Nature v Nurture applied to Cricket

Is it nature or is it nurture? This has been one of the long standing debates in psychology relating to the extent of certain aspects of behavior being a product of either inherited or acquired characteristics. More than a century ago, John B. Watson of Johns Hopkins University conducted experiments – popularly known as the “Little Albert Experiment”, [Do read this Wiki link] and provided empirical evidence of classical behavioral conditioning that leant support to the idea of nurture having the major role in determining personal characteristics. Of course, there are the Pavlovian experiments that provide credence to the idea of behavioral conditioning as well. Several psychologists have criticized these theories for being one-dimensional and have noted that it does not account for other types of learning, especially learning that occurs without the use of reinforcement and punishment.

I was thinking about these in regards to batting in cricket: “Are we a product of our environment?” It has been conventional wisdom that subcontinental batsmen are good players of spin, are adept at using their feet to reach the ball and make full use of their supple wrists developed through a system of playing the spinning ball late and maneuvering it in to the gaps in the field to accumulate runs. The other side of this piece of wisdom is that subcontinental batsmen would struggle playing on fast and bouncy pitches when they travel abroad to Australia, South Africa etc. The reverse has been applied to batsmen from there as well, that they can handle the bouncing ball but struggle against spin.

Are these theories absolute? Most definitely not. We have seen subcontinental batsmen pile on the runs in conditions that are supposed to be alien to them and Aussie and Saffa batsmen register massive scores on turning tracks. With every passing year, we are observing batsmen perform feats that shred existing conventions. (Although playing on seaming pitches is still an issue, whether the batsman is from the subcontinent or somewhere else).

I used to open the batting for my House team (“Krishna”) in high school. Not because I was a good batsman or anything. To this day, my highest score in any form of cricket is 49. My batting has deteriorated so much that in the last 10-12 years, if I was sent in at 10 by my club side, I considered it a surprising promotion. My school side allowed me to open because I had a decent defensive technique, and I was able to deny the opposition early wickets from one end. That’s pretty much it.

Then I look back at my formative years of playing cricket in the backyard with my brothers. I had blogged about it too after I took my wife to India to show the places I grew up in.

My brothers and I would play in the cramped, narrow backyard. I’m reproducing the rules of our game from the prior post: “My eldest brother would chuck the cork ball from the far end and there were 2 fielders not too far from the bat (at silly point and forward short leg) and one at backward short leg and another at short mid on. The idea was not to make runs but survive for as long as you can. If you get caught, or bowled, or beaten three times in a row, or hit on the leg twice, or the ball hits the wall without bouncing on the ground, you are out.”

Since getting the batsman bowled was rare, getting them out caught close was the way to go, and hence the balls would be bowled just back of good length so that they bounce high enough for them to be popped up. To counter that, I generally went on the back foot, played with soft hands and dropped them down as close as possible to my feet. Since survival was the goal, I did everything I could to drop the ball to the ground right away.

Backyard where my batting was conditioned out of me

Backyard where my batting was conditioned out of me

This I have carried with me since. I can still defend and survive but playing the ball on its merit almost never entered my conscience. I suppose my batting method is entirely a proof of classical behavioral conditioning. If I didn’t defend the way I did, I would be punished with being dismissed and had to wait a long time to get another turn. The “nature” side of batting never really happened for me, being not blessed with the reflexes and analytical ability to chose the shots to play.

After the experiments were completed on Little Albert, Watson apparently did not have the time to desensitize him from the conditioned fears, and so it is assumed that those fears continued post-experimentally. I am glad that towards the end of my high school years, I began to bowl medium pace which has allowed me to play cricket and enjoy it to this day. In my U.S. University playing days, I bowled the inswinger which came naturally, but learned the outswinger as well so much so that it became my stock delivery. So, then, in some ways, I guess it is all a combination of both, nature and nurture.

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It Looked So Out…

“You don’t often see a batsman walk… for an LBW” screams Michael Slater even as the Blackcaps whoop it up in the background. It was Ricky Ponting that decided to walk without really waiting for Umpire Nigel Llong’s decision off a delivery from Tim Southee during the first innings of the Hobart Test in 2011, which New Zealand went on to win by 7 runs.

Ponting was woefully out of form coming in to that series and chose to play an ugly across the line swipe for the delivery that jagged back in to trap him in front. Even before Southee could turn around and appeal for the LBW< Ponting was on his way.

Another instance of a batsman not really waiting for the umpire decision because he knew he was done for, was MS Dhoni during the 2007 Cricket World Cup first round match vs. Sri Lanka. Muralitharan bowling from around the wicket made the ball straighten and hurry on to the batsman. This time it was Aleem Dar that was preempted by the batsman. India lost the match and were kicked out of the tournament.

On Tuesday, a similar situation arose in the India v Sri Lanka match in the Asia Cup. After being hit for a monstrous six by Thisera Perera earlier in the over, off spinner R Ashwin tossed the ball wide and made the left hander over-extended himself and Dhoni, still the owner of quickest pair of hands behind the wicket in cricket, completed the stumping.

