologist, 1990,4,386-399

A Mental Skills Training Program for the Western Australian State Cricket Team

Sandy Gordon The University of Western Australia

This article describes the design, implementation, and evaluation of a mental skills training program for a professional cricket team. Formally initiated in 1987, the educational philosophy and style of operation of this program has evolved to accommodate three other younger representative teams-students from a local cricket academy-in addition to the unique requirements of senior professionals in the state team. A mental skills workbook represents a key resource to the professional team in a service that remains strictly optional. A model of elite cricketer development is presented, and six key mental skill areas are described together with four groups of recurring prob- lems. Good one-on-one skills, a flexible nonacademic style, and good obser- vational abilities have helped to facilitate effective consulting. In addition, regular evaluation by athletes and an excellent working relationship with an enlightened coach has been critical to both program design and imple- mentation.

I am currently retained as a mental skills coach by the Western Australian Cricket Association (WACA) in Perth, to work primarily with the Western Aus- tralian (W.A.) senior male state team. Since my initial appointment 3 years ago (April 1987) my role has evolved considerably and, now, as a member of a specialist coaching panel, I also coach mental skills to three other state represen- tative teams and teach a mental skills curriculum at a local cricket academy for Year 8-10 boys and girls. The majority of my time, however, is spent with the senior state team and squad of 24-27 players and I am contracted to continue in this role for a further 2 years.

Like most Australian cricketers, the players I work with are essentially part-time professional athletes who range in age (19-42 years) and occupations. The average age of the team of 12 players who played in the last game in 19891 90 was 28 years and their occupations included insurance representatives (3), sales representatives (2), cricket administrators (2), land evaluator, civil servant, machinist, teacher, and accountant. Although the Sheffield Shield (national league) season runs in the summer for 6 months (October-March), some national team representatives on the W.A. state team and those who are contracted to

Sandy Gordon is with the Department of Human Movement and Recreation Studies, The University of Western Australia, Nedlands, WA, 6009 Australia.

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play in England during the Australian winter may play cricket 8-10 months in any year.1 Since 1987 W.A. has won three Sheffield Shield national league titles (a 4-day competition) and one FA1 Cup title (a 1-day limited overs competition), and since the current State team coach took charge 15 years ago, W.A. teams have earned the reputation of being consistently competitive.

Initial Contact and Program Philosophy Making Contact

The initial contact with me was made by the state team coach who was also at that time a senior lecturer in the same department I was appointed to in March 1987. This occurred 1 week after my arrival in Australia (from Canada) and 2 weeks prior to the 1987/88 Sheffield Shield final in Perth. I was simply asked if I would consider talking to the team. I politely declined the invitation and post-, poned my first contact with the W.A. captain and his senior team members until 1 month prior to preseason training for the following season. I needed time to assess the coach as a person and as a coach, the environment I would be working in including other coaches as well as facilities, and my personal knowledge and interest in the game I had taught in school 15 years previously and had played relatively successfully in Northeast Scotland.

All of these factors considered, I then devised a mental skills training program based on what I knew of the game and its particular mental demands, and submitted it to the WACA cricket manager and WACA executive for en- dorsement. Both the program and budget were approved and the manager con- firmed in writing a contract to work exclusively with the coach and the state team for 2 years.

I should emphasize that the quality of my rapport with the coach is still critical to the effectiveness of my work at the WACA. Particularly in the initial stages it was important that my involvement was not compromised by negative attitudes or obstructional behavior by the coach who, as it turned out, had an excellent knowledge of my area of expertise and sportfcoaching science in gen- eral. I am fortunate in that I continue to feel I am working with the coach and never as a filter to players or, worse still, working with the players against the coach. Second, I should also emphasize that a clinical psychologist had pre- viously worked with the team and that my philosophy and style of operation would need to be substantially different. Some individuals had reported discom- fort with the "silent staring" approach of my predecessor and, in addition, re- quested a service that had something more applied and concrete to offer.

