COVERED SPRING 2021

17 JOIN OUR MAILING LIST FOR ALL THE LATEST: TRENTBRIDGE.CO.UK/MAILINGLIST ANT BOTHA for me as a coach because I experienced lots of different skills at a very young age. “It’s led to a holistic understanding of the mechanics of the body, and executing the skills required to be a coach – the throw- ing, the hitting and all of that – has always come naturally.” You need not be in Ant’s company for long to know that his opinions on cricket coaching are ingrained, earnestly held and delivered with striking passion. The perhaps cliched question on the respective prevalence of skill and mentality within the world of elite performance is asked. It felt like a friendly half-volley. It is, in fact, something of a red rag to a bull. “They are as important as each other, but skill is king,” he says. “If Roger Federer doesn’t have a second serve with utmost top-spin, with which he has the accuracy to hit each corner, or if he couldn’t slice the ball away from the left-hander, he wouldn’t be winning a major. “I don’t care how strong he is mentally; he would not be winning a major tourna- ment. He simply would not have the tools with which to do it. “Name me one top-end international sportsman who people look at and say ‘he’s not very talented or skilful at all, but mentally he’s unbelievable?’ “On the other hand, once you do have those tools, that’s when the truly world- class athletes combine it with mental strength. “It’s the mental side that allows you to train hard, to improve your game and to prevent yourself from getting stuck in a fixed mindset. But the first aspect on the road to success is to break through with as much skill as you can. “You can get to a level with mental toughness, but you won’t smash the world apart if you don’t have skill. “As a coach, you have to help the player develop skills. Once you’ve got the skill, it’s 95% mental from there, so they’re both very important.” Deep, philosophical questions are seeming to do the trick, so what about culture? Ant’s answer, as ever, is passionate, thought- provoking and rings true. “What is culture? If we strip it bare, you are trying to create a working environ- ment where high performance can take place,” he says. “What we’re striving to build here is a clear understanding that there’s some- thing bigger than just you. “It is about belonging to something that allows you to reach your individual goals, no doubt, but primarily it’s about creating something where the team is the most important thing. “That doesn’t just come from three or four meetings around a table. It’s about behaviours and values that take months and months to develop, to be nurtured and to result in a level of trust. “I genuinely believe we’ve broken the back of it at Trent Bridge.You can see characters evolving, behaviours changing, language amending. “Our culture in white-ball cricket has been outstanding for a number of years now. Coupled with the skill for the game we have within our group, it’s in a place that’s very, very good. “For red-ball cricket, it’s taking longer, but we’ll get there – and last year we showed some really significant progress towards that.” When it comes to struggles in red-ball cricket, Botha can truly empathise. He’s been there as a player and – with 4,403 runs and 307 First-Class wickets to his name – he made it out the other side. “I found playing, especially red-ball cricket, really tough, which is why I can relate to where we were with our Cham- pionship performances at the end of the 2019 season,” he says. “I felt that my skill wasn’t quite there as a spinner because I’d been doing it for such a short period of time. “My body positions were rubbish; I wasn’t able to create enough energy on the ball and that affected how much “WHAT IS CULTURE? IF WE STRIP IT BARE, YOU ARE TRYING TO CREATE A WORKING ENVIRONMENT WHERE HIGH PERFORMANCE CAN TAKE PLACE. WHAT WE’RE STRIVING TO BUILD HERE IS A CLEAR UNDERSTANDING THAT THERE’S SOMETHING BIGGER THAN JUST YOU.” Ant Botha