Mr Cricket

by Michael Hussey

  6. All players should be encouraged to set performance goals for each training session and game. These goals should not be outcome focused (e.g. score 100 or get five wickets) as they are to some degree outside of one’s direct control. Instead, they set goals such as: keep my mind in the present, focus totally upon every ball, keep the pressure on the batsman by bowling quick and accurately, etc.

  7. After each game or training session, players should review their performance and select aspects of their game that they will work on during future training sessions. They should then ‘relive’ (or visualise) the things that went well so as to develop a positive ‘template’ in their muscle-memory.

  8. Importantly, all players should ensure that they have a solid pre-game and pre-ball routine that will keep them mentally and physically switched on for every ball they face or bowl. This will help them to slow down and stay focused when the pressure is on.

  Mike, these are just a few suggestions off the top of my head. I hope some of them make sense to you and help your team to play to its potential … especially when the pressure is on.

  Vic

  The entire idea was brilliant and logical. If I put into place step four, step three became possible. If I looked after step three, step two was closer. And if step two was under control, step one – to play Test cricket for Australia – was no longer just a far-off dream. Even though I’ve reached my outcome goal, I still stick to Vic’s plan because, as John Buchanan always said: ‘You have to control the controllables.’ There might be times I face the bowler’s best ball of the day. There are times there will be washouts, or bad pitches. There will always be elements of the game that I can’t influence. But, what I can influence – whether playing for Wanneroo or Australia – is step four, train with 100 per cent intensity, sleep well, eat well, do the basic things that don’t depend on anything except what goes on in my mind and body.

  LEAST INNINGS BY A BATSMAN TO REACH 1000 TEST RUNS

  SLEDGING:

  Only words

  Only has meaning if I give it one

  Keep emotional balance (not too high, not too low)

  Use it as a positive (this is preparing me for Test cricket, this is great practice, this is a great challenge)

  After every good game, write down how I felt – everything about how I felt.

  Vic helped me a great deal and I was interested in everything he said. He gave me some other tips, about distractions. He advised me to go to the ground the day before a match, walk out to the middle and take a look around. He said it was inevitable there would be distractions, whether it was a bright-coloured sign, or an electronic scoreboard there that would be playing replays or highlights while I was out in the centre. He believed that if you’d seen those things the day before, when you’re not in the heat of the moment and trying to concentrate, you can get them out of your head when you need to.

  It made perfect sense, though I later realised that distractions weren’t a big problem for me. In my first match for Australia, a one-dayer against India in February 2004 at the WACA, we needed about 35 to win when I came out to bat. Amy said to me afterwards: ‘Wow, what about the roar you got from the crowd!’ I told her I didn’t really notice it. I heard the crowd when I came out, but it seemed like the noise was coming from miles away. I thought later that maybe that’s the fabled ‘zone’ that sportspeople talk about, where you could have a nuclear bomb go off and you wouldn’t notice it because you’re so focused on the job you have to do. Nevertheless, whenever we train at the ground on which we’ll be playing, I follow Vic’s advice, go to the middle and have a look around for any potential distractions. Vic’s input has had a very positive effect on my career and complemented perfectly the knowledge I gained from Sandy.

  The end result of what I learned from both of these terrific men – and many other good people I’ve come across – was the formulation of a list of headings and points that made sense to me and I know are a formula for success. I call it ‘My Gospel’. It is, effectively, a definitive list of things I’ve learned over the course of my whole career that I know have helped me to reach the point I’m at and must be followed in the future for me to be able to stay successful.

  My Gospel comes from years of writing down notes on how I thought I was performing, how things were unfolding around me, experiences and discussions I had with many different people and also from things I’d read: Mark Taylor, Michael Johnson, Lance Armstrong. As I was reading, each time I came across an explanation of a tactic that these sports–people had used to become successful, I thought, ‘If it works for them, why can’t it work for me?’

  My Gospel was only finalised quite recently. The final draft was completed in 2003, after I’d come out of my bad patch for WA. It is everything I need at this point in my career. I keep the sheets with me almost all the time and look at them almost daily when I’m on tour. I will keep adding to it with notes concerning new things in my life, such as how to deal with mental fatigue and other demands of the game as they appear. But the basic plan is complete.

  MY GOSPEL

  GOALS

  Set them

  Focus on them

  Never lose sight of them

  I look at my goals everyday and focus on them without straying. I focus on the goals I can control but also on my outcome goals, which you can’t necessarily control but should always keep an eye on.

  FEARS

  Confront them

  Never look at consequences

  Think positive

  Focus on goals

  Throughout my whole career I’ve battled with fears, probably like a lot of other players. So, I find it really important to confront them and say that it is OK to have fears. Focusing on consequences is something that can happen when you let your fears take over, whether it’s a fear of losing, getting out, not scoring fast enough or being dropped. They are consequences, so I’ll ask myself again, ‘What are my goals? What can I control?’ That’s what gets me out of negative thinking and focusing on the things that I can control.