Philosophy

The director of coaching and the other specialist coaches on the WACA coaching panel refer to me as the mental skills coach. I believe that the title sport psycholo-

' W.A. annually competes with five other state teams in Australia: New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, and Victoria. The Australian national team competes internationally against several other national teams, for example England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and West Indies.

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gist is both inaccurate and misleading, and therefore inappropriate for two main reasons: First it is inaccurate because there are no formal professional training programs in Australia, approved by both sports science and psychology, to be- stow the title of sport psychologist on individuals. My background is in physical education and, therefore, despite my professional and full-time engagement in teaching and researching exercise and sport psychology, I am technically an educator, not a psychologist. Second, I believe the title of sport psychologist can be misleading to members of the sport community and society at large who tend to assume that practitioners deal only with athletes who are psychologically troubled or disturbed. This assumption is false and unfortunate, and I believe it inhibits both the practice of sport psychology in the sport community and accep- tance of sport psychology as an applied sport science. The title of mental skills coach, on the other hand, precisely describes what I actually do; that is, I teach or coach mental skills and therefore the philosophy I espouse is primarily both educational and developmental.

My approach, particularly with younger players, involves integrating the learning and acquisition of mental skills with all other cricket skills (i.e., techni- cal, tactical, and physical skills). However, while still educational, my approach with the state team and more senior players has had to change. I have found that dealing with virtually the same group of part-time professionals year after year, who have reached or are reaching the absolute limits of skill in other areas, requires a subtly different philosophy; I will elaborate on this later. (See Gordon, Prapavessis, & Grove, 1990, on the educational/developmental approach to de- signing mental skills programs in sport.)

At an individual level, I have developed a simple organizational model of elite cricketer development. This model is illustrated in Figure 1 and lists differ- ent life domains and, for cricket, different skill areas that must be addressed by both coaches and athletes.

Using the model, I am able to explain to each athlete how cricket should be kept in perspective with other life domains. This opportunity facilitates my role in fostering personal growth of individuals thrbugh sport as well as perfor- mance enhancement. The model also outlines different skill areas that aspiring cricketers must address individually, thus promoting the ethos of self-direction and self-responsibility and the adage "If it's to be . . . it's up to me." Mental skills and hidden skills are intentionally emphasized because they are often over- looked in training programs. In cricket it is reasonable to argue that coaches have only recently acknowledged the importance of physical training and preparation, and mental skills training in particular is used only in exceptional cases. In the wake of traditional coaching methods therefore, and the almost exclusive empha- sis on technical skill development, generations of cricketers have been left to develop appropriate mental skills on their own through experience.

Part of my philosophy involves challenging traditional coaching methods and attitudes of coaches toward mental skills and to enhance their significance in talent development. In my opinion, a complete coach is as responsible for instructing a cricketer how to behave and how to think as he or she is for in- structing cricketers how to train and how to playlcompete. I am fortunate that the state coach and the WACA director of coaching agree with this.

domains m Skill L i

Elite cricketer development: A personal philosophy

Conditioning cl 91 --1 awareness confidence: 3 Desirable enthusiasm: mental characteristics mental toughness - I

Aerobic Attention Coping strategies 6 Mental skill areas - endurance to basics Anxiety control Self-regulation skills Visualization skills - stamina Team play - Anaerobic Activation Corkentration and Confidence and - strength IndividuaVteam Energizing attention skills consistency - speed; power tactics Body language Arousal control Pre: during: post- Flexibility Advanced skills game activities - range of

motion

Figure 1 - Philosophy of the elite cricketer development: An integrated skills approach.

