Thursday 24 October 2013

Champions League Highlight


Bus trips are always a great time to reflect and today's trip to Bloemfontein is no different.  I am currently reading a book entitled Think like a Champion by Dr Rudi V Webster.  He highlights the importance of the mind and learning in general, in the cricket environment.   I could easily summarize this brilliant read, in a few paragraphs but I would encourage those interested in mental conditioning and learning about the great cricket minds, such as, Clive Lloyd, Raul Dravid, Jacques Kallis and MS Dhoni to purchase this book and add it to your ever growing library.

The major highlight of my Champions League, could be seen as strange to many.  The Lions had a day off in Jaipur, my wife and mum, whom were there supporting the team had left early that morning to discover the Taj Mahal, while I remained at the hotel to look after the boys.  

Rajasthan Royals were scheduled to play the Big Bash winners, Perth Scorchers.  I took a stroll downstairs to grab something to eat, between treating players and to my surprise I saw Paddy Upton and Justin Langer, sitting down together, chatting over a coffee.  Too those that do not know, Paddy Upton, is the Rajasthan Royals coach and the current Protea Performance Manager and Justin Langer was a legendary Australian cricketer and the current coach of Perth.  

Why was this strange?  Well, these were two head coaches, whom were going to lead their teams against each other, in less than three hours and here they were talking about the game.  How awesome was that?  I wish I was part of the conservation.  Two masters of the mind, one educated on mental conditioning and the other, known to have one of the strongest minds in game.

This ties into the book I am currently reading and ties into my thoughts of a learning environment.  Knowledge is power and empowering oneself can be done by simply sitting around and having a coffee at a restaurant and more importantly hanging around in a dressing room after a training session or a game and listening to the likes of Gordon Parson's and Neil McKenzie's of the world.  

@Craig_gov