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RISING FROM THE ASHES

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5. August 2009 member

Dr Karl Morris

Middle of summer here in the UK and it is raining almost constantly! Despite the weather though we are in the middle of an absolutely fascinating Ashes cricketing summer. The momentum of the series keeps swinging backward and forward between both teams. Australia looked all over England in the First Test at Cardiff but the heroic efforts of the tail end saved an improbable draw. Second Test went to England and then on to the draw in Birmingham. I cannot believe that FOUR years have passed since the last thrilling series in 2005 when England gloriously took the Ashes urn after a twenty year gap. That summer I was fortunate to work on a one to one basis with the England captain Michael Vaughan on his own personal Mind Factor. A thrill for me as a cricket nut but also a journey of discovery to see the inside track of an historic victory. Time has passed on and Vaughan has now retired from the game safely holding his place in history. With the benefit of the time that has elapsed it is fascinating to look back on that series and consider a few key points that may well be of benefit to us all.

Memory 1

The first time that I met Vaughan it became clear that he was (quite rightly) feeling the immense pressure of expectation that was upon him. England was EXPECTED to do well on the back of a number of really good results. It was also apparent that he felt somewhat cocooned in the team England set up. As much as team spirit and unity is vital it is also sometimes important to step out of the system to see the system. If nothing else I realised that I needed to be a NEUTRAL observer to what was going on. I wasn’t in the system so I could SEE the system. We all get stuck in our own world, our own environment, and our own patterns. To have a neutral sounding board can give us a completely fresh perspective that we can proceed from.

Memory 2

Vaughan loved golf and knew of the work that I had done with some players like Westwood and Clarke but he was curious to know if some of the techniques used in high pressure situations in golf applied to his world of cricket. A lot of the work that I had done with golf had NO relevance to him as a cricketer BUT a couple of ideas really struck a chord. He could see the similarity between the down time in golf and the downtime in batting. The need to be able to ALLOCATE his concentration. I have since found that the ability to ALLOCATE your concentration is a supreme skill. Vaughan was prepared to look outside his own world to other disciplines to be able to progress his own game. How often do we get stuck doing things the same way because we have never looked from a different perspective?

Memory 3

Can you imagine the thrill being a cricket fan of being invited into the Long Room at Lord’s and then out on to the hallowed turf to watch England practice? Pretending to take it all in my stride, act professionally but inside be jumping around like a small child. The practice session struck me as being very structured. Duncan Fletcher the then coach seemed to have each minute planned out. Everyone knew what they were supposed to be doing. Most importantly they all seemed to be having FUN. It wasn’t grit your teeth, let’s put the hours in mindless practice it was structured, challenging but you could see that the players ENJOYED the process. What are we doing with our lives if we do not enjoy the PROCESS?

Memory 4

Third Test at Old Trafford. Vaughan plays a glorious innings, scores a hundred. The techniques that we have been working on have WORKED. What a genius!!! Then I looked back at the innings and realised that Vaughan had been bowled early in his innings. He was out, clean bowled! OUT OUT. Off a NO BALL! If the bowlers foot had delivered the ball from a fraction of an inch closer to the wickets Vaughan would have been out. No century, no hero, no genius, no reflected glory. Another failure. What an incredibly FINE line we run in life. This side of the line glory, that side failure. So it is important to keep going with a sense of perspective. Enjoy the sweet moments and let go of the bad it is too fine a margin to get bogged down for too long.

Memory 5

The bails get taken off the wickets at the Oval. Final Test, final moments. The Ashes are returning to England. Let the celebrations begin. Kings of the world!! Give Vaughan a knighthood at the very least! This wonderful feeling. It will go on and on!!! But it doesn’t. Pretty soon after Vaughan suffered a bad knee injury and was out for a year. It was never quite the same again. Simon Jones, a magnificent bowler in that series has never played another Test Match because of injury. It is fleeting. It is here and then it is gone. As a very wise man once said the fundamental mistake human beings make is that they think that they are ETERNAL. That there will always be another game, another round another chance. There won’t be! Take THIS one.