  COMITMENT

  Be self-disciplined

  Hard work = results

  100% effort 100% of the time

  No excuses

  No shortcuts

  What is your goal?

  Commitment is something I’ve never really had to worry much about. Even though I might not have to focus on commitment as much as others, it is still important to remind myself that it is a vital ingredient. Commitment means hard work and training at 100 per cent intensity.

  BASICS

  Do them well

  These are the building blocks

  Good habits at training

  I think the thing that gets you through the most difficult situations is the knowledge that you’ve done the basics very, very well at training. And you understand very well the basics of your game and you can stick to them. That’s what you have to be able to rely on when the going gets tough. That’s when the basics of my game – being tight, being patient, defending and working the ball into the gaps, becomes very important.

  LEADERSHIP

  Lead by example (hard work and discipline)

  No excuses

  Strong in my beliefs

  I found that leading by example is a key thing. Train well, do the little things well and people will see that that’s what you expect of them. Not making excuses is a vital point to instil in your players because it’s so easy to make excuses about why you or they have performed badly. There’s no room for that. Being strong in your beliefs is important. When I was given the chance to captain I realised that the rest of the team were looking to me to be strong in my beliefs and wanted to follow me. I’m big on explaining exactly what I think. A player or players might not agree with my decisions, but it’s the way we are heading and I have to ensure that, as a captain, that is understood by the players.

  CONFIDENCE

  Comes with proper practice

  Clear mind and not questioning yourself

/>   Learning to relax

  When I’m batting my best, in peak form and exuding confidence, my mind is 100 per cent clear without clouds or bad thoughts and I’m playing naturally.

  DISCIPLINE

  Do what has to be done

  When it has to be done

  As well as it has to be done

  Do it that way all the time

  I thought this summed up discipline very well.

  MENTAL TOUGHNES

  Never give in to yourself

  Be honest with yourself

  Disregard outside influences and focus on what’s important

  Be happy where you’re at

  The secret of batting for me is to be able to take everything out of your mind, clear it completely and no matter what the situation, no matter who’s bowling or what the pitch is doing, nothing matters except the ball coming out of the bowler’s hand. If you can separate everything from your mind and see that ball as clear as day coming out of his hand, then – physicality aside – you are giving yourself the best chance. If you can look at yourself in the mirror and say ‘I gave myself the best chance because I had nothing going through my mind and was completely focused on the ball coming at me’ that’s what being mentally tough is all about.

  I produced my gospel for two main reasons: firstly, I believe it is an asset that coaches could use to help young players perfect their game. Coaching is a profession I am interested in and if I become a coach in the future, I will use my Gospel as one of my tools. Secondly, it is a blueprint I can turn to when things aren’t going well. I know I can come back to it and check off whether I’m doing all the things I need to be doing. If things aren’t going to plan, I will tick off each box to work out what areas I have to improve on. I know that if I’m doing all those things properly, I will perform well.

  CHAPTER 8

  NO GUARANTEES

  It is hard to comprehend just how much my life has changed since I got the opportunity to play Test cricket in 2005. So much has happened in such a short space of time. It’s quite amazing. I often say to Amy: ‘Can you believe what’s happened in the past couple of years?’ Little more than three years ago, we didn’t have any children and I’d played a single match of international one-day cricket. Suddenly, we’ve got three kids and I’m playing three forms of the game for Australia!

  However, when I think about it logically, if everything can come together so quickly, who’s to say that it can’t be taken away in just as short a space of time? In cricket, a stretch of poor form or injury can hit at any moment and could change everything. No matter how well you think things are moving along, there are no hard and fast rules when it comes to bad luck. Plenty of top sportspeople have been cut down in their prime due to factors outside of their control and, although I am enjoying a golden stage of my career right now, there is no way of telling what could be waiting just around the corner. That is one major reason why I have started to take a stronger interest in expanding on opportunities for whenever my sporting career might end.

  Playing for Australia provides you with the chance to build relationships beyond cricket. We meet all sorts of people from various walks of life and many are interested in forming an association that can work to our mutual benefit. It’s an aspect of the game that is quite new to me, given that my career has taken off relatively recently, but one I’ve become interested in exploring. I’ve come to learn that there is a lot more to playing international cricket than just training and playing and I want to enjoy the entire experience.

  Former Indian and Northamptonshire spinner Bishen Bedi and me at a Northhamptonshire Cricket Club function.

  I used to think there was little more to the game of cricket than just playing. As a child my dreams were never centred around fame or fortune, just the intense desire to play cricket for my country. I never dreamed about being wealthy or well known. For me, it was all about what it would be like to walk out onto the SCG or the MCG – or any other great ground – to play a game for Australia. I held on to that way of thinking right up until the moment I got the chance to do just that. I was so single-minded about it that I didn’t really consider either the positive or negative spinoffs that could eventuate from reaching that level.

