#194: “Build An Innings”

My school insisted that every student represent them at one sport and playing rugby, I was a lamb to the slaughter. Nonetheless, I was always very competitive so it made sense that I would become fanatical about a sport that wasn’t about brute strength and instead rewarded patience, composure, technique and well-timed aggression. At twelve years old, I took up cricket and was lucky to be coached by one of the greats, Major General Vincent Savino (pictured here with his UN troops en route to the Lebanon after the Israeli invasion in 1978).

Vinny was in his 70s but he still did the warm-ups and demonstrations. (His googly demo is legendary.) He fixated on the fundamentals, always forcing our team to start every season by going back to the basics, leak-proofing us for the games ahead. He also instilled in us the importance of playing with our heads, blending repetitious skills training with discussions on tactics and strategy. ‘Build an innings’, he would say, espousing the virtues of a low-variance style of quiet and consistent accumulation. With these values, Vinny groomed a generation of cricketers, one that would ensure my school’s dominance in that sport for over a decade and as much as any teacher I had (and far more than most of them), he educated and inspired me.

I often think about how Vinny’s method has influenced me in other ways. In fact, I think that it is my reliance on his method that has served me so well in poker. I am a purist when it comes to the fundamentals. So too are Dara O’Kearney and Daragh Davey, the two players with whom I talk most poker these days. They are stats guys, maths guys, stovers – obsessed with the optimal; leak-finders in both their own games and those of others. They are also my only non-cricket friends who actually like cricket.

While watching one of my games last year, Dara correctly pointed out that cricket is really an individual sport masquerading as team sport. The bowler starts his run-up and relies on his muscle memory to bowl a delivery in an intended fashion. He is not obstructed. He is not tackled. He just goes through his routine. As soon as the ball leaves his hand, the batsman reacts to its trajectory. His technique is tested, his footwork and hand-eye co-ordination synching up to offer a shot or a leave. He is on his own in this activity too. Sure, there is a team-mate at the other end with whom he must run but that is a secondary element. What is primary is how that individual builds an innings one ball at a time, using judgement and selective aggression to add to his tally. Remind you of anything?

Poker players are constantly engaged with risk/reward scenarios. Should I block the next ball or try to smash it for 6? Should I attack this bowler or see him off? Should I be content accumulating singles for now, chipping myself up into contention and then switch gears later? Poker players are also constantly engaged in a dance, a to-and-fro exchange with an opponent who is adjusting. Should I bowl my stock ball or will I deviate with some subtle variation? Will I bowl the next delivery exploitably, set the trap to induce a mistake and potentially stack the villain? Will I exchange some choice words with the batsman between balls and try to tilt him?

I have spent most of my cricket life as a bowler, trying to deceive and beguile my opponents with slow in-swingers, trying to get my field right, trying to make batsmen get themselves out. The nice thing about being a bowler is that when it goes wrong and you get smashed out of the ground (as I do at least once a game), you can always come back and bowl the next ball. For two seasons in my early 20s, however, I opened the batting and didn’t bowl. Most days, I would see off the new ball, chipping in a few runs in the process. The odd time, I’d go on and make decent contribution. But once in a while, I’d play a stupid shot and get out in the first couple of overs, effectively sidelining myself for the rest of the day. It’s the cricket equivalent of flying to Spain, paying your buy-in, taking your seat, butchering a hand and busting in the first orbit. Next week, I’m off to Marbella for the UKIPT event. It’s the first game of the new season. My plan is to build an innings.