The Cricket Mentoring Podcast

Welcome to this episode of The Cricket Mentoring Podcast. Ben Brown or Browny as he goes by, has played first-class cricket for 11 years and is regarded as one of the best wicket-keepers in England. Having played 117 first-class matches, Browny has a huge amount of experience and at the age of just 29, he still has a very long career ahead of him.

In 2017 he took over the captaincy of Sussex County Cricket Club midway through the season and this year, 2018 was officially made the club captain 

With a first-class average of a touch under 40 and an average of over 47 this season, Browny is the ultimate all-rounder and if it wasn’t for the dominance of Jonny Bairstow & Jos Buttler, he would seriously be up there for the next in line keeper for England.

I really enjoyed doing this interview with Browny as he’s one of my best mates so it was great to hear his story and the journey of how he got to where he is today. 

In this episode we discussed: 

• How he’s born and raised in Sussex and has been a part of their system right the way through the underage groups to the senior team

Plus a whole lot more.

This is an excellent episode with a genuinely great bloke who is at the top of his game and will hopefully get to wear the England colours one day.

Charlie Burke had a dream of traveling the world as a professional cricketer. Unfortunately, he wasn’t good enough to make it as a player, so instead he’s become a high performance coach who travels the world with cricket.

Charlie started his cricket coaching as a community development officer for the WACA before he progressed up the ranks at the WACA. He was then head hunted to do a role in game development in the Asia region for the ICC before ultimately becoming the Head coach of Hong Kong.

In the past, Hong Kong hasn’t been known for it’s cricketing prowess but Charlie was instrumental in them getting qualified for numerous big global tournaments including the 2014 ICC T20 World Cup.

As a Cricket Australia level 3 coach, Charlie is now regarded globally as a very experienced coach with a wealth of knowledge and assists Cricket Australia with educating the next generation of high performance coaches.

In this episode we discussed:

How coaching a basketball team while in High school helped make him into the coach he is today.

How he became serious about cricket coaching after he was told he wouldn’t make it as a player.

How a chance meeting with someone during the 2010 Under 19 World Cup lead him to coach Hong Kong on the International stage for 7 years.

What the highlight of his time coaching Hong Kong was and why his team nearly had to be evacuated by a chopper after a match.

Why coaching an associate nation is like coaching a grade club in Australia.

The coaching principal that every coach should follow.

What he spoke about during his presentation at the Cricket Australia level 3 coaching course recently

Plus a whole lot more.

This is a great episode with someone with a very interesting perspective on the game that everyone will get value from, so lets get into it.

Welcome to this episode with arguably one of England’s finest ever batsman, Robin Smith. Robin, or Judgie as he goes by, had a fantastic career that included scoring over 26,000 First class runs across a huge 426 First-class matches. Now just to put that into context, as of this interview in June 2018, Steve Smith has played 118 First-class matches, Virat Kohli has played 98 & Joe Root has played 125 matches. So that’s almost 4 times the number of matches each of them have played. That is A LOT of cricket!

Judgie also played 62 Test matches and 71 One Day Internationals and combined scored 6,655 runs with 13 centuries and before Alex Hales scored 171 against Pakistan 2 years ago, Judgie’s 167 at Edgbaston against Australia in 1993 was the Highest ever ODI score by an English batsmen.

After finishing his playing days in England, Judgie moved to Perth where he and his children now reside. He’s in the process of writing an autobiography, is studying a psychology degree, working full time and coaching junior cricketers so he’s certainly busy and active and is loving giving back to the game.

His passion and love for the game and his mates comes through in this interview which I’m sure you’re going to love.

In this episode we discussed: 

How his dad would get him out of bed at 5am every morning to practice

How he and his older brother Chris had a net in their garden which other International players like Barry Richards and Mike Proctor would come and use to practice.

How he transitioned from playing First Class cricket in South Africa to being a local player for Hampshire.

The one thing his mentor said to him before his Test debut and how that always stuck with him and how a stern word from his good mate Allan Lamb allowed him to play his natural game in his Test debut.

What his technical fundamentals are for any batter.

How he taught Matthew Hayden to visualise before every match.

Plus a whole lot more.

This is a brilliant episode with a legend of a bloke who I didn’t even realise how good of a player he was until I did my research for this interview.

So lets get into this episode.

Welcome to this episode with arguably the best young cricketer in Australia.

This is the third of the series of interviews I did during my time in Melbourne. In this interview, I sat down with 20 year old Will Pucovski. Some of you may not have heard of Will – yet, but I have no doubt that he will become a household name in the future. Pucovski burst on to the scene as an 18-year-old during the Aussie under 19 national carnival in December 2016. He had an incredible carnival that included breaking a 22-year old record for the most runs in the Under 19 national carnival. During the carnival Will scored a mammoth 650 runs in eight innings including four centuries and followed it up the next week with his maiden 1st grade hundred in Victorian Premier Cricket. 

Since then he has gone on to represent Victoria in 6 first-class matches and 4 List A matches and has a highest score of 180.

Not only does Will have the runs on the board as a young player but he has the goals and desire to reach huge heights which I have no doubt he’ll achieve.

In this episode we discussed: 

How he identified that cricket was what he wanted to do and why he chose cricket over his winter sports

How he trained in and out of season during his teenage years

How his journey has accelerated very quickly in the past couple of years and how it’s been a rollercoaster 

What his preparation was leading up to the successful under 19 carnival and what he was focusing on

How he found out he was playing for Victoria and how he felt when he has was waiting to bat and in his first few balls.

What his goals are for the future – you’ll want to hear this!

