The Cricket Mentoring Podcast

Welcome to the Cricket Mentoring podcast. I’m Tom Scollay or Scolls as I get called and this podcast has been designed for cricketers and cricket lovers who want to learn and improve themselves. In this podcast we interview past, current and future cricket stars to find out more about their journey and what makes them successful while also sharing some audio from ourselves at Cricket Mentoring. Our goal is to help you become your best, on and off the field so I hope you enjoy this podcast and get something valuable out of it.

After returning back to Perth from a very impressive Bigh Biash campaign, we sat down with Adelaide Strikers batsman Jonathan Wells to discuss how he got to where he is now, and what's next for him.

• How he prepared for the BBL while being out of the professional system

This is a great insight into someone who's had an up and down career and at 31 is now at the peak of his game.

Make sure to follow him on Instagram @jwells_9

Today’s episode was recorded back in August this year while I was in the UK and is with a really inspiring guy. Shahbaz Choudry is the founder of Pace Journal – a community for fast bowlers around the world. I first came across the Instagram account at the start of this year and was extremely impressed with what I saw. Having spent a huge amount of time creating content for the Cricket Mentoring Instagram account over the past few years, I know how much time and effort goes into it and when I saw Pace Journal I knew that whoever was behind it was extremely passionate about fast-bowling and helping people understand the secrets of fast-bowling.

 Their Instagram account is followed by a huge number of cricketers all over the world and Shahbaz has built an amazing community by interviewing professional cricketers and coaches to share tips and ideas with anyone who wants to learn about fast-bowling.

When I was speaking to Shahbaz and listening to his story and why he founded ‘Pace Journal’ there were so many similarities to my own story and why I founded Cricket Mentoring. His bio on his personal Instagram says ‘on a mission to help fast bowlers all over the world’ and through his amazing content he is certainly doing that.

I really enjoyed listening to his story and learning more about the man behind this brilliant brand and I have no doubt you will get a lot of value from his story as well.

Shahbaz Instagram handles: Pace Journal @pacejournal & @mrpacejournal 

Link to Fast Bowlers anthem: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gB3ZKMMvPCA

I hope you enjoy this episode!

G’day legends. Welcome to this special episode of The Cricket Mentoring Podcast.

One of the reasons I say it’s special is because of our guest, Melanie Jones who I’ll go more into in just a second.

The second reason this episode is special is because we are recording it in India. The Karnataka Institute of Cricket in Bangalore is a strange place for two Aussies to record a podcast but there’s no better setting to discuss the journey of one of Australian crickets true stars.

Mel and I are in Bangalore for different reasons -  I’m running a Cricket Mentoring Tour for young cricketers from Australia and the UK to experience India and train and play in sub-continent conditions, while Mel is here to commentate on an IPL match in a couple of nights but I didn’t want to miss to opportunity to hear the story of this legend…

Melanie or Mel Jones is a former Australian cricketer who, in recent years has turned herself into one of the best cricket commentators going around as she travels the world commentating on the major tournaments including the Big Bash, IPL and will soon be in the UK commentating on the World Cup.

Mel was an elite player. She played 5 Test matches and 61 One Day Internationals and is a member of the prestigious club of cricketers who have scored a century on Test debut – with 131 against England in the 1998 Ashes series.

Having played all her representative cricket when women’s cricket wasn’t professional, Mel has been a huge advocate for the women’s game and is incredibly happy to see the best cricketers in Australia and around the world become professionals in recent years.

Since retiring, Mel has done various things but in recent years has built her reputation in commentary boxes around the world. She not only brings a great deal of experience from playing at the highest level to the commentary box, but through her hard work and love of the game she also brings a real depth of knowledge about each and every player.

It was awesome to sit down with Mel and hear how a girl from the country has forged a very successful life in cricket both on and off the field.

In this episode we discussed:

• How she began playing cricket at her grandparents place with her older male cousins and how the circumstances in those games, shaped the player she was in international cricket

When in India anything can happen, and on cue, the power went out half way through our interview… but as all true professionals do, Mel carried on as if nothing had happened. 

No doubt you will pick up our mutual love for this beautiful country throughout the conversation.

 Mel is cricketing royalty and it was a pleasure to spend a morning with her at KIOC. Her energy and passion for the game is obvious which I’m sure you’ll hear it in her voice so lets get into this epsiode…

Welcome to this episode of The Cricket Mentoring Podcast. This episode is with someone who has a very interesting insight on the game of cricket.

Gideon Haigh is without a doubt one of the most intelligent humans that I’ve ever spoken to and I was fascinated listening to his insight and views on the game. As one of the chief cricket writers for The Australian newspaper, Gideon watches international and domestic matches closely and combined with his background in things outside of cricket is regarded as one of the best cricket pundits in the country.

He is also frequently talking about the game on TV and is currently giving his expert views on channel 7 during the Test series between Australia and India.

At 52 years old he is also still playing for his beloved South Yarra cricket club in the Victorian Grade Competition and therefore truly understands the game and struggles that come with it as a player.

