Spend enough time coaching cricket and you quickly realise something that separates good players from great ones: the mental game. Two players can have identical technical skills and vastly different outcomes, simply because of what goes on between their ears. At King Brothers Cricket, developing mental skills is just as important as perfecting a cover drive or an outswinger. Here are five mental skills every cricketer — at any level — should work on.
Process Focus Over Outcome Focus
One of the most common mistakes cricketers make is thinking too far ahead. A batter worrying about their century while facing the next ball, or a bowler obsessing over the wicket they need instead of hitting their length — both have lost the plot. The best players train themselves to focus exclusively on the very next ball. What am I doing right now? That is the only question that matters.
Practice this in training by setting process-based goals — hit the top of off stump, back of a length — rather than outcome goals like taking 3 wickets.
Resilience After Failure
Cricket has a unique cruelty: a batter can be dismissed for a duck by a brilliant delivery they had absolutely no chance of playing. The sport demands a short memory. Resilience is not about pretending failure does not hurt — it is about not letting the previous ball affect the current one. Develop a reset routine: a physical trigger, a breath, a phrase. Something that signals to your brain that the last ball is gone and a new one is coming.
Composure Under Pressure
Whether you are batting in the last over needing 12 to win, or bowling in a tense final, pressure has a physical effect on the body — heart rate rises, muscles tighten, peripheral vision narrows. Learning to manage this response is trainable. Box breathing (inhale four counts, hold four, exhale four, hold four) is used by elite athletes across many sports to lower heart rate under pressure. Practice it in training so it becomes automatic in matches.
Self-Talk Awareness
What do you say to yourself when you get out cheaply? When you bowl a no-ball at a critical moment? Most cricketers have a relentlessly self-critical inner voice that would horrify them if a teammate said it aloud. Building awareness of your self-talk — and consciously replacing harsh internal criticism with constructive problem-solving — has a direct impact on performance and enjoyment of the game.
Adaptability
No match plays out the way you expect. The pitch is slower than anticipated. The opposition has a spinner you have never faced. The lights are failing. Great cricketers adapt. They assess conditions, adjust their game plan, and remain curious rather than frustrated when things change. This is a mindset trained over time — by deliberately putting yourself in new and uncomfortable coaching scenarios, facing different bowling styles, and playing on unfamiliar surfaces.
Building These Skills With King Brothers Cricket
At King Brothers Cricket, coaching goes beyond the technical. 1-to-1 sessions with Simon and Daryl are an opportunity to discuss the mental side of your game in a safe, supportive environment. Many of their adult and young players have found that working on mental skills has unlocked technical improvements that hours of net practice alone could not deliver.
