This week is all about being able to “get on with it!”

“Get on with it!” has become a bit of a strap line for me over the years as I have applied the saying to so many cricketing situations in so many different environments.

Here is a list of situations that the “Get on with it!” Mantra has helped to shift mindsets and kickstart incredible practice sessions over the years:

Somerset CCC 1st XI Batting: The Team we’re used to batting on exceptional surfaces at Taunton yet were often exposed technically and mentally when we travelled away and played on seaming wickets. So we used to rake up old wickets to get them seaming and spinning and thenk practiced away from the county ground on greener wickets. I got a lot of funny looks initially but once the players heard “Get on with it!” enough then it was incredible to see players challenging themselves and eventually embracing the difficulty of the session.

England Fielding Team: We were in Guyana for ODI preparation with 3 days to go until the next match. Typically, the clouds developed and the heavens opened leaving puddles all over the pitch and the call came from some of the players to get the Team Bus back to the ground so that they could sit in their rooms back at the hotel.

I picked up my baseball mitt, my hitting bat and a bag of balls and said “if anyone fancies doing some slides and dives through those puddles then follow me!”. As I frog marched out of the changing room, I heard the spikes of one players boots following me down the stairs. PD Collingwood, our best fielder, skipped onto the ground wearing an England vest (he still wears them!), a pair of shorts and his swimming goggles!

Colly was diving through these puddles practising his landings and taking some of the best catches going. Water was being displaced everywhere much to my amusement and Colly had the biggest grin across his face. It was brilliant. Within 5 minutes, we were joined by 5 other players and we stayed out in the rain and puddles for a further 30 minutes of fantastic fielding fun.

Colly’s message to his team mates was to “Get on with it!” was inspirational and then the other players started to look for opportunities to work on their fielding on rainy practice days.

Millfield Cricket: No indoor facility and the “Beast from the East”

As with many places in the UK this week, we have been trying to cope with the impact of the “Beast from the East” weather system. It’s been -3C for the last 5 days and now we are snowed in. No cricket weather you may ask.

On the contrary when you have a “Get on with it!” attitude.

The players have really embraced getting out in the cold, wrapped up in their multiple layers as they realise to coin a phrase “Today I will do what others won’t. So tomorrow I can do what others can’t”.

Whilst it is going to be great to have a market leading indoor school next year, the growth and development that people get from pushing their boundaries of comfort out in the frozen and snowy outdoor nets is not lost on me or them for that matter.

Some of the Millfield videos from this week show how you can use “Get on with it!” Conditions to develop growth mindsets for tough conditions and circumstances.