The Cricket Mentoring Podcast shares the stories of professional players & coaches plus our aspiring online community members who are on the journey to becoming their best both on and off the field. Thanks to The Cricket Mentoring Community, our global online community platform, we mentor thousands of athletes every single day to grow in confidence, get the results they desire and live a happier life.
Episodes
Thursday Jul 05, 2018
Thursday Jul 05, 2018
Charlie Burke had a dream of traveling the world as a professional cricketer. Unfortunately, he wasn’t good enough to make it as a player, so instead he’s become a high performance coach who travels the world with cricket.
Charlie started his cricket coaching as a community development officer for the WACA before he progressed up the ranks at the WACA. He was then head hunted to do a role in game development in the Asia region for the ICC before ultimately becoming the Head coach of Hong Kong.
In the past, Hong Kong hasn’t been known for it’s cricketing prowess but Charlie was instrumental in them getting qualified for numerous big global tournaments including the 2014 ICC T20 World Cup.
As a Cricket Australia level 3 coach, Charlie is now regarded globally as a very experienced coach with a wealth of knowledge and assists Cricket Australia with educating the next generation of high performance coaches.
In this episode we discussed:
How coaching a basketball team while in High school helped make him into the coach he is today.
How he became serious about cricket coaching after he was told he wouldn’t make it as a player.
How a chance meeting with someone during the 2010 Under 19 World Cup lead him to coach Hong Kong on the International stage for 7 years.
What the highlight of his time coaching Hong Kong was and why his team nearly had to be evacuated by a chopper after a match.
Why coaching an associate nation is like coaching a grade club in Australia.
The coaching principal that every coach should follow.
What he spoke about during his presentation at the Cricket Australia level 3 coaching course recently
Plus a whole lot more.
This is a great episode with someone with a very interesting perspective on the game that everyone will get value from, so lets get into it.
Wednesday Jun 27, 2018
Wednesday Jun 27, 2018
Welcome to this episode with arguably one of England’s finest ever batsman, Robin Smith. Robin, or Judgie as he goes by, had a fantastic career that included scoring over 26,000 First class runs across a huge 426 First-class matches. Now just to put that into context, as of this interview in June 2018, Steve Smith has played 118 First-class matches, Virat Kohli has played 98 & Joe Root has played 125 matches. So that’s almost 4 times the number of matches each of them have played. That is A LOT of cricket!
Judgie also played 62 Test matches and 71 One Day Internationals and combined scored 6,655 runs with 13 centuries and before Alex Hales scored 171 against Pakistan 2 years ago, Judgie’s 167 at Edgbaston against Australia in 1993 was the Highest ever ODI score by an English batsmen.
After finishing his playing days in England, Judgie moved to Perth where he and his children now reside. He’s in the process of writing an autobiography, is studying a psychology degree, working full time and coaching junior cricketers so he’s certainly busy and active and is loving giving back to the game.
His passion and love for the game and his mates comes through in this interview which I’m sure you’re going to love.
In this episode we discussed:
How his dad would get him out of bed at 5am every morning to practice
How he and his older brother Chris had a net in their garden which other International players like Barry Richards and Mike Proctor would come and use to practice.
How he transitioned from playing First Class cricket in South Africa to being a local player for Hampshire.
The one thing his mentor said to him before his Test debut and how that always stuck with him and how a stern word from his good mate Allan Lamb allowed him to play his natural game in his Test debut.
What his technical fundamentals are for any batter.
How he taught Matthew Hayden to visualise before every match.
Plus a whole lot more.
This is a brilliant episode with a legend of a bloke who I didn’t even realise how good of a player he was until I did my research for this interview.
So lets get into this episode.
Wednesday Jun 20, 2018
Wednesday Jun 20, 2018
Welcome to this episode with arguably the best young cricketer in Australia.
This is the third of the series of interviews I did during my time in Melbourne. In this interview, I sat down with 20 year old Will Pucovski. Some of you may not have heard of Will – yet, but I have no doubt that he will become a household name in the future. Pucovski burst on to the scene as an 18-year-old during the Aussie under 19 national carnival in December 2016. He had an incredible carnival that included breaking a 22-year old record for the most runs in the Under 19 national carnival. During the carnival Will scored a mammoth 650 runs in eight innings including four centuries and followed it up the next week with his maiden 1st grade hundred in Victorian Premier Cricket.