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Style of Operation In the first preseason (1987189) I began with a series of group sessions with the coaches and State team players on various topics. However, I now prefer to work one on one with individuals. I try to meet players whenever it suits them, either in my university office or, more usually, at the WACA grounds before or after training or during a game. Occasionally the coach or team captain may ask me to address the team on certain observations I have made during a game or train- ing, or ask me to add comments during team meetings before or after a day's play. I attend all training sessions and home games (i.e., Cday and 1-day games) and occasionally assist with warm-up drills and skill practices. For these purposes I am provided the same full training gear as all coaches and players, complete with sponsors' logos, which I am obliged to wear at all times.

Players frequently ask me to observe their efforts at practice and to report on their technical work. While I oblige and provide this feedback, I try to avoid evaluating technique (e.g., batting or bowling) which is the preserve of other specialist coaches. During discussions on technique, therefore, I try to help play- ers find their own solutions, first by suggesting self-analysis (e.g., video) and second by encouraging them to ask coaches and teammates. This strategy suc- cessfully promotes playerlplayer and playerlcoach interaction, and the resultant training environment is usually supportive and cooperative. I find that my knowl- edge of cricket technique has increased dramatically over the last 3 years; how- ever, I will continue to resist the temptation to offer opinions even when asked. Often I will duck out of giving a personal opinion by asking, "What did the coach say?" or "Another player dealt with that problem this way, what do you think?" Both techniques have the desirable effects of obliging the player to find his own solution while at the same time protecting my role as facilitator.

My contact and involvement with each player has been, at my insistence, strictly optional. Players have never been obliged to talk to me or make appoint- ments for individual consultations except when, at my suggestion, the coach and I meet with each player preseason, midseason, and toward the end of the season, primarily to evaluate and update goals in different areas. These sessions are very rewarding for both the coach and myself and are similarly regarded by younger and less experienced players. This optional arrangement has many advantages but, most important of all, allows players the freedom of opting in or opting out of mental skills training. Players like this style of operation and report in their evaluations that I am "never pushy," "always available," "easy to talk to," and so forth.

In addition to the group sessions I conducted for both coaches and players in the 1987188 season, I conducted 58 individual consultations lasting approxi- mately 1 hour each. Consultations were reduced in number to 50 in 1988189 and 35 last season. Interestingly the majority of these sessions were with more skilled and experienced players on the team and squad, for example former or current national team members. Younger and less experienced players tend to focus more on their physical fitness and technique, which unfortunately is a recipe for quantity as opposed to quality training. New players to the squad notice the different emphases in state training from club training and learn to train smarter; however, a complete change in emphasis that includes mental training might take an individual one to two seasons to accomplish.

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In 3 years I have collected normative data from 39 players using a modified version of Loehr's (1982) Psychological Performance Inventory, Orlick's Self- Control Assets form (Orlick, 1980), and Competition Reflection form (Orlick, 1986), and Rotter's (1966) Locus of Control Scale. I do not use these data for any purposes other than for assessing each new player's understanding of mental skills, his awareness of mental and emotional states during a game, and his predisposition toward self-responsibility concerning behavioral outcomes.

I will not present these confidential data in detail here. However, consistent with my expectations, more skilled and experienced players tend to report using more approximations of a variety of mental skills (except imagery), are more aware of both mental and physical reactions to negative and positive circum- stances during competition (but generally do not know what to do about these reactions), and are "internals." These data are not shared with the coach unless during his profile interpretation a player suggests that I do so. The more usual circumstance for passing on information to the coach is when more individual practice time with the coach is requested, or when special technique work is required, or when advice on noncricket matters (e.g., career choice or work) is sought. Instances of referring matters to the coach occur most often with new or younger squad members who may be unfamiliar with the norms and culture of state squad training and/or who are unsure of their working relationship with the coaches.

Type and Range of Services Provided

My discussion on services to the WACA will be restricted to the work with the state teamtsquad which, as I mentioned earlier, is essentially educational but with some notable changes in individual cases. I will signpost this discussion by referring to four specific features of this service: assessment of needs, skills training, nonperformance services, and evaluation.