Plus a whole lot more

This is a brilliant episode with a bright and very skillful young player who I can’t wait to see progress further.

G’day legends! Welcome to this episode with one of Australian’s best fast bowlers.  

During my time in Melbourne, I sat down with New South Welshman turned Victorian Chris Tremain, who was recently voted the Sheffield Shield Player of the Year after an outstanding season that saw him take 51 wickets from 10 matches at an amazing average of 21. 

Chris is a country boy who loves to get out into nature and in the past few years has turned into one of Australia’s premier fast-bowlers. 

Like most successful athletes and most of the guests we’ve had on our show so far, he hasn’t had it all his own way though. 

After not getting offered a contract with NSW he shifted across the border to Victoria which he initially had some reservations about however he’s now extremely settled as a Bushranger and has carved out a very successful career even though he says he’s had a lot of luck along the way. 

With 4 One Day International under his belt, I’m sure he’s got a lot more international cricket ahead of him.

In this episode we discussed: 

How his first mentor helped him hone his skills from a young age and how he still helps him get out of bed when things are tough

How perception is reality and why that’s important

How his goals were to be a professional cricketer and how he always believed he would be even though now he believes there was a lot of luck involved. 

How making a conscious decision to give up alcohol helped shape his career.

How getting fitter and stronger helped him bowl faster and for longer.  

What the best players do to separate themselves from the rest

Plus a whole lot more

This is a brilliant episode with a very down to earth guy who is at the Peak of his powers. I’m sure you’re going to enjoy hearing Chris’s story as much as I did so let's get into it.

In this interview I sat down with a very interesting and exciting cricketer who has recently announced his retirement from professional cricket – Aiden Blizzard. In the intro I didn’t mention who he plays for like I have done in other episodes as he’s had a number of different teams which we discussed in the interview. 

Blizzard started his career at Victoria before moving to South Australia and finishing off with Tasmania. In this time he also represented the Adelaide Strikers, Hobart Hurricanes and most recently the Sydney Thunder in the Big Bash while also spending three seasons with the Mumbai Indians in the IPl where he opened the batting with Sachin Tendulkar. 

In the last few years he has transitioned into coaching and was the High-Performance Manager of ACT cricket while still playing in the Big Bash.

In this episode we discussed: 

• How he transitioned from junior cricket in country Victoria to grade cricket in Melbourne

This is a cracking episode with a great bloke who I learned a lot from and no doubt you will as well so let's get into it.

In this interview I sat down with a very interesting and exciting cricketer who has recently announced his retirement from professional cricket – Aiden Blizzard. In the intro I didn’t mention who he plays for like I have done in other episodes as he’s had a number of different teams which we discussed in the interview. 

Blizzard started his career at Victoria before moving to South Australia and finishing off with Tasmania. In this time he also represented the Adelaide Strikers, Hobart Hurricanes and most recently the Sydney Thunder in the Big Bash while also spending three seasons with the Mumbai Indians in the IPl where he opened the batting with Sachin Tendulkar. 

In the last few years he has transitioned into coaching and was the High-Performance Manager of ACT cricket while still playing in the Big Bash.

In this episode we discussed: 

• How he transitioned from junior cricket in country Victoria to grade cricket in Melbourne

This is a cracking episode with a great bloke who I learned a lot from and no doubt you will as well so let's get into it.

Women's cricket is on the rise around the world. When I was in Bangalore, India a couple of weeks ago, myself and Andrew Walton sat down and spoke to two women cricketers, Vanitha VR and Likhitha VG about their story and the future of women's cricket.

Vanitha has had some success on the International stage having represented India while Likhitha has lead a domestic team to a title so they both are very good cricketers in their own right.

In this interview we asked: 

1. Introduction and background.

2. How did you arrive at KIOC?

3. What are your first memories of being here?

4. How has the experience at KIOC helped you as a cricketer and a person?

5. How would you describe your cricketing dreams?

6. Where do you believe women’s cricket in India is heading?

7. We have learned so much from you both in this trip, would there be anything that you have learned from us?

This is a different format to normal but I hope you enjoy the insight from these two great cricketers.

Women's cricket is on the rise around the world. When I was in Bangalore, India a couple of weeks ago, myself and Andrew Walton sat down and spoke to two women cricketers, Vanitha VR and Lakhitha VG about their story and the future of women's cricket.

Vanitha has had some success on the International stage having represented India while Lakhitha has lead a domestic team to a title so they both are very good cricketers in their own right.

In this interview we asked: 

1. Introduction and background.

2. How did you arrive at KIOC?

3. What are your first memories of being here?

4. How has the experience at KIOC helped you as a cricketer and a person?

5. How would you describe your cricketing dreams?

6. Where do you believe women’s cricket in India is heading?

7. We have learned so much from you both in this trip, would there be anything that you have learned from us?

This is a different format to normal but I hope you enjoy the insight from these two great cricketers.

Women's cricket is on the rise around the world. When I was in Bangalore, India a couple of weeks ago, myself and Andrew Walton sat down and spoke to two women cricketers, Vanitha VR and Likhitha VG about their story and the future of women's cricket.

Vanitha has had some success on the International stage having represented India while Likhitha has lead a domestic team to a title so they both are very good cricketers in their own right.

In this interview we asked: 

1. Introduction and background.

2. How did you arrive at KIOC?

3. What are your first memories of being here?

4. How has the experience at KIOC helped you as a cricketer and a person?

5. How would you describe your cricketing dreams?

6. Where do you believe women’s cricket in India is heading?

7. We have learned so much from you both in this trip, would there be anything that you have learned from us?

This is a different format to normal but I hope you enjoy the insight from these two great cricketers.