The Wasted Afternoons demands cricket doccumentaries a la ESPN's brilliant 30 for 30 series.
So bearing all this
in mind and given that this is a cricket blog, I think it is high time
we campaign for some cricketing 30 for 30's. When I say that, obviously
ESPN doesn't necessarily have to make them. Someone else can if they
want. There are just so many great cricket stories that haven't really
been told properly. I'm talking 'Fire in Babylon' quality docos too,
not half hour profiles on famous players of the past.
Jon Hotton became an international cricketer when he played Japan.
The venue was
Chiswick House, the match the first that Japan would play on a tour to
mark the 150th anniversary of cricket in their country. While the
Authors arrived in Chiswick via the usual combination of scrounged
lifts, delayed trains and reluctant WAGs, Japan came on a coach. They
looked chillingly young and they immediately embarked on proper
fielding drills with those flexible plastic stumps and tiny traffic
cones, apparently oblivious to the lumps and bumps of the early season
outfield.
Ed Smith reckons great teams need leadership, data analysis and culture to succeed.
Thirdly,
I believe in the power of culture. The recurrent success of some
national sides cannot be explained by random cycles of dominance. Some
sporting cultures achieve success because they get more things right,
from grass roots to World Cup final. The All Blacks play a wonderful
brand of total rugby. They rely on skills developed throughout New
Zealand's rugby culture. In Dunedin this March, during rain delays in
the cricket Test match between England and New Zealand, I watched Otago
practise on the adjacent rugby ground. Everyone can pass, everyone has
awareness, there are no donkeys and no under-skilled thugs.
England's Player Of The Year Matt Prior was lucky enough to ride bicycles with Team Sky.
Earlier
this year I spent three days on a training camp with Team Sky. As
England cricketers we are lucky to have many great opportunities, but
that was a real highlight for me. I rode for two hours a day with the
Team Sky peloton, with Sir Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome at the
front and me hanging on for dear life at the back.It was an awesome experience and I was
lucky to have the chance to chat with Sir Dave Brailsford. He likes
cricket and it was interesting to hear how they go about things and the
similarities between both our approaches to sport.
