The Cricket Mentoring Podcast

Michael Klinger on the transition from playing professional cricket to becoming a professional coach

Today’s guest was one of the best batters in Australian domestic cricket and county cricket over the past 10 years. Michael scored almost 25,000 runs in professional cricket for 3 different states and Gloucestershire County Cricket Club in the UK. 

When he retired he was the leading run-scorer in Big Bash history and one of the most dominant and consistent batters in T20 domestic cricket in Australia and the UK. However he wasn’t always an excellent or even good T20 batter and when he was younger, his game certainly wasn’t set up for that. 

Through some thoughtful planning around understanding his strengths and accessing the risks involved with certain shots, he evolved himself and his game into someone who dominated all 3 formats of the game.

Despite his phenomenal numbers in the back half of his career Klinger managed just the 3 international matches for Australia and he shares the reason why he thinks that was the case.

In this episode we spoke about how he managed his game between Australia and the UK and the different challenges that he faced.

Having transitioned from playing to professional coaching last year, it was fascinating to hear how Klinger now views the game as a coach and what he looks for technically in batters as a result of what he found out about his own game late in his career.

There’s so much value in this episode, so lets get into it!

Kate Cross speaks on the life of a professional cricketer and managing her mental health

Kate Cross is an international cricketer currently in Australia as part of the England squad for the world cup.

You’ll hear throughout this episode how open and honest she was about her life and career in cricket.

While she’s had a career to be proud of, she’s also had her fair share of challenges and hardships which culminated in her being too scared to see her teammates during a training camp. It led to her stepping away from the game for a break and to work through her mental health battles which have since been well documented.

She says that she now understands that managing her mental health is an ongoing process but since then she’s been able to work her way back into the England team and is enjoying her cricket again.

Crossy shared so many wonderful stories from learning to play cricket in the backyard with her brother to the difficulties that come with being a professional sportsperson and how it can cause you to stop enjoying the game you love.

This is an incredibly powerful episode and I thank Crossy for being so open and honest with us.

Greg Shipperd speaks on winning the BBL and coaching Steve Smith

Today’s guest is one of the most successful coaches in the world and as I coach myself I was thrilled to pick the brains of one of the best. Greg Shipperd had an excellent career as a player scoring almost 7,000 first-class runs at an average over 42 with a highest-score of 200* but I think it’s fair to say, he’s made even more of an impact on the game as a coach. 

 

Shipperd started his coaching in Tasmania where he mentored young guns Ricky Ponting and Shane Watson before he shifted to coach Victoria in one of their most successful eras. In all he coached the Vics to 4 Sheffield Shield titles, one National One-Day Cup and four T20 titles. 

He was also the inaugural coach of the Delhi Daredevils in the Indian Premier League for 4 seasons and most recently just become a big bash winning coach as his Sydney Sixers side just won BBL09. 

This is a really insightful conversation with someone I really admire and hope to learn more from as my coaching career progresses. I hope you enjoy the conversation as much as I did.

Cameron Bancroft talks about the mindset you need to be an elite cricketer

Cameron Bancroft is famous for the right and wrong reasons. He made a name for himself as a determined opening batsman from Western Australia and was at the start of a promising Test career when his life changed forever. All cricket fans know about the ball-tampering events that occurred at Newlands in South Africa in which Bancroft was in the centre of the action. In the months afterwards his reputation and with a 9-month ban from professional cricket, his cricket both hit rock bottom. However, that time allowed him to focus on other things in his life and give him a better perspective of cricket and also what his values are. He has since returned to playing with some success and worked his way back into the Australian Test side for the Ashes. At just 27 years of age, he has a long time left in the game but due to his actions at Newlands, he hopes it can be a lesson for others and he can be a better leader in the future due to what happened.  

