It simply all comes doown to pressure in this sport and how players respond to it, or lack of it.CrimsonAvenger wrote: ↑Thu Sep 02, 2021 6:22 amTwo best recent examples of how to trust a cricketer and give them extended runs to reap rewards was seen in NZ backing Henry Nicholls and SL backing Kusal Mendis. The first one succeeded but second seems to have not, despite Mendis clearly having oodles of talent. Also considering the fact that we do not have any others to back outside of these kids and can only go back to the Marumas, the Chamus and the Charis, it is a no-brainer that we need to back these guys for the time being and hope they come good. 20-30 innings look fairly sensible overall.
Some people love it. Or thrive on it. This is a trait you tend to see amongst the greats. I’ve seen quotes over the years, not just cricket, where top athletes have talked about the thirst for pressure.
However that’s one group of people and a little in the minority.
You then get the other group that are impeded by the idea that two failures on the trot means their head, and they become a wreck.
If they know they have a genuine extended run. They will grow into it.
Often players fall into this category due to lack of options.
In my mind, someone like Cremer would have been discarded a long time ago in a more professional setup of a top 5 country. But because there are no other leggies, amd he does have talent, he was persisted with and became a decent bowler in his thirties.
Even Craig is in this bracket. He had a lot of doubters even 5 years ago.
Then you have the Vusi Sibamda types who just couldn’t make it work no matter how long their run. Just didn’t have it mentally.
The time he did get that one day century against that associate team he was a mental wreck in the nineties. I think it was Williams who had to step back and take singles whilst he nervously eeked his way to the hundred. The game wasn’t in doubt at that point so they could afford the privilege.
It’s the first and only time I watched a player score a century(!!) and left the TV knowing that he will never have what it takes upstairs. He would never score a century like that against a top team in competitive circumstances.