As someone who has read and followed Gideon’s insights for a while I was very excited to chat to him and hear his views on the game.

In this episode we discussed:

• How he got into playing cricket and how he’s reinvented himself throughout his career

Plus a whole lot more.

This was truly a fascinating chat with someone who looks at the game differently to most others. I’m sure you’ll be enthralled, just as I was by Gideon’s articulate answers and depth of knowledge of Australian cricket.

Welcome to this episode of The Cricket Mentoring Podcast with WA batsman, Josh Phillipe.

Josh broke onto the scene in stunning fashion a little over a year ago when he scored 88 in the first session of a tour match against the England Test team that featured the likes of Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad. Since then he has made his First-class & List A debuts for Western Australia, Scored a Sheffield Shield Century and made his Big Bash debut for the Perth Scorchers and last week it was announced that he is joining the Sydney Sixers for this year's Big Bash.

Josh also scored a better than a run a ball 57 for the Prime Ministers XI against a South Africa side that featured Dale Steyn & Kagiso Rabada in a man of the match performance in October this year.

At just 21 years of age, Josh is one of the brightest prospects in Australian cricket and has recently come on board as a Cricket Mentoring ambassador which we’re really excited to be partnered with Josh to help him on his journey.

In this episode we discussed:

• How he got into cricket after both his mum and dad represented WA

Plus a whole lot more.

We have no doubt Josh Phillippe will become a household name around the world in the future and are excited to bring you his journey thus far in today’s episode.

So lets get into this episode…

Mark started Opening Up in 2014 after his cricket club was hit with tragedy with the passing of his good mate, Alex, who took his own life.

Since then, Mark has been on a campaign to raise awareness for mental health issues and suicide prevention and travels around the world teaching people how every single person can improve their ‘mental fitness’, which is something that aligns with our message as coaches and mentors to our athletes.

As the name suggests, Mark and his now team of speakers, travel around the UK and more recently Australia and New Zealand encouraging and supporting cricketers to Open Up and talk to someone if they are struggling with their mental health.

Opening Up has won the support of many of England’s best cricketers who love the message it shares.

In this episode we discussed:

• How the best teams and people in sport communicate well and why it’s important to do that on a number of levels

Plus a whole lot more.

This is a different chat to many of the others we’ve published previously but there are so many great things that you can learn from it and implement into your life and help with others around you.

Mark is a very clever guy who is changing peoples lives around the world so I’m thrilled to have sat down with him and heard more about his story. So lets get into this episode…

Welcome to this episode of The Cricket Mentoring Podcast.

Most of you would never have heard of this episodes guest but I have no doubt you will see and hear about him in the future. a 19 year-old Ryan Hackney currently has a rookie contract for NSW and was in Perth last week for a 2nd XI match against WA at the WACA.

Earlier this year Ryan opened the batting for the Australian under 19 team in their series against Pakistan. This was after he was left out of the Australia Under 19 world cup squad that went to New Zealand inn January this year.

In this episode we discussed:

• How he found batting at the WACA for the first time and how he had to adjust his method from playing in Sydney

Plus a whole lot more.

This podcast is designed to give you an insight into the journey of people at different stages of their careers and Ryan gives us an excellent insight into one of the countries best young players. He is a very hard working young man with a big ambition and we have no doubt he is going to have a very successful career ahead of him. So lets get into this episode.

Welcome to this episode of The Cricket Mentoring Podcast. After a 3 month break I’m pumped to be back and hopefully bigger and better than ever before. I really want to make this podcast as interesting and valuable for you as it can be!

This episode, which was recorded a few months ago while I was in the UK, is with one of the England cricket teams sports psychologists, Mike Rotheram.

Mike, who is a cricketer himself, started working with the England men’s team and England Lions and is now working closely with the England women.

With 9 years of studying under his belt, Mike is extremely qualified to teach the mental skills required to perform at the highest level.

In this episode we discussed:

How he became a sports psychologist after not being good enough to make it as a player

• How he did a PHD in the Yips and what causes the yips

Plus a whole lot more.

This is an awesome insight into how some of the world’s best players train and work on their mental skills. If you’re interested in getting the most out of yourself and trying the techniques that aren’t really talked about on a regular basis then this is a great episode that you will get a lot of value from, so lets get into it.

If you’re a cricket lover then you would definitely know of Steven Finn. Finn burst onto the international stage as 20 year old in 2010 and quickly became the face of English cricket with lots of on field success and a very likeable character to go with it.

Since then he’s had his share of ups and downs. With 126 appearances for England across all formats, Finny has certainly had a successful career but had it not been for injury or a loss of form at certain times, he could have played a lot more. With raw pace and steepling bounce, Finny is one of the world’s best and most scariest bowlers when he’s at his best.

As a former teammate who admired how Finny went about his business during my time at Middlesex, it was great to sit down with him and hear his story and the journey of how he got to where he is today.

In this episode we discussed:

• How he got into cricket and who his mentors were when he was growing up

Plus a whole lot more.

This is a great insight into someone who has been in the spotlight in international cricket for a long time and is now fighting to find a way back to the highest level.