Custom Bats Cricket Forum
General Cricket => Cricket Training, Fitness and Injuries => Topic started by: kenbriooo on January 18, 2018, 08:38:31 PM
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I'm sure there will be a number of forum members who will be taking on the captaincy role for the first time in this coming season. I'll be leading the troops out for the first time in league cricket. So what tips (sensible or otherwise) would other captains or players offer all those new captains already planning their net sessions and formulating their ideal XI's for the upcoming season?
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Give All 11 a game ?
Give them all a role ?
Have fun ?
Don’t take it overly seriously ?
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Don’t do it lol
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Listen to advice from others and make sure that everyone is encouraged, even if they make a mistake
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Lead. From the front.
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Lol !! :)
Not currently skippering but did so with ours twos at 18 as we went with yoof way back then and have skippered both twos and ones a couple of times again over the years.
Rather than concentrating on organising everything yourself if at all possible leave some duties to other people, like organising practice. In my time as captain I was club captain, that means responsibility for all four 11's. In essence that meant anyone with any issue at at was referred to me-that is very very difficult to do, so try if you can to concentrate on your team and the players in it.
I was happy to make my own mistakes, and I did, but I also got a lot of respect from my team mates , couple of tips:
Def try to make the game enjoyable even if you are playing at a decent level.
Back yourself and your decisions 100 per cent, skippers cannot see everything in the game,the keeper is normally in a good position to see if the ball is moving or swinging around.
Try to be inclusive, young and old have an opinion, younger players might have the same ideas and the old sage.
Lead from the front in the way you play, if you are an aggressive player do not change your game, more defensive-stay the same.
Try as much as possible to get guys in the right batting positions, amazes me in every team I've played people play differently, some are born openers, some always want to hit everything.
Play game in the right spirit, you have to play to way you want, any decision can be explained to any player if need be, if stuck for an answer 'gut instinct that one'
Thick skin helps, you will probably be talked about, texted about, whatsapped(!) to hell-it's all part of the job.
Good luck and well done for taking on a role most think they can do but often don't put themselves forward for.
It made me a better player and helped me with communication with others-especially those I did not particularly get along with.
:)
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I had a go as Skip last season. Not easy to be honest. The biggest issues were off the field rather than on it, mainly centered on pulling 11 together each week. My dreams of a consistent side went out of the window by the 3rd week I think and with a 'core' of only about 4 players it meant a lot of pleading phone calls late each week. My advice would be to try and get availabilities charted some weeks in advance if you can, to reduce the stress. This would be particularly helpful in the summer holiday period of July/August.
Also off the field, make sure you organise Teas somehow, hopefully with someone who can do them every home game. Worth paying a few quid for a decent service.
On the field, the problem I had was that when you have begged people to play, you feel obliged to give them a game. This can be a nightmare, and I found that I was giving up my own game just to appease others. It got me down in the end, so I was glad when someone else volunteered for 2018!
Best of luck!
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Some really good points already from everyone :)
It can depend on the level you play at but from my experience as captain here are a few things....
Always treat everyone with the same attitude you would expect to get back from them.
Be organised off the pitch, it will help you on the pitch... the hardest part of being a captain is actually what you do off the pitch
Don't forget about you. By that I mean, you are still paying subs etc... so don't think you have to fit everyone in. If you are are the best person to bowl then bowl etc...
Everyone always has an opinion but it doesn't always mean there right, but there always worth listening to.
Have fun with it, you won't win everything so make sure you have fun.
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Giving people roles is a really good bit of advice. For home games make sure someone’s job every week is set the stumps up, do the boundary rope, collect the subs.....you get the idea.
It will help take some of the pressure off, mainly make sure you enjoy it.
Good luck buddy.
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Try and give everyone a game ... depending on the standard of your cricket.
Keep everyone happy, keep people involved in the field, changing fielders around to get them on there toes.
Take advice from others, because if you make decision on your own and things go wrong, people will start moaning saying i told you so, "should of listened to me"
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It's been awhile since I captained a team...basically my younger high school / underage days...but now captain of a reasonably successful mid competition indoor team...
after a period away from cricket I've found massive help when captains of my outdoor club have provided feedback and coaching during training...I've allowed a lot of bad habits to creep into my technique due to playing indoor a lot the past few years...
more often than not most people can sit back, spot an issue and atleast mention it...others with more experience will be able to offer guidance of some sort to help correct it...