1. Assessment of Needs: Three years ago, after consulting the coach, cap- tain, and senior team members, I pieced together a rough picture of the cognitive, emotional, and behavioral demands of the sport on players in a mental skills training program. Three years later, after spending hundreds of hours observing training and competition, and consulting with coaches and players, I am much wiser! The experiential or tacit knowledge I now have, and related competencies and skills, seem immeasurably more relevant and useful now to the players I deal with than my academic and professional training. At the completion of the first season, characterized by 8 preseason group sessions on separate topics and 58 individual consultations, I asked each player to rate both the relevance of each topic and my personal performance as a mental skills coach. I will refer to evaluation procedures more specifically later, but this first attempt was both extremely valuable and personally rewarding. It boosted my confidence in my own ability and what I was doing, but more important, it helped refine the focus on those skill areas our current players found most helpful. I now administer similar evaluations each year which, together with the self-report data from the inventories administered to new players, comprises my primary means of as- sessing needs.

With few exceptions, elite cricketers are definitely aware of the mental skills required to perform well, and in some cases the attempts that have been

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made to develop these skills have been both appropriate and effective. In general, however, the efforts at improving the defined skills have been erratic and some- times naive. My own success at enhancing mental skill development is also questionable in that the measurement of improvement (self-report and observa- tion) is highly subjective, and of course my long-term effectiveness is severely limited due to the optional nature of the service. You cannot force professional athletes to learn these skills andlor adhere to individual programs, which is some- times very frustrating.

In tune with the optional service I offer, therefore, and in the full knowl- edge that some players either prefer to keep me at a distance or rely on their natural talents alone, I have chosen to develop a mental skills workbook that is updated and issued to each squad member each year. Each personalized copy outlines details of the six skills the players themselves have identified as im- portant in elite cricket, together with basic and advanced exercises that facilitate improvement in each skill. I introduced Volume 1 in 1989190 and asked players to refer to the workbook as often as possible during the season. This, I believe, explains the sudden drop in the number of individual consultations in that year (35 hours) as compared with the previous 2 years. The workbook is designed so that, with some individual instruction and feedback from me, each player can both assess and develop his own skills in relevant areas.

Fostering autonomy and independence is considered important in cricket by both coaches and players because of the nature and demands of the game. Cricketers do not interact as frequently as athletes in other team sports (e.g., basketball, soccer), and although there is a necessary level of communication between batsmen, bowlers, and fielders, a large part of the decision-making during a game is isolated to the individuals engaged in the action. Providing individualized workbooks on mental skills, and encouraging self-direction and self-help in these areas, is therefore consistent with the overall goal of developing autonomous and independent cricketers.

2. Skills Training: The six skill areas identified by players as most im- portant in cricket, in priority order, are self-regulation skills, concentration/ attention, arousal control, visualization, confidence and consistency, and pre-, during, and postgame activities. Each skill is described in detail elsewhere (e.g., Martens, 1987; Williams, 1986), but I will briefly describe how each is related to cricket and how each is presented in the workbook.

Self-Regulation Skills. Consistent with my optional style of operation, and the attitude of most specialist coaches at the WACA, I explain to each individ- ual how achievement in cricket is a do-it-yourself process. Because I am not dealing with students, I can even say that I have no ambition for these profession- als, who in turn can freely ignore the advice and instruction I offer-and some do! I hope players do achieve what they want to achieve of course, and I always assist them unconditionally when and where I can, but they now understand that they must set their own goals and be responsible for solving their own problems.

The workbook provides a brief and uncomplicated set of goal setting guide- lines for achievement strategies in six skill areas: technical, tactical, physical, mental, behavioral, and environmental. Blank goal setting sheets and examples of both correct and incorrect procedures are included in this section, which I refer to frequently. The main problems players find initially are listing specific goals in each area and responding to the first three questions on the goal sheet: What do I have to do to achieve this goal? How am I going to do this? How can

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I measure improvement? The main problem I have is getting players to write anything down. Despite my efforts at devising a user-friendly workbook and explaining the benefits of written records, only 40-50% of the players seem willing to commit their thoughts to paper on this or any topic.