In this episode we discussed:

• How as a 10-year-old Justin Langer gave him something special
• Cameron's obsession with getting better
• How words from teammate Coulter-Nile helped turn his career around
• How he learned to love leaving the ball in a recent second XI match
• How he has worked hard to forgive himself and be true to himself
• How he sees success and failure in the same light
• Plus a whole lot more

Cameron is a deep thinker about the game and life which comes across in this episode. This is a fascinating chat which could have carried on for many hours. We hope you enjoy it as much as we did recording it.

Make sure you follow Bancroft on Instagram: @cbancroft4 

The World of Cricket - Declared with Scolls, Waldo & Bhavi Episode 2

Welcome to the Cricket Mentoring podcast. I’m Tom Scollay or Scolls as I get called and this podcast has been designed for cricketers and cricket lovers who want to learn and improve themselves. In this podcast we interview past, current and future cricket stars to find out more about their journey and what makes them successful while also sharing some audio from ourselves at Cricket Mentoring. Our goal is to help you become your best, on and off the field so I hope you enjoy this podcast and get something valuable out of it.

The World of Cricket - Declared with Scolls & Reedy Episode 1

Welcome to the Cricket Mentoring podcast. I’m Tom Scollay or Scolls as I get called and this podcast has been designed for cricketers and cricket lovers who want to learn and improve themselves. In this podcast we interview past, current and future cricket stars to find out more about their journey and what makes them successful while also sharing some audio from ourselves at Cricket Mentoring. Our goal is to help you become your best, on and off the field so I hope you enjoy this podcast and get something valuable out of it.

Big Bash Star Jon Wells on bouncing back from setback after setback

After returning back to Perth from a very impressive Bigh Biash campaign, we sat down with Adelaide Strikers batsman Jonathan Wells to discuss how he got to where he is now, and what's next for him.

In this episode we discuss: 

• How he prepared for the BBL while being out of the professional system
• How he had to work as a labourer while training to keep his cricket dream alive
• How he came back from losing his professional contract on 4 separate occasions
• How he moved from Tasmania to Perth on the promise he’d get opportunities if he did well
• What the keys are to turning starts into big scores
• How he got a call from the Australian chairman of selectors
• Why Ricky Ponting is a 'cricket nuffy' and what he was like behind closed doors
• What makes Rashid Khan, Tim Paine and other great players special
• Plus a whole lot more

This is a great insight into someone who's had an up and down career and at 31 is now at the peak of his game.

Make sure to follow him on Instagram @jwells_9

Shahbaz Choudhry on founding Pace Journal

Today’s episode was recorded back in August this year while I was in the UK and is with a really inspiring guy. Shahbaz Choudry is the founder of Pace Journal – a community for fast bowlers around the world. I first came across the Instagram account at the start of this year and was extremely impressed with what I saw. Having spent a huge amount of time creating content for the Cricket Mentoring Instagram account over the past few years, I know how much time and effort goes into it and when I saw Pace Journal I knew that whoever was behind it was extremely passionate about fast-bowling and helping people understand the secrets of fast-bowling.

 Their Instagram account is followed by a huge number of cricketers all over the world and Shahbaz has built an amazing community by interviewing professional cricketers and coaches to share tips and ideas with anyone who wants to learn about fast-bowling.

When I was speaking to Shahbaz and listening to his story and why he founded ‘Pace Journal’ there were so many similarities to my own story and why I founded Cricket Mentoring. His bio on his personal Instagram says ‘on a mission to help fast bowlers all over the world’ and through his amazing content he is certainly doing that.

I really enjoyed listening to his story and learning more about the man behind this brilliant brand and I have no doubt you will get a lot of value from his story as well.

Shahbaz Instagram handles: Pace Journal @pacejournal & @mrpacejournal 

Link to Fast Bowlers anthem: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gB3ZKMMvPCA

I hope you enjoy this episode!

Mel Jones on managing working with playing at the highest level and progressing into commentary

G’day legends. Welcome to this special episode of The Cricket Mentoring Podcast.

One of the reasons I say it’s special is because of our guest, Melanie Jones who I’ll go more into in just a second.

