Sports
How 2 days with Jacques Dallaire helped Watson conquer short ball fear
New Delhi, May 30 (IANS) Shane Watson had a glittering career of nearly two decades as a premier all-rounder in white-ball cricket, at the international and franchise levels. He carved a reputation for stepping up when needed in big games and tournaments, while juggling to play all three formats for Australia and then transforming into a sought-after T20 leagues batter.
In an exclusive interview with IANS, during a recent hectic period of commentary in IPL 2024 and the launch of his second book ‘The Winner’s Mindset’ by HarperCollins Publishers India, Watson talks about overcoming the short ball fear, having a life-changing meeting with author and performance coach Dr Jacques Dallaire, and how he used his mental skills to play a memorable 117 not out in IPL 2018 final for Chennai Super Kings.
Q. You talk in the book about having absolutely life changing two days with Dr Jacques Dallaire. Can you elaborate on what all transpired in those two days?
A. I was at sliding doors moments in my life when I got connected with Dr. Jacques via Aussie IndyCar driver. Will Power. Dr Jacques’ background is over 50 years of working with high performance people on their mental side, predominantly in Formula One, IndyCar and NASCAR, special forces.
I was going through a challenging time in my life at a point where I was neither performing, nor anywhere near my best. It looked like I was going to retire because I just knew that I couldn’t play the way I used to be able to do.
Having half an hour conversation with him initially, I was like, ‘okay, I think this guy’s going to give me some information that I haven’t heard before, but I think it’s going to really help me’. I was desperate because I was thinking about retiring and flew over to Charlotte, North Carolina to spend two days with him.
The information that he gave me was something I hadn’t heard before, even though I’d been around sports psychologists and mental skills coach from the age of probably 13. How simply the information was explained to me as well by him was just like there was light bulbs going off everywhere, like, ‘Oh my gosh, how come I didn’t know that?’
After that, I flew home back to Sydney and felt between, ‘Oh, I’ve got this, I can turn this around’ to ‘Oh no, I can’t’. It took a lot of work day by day and moment by moment about understanding of what my thoughts were and controlling them. But within six weeks, the issues that I had disappeared, as got them under control and over the next four years of my playing career, I had some of the best performances of my life.
From that moment of implementing those mental skills, and information, which had a huge impact on my performance, I said to Dr Jacques, ‘Well, I need to get this information out to as many people as possible because this information should be readily available, but it’s not’.
Everywhere that I’ve looked, I haven’t been able to find information in a really simple way to understand in a way that I can apply it to any performance. From that moment, I ended up working with him and he taught me how to teach this information. Now I’m very fortunate to have access to his IP to be able to then put it into my own words and get the information out to as many people as possible.
Q. You also talk about the fear of facing the short ball coming after the tragic death of Phil Hughes. How did you overcome it?
A. It was just one of the biggest, if not the biggest tragedy in world cricket, seeing one of our mates get killed by a ball coming at him. From there, I started to believe and think there’s no reason why the next ball coming to me couldn’t have the same effect on me and my family’s life.
From that moment, the fear of the short ball came into my mind and game, which as a top order batter means you are sabotaging your own performance because of the new mental environment being created via that fear.
Meeting with Dr Jacques made me understand that I could turn things around via one of the rules of the mental road – rule number two, which is your mind can actively process one thought at a time. By deeply understanding that if I put the right thing into my mind at the right time, then the wrong thing can’t come in.
The wrong thing coming with fear of short ball, as a batter, was if you pre-meditate the short ball, then you’re slow on it anyway. If it’s not a short ball, you’re out of position and exposed, which means there’s a good chance you’ll get out.
By putting the right thing in my mind at the right time as the ball came out, and the word I put for me is aggressive because that’s me ready to react and not have any thought of what’s coming down. By implementing that, I’m tapping into all my instincts, and muscle memory that’s so deeply ingrained in me.
Immediately by understanding that, I was like, ‘Oh, I can do that’. I had to develop that trust in my technique of playing the short ball and worked hard it for six weeks to sort of retrain that. But by putting the right thing into my mind, so the wrong thing couldn’t come in, I never had that fear on my game again.
Q. In those last four years, there was that 117 not out in the IPL 2018 final for the Chennai Super Kings against Sunrisers Hyderabad. Going from zero off ten balls to making a century in an IPL final, what did take for you to do it mentally?
