What's Our Style?

The Way We Go About Our Business

It is weird how the biggest contest in world cricket is the Ashes - a series played between Australia and England. This means if you are born in Jamaica or South Africa or India you will never play in this event. The Ashes simply represents history, and a deep rivalry more meaningful than a sporting contest the whole world of cricket pays attention to.

The Test, is an Amazon Prime docuseries following the Australian Cricket Team. The latest series was released last week detailing the 2023 Ashes Series in England. One thing struck me in the first episode when the Australian Captain, Patrick Cummins addressed the team in preparation of the trip to England.

He referred to the importance of remembering the team's style. I have summed up the three key elements he spoke about:

Calm - keep your poise and remain grounded when the pressure is on

Fun - we are at our best when we are enjoying the contest and each other

Relentlessness - no matter what we keep trying and keep going at it

It is easy to see how helpful these principles are. England were a talented and aggressive team that pushed the Australian team in every way. Their home fans piled on the agro from the stands while their media savaged any misstep along the way.

This is a great example showing how strong agreed principles help when the inevitable tough moments come along.

There will be roles to play, tactics to deploy and skills to execute. But, the human element will always be put under strain when pressure rachets up. When a team has simple principles they can remind each other of and use as a mental trigger to reframe any situation. Players are also bound by these principles adding cohesion and togetherness. From this players can take agency and move forward with a little more freedom and positivity.

When creating an identity for our teams we can turn to simple examples like this to see the value of having them in place, what they may look like, and how they can be used.

Australia went on to retain the Ashes in what was a successful campaign. I have no doubt these principles assisted. Do you have your principles in place? If not, would they help your team perform? And, most importantly, what would your three principles be?