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Don't take your spinner off if he gets tonked for a couple of boundaries, otherwise I'm coming for you
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Alot of variables in club cricket which make it hard to give a precise answer but one thing I would always recommend is to Keep a cool head, captaincy is more a mental skill than a physical one
Leading from the front in terms of behaviour and attitude sets a good example particularly if you have younger players
And scoring runs always makes the job easier!
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Brilliant timing on this thread. I've taken on a captaincy this year or our 2's. We have dropped to the lowest division in our league structure which doesn't really do the strength of the team justice - The chap who did it last year did a great job in tough circumstances and despite a good spirit the cricket didn't shine and we ended up going down...
I've been a player that moves between he 1's and the 2's depending on availability but I don't think that helped my game at all so this year I am hoping more consistency will not only help my game but will also give me a chance to build relationships with the 2's squad and then hopefully develop some of those younger guys who have the skill, they just need a bit of experience.
I persuaded the club to allow me to appoint to vice captains - this was to ensure that every week at least 2 of us will be playing and the team get some consistency in leadership. It also helps with he advice as above - I can't do and see everything.
The other idea I really like from the comments above is the club captain idea.... we don't have that and I think it would be a really good role for us as we are in the mist of developing the club and what that means.
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Buy the beer. If you win, no better feeling than throwing 11 cold ones in the changing room to celebrate.
Make everyone feel as special as possible, if you need favours , explain it , dont just think theyll understand.
Try to get the lads to see how much effort you put it, and hopefully they reciprocate.
Do the hard graft on the field yourself, others will follow, then ultimately lead themselves.
Play with a smile, although difficult sometimes, we all want to enjoy saturdays.
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I took on my first season of 1st XI captaincy last season and I can agree with everything that’s been said before me. It’s tough, on and off the pitch. I’ll try not to repeat too much, but here are some important points:
Delegate: I had just finished uni and had time to spare so I was first in, last out every single Sat and got burned out. Delegate tasks like roller, stumps, sightscreen, discs to others, on a rotation perhaps so it’s fully shared about perhaps by 5 guys one week, 5 the next. It’s SO much more efficient. There’ll likely be ex-captains in your side who know what it’s like and who’ll be happy to lend a hand.
Communication: I was the youngest player in the team so this was important for me. As others have said, treat others the way you’d expect them to treat you. There will be guys you won't always see eye to eye with, but listen to what they have to say, accept you won’t get everything right, and just back your instinct.
Giving Others ‘A Game': I had 6 guys who played most weeks and had a few ringers each week. Age-old debate - do you give people ‘games’ in 1st XI cricket at a decent standard? It was my first year, and not wanting to disappoint those doing me a favour, I did so about 90% of the time. Whilst I don’t think it completely changed certain results, it was tough for me as instead of batting 3/4 and bowling 6+ overs, I’d bowl myself as a last resort and bat 6-7 30% of the time. In hindsight, it wasn't always the right decision - remember you're paying the same as they are. All I’ll say is just go with what you honestly think you should do in the situation, but keep those drifting through the game ‘involved’ as much as you can. At the very least, if you buy them a drink or two in the bar, they won’t mind!
Just Enjoy It: It’s not easy, but you’re playing the game you love with your mates. It’s club cricket - no-one’s expecting Brearley-like decisions or Churchillian speeches. Play it the way you want to, back your decisions, back your teammates and if you get some runs / wickets yourself in a winning cause, there’s no better feeling.
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Don't allow captaincy to become a poison chalice.
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Great words of advice guys I'm sure others along with myself have really enjoyed reading all that's been written and shared. Somewhat more sensible than I expected.
I think the delegation advice is key and is something I'll be trying to work on this year.
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in my opinion listen to your team mates. ask them what we need to do . Keep an eye on individual performance to help team performance.
last season our captain keep giving chances to their older members ( older not by age but time playing for club) and few young one who been playing long before i joined club. one of our opened played 6 maiden overs and got out but he keep opening with average around 9. for that reason we lost few matches .
on other hand i batted at 7, 8,9 being a batsman not a bowler i helped with loosing draw by not getting all out playing 15 odd overs.
one occasion our captain was not playing so my team mate promoted me up the order instead of him and i scored my first 50 . still that didnt change my luck in rest of season . frustrated i dropped out for rest of season as i was wasting my time and money .
As a respect i did not say anything to my captain .
I know this story is mostly based on me but lesson is take a seat and look at your players and promote them if they performing well.