A four-step problem-solving exercise is also presented in this section, which I likewise refer to frequently. Step 1, a "thorough examination of the situation," asks what the problem is from the player's perspective. Whose prob- lem is it? What is causing the problem? What happens when it occurs? What else needs to be known about the problem? Step 2, "selection of coping strategies and problem-solving techniques," focuses on identification of solution options, identification of consequences of each solution option (positive and negative), and selection of solution option. Step 3 is "administration/implementation of the solution" and Step 4 is the "evaluation of effects," desirable or undesirable. This procedure, which is applicable to all problem areas (e.g., personal and social problems as well as technical ones), is integrated with the technique of goal setting.

Concentration andAttention Skills. I have written more extensively else- where on the significance of concentration in cricket (Gordon, 1989), which undoubtedly is most important for effective performance. Intelligent cricketers do seem to pay attention to the right things at the right time and also manage to cope with potential internal and external distractions.

The workbook outlines the four essential characteristics of concentration in cricket: a focus on one thing at the critical moment, a focus on the present, an ability to selectively attend to critical cues, and an ability to minimize periods of optimum concentration. For all players, the critical moment in cricket is at the point of delivery in bowling, when bowlers should attend only to the target on the wicket they wish to pitch the ball to, batsmen should focus only on the ball in the bowler's hand, and fielders should focus on either the ball, the ball/ bat, or cues from the batsman (depending on their fielding position). Attending to each ball on its merits without either thinking back to previous deliveries or thinking ahead to future deliveries (e.g., by other bowlers) maintains a focus on the here and now.

Players who move from position to position in the field or bowlers who have to bowl to a right-handed or left-handed batsman need to know what to focus on as well as how to focus. And finally, in order to minimize periods of optimum concentration, cricketers must learn how to let themselves (not make themselves) switch on and off during play. Similar to a golfer who peaks in concentration only when playing shots, cricketers need to learn how to switch on at every delivery and switch off during periods of inactivity. The debilitating effects of mental and physical exhaustion can occur in 30-40 minutes of play if a batsman, bowler, or fielder cannot switch off in concentration, which can create serious performance concerns in a game that lasts 6 hours a day. Switching channels is facilitated through checklists and "triggers" (see Martens, 1987) and a "re-focusing plan" (Gordon, 1990) characterized by the phrase "OK, that has happened (is happening)-what is it I have to do right now?"

I refer to attentional styles in discussing the arousal-attention-performance relationship, which is helpful, but training and developing concentration is still a concern for me. I have used various concentration exercises (e.g., Mahoney, 1983) but I am more keen on devising my own more externally valid cricket- specific exercises during skill drills.

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Arousal Control. I explain in the workbook that mental toughness is a characteristic of cricketers who are able to keep both their mental and physical arousal levels within manageable limits-which facilitates optimum perfor- mance-under adverse circumstances. Arousal control therefore concerns identi- fying individual examples of adversity and typical cognitive and behavioral reactions to these instances and then developing mental and physical strategies to cope with them.

Examples of mental and physical strategies that some players already use, unconsciously and consciously, in coping with performance states identified as underarousal and overarousal are illustrated in the workbook. Pressure is de- scribed as something that is self-induced, and control is referred to as the appro- priate reaction to what happens during performance. In other words, players are taught that pressure is something they put on themselves and that what happens to them during a game (past event) is nowhere near as important as how they react to what happens to them (present event).

Examples of thought stoppage are listed together with an illustrated exam- ple of how to create a series of "What i f . . . do this" examples, such as, "What if I play at a ball and miss it (batsman)?" Do this: Say, "next time play straight and watch the ball! " Shadow the action I wanted three times, two release breaths. This section and the next two are integrated with the last section on prelduring game activities and specifically to the creation of an ideal performance state (Loehr, 1983).