A. It was really a culmination of putting all of those mental skills together. I started learning these skills at the end of 2015 and had a couple of years of really just pulling all that information and learning how to be able to make the most of it. Like, what were the right and wrong thoughts in the lead up to the game? What was the best way to maintain & sustain my mental energy without burning it out before a big game like that?
Even when I was zero off 10 balls chasing in the second innings, every ball was about staying in the moment, being fully focused on the present and it was about breaking down each ball. After I faced a ball, what happened technically, mentally, where was I at? I just kept doing that.
I was just in the process, staying fully present, working through to bring the best version of me as the ball came out. Even five years ago, being none off 10 balls, there would be much chance of me panicking and going, ‘Oh my gosh, I’ve got to really get on with this and play a rash shot’.
Whereas I was just pulling myself into the ultimate zone that you’re chasing, I knew every step along the way was getting me closer to that ultimate space you’re trying to get into in performance – the zone. So by pulling myself into it, it took a bit of time, about 15 or 20 balls.
Once I got there, then I just stayed there in the moment and that’s when I had a great day in one of the high pressure games. That innings was just a culmination of my skills that I had been training for since I was a kid at the age of 36 and then applying those new mental skills that I’d been integrating into my performances as well.
That really was a perfect storm – by applying that in a pressure game was again a confirmation that these mental skills are so powerful. I wish that I had this information as a teenager because it would have meant that I was able to perform more consistently and significantly reduce the pressure, stress, anxiety and worry that goes with being desperate for getting the best results every single time.
Q. Do you think that if you encountered these mental skills early in your career, it would have helped you a great deal mentally?
A. There’s no question it would have helped a crazy amount, especially from a Test cricket perspective as well. The biggest issue I see in society now and working with a lot of different people is mental fatigue. There’s so much over stimulation that we’ve always got things available to us, whether it’s messages, social media, or notifications, life is incredibly busy and overstimulating.
Plus, our desire to be able to perform every single time and being obsessed with results, with me certainly being one of those. I wanted to be the best I possibly could be and would put so much pressure on myself to perform because of desperation to get the best results possible. I used to overthink situations in the lead up to a big series like an Ashes or a World Cup.
Ahead of match day, I’d just be, ‘Who am I going to be up against? Who am I playing?’. I would have played the game in my mind before it even started. By the time actual game came, I was mentally so tired and fatigued. When you’re mentally fatigued, then your ability to access deeply ingrained skills reduces, and decision-making becomes so sluggish.
It’s like you are stuck in the mud, whereas when you’re mentally fresh, you’ve got a lot of energy, and decision making is accurate, crisp, and sharp. That time, I had no idea that the concept around your brain is like a muscle. Once I understood this information around conserving and regenerating my mental energy, I made sure to make the most of it.
So I used a few different techniques to be able to conserve my mental energy even when I was in the moment playing the game. Like, I put a song into my head to put my mind on neutral. Different people have different techniques to just do that, whether it’s focusing on breathing, or like Sir Viv Richards used to chew gum. When the ball’s about to come out, they have all the mental energy in reacting to the ball to the best of their ability.
Q. You just mentioned about using music to put your mind on neutral. How did that come about for you to implement it in your performances?
A. Music has always been something that I’ve loved, even as a kid. I learnt playing the guitar in my early 20s and being on tour, especially with Brett Lee, that was a way to chill out as well. I didn’t necessarily do it to chill out, it was more so I had so much downtime on tour and wanted to learn a new skill.
But the thing I realized when I now look back at a lot of my best performances, even before I knew this information, is I had a catchy song in my head that I was just singing along to – whether it was a song I listened to in the lead up to the game or a song that came on while I was batting. It was just in the background there for the whole time.
Glenn McGrath and Michael Clarke always had a song in their head they used. I didn’t fully understand why they used it, but it worked incredibly well for them. It wasn’t until Dr. Jacques explained to me the power of having something that you can move your mind to and put it on neutral.
For me, songs was something that had worked in the past, that it just happened without me consciously putting a song into my head. From that moment, I was like, ‘Well, no matter what, one, if I start to overthink a situation, even in the lead up to the game, jam a song into my head’.
If I was overthinking a situation in any way, shape or form, I put a song into my head, because that means I can trust my gut instincts, intuition, and also not burn my mental energy, so as to access my super highway reactions and be ready to react when the ball comes out.
