Mental health vital to biosecure Tests
Published:Saturday | June 13, 2020 | 12:12 AMLennox Aldred/Gleaner Writer
The Windies cricket team will embark on an unprecedented Test series against England in a few weeks that should kick-start the post-COVID-19 resumption of international cricket.
The biosecure three-Test series, which will take place using only two venues in the United Kingdom, will see, for the first time, international cricket being played without spectators and players not being allowed to leave the team hotel or compound.
For this reason, Zimbabwe cricket team psychologist Adrian McInman says Cricket West Indies has done the right thing by allowing a psychologist to tour with the team.
Trinidadian mental-skills coach Donald Laguerre is the man who will help the players during the three-Test tour, and McInman says the move will help the players cope with the mental challenges to come.
“Cricket psychology has massive impacts on anything and everything,” he said, “standing up and sitting down. What caused that? Was it your calf muscles? Your knees? Everything we do is caused by our brain.
TRAINING BENEFITS
“So if you train with an exceptionally experienced cricket psychologist, then you can improve any part of your cricketing life and non-cricketing life. Better concentration, faster running between wickets, more commitment in training, better communication between teammates, more sleep, less anxiety about family issues, better nutritional decisions – the list is endless.”
With players restricted from outside contact, McInman says the coaching staff will have to play an important role in keeping the players motivated and focused.
“Research, let alone anecdotal evidence, clearly shows that exceptional mental-skills training can increase mental toughness,” he said. “So if a cricketer has been trained for enough sessions, they won’t be looking at the situation with a negative perspective. Instead, they will be seeing the situation as a fantastic opportunity to excel when others may fall apart. The same is true about research on happiness. Cricketers score more runs when they are happy.”