Visualization. Having recently completed some preliminary experimen- tal research on bowlers with colleagues (Gordon, Weinberg, & Jackson, 1990), I am even more convinced of the potential of imagery in both developing and enhancing technical performance. In the workbook I provide brief and uncompli- cated information and guidelines on when to Visualize and how to Visualize, and I encourage all players to build visualization into their pregame and during-game activities as much as possible. While visualization is useful for all players and for a number of learning situations, it is particularly relevant for the skill of bowling since bowlers perform essentially the same closed-skill over and over again and are in almost complete control of their performance environment.

Conjidence and Consistency. The workbook presents information on the characteristics of confidence, diffidence, and arrogance, together with strategies and guidelines on how to deal with lack of confidence and how to enhance confi- dence. Slumps and a slumpbusting plan are also referred to and linked back to the self-regulation skills (goal setting and problem solving). The most significant improvement I have seen in 3 years is in each player's ability to avoid hitting the panic button when things don't go well. In the past, encouragement from the coach and advice from others (probably too much advice) has been the traditional panacea for loss of form. However, recently I have seen an increase in the willingness of individual players to take a calm control of their own problems and work these out for themselves. What is also gratifying is the increased will- ingness of players to analyze periods of excellent performance or "purple patches" that are too often taken for granted and not analyzed at all. With only a little prompting, more players are seizing this moment to learn from good performances in the same way they analyze and learn from bad performances which usually draw attention to themselves.

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Pre-, During-, and Postgame Activities. Finally, the workbook lists the type of activities that players should consider building into routines and rituals that might help facilitate an ideal performance state. Environmental and behav- ioral goals as well as mental, physical, and technical goals related to prelduring game circumstances are referred to. Environmental goals relate to diet, sleep and rest, clothing and equipment checks, and travel to and from the field. Behavioral goals relate to both verbal and nonverbal conduct and mannerisms characteristic of the elite cricketer-confidence, enthusiasm, and mental toughness (see Figure 1). Before and during games these goals should be consistent with the perfor- mance goals of both individuals and the team.

Physical and mental activities related to arousal control, concentration, visualization, and enhancing/sustaining group and individual confidence are listed in point form. These lists of suggestions resemble those occasionally ver- balized by the coach and team captain and sometimes by me at team meetings. For example, the night before games, with all the training and tactical efforts completed, I often advise players to spend as much time as possible visualizing how they want to play the next day. This fosters a relaxed awareness to the job at hand on game day and a calm but competitive focus for each session in each day's play.

The most work I have done in this skill area has been on developing a user friendly postgame analysis system, which is currently in its third draft. I encour- age each player to use the four R's in postgame analysis-review, retain, rest, and return (Mahoney, 1983)-and I try to get them to commit this analysis to paper. My system involves writing a performance goal prior to the start of each game or, in 4-day games, prior to each day's play; next, after the game or day's play, the player records his figures for bowling, batting, or fielding in his match report and comments on whether or not he achieved his performance goal. The match report also includes all relevant information on points learned from both opposing players and teammates. Finally, in the personal analysis section the player lists points for practice under four headings: technique, fitness, mental, and other. Players report that this system is "very useful, " "excellent, " and "extremely beneficial," but only 40-50% use it with any degree of regularity. Old and traditional habits of committing analysis to memory seem to die hard in cricket, unfortunately.

3. Nonperformance Services: The appendices of the workbook include information on the hidden curriculum (see Figure 1) and nonperformance related issues such as handling the media; time, travel, and career management skills; coping with injuries (see Gordon & Lindgren, in press); and general healthy lifestyle advice on nutrition, alcohol, and leisure activities. Although listed as nonperformance related matters, these issues are raised regularly by both coaches and players and therefore their significance in the active and busy world of an elite cricketer cannot be ignored. Other nonperformance issues that players have brought up and that are beyond the boundaries of my training I refer to other specialists trained in these areas.