Since then he has gone on to represent Victoria in 6 first-class matches and 4 List A matches and has a highest score of 180.
Not only does Will have the runs on the board as a young player but he has the goals and desire to reach huge heights which I have no doubt he’ll achieve.
In this episode we discussed:
How he identified that cricket was what he wanted to do and why he chose cricket over his winter sports
How he trained in and out of season during his teenage years
How his journey has accelerated very quickly in the past couple of years and how it’s been a rollercoaster
What his preparation was leading up to the successful under 19 carnival and what he was focusing on
How he found out he was playing for Victoria and how he felt when he has was waiting to bat and in his first few balls.
What his goals are for the future – you’ll want to hear this!
Plus a whole lot more
This is a brilliant episode with a bright and very skillful young player who I can’t wait to see progress further.
Wednesday Jun 13, 2018
Wednesday Jun 13, 2018
G’day legends! Welcome to this episode with one of Australian’s best fast bowlers.
During my time in Melbourne, I sat down with New South Welshman turned Victorian Chris Tremain, who was recently voted the Sheffield Shield Player of the Year after an outstanding season that saw him take 51 wickets from 10 matches at an amazing average of 21.
Chris is a country boy who loves to get out into nature and in the past few years has turned into one of Australia’s premier fast-bowlers.
Like most successful athletes and most of the guests we’ve had on our show so far, he hasn’t had it all his own way though.
After not getting offered a contract with NSW he shifted across the border to Victoria which he initially had some reservations about however he’s now extremely settled as a Bushranger and has carved out a very successful career even though he says he’s had a lot of luck along the way.
With 4 One Day International under his belt, I’m sure he’s got a lot more international cricket ahead of him.
In this episode we discussed:
How his first mentor helped him hone his skills from a young age and how he still helps him get out of bed when things are tough
How perception is reality and why that’s important
How his goals were to be a professional cricketer and how he always believed he would be even though now he believes there was a lot of luck involved.
How making a conscious decision to give up alcohol helped shape his career.
How getting fitter and stronger helped him bowl faster and for longer.
What the best players do to separate themselves from the rest
Plus a whole lot more
This is a brilliant episode with a very down to earth guy who is at the Peak of his powers. I’m sure you’re going to enjoy hearing Chris’s story as much as I did so let's get into it.
Wednesday Jun 06, 2018
Wednesday Jun 06, 2018
In this interview I sat down with a very interesting and exciting cricketer who has recently announced his retirement from professional cricket – Aiden Blizzard. In the intro I didn’t mention who he plays for like I have done in other episodes as he’s had a number of different teams which we discussed in the interview.
Blizzard started his career at Victoria before moving to South Australia and finishing off with Tasmania. In this time he also represented the Adelaide Strikers, Hobart Hurricanes and most recently the Sydney Thunder in the Big Bash while also spending three seasons with the Mumbai Indians in the IPl where he opened the batting with Sachin Tendulkar.
In the last few years he has transitioned into coaching and was the High-Performance Manager of ACT cricket while still playing in the Big Bash.
In this episode we discussed:
- How he transitioned from junior cricket in country Victoria to grade cricket in Melbourne
- How he progressed from grade cricket to the Victorian squad and what it was like debuting with and against some of the biggest names in Australian cricket at the time.
- What it was like to walk onto the ground at Eden Gardens in Mumbai with Sachin Tendulkar to open the batting in an IPL match.
- How Mike Hussey & Jacques Kallis operated for the Sydney Thunder when they won the BBL in 2016
- What the transition has been like from playing to coaching and what’s next in his life plus a whole lot more
This is a cracking episode with a great bloke who I learned a lot from and no doubt you will as well so let's get into it.
Thursday May 31, 2018
Thursday May 31, 2018
Women's cricket is on the rise around the world. When I was in Bangalore, India a couple of weeks ago, myself and Andrew Walton sat down and spoke to two women cricketers, Vanitha VR and Likhitha VG about their story and the future of women's cricket.