–IANS
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Bengaluru, Aug 22 (IANS) Shivamogga Lions’ woes continued as they suffered a 28-run defeat to the Mysore Warriors in the Maharaja Trophy KSCA T20 at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Thursday.
Mysore Warriors delivered a well-rounded performance, anchored by Karun Nair’s (45) swift knock, supported by a few other good contributions in the middle order, and highlighted by late-innings fireworks from J Suchith (22*) and Manoj Bhandage (23).
On the bowling front, Vidyadhar Patil (3/29) and Karthik CA (3/31) played crucial roles in restricting the Shivamogga Lions. Sharath HS’ (4/29) lethal spell with the ball and valiant efforts from Abhinav Manohar (46) and Nihal Ullal (46) with the bat couldn’t turn the tide in Shivamogga’s favour.
Chasing 180, Shivamogga Lions got off to a disastrous start, with Vidyadhar Patil’s lethal first over leading to the dismissals of Mohith Bangalore (2) and Dheeraj Mohan (0) in consecutive deliveries. Skipper Nihal Ullal (46) managed to crack a few early boundaries, but Hardik Raj (17) was also removed by Krishnappa Gowtham, leaving the Lions reeling at 41/3 by the end of the powerplay.
K Gowtham then engineered the run out of Rohan Naveen (11), further denting the chase. The in-form Abhinav Manohar (Impact Player) joined Ullal, and the duo breathed life into the innings, putting together a 70-run partnership in just 43 balls.
However, Ullal fell short of his first half-century of the season, leaving the Shivamogga Lions at 123/5 in 15.1 overs. Manohar also narrowly missed his milestone, holing out to K Gowtham off Karthik CA. Manohar’s 26-ball knock included four sixes and three fours, adding valuable runs to the total.
Karthik CA struck again two deliveries later, dismissing Shivraj S and leaving the Lions in deep trouble. With 47 runs needed from the final 18 balls, Ashok D tried to keep the chase alive by smashing a six and a four off Vidyadhar Patil, but perished in the same over, effectively ending Shivamogga’s prospects. Shivamogga Lions finished at 151/9 in 20 overs, enduring their sixth consecutive loss.
Batting first, Mysore Warriors faced an early challenge as Sharath HS unleashed a menacing spell. He struck in the powerplay, dismissing Karthik SU (8), and then returned in the seventh over to remove CA Karthik (30), who smashed three sixes in a 34-run stand with Karun Nair (45) and Harshil Dharmani (0).
Nair continued in fine touch and peppered the boundary with six fours and two sixes during his 23-ball stay before falling to Ashok D in the 11th over.
Kishan Bedare (17) steered the innings, forming a 28-run partnership with Nair and adding another 29 runs with Sumit Kumar (28) before being caught and bowled by Bharath Dhuri, leaving the Warriors at 116/5 in 16.1 overs. The depth of Mysore’s batting lineup came to the fore as Manoj Bhandage and J Suchith launched a late assault.
Vasuki Koushik, tasked with the 18th over, began with a six and a four from Sumit Kumar. Bhandage then took charge, hammering three consecutive sixes off Koushik in the same over before falling as Sharath’s fourth wicket in the 19th ending a blistering 23-run cameo off just seven balls. J Suchith, carried on the momentum, smashing two sixes and a four in an 8-ball flurry, pushing the Mysore Warriors to a competitive 179/7 in their 20 overs.
Brief scores: Mysore Warriors 179 for 7 in 20 overs (Karthik CA 30, Karun Nair 45, Sumit Kumar 28; Sharath HS 4-29) beat Shivamogga Lions 151/9 in 20 overs (Nihal Ullal 46, Abhinav Manohar 46 runs; Vidyadhar Patil 3-29, Karthik CA 3-31) by 28 runs.
–IANS
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Castle Rock (Colorado), Aug 22 (IANS) Indian Americans Sahith Theegala and Akshay Bhatia who failed to make it to the Top-10 last week at the St Jude Championships, the first of the three Play-offs events, will be looking for a better showing as they move towards the finale at the Tour Championships after that.
Last week Hideki Matsuyama, after leading by five at one time, had to birdie the last two holes to win the St Jude Championships. He became the first Asian to win a Play-off event and it was his 10th PGA Tour win, the highest from the continent.
