People expect us to win and want answers if we don’t, but did the players of the 90s have a run like us?

 
AP
15 May 2013

As we approach another crucial summer for the England cricket team, I’m convinced we’re peaking.

With some good results over the next 12 months or so, we’ll have the chance to go back to No1 in the Test rankings. We’re No2 at the moment and even though we didn’t play well in drawing the series 0-0 in New Zealand, we’re still a pretty good side.

I’ve been in the Test team for nearly four years now and I’d say we were probably at our strongest during the 2010-11 series in Australia, when we had both Andrew Strauss and Kevin Pietersen in the team and in their pomp — but don’t forget that since I made my debut at the end of the 2009 Ashes, we’ve lost only two Test series.

Ask the players who were around in the 1990s if they were ever in a situation like that? People have got used to the England cricket team winning and they expect it. They get a taste for it, so when we lose or draw a series, it’s “why aren’t you winning?” We didn’t play as well as we could against New Zealand, but we knew they were a strong team.

I believe that series will work in our favour as we prepare for the First Test, which starts at Lord’s tomorrow. I’ve managed to make some good scores in my six Tests there but a vital part of any Test match is the way I prepare for it, and it’s been no different in the build-up to this one.

In the winter of 2007-08, just after I’d played a couple of games for the England Twenty20 side, I changed. From being a cricketer with a bit of talent and hand-eye co-ordination, I became a genuinely professional cricketer. Before then, I didn’t have any particular idea or structure regarding how I prepared for cricket, and I left far more things to chance.

When Ashley Giles took over as Warwickshire coach in 2007, he changed the way I thought about the game and prepared for it. Now I have a little check list in my mind, boxes I have to tick before every game.

When I’m in the nets, it’s about my stance and whether I feel comfortable. It’s about whether my weight is going up and down the crease, not across it. When I’m catching, it’s about whether I’m taking the ball well and watching it into my hands, rather than watching it only 90 per cent as well as I can. You need to be switched on to those basic skills that you would teach a five-year-old and keep doing them yourself.

I now have a different outlook on success and failure. I realise that if I prepare well and have a good net, that’s success. I feel the same if I sleep well, train well, behave as a good team person and give energy in the dressing room. Otherwise, you focus everything on the game and start thinking: “Crikey, I’d better get runs when it’s my turn to bat.”

Yesterday, I faced some tough, quick bowling in the indoor nets and had a few throw-downs from our batting coach, Graham Gooch. At a certain point, I’ll know I’ve done everything to prepare and I’ll say: “Yeah, I’m ready: let’s go.” These last couple of days in the nets, I’ve felt in pretty good rhythm and the task now is to take that on to the field over the next five days against New Zealand.

MetLife is a leading provider of retirement solutions, investments and employee benefits in the UK and is proud to be Jonathan Trott’s bat sponsor.

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