Vanitha has had some success on the International stage having represented India while Likhitha has lead a domestic team to a title so they both are very good cricketers in their own right.
In this interview we asked:
1. Introduction and background.
2. How did you arrive at KIOC?
3. What are your first memories of being here?
4. How has the experience at KIOC helped you as a cricketer and a person?
5. How would you describe your cricketing dreams?
6. Where do you believe women’s cricket in India is heading?
7. We have learned so much from you both in this trip, would there be anything that you have learned from us?
This is a different format to normal but I hope you enjoy the insight from these two great cricketers.
Thursday Apr 12, 2018
Thursday Apr 12, 2018
Ashton Turner has played T20 International Cricket for Australia and over the last few years has become one of the best batters in Australia across both first-class and T20 cricket. In this years Big Bash he was man of the match on 3 occasions after match-winning innings and was second only to player of the tournament, Darcy Short for the most number of sixes hit in the tournament.
He also became vice-captain of the Western Australian team this season and captained the team in the absence of Mitch Marsh. Had it not been for injury he would know doubt have played for Australia this summer and would probably be at the IPL right now.
In this episode we discussed:
How he followed the pathway set out by the WACA & Cricket Australia from the age of 10
How he never felt like he was good enough when playing in under age representative teams
How he made his first-class debut for Australia under unusual circumstances.
How getting clear in his game plans was the spark that took his game to the next level.
How disappointed he was that a shoulder injury ruled him out for Australian selection and the IPL this year.
How hard it was captaining Western Australia for the first time this year.
How he went from fearing bug crowds to loving playing in front of big crowds.
Plus a whole lot more
Friday Apr 06, 2018
Friday Apr 06, 2018
Hilton Cartwright has played Test Cricket & One Day Internationals for Australia and has a unique story of how he got there. Born in Zimbabwe and living there until he was 11 years old he isn’t your typical Australian player.
While he’s dominated Australian domestic cricket at times he’s also had his share or struggles and gives us a great insight into that as well as the good times in his career.
In this episode we discussed:
How he hit a six in his first match and why it means he now wears the number 35 on his back when he plays for WA & the Perth Scorchers.
How cricket gave him friends when he first moved from Zimbabwe to Perth.
How he idolised Mitch Marsh at school and tried to keep up with his power hitting in their school days.
How he became such a brilliant fielder without even trying to be.
How he found out he was selected for Australia and the funny story behind that.
What he was feeling and thinking as the bowler was running in to bowl the first ball he faced in Test cricket.
How he uses visualization and plans thoroughly the night before he plays
The simple mental process he recently changed to get back into form
Why he enjoys to get out into the ocean for a surf plus a whole lot more.
Thursday Mar 29, 2018
Thursday Mar 29, 2018
Hylton or HD Ackermann is at a different stage of his life than many of our other guests.
Ackermann played Test cricket for South Africa in the late 1990s and since retiring from professional cricket in 2009 has had a stint in the media and high-performance coaching in South Africa. He then relocated his family to Perth and has been the head of cricket at a private boys school here in Perth for the past 2 years.
It’s great to have him on at this point in time when Australia is currently in South Africa battling away in the Test Series. He gave us a unique insight into what it’s like to play in Cape Town – the venue for the third and extremely controversial Test.
Thursday Mar 22, 2018
Thursday Mar 22, 2018
This is a great interview with Sam Whiteman as it’s another interesting story and as a wicket-keeper Whitey gives you another perspective on the game.
Whiteman was a very good young cricketer who progressed through the ranks in WA cricket to make his first-class debut as an opening batsman at the age of 20. After having a brilliant season for WA 2013-14 Whiteman was selected for Australia A where he went on to score a century against India A And was touted as the next Australia wicket-keeper which he may well be right if it wasn’t for a cruel run of injuries over the past few seasons.
In this episode we discussed:
- Making his 1st-grade debut at a young age
- How he made the transition from the country to the city as a teenager
- How thinking about higher honours caused him to go backwards
- How he dealt with multiple injury setbacks
- How he manages his preparation for both keeping and batting
- What his process and routines are like before matches
- How he deals with the pressure of big matches
- Plus a lot more
I hope you enjoy this chat with with a highly skilled cricketer and great bloke.