How does one stay motivated during a bad team run?
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Seniorplayer

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Re: How does one stay motivated during a bad team run?
« Reply #15 on: July 10, 2018, 08:06:56 PM »

Hmmm. my team has punched above its weight for two years, being promoted to div 1 and then a mid table finish the following year.
As of now we are facing near certain relegation after 8 straight losses , with the tough teams still to come. Two teams go up and two teams go down in our league so the chickens,cows and any other animal is coming home to roost for us and it seems impossible to get out of.

Personally if I continue my up and down form I will score more runs than last year.not fantastic but my only goal is to score more runs than the last season. Three weeks ago I was in for a ton and holed out in the 70's simply because I was knackered.

So....I've got no complaints, we are being outplayed, and whilst mumblings are starting that we 'cannot go down not good for the club' my point will be firmly made....if you think you can do better come and have a go.

Consistent losses do affect the team and motivation, you can only try as hard as possible every game.

On the plus side, it's all out for a win in every game from now on so its high time to forget technique and start hitting it a bit harder.

Nothing to lose after all  :)
Consistent losses do course  some players to lose there motivation it's no fun being outclassed each week as an individual or a team but don't agree with the cannot go down its not good for the club brigade it's better for everyone and not just  there motivation to be a winner in a lower Div than keep being outplayed
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Mfarank

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Re: How does one stay motivated during a bad team run?
« Reply #16 on: July 11, 2018, 05:58:03 AM »

I can tell u what not to do: kick the stumps away in frustration after losing a close match where u gave ur best. Easiest way to injure your toe and be out of action for a few weeks  :(
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13th Man

Re: How does one stay motivated during a bad team run?
« Reply #17 on: July 11, 2018, 08:36:35 AM »

I played in the 6ths first victory for something like 5 years this last season where’s your British stiff upper lip :o
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mo_town

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Re: How does one stay motivated during a bad team run?
« Reply #18 on: July 11, 2018, 09:40:57 AM »

I think it is easier to accept defeat when you are out classed by teams which are much stronger. One would not have any problem taking that on the chin. But when it happens against teams you should be beating, it can be very frustrating.
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SLA

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Re: How does one stay motivated during a bad team run?
« Reply #19 on: July 11, 2018, 10:10:08 AM »

Ultimately winning is unimportant. For every winner there is a loser, so in the long run every team will inevitably win as many games as it loses, so every glorious run of wins has to be balanced out with a win of losses at some point.

The important thing is to a) keep trying to win during the game, and enjoy making the collective effort, but once the game is over, be gracious, forget about it, have a pint and and move on, and b) work harder than usual to maintain team spirit and camaraderie (which tends to look after itself when winning).

If a losing streak is followed by a relegation, then a winning streak in a lower division is just around the corner.
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ProCricketer1982

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Re: How does one stay motivated during a bad team run?
« Reply #20 on: July 11, 2018, 06:24:16 PM »

Remember it’s amateur Cricket
Go out with mates and enjoy the few hours by sharing jokes and laughing at each other
Almost forget about the oppos.. they aren’t your mates anyway so ignore them
Have fun
Have a beer after the game so it’s about the overall day not all based on winning

This in the long run will keep people playing .. the winning only lasts so long anyway
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enlightened

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Re: How does one stay motivated during a bad team run?
« Reply #21 on: July 12, 2018, 06:53:14 AM »

Remember it’s amateur Cricket
Go out with mates and enjoy the few hours by sharing jokes and laughing at each other
Almost forget about the oppos.. they aren’t your mates anyway so ignore them
Have fun
Have a beer after the game so it’s about the overall day not all based on winning

This in the long run will keep people playing .. the winning only lasts so long anyway

This.
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velvetsky01

Re: How does one stay motivated during a bad team run?
« Reply #22 on: July 12, 2018, 07:50:25 AM »

yep would agree with the above post - Enjoy it.