(Video Downloaded from Cricingif.com)

The umpire at square leg, Shozab Raza adjudged the batsman out – a rarity in these days of video replay assistance from the third umpire for almost every line calls. On first look, it seemed that the batsman was caught well short of the crease – after all he was dragged wide and out by Ashwin for proverbial miles. The delivery was so far from Perera that the straight umpire Anisur Rahman called it a wide. The fielding side seemed happy with the appeal and the decision, and it looked to be that so was Perera who walked off without any hesitation or remonstration. He looked so out. It was only when slow motion replays were shown later on that it became apparent that Perera may have regained his ground. If Umpire Raza had sought the assistance of the TV umpire, in all likelihood, Perera would have continued batting.

Should umpire Raza have sought the help of replays to make the decision? It’s a no win situation for him. When umpires seek assistance for front foot no balls, run outs and stumpings for decisions that seem obvious on slow motion replays, the observers of the game complain. Here, umpire Raza had chosen to back his initial instincts but has been shown up by slow motion replays to be wrong. From his vantage point, it must have appeared to be a clear cut decision that the batsman was well short of the crease, and so he had decided to back himself, and I tip my hat to him for that.

We – the fans and armchair experts – cannot have it both ways. We cannot and should not crucify an umpire who is willing to trust his senses to make a decision on the field, while at the same time mock and pillory them when they want the help of third umpire for what might be shown as an obvious decision. These umpires are amongst the best officiating the game of cricket and the sport – administration and the observers – should look to empower them more by having them make more decisions on the field. Of course, they are humans and will make mistakes but that’s part of the game. Remember, it is a game between two teams. The umpire has no horse in this race. He is an unbiased adjudicator.

At any rate, that decision did not really have a major bearing on the outcome of the game as it came towards the end of 19th over of the Sri Lankan innings. India coasted to their win by 5 wickets.

I leave you with another instance from history of a batsman being so out.

“Vic had made no attempt to scramble back. He knew the ball had beaten him and was prepared to pay the penalty, and although he had little chance of regaining his crease on this occasion I think he would have acted similarly if his back foot had been only an inch from safety. As he walked past me he smiled, patted the back of his bat and said, ‘It was too good for me.’”

That’s an extract – a beautiful one at that – from former Aussie spinner Arthur Mailey’s book “10 for 66 and All That” where he defeated the great Victor Trumper. On dismissing Trumper, Mailey said he “felt like a boy who had killed a dove”.

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Return to First Principles

I love Physics. I love Mathematics even more. There isn’t anything almost as elegant as a mathematical proof. Perhaps music and art would come close to it but I am a complete ignoramus in those two areas.

I chose to be an Engineer because I loved Maths and Physics in high school. The discovery of the beautiful relationships of abstract concepts to the physical world, and learning to apply those relations to solve real-world problems was exciting as a seventeen year old. As I approach the age of 40, having spent nearly a decade in graduate school which included an aborted Ph.D., (while in the process of writing my dissertation, no less), I continue to work in an area that combines material science and mechanical engineering.

In my line of work, I conduct inspection of structures using Non Destructive Testing techniques, carry out training courses for field technicians. After a while, the job is well, a job; I’m on cruise control, working on muscle memory, and the things I have to do on a daily basis become so routine that there isn’t that excitement of discovery which is what got me in to this in the first place. During times like these, I look to two books for inspiration: 1) Fundamentals of Physics by Resnick & Halliday and 2) Advanced Mathematical Methods in Science & Engineering by E. Kreyzsig. These two books transport me back to the times Maths and Physics were exciting and stimulating for me. It allows me to relearn some of the concepts and see them in a new light. It also serves as a reminder of why I am where I am. The joy of it all is rekindled. After a while, I’ll most certainly plateau again and I’ll return to these books to get me going. Again.

All this is to say, I need to get back to blogging about cricket. Outside of Maths and Physics, cricket is my other passion in life. I look back to the time I had a personal blog which became a platform where I ended up obsessing exclusively about cricket, which gave rise to this website. I got in to cricket blogging because I thought I had something to say, and the opportunity to link up with other likeminded cricket obsessives. That was nearly 7-8 years ago.

In the early cricket blogging time, I looked for any opportunity to write for other blogs and sites. Every day and every cricket match I watched or played in were sources of inspiration to write more about the sport and its infinite possibilities. The blog eventually led to the Couch Talk podcast, and it opened doors that I didn’t even know existed. I got opportunities to cover International Cricket for many outlets including Cricinfo, Wisden India, MiD DAY, All Out Cricket etc. It even allowed my wife and I to take a trip around the world for 9 months following cricket, and even write about it!

I remember approaching Anand Ramachandran (who was cult personality in the Indian blogging scene and also wrote Page 2 articles for Cricinfo) early in blogging years, looking for guidance to write for bigger platforms. He gave me a couple of contacts but provided a single piece of very valuable advice: “Keep writing”. And I did. For a good bit.