The second reason this episode is special is because we are recording it in India. The Karnataka Institute of Cricket in Bangalore is a strange place for two Aussies to record a podcast but there’s no better setting to discuss the journey of one of Australian crickets true stars.

Mel and I are in Bangalore for different reasons -  I’m running a Cricket Mentoring Tour for young cricketers from Australia and the UK to experience India and train and play in sub-continent conditions, while Mel is here to commentate on an IPL match in a couple of nights but I didn’t want to miss to opportunity to hear the story of this legend…

Melanie or Mel Jones is a former Australian cricketer who, in recent years has turned herself into one of the best cricket commentators going around as she travels the world commentating on the major tournaments including the Big Bash, IPL and will soon be in the UK commentating on the World Cup.

Mel was an elite player. She played 5 Test matches and 61 One Day Internationals and is a member of the prestigious club of cricketers who have scored a century on Test debut – with 131 against England in the 1998 Ashes series.

Having played all her representative cricket when women’s cricket wasn’t professional, Mel has been a huge advocate for the women’s game and is incredibly happy to see the best cricketers in Australia and around the world become professionals in recent years.

Since retiring, Mel has done various things but in recent years has built her reputation in commentary boxes around the world. She not only brings a great deal of experience from playing at the highest level to the commentary box, but through her hard work and love of the game she also brings a real depth of knowledge about each and every player.

It was awesome to sit down with Mel and hear how a girl from the country has forged a very successful life in cricket both on and off the field.

In this episode we discussed:

• How she began playing cricket at her grandparents place with her older male cousins and how the circumstances in those games, shaped the player she was in international cricket
• How Peter Handscomb & Sam Harper’s fathers played a pivotal role in her cricket career
• How she was never a ‘pro’ and had to manage working bits and pieces job with playing international and domestic cricket
• How she was ‘stuffing her face with a prawn cocktail’ at the back of the room when her name was first read out as being a member of the Australian squad
• How she took a big leap to leave her steady career to pursue a career as a freelance cricket commentator and how it’s paying off in spades
• Plus a whole lot more. 

When in India anything can happen, and on cue, the power went out half way through our interview… but as all true professionals do, Mel carried on as if nothing had happened. 

No doubt you will pick up our mutual love for this beautiful country throughout the conversation.

 Mel is cricketing royalty and it was a pleasure to spend a morning with her at KIOC. Her energy and passion for the game is obvious which I’m sure you’ll hear it in her voice so lets get into this epsiode…

Gideon Haigh talks about how he became a cricket writer and his thoughts on the current game

Welcome to this episode of The Cricket Mentoring Podcast. This episode is with someone who has a very interesting insight on the game of cricket.

Gideon Haigh is without a doubt one of the most intelligent humans that I’ve ever spoken to and I was fascinated listening to his insight and views on the game. As one of the chief cricket writers for The Australian newspaper, Gideon watches international and domestic matches closely and combined with his background in things outside of cricket is regarded as one of the best cricket pundits in the country.

He is also frequently talking about the game on TV and is currently giving his expert views on channel 7 during the Test series between Australia and India.

At 52 years old he is also still playing for his beloved South Yarra cricket club in the Victorian Grade Competition and therefore truly understands the game and struggles that come with it as a player.

As someone who has read and followed Gideon’s insights for a while I was very excited to chat to him and hear his views on the game.

In this episode we discussed:

• How he got into playing cricket and how he’s reinvented himself throughout his career
• Why he travels over an hour twice a week to play at his cricket club
• Why club cricket is important to the development of players
• How some young players in the Australian system are burning out due to their workload
• How technology has changed the game over the past 10 years
• The qualities needed to perform at the highest level
• What traits the best leaders he’s seen posses
• What his advice is for any youngster wanting to pursue a career as a cricket journalist

Plus a whole lot more.

 

This was truly a fascinating chat with someone who looks at the game differently to most others. I’m sure you’ll be enthralled, just as I was by Gideon’s articulate answers and depth of knowledge of Australian cricket.