Martin Speight is a professional cricket coach talks commitment, training and early starts at Sedbergh School, Cumbria.

By the time I started a classical civilisation and archeology degree at Durham University, I was already playing professional cricket for my home county, Sussex, where I played for 10 years. I moved from Sussex to Durham CCC in 1997, and out of season, I played in New Zealand. As a professional cricketer, I followed my dream and believe I learnt to understand what makes people tick, how to appreciate other people?s strengths and how to accept their weaknesses. I learnt to enjoy others? success in equal measure and, in my mind, this was the best foundation for my current role at Sedbergh School, where I have been professional cricket coach since 2010 ? well, that is my main responsibility anyway!
Variables of the Game
Cricket is a tough mental game. It is about individual performances in a team environment, a statistics-based game whereby nearly every mistake is fatal ? if you miss a tackle in rugby, it?s not the end of your game; if you miss a ball in cricket, you?re out. The variables of cricket: the pitch, the weather, the individual skill sets, all make it a hard sport in which to predict how well you?re going to do and ultimately that?s the great fascination with it. It often amazes me how cricket mirrors life ? one minute it?s great and the next it?s not. Therefore, my r...