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Captaincy is a turd sandwich. Avoid it. :D
On the field part is nothing. Getting 11 good players, preparing the food, ground work, and fees/scoring is just a mood killer.
No thank you.
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Captaincy is as good as the players you play with. Choose a bunch of premadonna's and it's a total ball ache. Choose a bunch of kids and you will have no umpires, scorers, people who will look for the ball etc. Choose decent people who understand what it takes to run a sports club and they will understand that everyone needs to play a part.
Choose clubmen, not necessarily the 'best players'. Funnily enough, the clubmen have also paid their subs and have their match fee every week too. The premadonnna's are invariably in debt.
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Captaincy is as good as the players you play with. Choose a bunch of premadonna's and it's a total ball ache. Choose a bunch of kids and you will have no umpires, scores, people who will look for the ball etc. Choose decent people who understand what it takes to run a sports club and they. Will understand that everyone needs to play a part.
Choose clubmen, not necessarily the 'best players'. Funnily enough, the clubmen have also paid their subs and have their match fee every week too. The premadonnna's are invariably in debt.
Amen to that
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Unless you're playing in the first team at a high standard, just try and cultivate a decent atmosphere rather than stressing too much about winning at all costs.
Everyone is paying out of their pocket and giving up their Saturday/Sunday so just make it enjoyable above all else and people will be happy. A kid who bats 10 and only gets one over because his first over went for 11 doesn't care that you won the match but he'll remember standing around in the field all day and will just stay at home playing Xbox next weekend.
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So a lot of people say 1xi or ‘a high level’ shouldn’t ensure all players get a game etc. What counts as a ‘high level’ ??
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Think at any level you try and cultivate a decent atmosphere and make it fun to play. No matter how good a standard you are playing in, a win at all costs environment is never a healthy environment to be a part of.
Create a healthy, happy environment and the results will follow as long as the team is good enough. Force a win at all costs (No Swearing Please) environment on the side and you’ll always be fighting for results/support.
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So a lot of people say 1xi or ‘a high level’ shouldn’t ensure all players get a game etc. What counts as a ‘high level’ ??
If you're getting paid or every week your opponents have guys with cricinfo player profiles in the team, then yeah you can take it seriously.
Everyone else should relax and have a bit of fun. Why pay subs and match fees to get stressed about cricket?
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I captained out 2nd XI 2 years ago after being dropped from the 1sts. It's not something I'd done since school cricket, also didn't help that I was one of the younger member of the side with no club captaincy experience before, but we ended up winging the league and I ended up leading scorer for the division. But as mentioned earlier ensure you delegate to other members, this takes pressure off yourself and you can mainly concentrate on tactics you want to use for the game. Also try your best to listen and take on board what other players have to say- this doesn't mean you have to agree but as long as there is communication, the other lads will appreciate this too. Lastly, it definitely helps if you take wickets or score runs- effectively leading by example.
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I think most points have been covered. I am reluctant captain meaning no one wants the responsibility outside the ground. However, everyone wants to be a captain on the field.
- Focus on having fun
- Share your responsibilities specially outside the ground
- Give 1-2 players chance to bat up the order or bowl every game so they feel involved. Those are the players who show up every week, pay their dues and do not complain
- Do not lose sight of your game while being nice to everyone
- Encourage and ask other sharp people around you for advice
- Pass on the captainship after a season if someone is willing
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Make it fun, dont undervalue your reliable lads in favour of the better players. A guy might not be the greatest player in the world but if they're reliable and are happy to help yoh with the 400 things that you'll be trying to do each matchday teas/drinks/subs/pitch then they're worth their weight in gold.
I used to do a dick of the day punishment as well so whoever did something stupid that week would have to wear a donald duck hat in the bar after. If people enjoy palying for you they will play better and you'll enjoy the pressures of captaincy way more.
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I'm sure there will be a number of forum members who will be taking on the captaincy role for the first time in this coming season. I'll be leading the troops out for the first time in league cricket. So what tips (sensible or otherwise) would other captains or players offer all those new captains already planning their net sessions and formulating their ideal XI's for the upcoming season?
Stick to the basics for as long as you can. Most new captains tend to over captain and make newbie mistakes in the process. Don’t go for the genius move, keep things simple and predictable.
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Stick to the basics for as long as you can. Most new captains tend to over captain and make newbie mistakes in the process. Don’t go for the genius move, keep things simple and predictable.
Deffo agree with that!