Last week Bhatia was T-12, Rai was T-16 and Theegala was way behind in T-46, but all three have entered the second of the three Play-offs events.
World No, 2 Xander Schauffele, a two-time Major winner in 2024, was tied second last week with Viktor Hovland, while World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler was fourth last week, though World No. 3 Rory McIlroy had a poor week in T-68 place.
Among Asians Korea’s Si Woo Kim has all to play for at the BMW Championship, the second of three FedExCup Playoffs events, in Colorado this week, with two big goals providing the drive for him to step up his game.
The four-time PGA TOUR winner tees up at Castle Pines Golf Club with the intention of breaking into the top-30 of the FedExCup points list and qualify for the Playoffs Finale, the TOUR Championship next week. Kim is presently ranked 44th after last week’s FedEx St. Jude Championship.
A strong week is also required for Kim to keep alive his hopes of earning a spot in the International Team to face the U.S. Team in the Presidents Cup in Royal Montreal next month. Currently 14th on the team roster, the top-6 after this week’s BMW Championship will secure automatic spots, with captain Mike Weir naming six more picks after the TOUR Championship.
Compatriots Sungjae Im and Byeong Hun An, who are 10th and 15th respectively on the FedExCup rankings, are virtually assured of teeing up at the TOUR Championship, which will use a staggered-scoring format based on positions after this week.
Irrespective of how his week plays out, Kim is pleased to secure his top-50 status, which guarantees starts in all eight Signature tournaments next season.
–IANS
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New Delhi, Aug 22 (IANS) The packed schedule of men’s county cricket in 2025 will remain largely unchanged, despite concerns raised by the majority of players over the impact on their physical well-being.
According to a survey conducted by the Professional Cricketers’ Association (PCA) earlier this season, more than 80 per cent of players expressed fears that the current schedule is too demanding and poses risks to their health.
However, despite these concerns, the 2025 schedule is set to continue as usual. Each county will still compete in a minimum of 14 County Championship matches, eight Metro Bank Cup fixtures, and 14 Vitality T20 Blast games. The changes for next season will be largely cosmetic, offering little relief for players concerned about the gruelling calendar.
The PCA has been advocating for adjustments that would spread out the T20 fixtures across the week, aiming to reduce tight turnarounds and introduce more consistent three-day breaks between Championship games.
“There’s definitely room for improvement in 2025 compared to 2024,” said Daryl Mitchell, the PCA’s interim chief executive, in an interview with ESPNcricinfo. “The schedule can definitely be managed better. Certainly, the Blast was very much looked at through a commercial lens, trying to squeeze as many games as possible into Thursday, Friday, and Sunday. Utilizing the majority of the week is probably the way forward, trying to spread them out to give that time for recovery, travel, and preparation.”
The T20 Blast, in particular, has been the main point of debate when it comes to scheduling. The timing of the knockout stages has been a significant concern. In 2023, these stages were held immediately after the group matches in July, allowing counties to retain their overseas players. This year, however, the knockout stages will be pushed to September, giving clubs an extended six-week window to market and sell tickets for home quarter-finals.
While these adjustments offer slight improvements, the overall schedule remains packed, leaving many players apprehensive about how much more they can push themselves physically in the long term. Despite the calls for change, it appears that any significant reduction in the number of fixtures is unlikely in the future, with commercial considerations still driving much of the decision-making process around county cricket.
–IANS
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New Delhi, Aug 22 (IANS) After ending his T20I career with an elusive T20 World Cup title in Barbados, captain Rohit Sharma revealed that it was his dream to transform the team without thinking too much about the results.
Rohit-led Indian team ended the decade-long ICC title drought after beating South Africa in the final of the T20 World Cup 2024 to lift their second title in the format. In 2023, the Men in Blue failed to win the World Test Championship and 2023 ODI World Cup under Rohit’s leadership after losing to Australia in the finals.
The swashbuckling opening batter also credited the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Jay Shah, former head coach Rahul Dravid and chief selector Ajit Agarkar for their support in transforming the team and creating a fearless culture in the squad.
“It was my dream to transform this team and not worry too much about stats and results and also to make sure that we create an environment where people can go out and play freely, without thinking too much. I got a lot of help from my three pillars Jay Shah, Rahul Dravid and chairman of selector Ajit Agarkar. That was critical for me to do what I did. Obviously, not to forget players who came in at different points in time and helped the team to achieve what we have achieved today,” Rohit said in a video posted by BCCI on X.