My side lost every game bar one last season this was due to a number of our first XI leaving but if i am honest it was the nicest atmosphere i have known at our club with the big wigs gone. Yes we lost but we were never totally outplayed - a number of games we should have won but that was due to the team spirit we had created

So remember you are giving up a whole day from family to enjoy yourself - so do that!
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mo_town

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Re: How does one stay motivated during a bad team run?
« Reply #23 on: July 12, 2018, 12:30:52 PM »

I will try that...dont care about how the team performs, just enjoy the day and have a few laughs. Winning or losing doesn't matter as it is amateur cricket. I will probably text that to the skipper as well.
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HallamKeeper

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Re: How does one stay motivated during a bad team run?
« Reply #24 on: July 13, 2018, 12:00:52 PM »

My team are in a rut too. We are bottom with only one win. We are a third team so we will get shafted in the summer holidays when more people are away in the higher teams and our own.

As others have said it is amateur cricket so there is usually loads of room for personal improvement with practice etc but not many have the time or desire.

I've noticed our warm ups are very lacklustre which gets carried into the game. I do question the captain's decisions more and more but I know he cares and is doing his best.

I'm usually a keeper but the other night I fielded in the outfield, I realised how easy it is to switch off and had to really get myself up for each delivery so I could attack the ball when it came to me. It explains to me why we can be so bad in the field and that ultimately costs us wickets and lots of runs.

The other problem we have is batting second, we start so cautiously, I'm guessing because we are low on confidence but that just lets the bowlers settle into their groove and the run rate climbs, then we have to be aggressive and lose wickets fast. I wonder if we would be better sending in two pinch hitters to get a quick 30-40 runs and make their captain do something he doesn't want to.
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richthekeeper

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Re: How does one stay motivated during a bad team run?
« Reply #25 on: July 13, 2018, 12:04:30 PM »

My team are in a rut too. We are bottom with only one win. We are a third team so we will get shafted in the summer holidays when more people are away in the higher teams and our own.

As others have said it is amateur cricket so there is usually loads of room for personal improvement with practice etc but not many have the time or desire.

I've noticed our warm ups are very lacklustre which gets carried into the game. I do question the captain's decisions more and more but I know he cares and is doing his best.

I'm usually a keeper but the other night I fielded in the outfield, I realised how easy it is to switch off and had to really get myself up for each delivery so I could attack the ball when it came to me. It explains to me why we can be so bad in the field and that ultimately costs us wickets and lots of runs.

The other problem we have is batting second, we start so cautiously, I'm guessing because we are low on confidence but that just lets the bowlers settle into their groove and the run rate climbs, then we have to be aggressive and lose wickets fast. I wonder if we would be better sending in two pinch hitters to get a quick 30-40 runs and make their captain do something he doesn't want to.

you can get that quick 30-40 and force the skipper's hand simply by running hard. being cautious is fine early on but if the ball doesn't go directly to a fielder's strong hand you should be running. you mention that you're a 3rd XI so I'm assuming that the standard of fielding and in particular throwing is not that high. in which case taking on quick singles becomes a calculated risk.

put another way, how many times do you see an oppo fielder throw down the stumps at the bowler's end? not many I bet.
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SLA

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Re: How does one stay motivated during a bad team run?
« Reply #26 on: July 13, 2018, 12:19:37 PM »

My team are in a rut too. We are bottom with only one win. We are a third team so we will get shafted in the summer holidays when more people are away in the higher teams and our own.

As others have said it is amateur cricket so there is usually loads of room for personal improvement with practice etc but not many have the time or desire.

I've noticed our warm ups are very lacklustre which gets carried into the game. I do question the captain's decisions more and more but I know he cares and is doing his best.

I'm usually a keeper but the other night I fielded in the outfield, I realised how easy it is to switch off and had to really get myself up for each delivery so I could attack the ball when it came to me. It explains to me why we can be so bad in the field and that ultimately costs us wickets and lots of runs.

The other problem we have is batting second, we start so cautiously, I'm guessing because we are low on confidence but that just lets the bowlers settle into their groove and the run rate climbs, then we have to be aggressive and lose wickets fast. I wonder if we would be better sending in two pinch hitters to get a quick 30-40 runs and make their captain do something he doesn't want to.


We don't do warmups and never really have. A few times I or another player has tried to introduce it, but the captain and a few of the older players just sit watching us from the pavilion.

We lose a lot of games simply through dropping catches, failing to make easy stops on the boundary.


