Burns' Eye View

What a debut! Somerset’s teenage all-rounder Lewis Gregory must believe Cricket is an easy game after taking a triple wicket maiden on his debut against Pakistan this week.

Recently he took a hat-trick for Somerset 2nd XI and has played for England Under 19’s versus Sri Lanka this summer, a year out of his age group. I am led to believe from several respected sources, that Lewis Gregory has rich promise.

I doubt any player has enjoyed similar success of a triple wicket maiden on debut. However, there are examples of players taking a wicket with their first ball in First-Class Cricket.
Warwickshire’s Chris Lethbridge dismissed Geoffrey Boycott with his first ball. But without doubt the greatest achievement was by NS Joseph playing for ‘All Ceylon’ against the touring Australians in 1930, when he disimissed the great Don Bradman with his first-ever ball in First-Class Cricket.

In 1991, I recall Richard Illingworth bowling Phil Simmons with his first ever delivery in Test Cricket. Illingworth is one of only thirteen bowlers in the history of Test Cricket to achieve this feat. However, early success is no guarantee of long-term achievement, with only 2 of them (Maurice Tate and Inthikab Alam) going on to play more than ten Tests. Australian Damien Fleming took a hat-trick on Test debut v Pakistan, becoming only the second bowler to do so in Test history.

All the headlines at Taunton yesterday belonged to Pakistan because of Cricket’s ongoing crisis, but I anticipate (and hope) we will read more headlines about Somerset’s Lewis Gregory in the future.

All batsmen love scoring centuries. At the top level, it is the currency by which they are judged.

Every young player dreams of scoring their first century, and fantasises about scoring a century at Lord’s. Some get the chance to convert fantasy into reality, and do it with aplomb. One such figure was the legendary Denis Compton, of Middlesex and England. On this day in 1947, Denis scored his 17th century of the season playing for Middlesex against South Africa at Lord’s. In this golden summer for Compton, ‘The Brylcreem Boy’ scored 3,816 runs at an average of 90.85, won the County Championship, and also scored four Test centuries against South Africa.

Earlier in the season, Compton and his Middlesex ‘twin’, Bill Edrich, put on a record 370 for the third wicket for England in their win against South Africa in the Lord’s Test, whilst making 208 himself.

By making his 17th century of the season, Compton beat the legendary Sir Jack Hobbs’ record of 16 centuries in an English First-Class season in 1925.  In the annual ‘County Champions’ v ‘The Rest’ match Compton scored an 18th century, which remains a record for centuries in a First-Class Cricket season,when making 246 at The Oval.

The irony of the 4th September, is that on the very same day in 1925, Hobbs made his 15th century when making a record score of 266 in the annual Gents v Players match. Hobbs carried his bat through the innings, which remained the record score in a fixture which had first taken place in 1806, and was last played in 1962.

Hobbs was the ultimate century maker in Cricket history, with 199 to his name when his career ended. He was also part of 166 century partnerships in First-Class Cricket, another of the many records held by ‘The Master Batsman’, which also include being the oldest man to score a Test century, when making 142 against Australia in the 5th Test,at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in 1929, aged 46.

Deci and Ryan’s Self Determination Theory (2002) reveals that:

In order for humans to allow for optimal function and growth, three psychological needs motivate ‘the self’ to initiate behavior and specify nutriments that are essential for psychological health and well-being of an individual. These needs are said to be universal, innate and psychological, and include :

 The Need for Competence
– Refers to being effective in dealing with the environment a person finds themselves in (White, 1959)

 The Need for Relatedness
– Is the universal want to interact, be connected to, and experience caring for others – (Baumeister & Leary, 1995)

 The Need for Autonomy
– Is the universal urge to be causal agents of our own life and act in harmony with our integrated self. However Deci and Vansteenkiste (2004) note this doesn’t mean to be independent of others. (Deci & Ryan, 2002).

From a sporting perspective, I have become increasingly committed to allowing for greater self-discovery with the people  I work with. 

In an age where increased numbers of support staff are potentially suffocating ‘the athlete’ in the space they both occupy when working together, I thought it pertinent to share this psychological theory.

With the football season underway, and a European Championships Qualifying match at Wembley tomorrow night, the focus on Fabio Capello’s ability to motivate the England team will be a feature of the match’s commentary. Interestingly, the above theory highlights the key components which drive human motivation, and probably conflict with the management style of many people operating in top sport today.

Maybe, the modern player needs to be left alone more, in order to work it out for themselves?