4. Evaluation: Besides asking the players and coaches to evaluate the effec- tiveness of how I operate, I continually evaluate the individual efforts of players as they work through a specific problem. Sometimes I can monitor progress quantitatively by keeping statistics on overt behaviors, such as flashes of anger

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or some other dysfunctional nonverbal behavior. This is facilitated through taped televised coverage of games, video analysis of behavior at training sessions, or simple observation with binoculars. I also use self-reports by players; for exam- ple one player with concentration problems measured improvement by counting the number of times he used a checklist when he was fielding. Normally this close-in fielder had no problems reacting instinctively to game situations, but a new fielding position further away from the batsmen posed problems for him. He knew his concentration was improving when he found himself resorting to a checklist less often to combat concentration lapses.

Monitoring and evaluating the effect of what I do with the team and specific individuals can also be facilitated qualitatively through interviews, conversa- tions, and field notes that I keep in a diary. I believe my role as an informed and privileged observer is important for both the coach and captain, and especially for players who ask for assistance. A detached yet intimate observational function also allows me sufficient objectivity that I can avoid the cheerleader role, which I think would compromise my overall function.

Problem Areas and How Handled There are four recurring groups of problems that I can generallydeal with in individual consultations by referring to the workbook: poor training habits, con- centration lapses, problems in handling pressure, andworry. TWO other prob- lems, however, have required other types of interventions: the firing of our team captain and his subsequent removal from the team, and an ongoing concern with communication between selectors and the coach, team capt&n, -and players. I will not comment further on these two problems except to report that my role in both instances was and still is severely limited due to the nature of my appoint- meat. The perception of the selectors and the WACA management is that since I am working for and with the coach and players, my opinion may either be tainted and therefore redundant or, more likely, deemed irrelevant. My written objective observations, submitted in the best interests of both players and man- agement, have been largely ignored. It appears therefore that unless asked by management, I should restrict my expertise to the realm of players and coaches and the responsibilities I was assigned in 1987, which is what I will do.

In regard to improving the quality of training throughout a 6-month season, and specifically the ability of both coaches and players to reproduce quality effort at net practices, I refer the players to the process of attaining goals. In so doing, some players have reported a significant improvement in their training habits, particularly at club training, and appear more businesslike and self-directed. Players now expect me to ask them what they wish to accomplish at state team training, and they come better prepared with an appropriate response such as, "work on my line and moving the ball late off the seam" (bowler) or "get my footwork correct for each shot so I can keep my balance" (batsman).

Very few players write down these goals, but they have at least prepared themselves for a purposeful individual session at the nets on top of what the coach organizes for the group. Such is his personal interest in goal setting that the new captain recently requested that I meet with each squad member in presea- son to obtain formal accounts of both physical and technical goals. His personal example, and those of other national team members, has definitely inspired and

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helped others improve both their attitudes and efforts at training. As the state coach and the team captain and I know, however, there is still room for improvement.

Concentration lapses seem to concern batsmen more than bowlers or field- ers, although all players have reported using the workbook to improve their capacity in this area. At the point of delivery, batsmen must be able to focus only on the ball, then play the ball by making a shotlstroke or leave it altogether, and then switch off. However, "switching off' concentration appears to be a prob- lem particularly at the beginning of an inning, thus inducing premature fatigue and poorer concentration after approximately 50-90 minutes of play (depending on how many deliveries the batsman has faced). By learning a predelivery routine (checldist and trigger) to "switch on" to each successive delivery, and a switch off routine, and by becoming more aware of symptoms of concentration lapses, batsmen are better able to help themselves. Combining self-instructions and self- affirmations with physical actions (e.g., release breaths, shadow actions, stretch- ing, shoulder shrugs) at training is the necessary first step before experimenting in a game.