I had a friendly argument the other day with a bloke who said the best way to chase a total was to score slowly and keep wickets in hand and then blast you way over the line in the last 10 overs. I said I've been playing league cricket for 20 years, I've seen 100s of teams try that tactic, and it never works. Chasing 200 off 40, getting to 60-1 off 20 will never, ever win you the game. You only need to lose a couple of wickets and suddenly you have 2 new batsman at the crease who have to try and score at a run a ball from the off. 60-1 off 20 can easily become 65-3 off 22, and becomes 90-3 off 30 as the new batsmen try to play themselves in, and now you need 11 an over with the best bowlers about to come back on and it ain't going to happen.

The best way, the only way, to chase a total is to try and get on top of the run rate within the first 5-6 overs, and aim to win the game with 5 overs to spare. That way, if you have a little wobble, you can use those 5 overs to rebuild. and still stay ahead of the rate.



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richthekeeper

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Re: How does one stay motivated during a bad team run?
« Reply #27 on: July 13, 2018, 12:42:02 PM »

I had a friendly argument the other day with a bloke who said the best way to chase a total was to score slowly and keep wickets in hand and then blast you way over the line in the last 10 overs. I said I've been playing league cricket for 20 years, I've seen 100s of teams try that tactic, and it never works. Chasing 200 off 40, getting to 60-1 off 20 will never, ever win you the game. You only need to lose a couple of wickets and suddenly you have 2 new batsman at the crease who have to try and score at a run a ball from the off. 60-1 off 20 can easily become 65-3 off 22, and becomes 90-3 off 30 as the new batsmen try to play themselves in, and now you need 11 an over with the best bowlers about to come back on and it ain't going to happen.

The best way, the only way, to chase a total is to try and get on top of the run rate within the first 5-6 overs, and aim to win the game with 5 overs to spare. That way, if you have a little wobble, you can use those 5 overs to rebuild. and still stay ahead of the rate.

Respectfully, I totally disagree with everything you've said.

In your example, if you try to get on top of the run rate in the first 5 overs, against the oppo's best bowling with the new ball, you'll invariably find yourself 30-2 after 5. Then you've got your number 4, typically one of your better strokemakers, in facing the swinging new ball. Whenever this happens it's quite typical to suddenly find yourself 60-5 - from amateur level to Test level we see this happen over and over again. You're not recovering from that very often.

Openers are there for a primary purpose of surviving the new ball. If they get to 30-0 off 10 they've done a good job, and they probably want to be aiming for 70-1 after 20. That's leaving you a chase of 6.5 an over which is eminently doable if you have wickets in hand.
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edge

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Re: How does one stay motivated during a bad team run?
« Reply #28 on: July 13, 2018, 01:26:51 PM »

I think the days of both the opening pair just aiming to see the new ball off are gone by now aren't they? Speaking as an opener, there's no better time to be an agressive batsman than in the first few overs - the field is all in, the bowling tends to be fairly predictable, amateur bowlers tend to feel their way into a spell, and you've got a nice new hard ball pinging off your bat. Room for adjusting to conditions obviously, but if I've got 15no in the first ten overs I'd be pretty disappointed with myself if it's a decent track. Slow starts can put a lot of pressure on the middle order.
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SLA

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Re: How does one stay motivated during a bad team run?
« Reply #29 on: July 13, 2018, 01:46:29 PM »

Respectfully, I totally disagree with everything you've said.

In your example, if you try to get on top of the run rate in the first 5 overs, against the oppo's best bowling with the new ball, you'll invariably find yourself 30-2 after 5. Then you've got your number 4, typically one of your better strokemakers, in facing the swinging new ball. Whenever this happens it's quite typical to suddenly find yourself 60-5 - from amateur level to Test level we see this happen over and over again. You're not recovering from that very often.

Openers are there for a primary purpose of surviving the new ball. If they get to 30-0 off 10 they've done a good job, and they probably want to be aiming for 70-1 after 20. That's leaving you a chase of 6.5 an over which is eminently doable if you have wickets in hand.


Its fine you disagree. Our club used to think like that once upon a time, too. But times changes, tactics evolve. England used to think that setting 260 would be enough to win an ODI 9 times out of 10.

Here's a conundrum for you: You're the fielding captain. You're defending 200 off 40 overs. You can see two old duffers strapping their pads on. You figure out the opposition are going to send out two blockers to try and see off your opening bowlers, before the stroke-maker at number 4 comes in to accelerate against the change bowlers. What do you do?
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