After an unusual few years, the world is aiming to get back to more of a normal life in 2022. Lots of people start off their year with a resolution to bring positive change to their life and take this opportunity to achieve something they wouldn’t normally do.
New year for many cricket managers and players is a great opportunity to revisit any team responsibilities and processes. You and your cricket team could set some cricketing New Years resolutions to kickstart 2022 on a positive note.
Goals vs Resolutions
More often than not, cricket teams set weekly, monthly and yearly goals. Although goals sound very similar to resolutions, resolutions differ to goals in the way that a goal is usually a counted metric. For example, a goal could be to score X amount of runs in a game. On the other hand, a resolution is something that changes the attitude of the team and the way they play in order to improve performance and collaboration.
New Year’s cricket resolution ideas for your team
Every team and player works differently so below are some different resolutions that you could apply to your cricketing performance for 2022.
- Improve communication
Learning how to communicate efficiently is very important, especially during games where you play in a team. With 11 players on each team, there has to be an efficient way of communication between players individually and together. This responsibility should mainly fall to the manager/coach as they work to direct the team.
Managers/coaches should be willing to adapt their style of communication to all players, be clear and transparent, be an active listener, communicate with passion and sentiment and openly give and receive feedback to all players.
- Encourage better teamwork
Building relationships with other players can be difficult, especially if you don’t see each other every day. To establish better relationships and teamwork between players, try spending time off of the cricket field and go to some team social events every few months. By asking some ice breaker questions, it can allow players to get to know each other.
By knowing each other better on a personal level, it will make it easier to play together and improve communication between the players and manager.
- Train in areas you find difficult
When you focus on playing as an individual, it can be easy to avoid areas you find more difficult. By talking to your team manager and other players, get some feedback on areas you could maybe improve. With this information, take it upon yourself to do some extra training with another player or on your own to tackle these difficulties!
- Avoid passing blame
Whilst it can be easy to blame other players, on your team or your opposing team for your mistakes, it is not the best option. Instead of putting pressure on yourself or other teammates, recognise your mistakes and learn from them.
Equally if you see other players making mistakes, don’t publicly highlight them and instead address them privately and ask if you can help.
By using some of these cricketing resolutions as a team or individually, it will help to improve performance and boost team morale!