On Wednesday, Rohit was awarded ‘Men’s International Cricketer of the Year’ while Dravid was accorded the ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ at Ceat Cricket Rating Awards 2023-24 in Mumbai. India’s batting stalwart Virat Kohli was named the ‘Men’s ODI Batter of the Year’ while on the bowling front, Mohammed Shami was awarded the ‘ODI Bowler of the Year’.
The 37-year-old batter finished as the second-highest run-getter in the T20 World Cup with 257 runs including three half-centuries and at a strike rate of 156.70. He played a major role in providing solid starts for the team on the slow pitches of the USA and the West Indies.
After lifting the title, Rohit joined Kohli to announce his retirement from the T20I. With 4,231 runs, Rohit is the leading run-getter in the format behind his teammate Kohli (4188 runs). Both batters will continue to play the other formats of the game. The duo last featured for India in the three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka earlier this month.
–IANS
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Gotemba (Japan), Aug 22 (IANS) A year after being the youngest ever to make the cut at the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship, Kartik Singh, now 14 years of age, is the highest ranked among the four Indians set to take part in the 15th AAC to be held in Japan.
As of date Kartik is the highest ranked Indian at 199 while the other three players to have received the invitation for this prestigious event are Krishnav Nikhil Chopra and Vedant Sirohi, both past participants in the event and Rakshit Dahiya will be in the four-player team.
Kartik Singh has also been named to the 2024 Junior Presidents Cup team. A regular winner in junior and amateur events, Kartik will spearhead the Indian challenge.
Apart from India’s Kartik Singh, there are seven others named to the 2024 Junior Presidents Cup International Team. They are Joshua Bai, Warut Boonrod, Xihuan Chang, Rayhan Latief, Khanh Hung Le, Thangwin Lee, Anh Minh Ngyuyen,
As many as 113 players have been confirmed for the Championship, which will be held October 3-6, 2024, at Taiheiyo Club Gotemba in Gotemba, Japan. A full list of confirmed players can be found. The field will be 120 with a few more names to be added by the Organisers.
India’s best ever placing has been second place by Rayhan Thomas, who was runner-up in Sentosa, Singapore in 2018. The Dubai-based Indian Rayhan has since turned professional, and last week won his first pro title on India’s Professional Tour of India Tour.
Krishnav, who plays college golf in the US, is the son of former India cricketer turned commentator, Nikhil Chopraa, who often takes the role of a caddie for his son.
Created in 2009, the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship was established by the Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation (APGC), The R&A and the Masters Tournament to further develop amateur golf in the Asia-Pacific region.
The champion will receive an invitation to compete in the 2025 Masters Tournament and The 153rd Open, while the runner(s)-up will gain a place in Final Qualifying for The Open.
The confirmed list which has players from 38 APGC member organizations is highlighted by defending champion Jasper Stubbs of Australia and four players representing China inside the top 100 of the World Amateur Golf Ranking: Wenyi Ding (No. 4), Xihuan Chang (No. 36), Xiangyun Bai (No. 61) and Paul Chang (No. 97).
Ding finished runner-up to Stubbs in the 2023 Asia-Pacific Amateur while Xihuan Chang reached the semi-finals of the U.S. Junior Amateur in July.
Other top-100 participants include Vietnam’s Anh Minh Nguyen (No. 68) and Japan’s Rintaro Nakano (No. 78).
Notable past competitors include 2021 Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama, a two-time winner of the Asia-Pacific Amateur, and 2022 Open champion Cameron Smith. Over the Championship’s 14-year history, the Championship has served as a springboard to some of the world’s top players, including Matsuyama, Smith, Cameron Davis, Ryan Fox, Si Woo Kim, Satoshi Kodaira, Kyoung-Hoon Lee, Min Woo Lee, Keita Nakajima and C.T. Pan. Collectively, alumni of the Asia-Pacific Amateur have gone on to win 27 tournaments on the PGA Tour to date and more than 130 across the PGA Tour, DP World Tour, Asian Tour and Japan Golf Tour.
As the host nation, Japan will lead the list of up to 43 APGC member nations represented with 10 players in this year’s field. A player from Japan has won four of the 14 editions of the Championship (Matsuyama/2010, 2011; Takumi Kanaya/2018; Nakajima/2021).
–IANS
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