COACHING : Hypocrites make better cricketers

If you want to get someone's hackles up, call them a hypocrite.

It's an insult against something we all hold dear: consistency between words and actions. Hypocrites talk the talk, but don't walk the walk.

Except if you want to be a better cricketer or coach, hypocrisy is a handy skill to have.

You just need to be able to get over the urge to be consistent.

Hobgoblin of the mind: Why consistency is a bad thing

Most of the time consistency is in our best interests. It allows us to know how people will react in certain situations and gives us a structure to work from. Without it, it would take a lot of time to work out even simple actions.

Naturally then, we all have the urge to stick to our decisions. It's easy; we don't have to think about it, we can just get on with life.

But it's so easy to be consistent that it can quickly become counter-productive to do what we always did.

Take the example of batting first when you win the toss in one day games. Despite the clear evidence that there is a disadvantage in this action, tradition dictates you bat first. Consistency is winning out over common sense.

How to be a cricketing hypocrite

Consistency is just as important for cricket. You can't try and be a fast bowler one day and a leg spinner the next, you won't get good at either.

However, you can learn to recognise when consistency is getting in the way of progress and to make a change to do something about it.

Let's take an example.

Imagine you are a fast bowler who is a little wild and inaccurate. Your coach has told you many times you need to slow down to improve your accuracy and be happy as a medium pace bowler.

You have done so and are working hard on being an accurate dobbler bowler.

Then you hear from Ian Pont, who tells you it's quite possible to be fast and accurate. The skills are not exclusive.

Based on this new information, do you break consistency and go against your coach, or do you stick with what you know?

It's the same for batting.

Gary Palmer has long argued that cricket isn't a sideways game at all, despite what many coaches say.

Would it be hypocritical to change the way you coach batting if you started saying cricket is not a sideways game? Yes. But it would also be right, and that is far more important.

Yes, consistency is a powerful tool in cricket, but to improve we need to be mindful of what Ralph Waldo Emerson said:

"A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds."

Don't be foolishly consistent, be hypocritical and become better.