Top Traits of a Future Cricket Player

Cricket is by no means a simple game. One could get that impression when watching professionals play. Yet, an untrained eye can’t see the intricacies of this beautiful sport. Cricket is much more than hitting hard and bowling fast. To be successful in cricket one needs a mix of physical and mental traits. Many cricket skills can be taught and learned, while many need to come naturally. Those who want to commit themselves to this sport better have, or work on the following traits. 

Concentration 

Cricket is a game that’s played in the long-run. If you’ve ever seen a T20 tournament you know that matches can last for hours. In a case when Tests are played some matches can take days. With duels this long it is easy to lose focus. When there’s a lack of focus, mistakes happen and a bowler might forget the game plan, a batter might leave a straight ball while a fielder might misjudge the catch. For a professional cricketer being always focused on a game is a necessity. While necessary is by no means an easy feat. While concentration is vital for all positions, batters are the ones that need to rely on it heavily. Even one bad shot can lose you an inning, and some batters face more than 100 balls a game. Concentration is a vital component for all players on the field too. It is required in order to spot opponents patterns, read and react to the game better, and notice small changes on the line. 

Anticipation

Cricket is not about guessing what comes next, it’s about anticipating it. Cricket players need to be able to read the game and react to happenings on the field in real time. For batters, the need is to be observant of the bowler’s run-up, hand, and overall body position. When one can see these moves on the field, the clues are given for what’s incoming. It’s all about following the opponents through their motions and making the best work out of your reaction. Cricket is often about split-second decisions which can’t be made if some part of the opponent’s move is not anticipated. 

Reaction time is improved through good anticipation and in a game where milliseconds play a  role, that means a difference between winning and losing more often than not. These days, when betting on cricket is getting popular by the day, it’s easy to make a parallel between anticipation in cricket which is necessary as a natural trait, and the super popular crash game called Aviator where players can use software called aviator predictor to guess the next score. Cricket players do not have that luxury and need to rely on their instincts instead, making anticipation one of the more important traits in a professional cricket player. 

Patience

Cricket is not just a sport – it’s a philosophy. It teaches patience to both the players, and the fans of the sport. The game is not played by solely aiming at scoring points. Instead, each team needs to build an inning from the ground up. This involves pieces of the game being dedicated to blocking, leaving, and defending. It is not rare for cricket to appear running slowly with the runs, but it’s all part of the game waiting for the bowlers to do their magic too. Bowlers need to have patience to wait for their turn too. Wickets do not come and go quickly. A player needs to stick to the line and build the pressure on the opponent. It is a team effort that requires utmost patience. In cricket no match is decided early on. Every team, with enough built-in patience in their squad, may turn the tides of a duel till the end. It’s the same type of patience one requires when creating a winning slip on Sportsbet.io during the final stretch of the Indian Premier League. 

Hand-Eye Coordination

Strictly speaking, hand-eye coordination is the low base of the skill required to be even amateur in cricket. Batters rely heavily on hand to eye coordination with every ball. In cricket when batting, it is all about anticipating the ball (and we talked about it) but not only to see it when it comes out of the bowler’s hands, but to be able to move your hands according to what your eyes record. When you have impeccable hand to eye coordination not even the best pitching technique will defeat you. At the same time this ability is also vital for fielders too. They need to be able to coordinate their hands and eyes in every action starting from diving, catching, and throwing. For bowlers, this coordination is all about accuracy. Lading the perfect hit in the ideal moment is not easy. Most sports played with a ball as sized as the cricket ones require good hand to eye coordination.

Fitness & Agility

In terms of fitness, agility, and conditioning, cricket is more often than not-  underestimated. It requires much more fitness than you actually think. The top batters need to sprint heavy distances between wickets. Bowlers are more than capable of sending down long spells. Fielders need to be able to dive. Chase the ball, and throw it accordingly. These actions are not one and done. They are a necessity throughout the game over and over again. Quick turns, fast footwork, and reflexes are all traits of agility and a basic necessity for cricket. Also, if a professional cricket player wants to avoid injuries he will look after his fitness. The joints and tendons in a cricketer body need to be flexible in order to perform on the highest level. Modern cricket is just like any other sport – it requires high end fitness and conditioning. Yes, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are no LeBron James and Cristiano Ronaldo but they’re light years removed from your average Joe starting to learn cricket or any other sport for that matter. 

As you can see, there’s plenty of traits necessary in order to be able to compete in cricket at a professional level. These are just some of the traits a serious cricket player requires, and they shouldn’t lack in footwork, confidence, game awareness, coachability, and team spirit either.