Do elite male cricket batsmen exhibit pre delivery behavioural routines? Adam Kelly & Oscar Mwaanga (Southampton Solent University) Marie Stopforth (London College of Fashion) Tim Holder (University of Central Lancashire)

Background Pre Performance Routines (PPR’s) are defined as: ‘a sequence of task relevant thoughts and actions which an athlete engages in systematically prior to his or her performance of a specific sport skill’ (Moran, 1996, p177) Predominately utilised in closed self-paced skills (Singer, 2000) Repetitious nature Consistency of execution

Background Following a behavioural routines consistently = significantly more successful skill execution (McCann, Lavallee, & Lavallee, 2001; Lonsdale & Tam, 2008) Suggestions that PPR’s could benefit more open skills Baseball or Cricket batting (Cohn, 1990; Cotterill, 2011; Barker & Slater, 2015)

Aims and Rationale Aim: To establish whether elite male cricket batsmen exhibit pre-delivery behavioural routines Rationale: Previous research has suggested that PPR’s could benefit cricket batsmen (Cohn, 1990; Cotterill, 2011; Barker & Slater, 2015)

Methodology Participants N = 22, (Mean age = 27.32 ±6.19) All professional first class cricketers, 14 internationals Procedure Observational analysis of 1,071 deliveries All deliveries recorded and stored in SportsCode elite software (Version 8.5.2, Vigital Pty)

Methodology Data Analysis Two independent observers Same criteria for coding behaviours Open coding Selective coding Same behaviours in the same order for the routine Inter-observer agreement of 93%

Results Batsmen exhibited their behavioural routine for 63.75% of deliveries 18 of 22 participants exhibited their routine 50% or more of the time Nine participants exhibited the same behavioural alteration on 102 occasions Exhibited at same point Shuffle feet to small step forward

Conclusion Behavioural routines being exhibited in a different skill type to that previously researched Cricket batting: Externally-paced – bowler Anticipation based – unknown skill to perform Behavioural alteration observed could suggest that some behaviours serve specific functions

Implications Pre performance behavioural routines are being exhibited in more open skills Further research is required to establish: Engagement and functionality Psychological strategy usage Impact on performance

References Barker, J.B. & Slater, M.J. (2015). It’s just not cricket, The Psychologist, 28, 552-557 Cohn, P.J. (1990). Preperformance routines in sport: Theoretical and practical applications. The Sport Psychologist, 4, 301-312. Cotterill, S.T. (2011). Experiences of developing pre-performance routines with elite cricket players. Journal of Sport Psychology in Action, 2, 81-91. Lonsdale, C., & Tam, J.T.M. (2008). On the temporal and consistency of pre-performance routines: An intra-individual analysis of elite basketball player’s free throw shooting accuracy. Journal of Sports Science, 26, 259-266. McCann, P., Lavallee, D., & Lavallee, R.M. (2001). The effect of pre-shot routines on golf wedge shot performance. European Journal of Sport Science, 1, 1-10. Singer, R.N. (2000). Performance and human factors: considerations about cognitions and attention for self-paced and externally paced events. Ergonomics, 43, 1661-1680.