Handling pressure or controlling arousal levels is as relevant for highly skilled and experienced players as it is for less skilled or novice players. In each case players have to adjust levels accordingly to obtain moderate or optimal arousal control which, theoretically, ought to facilitate optimum performance. However, with the exception of most of the elite players who have talked with me, I still observe experienced players underaroused (complacent and inactive) and novice players overaroused (hyperactive and agitated) prior to performing. The concept of optimal arousal is intuitively appealing to these players, yet they do not seem to do much about creating and recreating it. Usually successive failures stimulate a need to discuss things with me, but for most players this occurs too late and they may be dropped from the team.

Degrees of inappropriate arousal levels among players are still evident with batsmen padded up and awaiting their turn at the crease. I therefore encourage attention to various physical and mental strategies that, in combination, can effec- tively raise or lower arousal levels. I also use appropriate real-life examples of elite players as they prepare for their performances as role models for players who have concerns handling pressure.

Worry and rumination about future events is another recurring problem that can be dealt with using workbook exercises on thought stoppage and by creating lists of stressful situations and recording how to deal with them. I have noticed, however, that more reports of worry occur during away games and/or on tours when players have usually more free time to ruminate about upcoming performances. To stave off worry, therefore, and specifically to help players get some sleep, I have adapted a relaxation tape (Nideffer, 1985) that players can listen to which, in five cases, features the voice of the player's wife. One player reported that he fell asleep immediately upon hearing his wife's voice, without doing one exercise! Another simple technique that two players report using regu- larly on tour resembles Borkovec's (1985) "Why worry?" strategy. This in- volves identifying worry thoughts or ruminations during the day but postponing active and intense wonying until later and for a prescribed place.

Players should focus on present activities and immerse themselves totally in what they are doing (e.g., socializing, shopping, traveling, recreating). The

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adage of an idle mind being the devil's workshop seems to ring true, thus structur- ing activities throughout a full day and anticipating periods of inactivity and boredom and preparing things to do during these periods such as reading a book or listening to music are other useful antidotes to worry.

Concluding Comments Part-time professional cricketers seem interested in learning any skill that will enhance their performance and therefore prolong their career. When offered an optional service in mental skills training, therefore, most of the 39 athletes I have worked with over the past 3 years have responded positively to both the information and the style of approach I have presented. However, I cannot deter- mine the extent of my effectiveness because measurement of this is highly subjec- tive. In their evaluation reports, players unanimously indicate I am helping them in some tangible way, and so without monitoring their individual written re- sponses to different profiling instruments (e.g., standardized tests and others I could devise, which professional players are disinclined to use), I must assume that a main effect is being achieved. Whereas students may respond to requests to record the progress made in skill areas, part-time professional athletes find this onerous. Since I cannot oblige these athletes to do anything in the same way I can oblige students, and since an ongoing relationship with players depends on mutual respect, I have learned to be satisfied with any efforts they either do make or report making on their own with or without my direct guidance.

The times I have felt idle or like a spectator I take responsibility for, and so now I get more involved in general team affairs. I deem it my problem if I feel redundant, and so with the coach's permission I try to help out in other coaching and training areas, which helps me integrate mental skills with technical and physical skills. For example, concentration during a warm-up is critical for range-of-motion exercises, self-instructions and self-affirmations are necessary in all skill analysis, and of course goal setting cuts across all aspects of a night's training or a day's play. With this extra effort on my part, I feel that the relevance of mental skills training has become clearer for both coaches and players and further legitimates my presence and input.

Finally, I would not change a thing if asked to start again with this team and coach. I f d y believe the educational approach works well to a point, and thereafter one must adopt the role of a facilitator, particularly with professional players who may occasionally appear immune to information! I appreciate and admire the W.A. state coach and director of coaching for their enlightened coach- ing methods in what is a traditional and conservative sport in Australia, and I feel privileged to know these players. My role as mental skills coach therefore may at times be fraught with some frustrations and difficulties and cannot be described as lucrative, but both professionally and personally it can certainly be described as an extremely rewarding experience.

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