Somewhere along the way, I’d forgotten the ways. Perhaps I was in cruise control mode with the podcasts doing well. Perhaps it was news websites that even paid me to write columns and feature pieces. Perhaps it was the laziness that inevitably creeps in. Perhaps I was comfortable just to spew my thoughts in 140 characters.

I’ve tried to shake the cobwebs off from time to time. I maintained a diary for the first few weeks of my world trip but once I got an offer to write a monthly piece for Cricinfo from the travels, my blogging stopped. I wrote a daily Ashes diary (from last July-August) for a couple of weeks but then lethargy set in and I stopped blogging. I was determined that I’d get back to blogging once I returned from England but an opportunity to write for LiveMint came along, and once again, I put the thoughts of blogging on the back burner.

I haven’t written anything cricket related for more than a month now. I still do podcasts quite regularly but it doesn’t provide the same satisfaction of actually putting cogent thoughts down.

Just as when you hit a roadblock in carrying out a mathematical problem, the solution is in getting back to the first principles, and looking at things in a new way. The recent inspiration for me to return to blogging is Jon Hotten, an accomplished writer, who still finds the time and thoughts to carry on blogging even as he writes books, columns and movie scripts.

I need to keep Anand’s advice in mind, and just keep writing, as much and as often as I can. So here’s to new beginning. Here is to a return to the first principles. Thanks to Anand and Jon, my Resnick and Halliday.

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Couch Talk 183 with Matthew Hayden

haydosFormer Australian opening batsman Matthew Hayden talks about his pre-match visualization techniques, his opening partnership with Justin Langer and his ability to play spin, amongst other things.

Follow Matt on Twitter: @HaydosTweets

 

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The podcast first appeared on ESPN Cricinfo.

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Credits:

Intro Music: Aravind Murali and Jaishankar, mixed at ‘Music from The Place’

Transcribed by: Bharathram Pattabiraman

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Couch Talk 182 with Shikha Pandey

Shikha-Pandey-2016In this episode, Shikha Pandey, India women’s national team’s allrounder talks about her cricket journey through her college education, serving in the Indian Air Force, being part of a team that defeated England in England – on her debut, no less, the T20I series win in Australia recently, Women’s Big Bash League, and the upcoming World T20, amongst other things.

 

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The podcast first appeared on ESPN Cricinfo.

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Credits:

Intro Music: Aravind Murali and Jaishankar, mixed at ‘Music from The Place’

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Couch Talk 181 with Edward Fox and Archiwal

Ed-Archi-RestaurantIn this episode, Edward Fox, who is an Aussie that moved to the U.S. 24 years ago, and Archiwal, who took to cricket in the Afghan refugee camps in Pakistan, and now lives with Edward Fox through his work with the U.S. Army as a translator in Afghanistan talk about the cricketing story that has brought these two very different individuals together from different corners of the world to living under one roof in Wichita, Kansas.

 

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Credits:

Photo Courtesy: Edward Fox

Intro Music: Aravind Murali and Jaishankar, mixed at ‘Music from The Place’

Transcribed by: Bharathram Pattabiraman

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Couch Talk 180 with Jarrod Kimber

testcricket-AUBJarrod Kimber talks about his new book “Test Cricket: An Unauthorised Biography”, the writing process that went in to it, the passing of Phil Hughes which forms the book ends, the good, the bad and the ugly carried out in the name of cricket throughout its history, and some of the most important figures in Test cricket, amongst other things.

 

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The book is available on Amazon here.

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Credits:

Intro Music: Aravind Murali and Jaishankar, mixed at ‘Music from The Place’

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Couch Talk 179 with Tim Cutler, CEO Hong Kong Cricket

timThe CEO of Hong Kong Cricket Association Tim Cutler talks about his journey from Sydney, Australia to his current position, the challenges of leading an emerging cricket nation, the inherent inequities within the ICC, prospects of T20 in the Olympics, and his hopes for Hong Kong Cricket in the future, amongst other things.

 

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The episode was first published on ESPN Cricinfo.

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Intro Music: Aravind Murali and Jaishankar, mixed at ‘Music from The Place’

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Couch Talk 178 with Shane Bond

shane-bondFormer New Zealand fast bowler and bowling coach Shane Bond talks about his playing career, the injuries that curtailed it, his advice for younger fast bowlers, his preparations and approach to fast bowling, coaching the New Zealand team bowlers, and some of his fond memories of playing for New Zealand, amongst other things.

 

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The episode was first published on ESPN Cricinfo.

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Credits:

Intro Music: Aravind Murali and Jaishankar, mixed at ‘Music from The Place’

Transcribed by: Bharathram Pattabiraman

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Couch Talk 177 with Chris Adams

Chris-AdamsFormer England batsman and Sussex captain Chris Adams talks about his short England career, his move from Derbyshire to Sussex, his captaincy philosophies, his successful years at Sussex, the life of a county professional, and the best English and non-English players he played with and against, amongst other things.

Follow Chris on Twitter: @grizz598

 

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The episode was first published on ESPN Cricinfo.

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Credits:

Intro Music: Aravind Murali and Jaishankar, mixed at ‘Music from The Place’

Transcribed by: Bharathram Pattabiraman

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