NOTEASY BEINGON TOURAT THIS TIME OFYEAR
ENGLAND have returned home from a disappointing tour just in time for Christmas, and though the majority of them will be back in India in the New Year, I can guarantee they’ll be glad to be home at this time of year.
It’s a bit surreal to be away and touring at Christmas, especially when you are somewhere hot. I had four winters in Australia and lying on a beach during the festive period is very different to being freezing cold and drinking some mulled wine in England.
Everybody is in the same boat though and you need to have some fun with it. You have plenty more Christmas’s where you’re not a professional sportsman compared to when you are.
You can get a Christmas committee together and create something. Sometimes the media, players and even the fans will all get together on Christmas Day for a meal, though generally there’s a Boxing Day Test, so players are a bit wary!
I was never away at Christmas once my children were born, but it’s easy to see why players can get more homesick at this time of year compared to any others.
Generally families do come out at Christmas and it can be a couple of days where you can get away from the group. During a long, arduous tour it can be exactly what you need because it just gets your mind off things.
When things are going badly on the field, you don’t always want to be surrounded by those players at the end of a day’s play.You want those home comforts and the support of your family is crucial. It’s why a lot of players perform well on their home Test – they can spend the evenings in their own bed and with their family.
Things like homesickness, which we’ve seen in the past with Steve Harmi- The captain is the one who takes everybody else’s issues. A good dressing room is an open dressing room son, don’t tend to happen when you’re having a good tour. If you’re doing well, you won’t think about the cricket as much when you’re back at the hotel and in the shower. But if it’s going badly, you can’t shift it out of your mind.
Alastair Cook has led a long tour, coming home for a few days early on to be at his wife’s side during the birth of his daughter.
That would have played on his mind, missing the first few weeks of the baby’s life, but it’s where social media and modern technology comes into play for communication.
I feel for Cooky because it always makes it worse when the team aren’t playing well collectively. Individuals have had good sessions, but England never nailed it for a long period of time.
As captain, Cook is seen, rightly or wrongly, as a scapegoat. I was in the same position at Leicestershire when we went down the line of having a lot of youngsters in, trying to get some money from the ECB and build for the future. But it’s tough when things aren’t going your way.
The captain is the one who takes everybody else’s issues. A good dressing room is an open dressing room and that’s a big part of the skipper’s job – managing people, not necessarily techniques.
But being away from home is all part of the territory. The guys are in a fortunate position to be doing what they love, but it could be a lot worse. Home is only a flight away and Cookie doesn’t need to make any quick decisions.