Steve Waugh “What goes into not getting out” By Ray Jennings

Negative Attitudes The truth was he admitted that he had gone out expecting to fail, and had. The fact that he had made a duck was unimportant; he would have been out soon that day anyway. “Its all in your head. I put a lot of pressure on myself and I was gone. I look back and hadn't done that for a while. That was definitely the reason why I failed”

Mentally preparing to bat. When he was padded up, Waugh sat alone in a corner of the change room, as he prefers. He studied the game, noting the bowlers’ tactics and their field placings and where they were getting their runs.

Playing spinners. Waugh said as a rule he did not play spinners by reading them out of the wrist or hand. “I look at how its coming down, the loop or how much spin is on the ball. Most spinners, you can see the way its coming down the down the wicket, or the pace its coming at. That’s our profession. We've got to learn to do that”

Your batting routine He took guard, stretched his arms and looked around the field, not because he did not already know where the fieldsmen were, but because he felt routine was important when he was new to the crease; otherwise he would be rushed and find himself facing up before he was truly ready.

Keeping your mind in the present “It sounds corny, but I really do concentrate only on the next ball. I don’t like to think too far ahead. I don’t play for sessions or days. I play the next ball as well as I can”

Concentration. “I don’t think I played too many bad shots for the whole season. I wasn’t on top of the bowling, but I didn’t really look like getting out too much, and once again that’s back to concentration”

When to concentrate / batting routine. “If you concentrate at the right times – just when the bowler’s about to bowl the ball – and you stop concentrating after you’ve played it, its amazing how much easier it gets throughout the day” Between deliveries, he deliberately kept his mind a blank. “I think about nothing, just stand there, relax, adjust my gear, be ready for the next one”

Visualisation. “ I was even thinking about where I was going to hit the runs”

Batting in partnerships. Waugh talked, to himself to sustain concentration and to the batsman at the other end so they had overt support. “Nearly every ball I was saying something to them. ‘Well watched’. ‘Well played’. ‘Remember soft hands, cut your back lift down, just keep going.' I think its important to talk to batsman. The fielding side encourages the bowler all the time. I don’t see any reason why you cant do that when you're batting, especially with tail enders”

Playing each ball on its merits. “Lots of times, if I hit a good shot, I tend to look down and think of nothing” he said. “Otherwise, you get carried away with yourself and think: ‘Shit that was a good shot. I'm feeling good now.’ Next ball you try to do it again and you're out. Once I hit it, And I know it’s a four, that’s it. Its all over. I get ready for the next one.”

Assessing the pitch / planning your innings “It was one of those wickets where you had to work hard…be boring, I guess…wear the bowler down…get him to bowl where you want him to bowl.” He decided that it was not that the pitch was unplayable, just that certain shots could not be played on it. If a batsman was disciplined enough to restrain himself to one or two shots he knew were feasible, it would be impossible for an attack to dismiss him. He would play few shots, scoring with pushes and glances to leg…If the length were right he would sweep… Above all he would not cut; on a pitch with such eccentric bounce, it would be flirting with disaster.

Winning the mental game. “Mentally, you can get a win over your opponent if you keep a really good ball out with a really good, solid stroke. Then they are going to have to try something, and that’s what I mean by making them bowl at you. The next one might come on your legs and then you work it away. It gets them really frustrated. That’s what its all about.”