Pinch yourself, and then appreciate it

England are now the T20 and 50 over cricket world champions. Pinch yourself...

For those of us who grew up watching cricket in the nineties, it’s still sometimes hard to fathom. Failure was baked into the national psyche. TV and radio coverage revolved mainly around when the next batting collapse would come, and discussing possible approaches to survive until the end of the session.

Squad selection was a constant source of argument. Who should we call back to try to shore things up? We marvelled at the skills and self assurance of the opposition, who came from different planets, giving them super powers of reaction, manipulation and endurance here on Earth.

And to make it all even more special (and contrary to received logic) England were never seen as competitive in the shorter forms of the game. We simply didn’t have the speed or the aggression necessary. We were a bundle of neurosis which swiftly unravelled under pressure.

So what can we learn from this?

Success and failure are not inevitable - in the dark days, decline seemed like the only way ahead. A path we had to take, along which our options would continue to narrow. But that dogged storm cloud has been blown well away from the field of play.

Statistics are just a representation of the past - this is where Test cricket is particularly apt. There are so many assumptions about what is and isn’t possible at various stages of a game. Obviously they still have analytical value, but don’t let them swamp you, nor convince you that the future is preordained (a prime example being the unprecedented 5th day win in 2019 against Australia with 9 wickets down - https://youtu.be/wamtTEVFDiA)

Attributes can be learned and adopted (even adapted) and mindset is key - is there anyone better than Ben Stokes at backing himself?

The other key lessons for me from all this are:

Teamwork - the combination is truly more than the sum of its parts and the bonds built are what deliver true resilience

Freedom - ties together faith, mindset and keeping it simple. The mental freedom is what allows skilled players to make best use of their natural technique, exude calm and exert themselves, establishing control.

Commitment - a circular argument which still persists in the English game is the control retained by the counties versus the national body (ECB). Fortunately enough people saw sense in the end and central contracts were introduced for key players. This also ties into…

Value - pay and conditions are important. Having players doing ad hoc jobs in the off season (even working as decorators back in the day) doesn’t work.

Keeping faith in your selections - England’s constant chopping and changing used to just erode confidence further. The same applies to shots. Who can imagine Joss Buttler cutting loose in a previous decade? And Adil Rashid has erased any doubts with his destructive bowling.

Success breeds success - once we got on a roll, we kept going. Yes there were bumps along the way, but the narrative had changed. The new players coming in didn't have to carry the baggage of the past.

Keep it simple - again, listen to Ben Stokes in any interview, explaining how he has achieved the seemingly impossible.

Talent won’t do it alone - you need the right strategy, which leads us on finally to...

Risk - after a miserable failure at the 2015 World Cup, Eoin Morgan memorably ‘flipped a switch’ and told everyone to play positively. Not only did this risk pay off, but it soon became clear that the competition were taking a greater risk by ‘playing within themselves’. Suddenly, they were the ones marooned in introspection, whilst they adjusted to the new scoring rate.