The Long Road | Rohan Luthra

Why do some players get close to the next level but never quite make it?

and what separates a really good player from someone who goes on to become a full-time professional.

Today, we’re speaking to a young cricketer who’s right in the middle of that space now, pushing, performing and trying to break through.

We’re going to explore what it really feels like — the pressure, the setbacks and the reality behind it all.

plus what he’s learned from being around the world’s best players and from training every day in India.

So if you’re a young player with ambitions to go further in the game, this one’s for you.

I’m Briony Brock

and I’m Nathan Wood.

Welcome

to the Cricket Mind Podcast.

So today we’re joined by a very exciting young cricketer, Rohan Luthra, who’s currently playing high level club and National Counties cricket, but who now wants to kick on into the professional game. Rohan is an all rounder who’s come through the county age group pathway and he’s currently studying at Loughborough University and playing for the Cheshire first team. And he’s just about to start his second season as a club pro.

Rohan, great to have you on the pod. Welcome to the show.

Thank you very much. Thank you for having me. I’m very excited to get started. Thank you.

So I guess my first question is, you actually do any studying at Loughborough or is all your time taken up training and playing cricket and socialising?

Yeah, well the perception is it looks

You know, we all, we’re all on sport degrees and we spend our time just in the gym or playing our sport , but there is definitely time for the studying I mean, I probably realized that importance in final year more than second year. ⁓ but no, I mean, it’s, it’s a brilliant balance you sort of get at Loughborough — you have your study time and you work hard there. And the rest of the time you’re either in the gym or on the running track or in the cricket nets, whatever. So, get, you do get a really good balance at a university like Loughborough

in our sport. But no, there is definitely time.

Yeah. And Loughborough has got incredible facilities, hasn’t it? mean, world-class facilities for every kind of sporting event So, um, yeah, what a great place to, um, spend your time studying, um, and playing some sport So look, you, you scored your, done a bit of research on you Ro, and I’ve known you for quite some time, actually, haven’t I? I coached you. Um, I don’t know when it was, but it was, it seems a long time ago. Um, you scored your first 50 at club first team.

level when you were, you were very young, you were 14 years old and in doing so you became the youngest ever player to score a first team 50 for your club, Warrington. And that was a record that was a long standing record that was previously held by ex Lancashire and England player John Crawley, who was actually one of the most talented.

that is I ever played with fantastic player, someone who probably actually didn’t fulfill his huge potential at international level. So big achievement that. Do you remember much about that innings and crucially, you know, what did it do for your confidence?

Yeah, I remember it very vividly actually. Um, it was in my, I think my third game for Warrington first team. Uh, I remember I got picked for the first game or the second game. And then the week later I got moved down back to the second team. Um, because they said, look, there’s a few more first teamers back in. Uh, the captain said, look, just go in and prove to me that, you know, you’re worthy of a spot. I would came back into the first team to availability issues.

Anyway that game in a sec rained off.

And then yeah, touch wood managed to get a few runs it’s a very vivid experience for me.

managed to run and yeah, it was

a, it was experience. I remember.

I remember the thing that stood out to me a lot was I just remember

remember

being in a really good mood before going out to bat. I remember being in the changing rooms, I had quite a nice week leading up to it in terms of training and school. And I was just pretty relaxed and not really looking at the occasion too much. And I remember sort of how my innings went. I came into a position where the team were in a little bit of a struggle and we weren’t really, you know, we were up against it, losing a few early wickets. then to go and score some runs on that day really did a lot for my confidence. It made me sort of go, well, you know, if you can

about

I’d quite a nice week.

really looking at the

Go and do that at 14

14

years old and ⁓ score some runs, well, the ability to do that.

You have got

I think in terms of the way I processed it afterwards, think…

Probably.

found that very, very difficult in the sense that I was so, so desperate to do that again, that I tried really hard to replicate everything I did. So I tried to replicate everything I did how I’ve been, how I felt.

really really hard everything I did

build my innings, I structured my day, how I the

day before and I ended up finding that.

for what was such a good moment at the start.

of

my first team career at Warrington.

It actually took me quite a lot of fighting and wrestling to figure out how to be successful at that level. And I actually found that a lot of the time I was so keen to help.

trying to record what I did because I wanted to make

that happen again and ultimately I made on that third of May to every other game in the

I was probably applying a formula that I applied that day, was the season

and wasn’t getting the same success. It became a big lesson for me that that gave me the confidence

I think it was number one confidence

that I can achieve, know, I have the ability to go and play at that standard and perform

But I the big lesson it taught me was is that the reason I was successful that day.

wasn’t

because I did X, Y and Z, but more because

I adapted to what was thrown at me rather than which is a 14 year

then doing some magic for what I

believed was the case that there’s a magic formula and that’s why you’ve scored runs around

for me and that’s actually

took me a while to realize that it’s probably just because.