  Bob Carter, my old coach at Northamptonshire, was the first person to advise me that I should find a good manager. Bob had an unbelievable amount of faith in me. He didn’t think it was a question of if I played for Australia, but when. ‘You’re going to play for Australia and you must have a manager ready now,’ he told me. ‘You need to find someone who you will trust to look after everything else that’s going on so that you can just focus on playing cricket.’ Bob was saying this to me at a time when I was at a pretty low point. I had struggled a bit for WA and hadn’t been performing well for Northants, so it was hard for me to take his advice seriously. I was just trying to hold on to my county spot rather than planning for an international career!

  There is always room at the top.

  But Bob knew that if things were to take off, there would be a lot more for me to consider than just ensuring I stayed in form on the field. He knew that people would want more of my time, I would be more exposed on many different levels and if I wasn’t ready for it, it would start to affect my ability to play well, which, of course, was always going to remain the most important consideration.

  I found it amazing just how much belief Bob had in me, especially when I was finding it hard to believe in myself. It was a great boost to have him on my side to that extent and, because I had come to trust him so much, I thought about his advice and began keeping my eyes and ears open in the search for the kind of manager I thought I could work with.

  My initial feeling was that I didn’t want to be part of a big management group. I didn’t want to be managed by someone who was looking after a hundred different sportspeople because I couldn’t stand the idea of being just another client. If I was going to have a manager, I wanted to create a personal relationship with that person. I wanted it to be someone I could trust. My whole life has been about creating solid and genuine personal and professional relationships and I didn’t want to move away from that.

  I knew the former NSW all-rounder Neil Maxwell from having played against him. Maxi had sledged the living daylights out of me so I didn’t think very highly of him at first! But I knew that he understood the game. He had played at a high level and been involved in the administration side of things when he worked with New Zealand Cricket as their marketing manager. Maxi had only two other clients, Brett Lee and Jason Gillespie.

  His set-up sounded great and had extra appeal because he wanted me to play an active role in helping run the business. We have gone on to forge a balanced and positive relationship.

  NEIL MAXWELL

  Mike and I first met way back in the 1994–95 Sheffield Shield season. He was a young upstart from WA and I was part of a great NSW side that had won the Shield the previous season. Having been dominant for quite a while, it was a little off-putting for us to come up against this scrawny opening batsman who refused to be dismissed. Mike showed tremendous courage in that match. He frustrated me senseless and left a lasting impact on me. I thought he was a brilliant cricketer and, after having played against him, I think I felt the same as most cricket-loving Australians in that I was mystified as to why it took him so long to get a chance to play for his country.

  Having a good link with people is paramount in my business. If Mike and I hadn’t connected well I wouldn’t have pursued him as a client. My philosophy in business is to build on naturally strong relationships. In the management game you have to be able to speak to your client truthfully and sometimes what you have to say might not go down very well. You don’t want to be worried about overly sensitive personalities.

  Mike is the only client I’ve chased. I did that because I could see that with the Australian cricket team about to lose a couple of players who suited one style of marketing, an opportunity for Mike in the corporate market was a
bout to open up. Someone like Andrew Symonds, for instance, is much more suited to marketing sunglasses than scotch. It’s about the image different people have on and off the field. Mike’s image is of a very grounded and university educated professional sportsman. He has a demeanour that is relaxed yet commands respect and he has a sound thought process.

  Mike’s success on the field has been inspiring, he is consistent and mature and conducts himself in public and with the media perfectly. He would have to be the easiest player I’ve ever managed. He is able to process ideas while keeping in mind what his sponsors might be thinking and do the right thing by them. He was an easy sell to the companies he now works with and has delivered a lot very quickly. A lot of these blokes take 10 years to deliver on their commercial relationships. Mike did it in six months!

  I don’t know exactly what I want to do after cricket finishes so I want to keep my options open and learn as much as I can. I have stressed to him, though, that the commercial side of the game should never compromise my ability to train and play well. However, it would be selling myself short if I did not explore every prospect available by virtue of the position I’m in. I want to be able to give my children every possible chance to follow their dreams as they grow up.

  As I said before, it’s important to make the most of opportunities when they come along. I’m conscious that my career could end at any time. But it’s not just in cricket that things can change very quickly. In my role as a father, too, I am sometimes gripped by the fear that stability and good times could be impacted upon in a serious way. Every day you hear about families that have been struck by tragedy and you hope that your family won’t be next. It’s a sobering thought and a good reminder that, no matter how bright the future might seem, nothing can be guaranteed. Just a short time ago, our family went through an experience that emphasised that point very clearly. Everything could have changed and all our lives would be very different now. It was the most stark reminder I’ve yet had about how fickle success can be.