As I watched Mitchell Pearce in tears following a performance where he was found to be largely incapable of dealing with the challenges presented by State of Origin, I began dwell on the question: what is the root cause of this continued problem?
Pearce certainly has the physical capability to shine at this level. In fact, when entrusting physical abilities alone, he is one of the most outstanding athletes in the competition.
The challenge, however, comes when ones physical abilities are no longer outstanding, and become merely average amongst a field of outstanding athletes.
This turns the sporting field from an opportunity to exhibit athleticism, to what is essentially high end problem solving, and at this point, we see the separation between the exceptional sportspeople and the merely exceptional athletes.
Similar analogies can be drawn across the sporting landscape. I see the same sense of confusion as our cricketers are baffled by their owned continued failings at the elite level.
It must be incredibly difficult for a person who has been able to trust their athleticism for the duration of their lives, with great success, to then find themselves in a situation where the ability of their opposition, combined with careful analysis of their abilities, leads to a specific weakness in their technique being targeted, and the onus for performance being shifted off ones eye and into ones mind.
I recently had a conversation with a young English cricketer, quite likely on the path to Test cricket, and we were discussing the technique of Ian Bell.
He described this technique as a series of strokes, thought of as tools. These tools are available, but are only used as suited to a specific situation.
Each Test is about designing the combination of tools that best suits both the pitch and the opposition.
I get the sense that this is an approach that exists throughout the English cricket set up, and certainly exists in contrast to the prototype Australian cricketer, capable and willing to play shots all around the ground, quite often at the cost of being out-thought and defeated.
In this sense, this difference of strategic approach represents a different value system through which we assess our athletes. We assess athletes based on talent, rather than ability, and it is too this countries great loss. The memories of great shots linger longer than the memories of great application.
We as fans would rather watch a football team torn up apart, rather than warn down. Yet our most successful athletes, and indeed our most successful teams are built on the application of the latter.
If we return to the fields of State of Origin, Cooper Cronk stands as one of the most successful performers in State of Origin history, and yet his highlight real is more high percentage than high impact, and we are left to wonder, do we put the athlete before the intellect? And is it time for a change in attitude?
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