Ummm....yeahhh, I was actually agreeing with you about Hondo...soooo....
As for the batting part, I've argued for a long time that a lot of the guys don't have the mentality. A psychologist can't fix it if the system does not inhibit it. It needs to come from the top down. The structure and the philosophy needs to develop those kinds of players.
We have leaders who are mentally weak themselves and let mediocrity succeed. They don't stand up to those who are corrupt and they give things to their friends.
Just look at Hammy. He had everything, but never ever took a stance or said anything when he had the opportunity. Instead, he threw his teammates under the bus time and time again, and he never repaid them on the field.
Now he is leading the whole system. Batting and bowling techniques have to be taught at school level. That is not happening. ZC are just pushing people through the system and coaching and training as if they are playing pub cricket on the weekends and hoping that raw talent will shine through.
One of the reason our side in the 90s was so good was because they applied themselves. They worked hard and trained harder. They learnt from those around them and made every effort to keep improving their game at the ground level. Their mentality was stronger too, but it was not from psychology, it was from having a system in place that allowed them to be.
Psychology is useful in sport, but not as a team structure to develop better players, it helps on an individual level.