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Mind Games - The Hard Yards: Is it tougher to be a bowler than a batsman?
Friday 15 May 2020 10:55, UK
Cricket is perhaps even more of a mental game than a technical one.
It was a facet that Charles Colvile investigated in depth a couple of summers ago in our Mind Games series as he chatted with Sir Alastair Cook, James Anderson and Stuart Broad and investigated mental health in sport and what it means to be mentally tough.
During Mental Health Awareness Week we are republishing each episode of the series on skysports.com and have now reached part three - The Hard Yards - as we look at whether it is more mentally challenging to be a bowler than a batsman.
Watch in the video at the top of the page.
Charles examines the different mentalities bowlers adopt to get into their rhythm, the varied challenges seamers and spinners face and how the 'red mist' can descend.
Anderson and Broad talk through what they do in the build-up to a Test match and how they visualise everything from the batsmen they will bowl to, the roar of the crowd and their run-up to help keep them calm.
We also hear from Glenn McGrath, Darren Gough and the late Bob Willis about what went through their head as they ran up to deliver the ball, while Graeme Swann talks through the unique challenges a spin bowler faces in often being seen as a match-winner in the final innings.
Plus, Scott Boswell talks through bowling six wides in an over in a domestic Lord's final and the impact that career-ending match had on him.
