Why can’t our players play under pressure?

It feels like a dagger repeatedly piercing straight through my heart seeing West Indies being constantly humiliated by England not only in this series but witnessing the series loss in England in 2000. There are calls from everyone to “drop captain,” “change this player,” “fire the board” and so on. Everyone suddenly becomes an expert in cricket yet very few critics have offered any possible short term or long term suggestions as to how to help the team improve. Some revel in the West Indies present plight as if they feel vindicated for some perceived infraction suffered at the hands of the WICB. During this series, the coach and captain both acknowledged that there was a psychological problem within the team in that the players were unable to play when put under pressure by the opposition. The players constantly wilted when placed under pressure.

How then do these players develop strong psychological skills? Being mentally tough is not developed overnight but rather developed over the period of time. For players to develop these skills it is important for them to be placed in similar situations time and again to be able to develop coping mechanisms. It cannot be developed from a book but rather in real life situations. This brings me to the point — are the current players being exposed to these psychologically charged situations in their local and regional competitions? The answer is a big fat NO! The regional cricket competition is lacking in its structure and perceived role in developing players.

Anyone remotely involved in these competitions will see that it boils down to a fight for first innings points between teams which are rendered impotent by questionable selection practices, fielding a number of injured players and by having some persons play (who may be quite close to receiving government pensions in their respective territories) ahead of young, healthy and enthusiastic players. In most games, the result is immaterial. The game effectively ends after first innings — which in most cases occur after two or three days — a trend that is apparent with the recent West Indies performances. The players never learn how to put their opponents under pressure, how to maintain pressure on them and how to cope under pressure situations in an attempt to squeeze out a victory. When a team scores an outright victory in this competition, it is because there is a great disparity between the teams in terms of strength.

The only time the current players are put under pressure is during an international match — and we all see the results. They are unable to cope with the pressure. After one series the next time the team is really placed under pressure is when there is another test series and they keep losing! After every regional competition, there are players who are touted to be future “great batsmen” or “great bowlers” because they may have scored centuries or taken wickets galore. They are selected on the team and most fail miserably. Why? One question that must be asked is: “How many centuries were scored under times of intense pressure?” or “How many wickets were obtained when under pressure and when obtained, altered the course of the match?” The answer is very rare! A batsman scoring 50 runs when others around fail and the opposite bowlers “have their tails up” is definitely worth more than a batsman scoring a 100 when the outcome of the game is a predictable draw.

A worrying trend is developing in Trinidad where the domestic games are carded to last two days and games in college cricket are scheduled to last one day. What type of coping skills can these young players develop with such a ridiculous distribution of time? What are the differences between Australia, South Africa and now even England and the current crop of West Indians cricketers? Check the domestic competitions. There are many more games that are intense and end in either a win or a loss for one team. Players constantly play against stiff oppositions and often find themselves in pressure situations so when they come to international games, playing under pressure is of second nature (as our heroes from yesteryear did).

They do not wilt under pressure, as our players tend to do with such regularity. Last year in the final test between Australia and West Indies when Australia was under pressure Mc Grath’s sledging of Sarwan was no mistake, it was a coping mechanism that Mc Grath developed over the years and which works well to distract the opponent. The addition of a sports psychologist may be of some benefit and I advocate the use of a psychologist as part of the development plan in West Indies cricket. However match situations must be learned and coping mechanisms under pressure are virtues that must be acquired from the match situations — it cannot be learned from a book.

When a player gets repeated exposure to such situations the use of a psychologist can help refine these skills and add new skills to his current ones. In conclusion, for West Indies players to play well under pressure they need to get more exposure to playing under pressure situations. This can only be achieved if the club and regional competitions get more serious with having games in which victory is very coveted. Incentives must be given only for victory. “First innings syndrome” is killing the mental development of players. Players are not receiving contracts to play abroad as in yesteryear and so our regional game must improve to allow our players to play under pressure situations.

Dr Babwah is a Sports Medicine Physician  

(Suzanne Mills’ column returns in May)