You met the demands of the task

and that became such a really important lesson for me as a youngster to go. There’s no template for success. It’s more adaptive, how adaptable you are come to every, every game of the season, if that makes sense.

Howard.

Well, it makes perfect sense. You said you in a really good mood that day. Were you in a really good mood when you got deselected and put back in the second team?

Yeah, I remember it happened at training and like with any sport, you don’t get the team you want to be in. It’s a kick in the teeth. My dad, my mum and dad always tell me on things like that, things professionally and not personally. Went away and said, okay, if I’m looking at it, probably don’t deserve to be in that team. There’s lads who are established. There’s lads who’ve earned the right to be there. I’d better go and prove it.

I’ll just it in when you don’t select it in the…

I try and always look it.

and take professional.

Unfortunately,

I didn’t actually have to prove it in the second.

scene

because that game was rained off, I got put into the first team and ended up proving it there But no, 100 % it gave me a real kind of thing that, right, I’m going to have to earn it. A lot of the time as a youngster you get put in through potential. It was the first time ever I had to try and prove have I got the skills or not and touch wood I was very lucky in that day I did and I showed a little glimmer of what I could do really.

Proving it.

Amy.

It’s really interesting to think about what your aspirations were at that age, because a lot of 14 year olds having their debut or their first season playing adult cricket are probably thinking, just kind of want to survive it, you just want to kind of get through it. But were you already feeling like you needed to prove something to get that, you know, where were you trying to get to?

Well, I think I always, I was like a

Youngster,

I first played my first senior game at 12, 13. I idolized them first teamers. saw the way they walked around the cricket club. And the first thing for me was I want to be there. You know, I was playing on a third team on a Saturday. We’re on the… You have two pitches, you the top pitch and the bottom pitch. So you can see when you’re on the top pitch what’s going on on the… Be in the field. And I just have this thing in my head that I want to be there and I want to go and perform for them. So I think…

They always are.

The way they train and I…

top pitch at Warrington.

bottom pitch and I used to always

When I got the opportunity, I was just more in awe of the environment.

The feeling of being a first team cricketer gave me lots of sort good positive energy. then feeling good and I’m happy and I’m just glad to be there.

I think when I’m in those environments where I’ve

I think a lot of the time it just calms.

my

nerves and calms my mental state down. And I think when I was in that environment, then all I was thinking about was, what do I need to do to perform now? What do I need to do to help? I think that kind of putting that in my head, I just want to be a first team. I want to be around these lads. It meant that when I was in I was just very grateful to be there and ultimately help me with my performance come that day.

See.

That blue print I always

came into life.

You mentioned that you were desperate to replicate that day. You even know the day, don’t you? 3rd of May. What was going through my mind is, do you think it went into a bit of superstition?

Yeah, 100%. I think it was initially you look at the raw things, you know, how did I build my innings? How did I go about my innings? And then you dip into what, what did I have for breakfast? What did I do? And all these little things that ultimately don’t really matter, you you can, and I think, yeah, as I said, I was just desperate to do it again. That I my best to replicate.

Thanks

sub

But what I was doing I was applying a formula.

which

worked on the 3rd of May on a sunny day in a red ball cricket game. The day which was the 10th of July on a rainy-ish day on a different wicket

potentially

I think it was just such a learning curve for me that you’re going to try and replicate

You know, the harder is to replicate

something, the more difficult it’s going to be. And actually, if you can just immerse yourself in the day for what it is, immerse yourself in what’s thrown at you and just…

to react

to that. That’s probably going to give you some of the best tp perform It took me a while to actually. Cause it was probably the

The biggest

moment I had in my cricket career so far, and I wanted to have that feeling more and more. But no, it definitely, definitely was a big, big learning curve for me, 100%.

more.

Did anything change in how people treated you after that? I don’t know, teammates, opposition players, coaches, maybe the parents of players who were the same age as you. Were you aware of any change in how people treated you?

Yeah, I think I got the impression.

that

a lot of people felt right. He’s a first teamer now because he’s gone and broken a record or whatever.

And think if anything it probably…

had a negative impact on me. know, I, I, when you’re a youngster in a cricket club and you’re trying to, what you’re about and constantly sort of.

when you make a name for yourself, want to prove yourself and show you want to

be proving people wrong and pushing up that ladder. And people sort of accepted, actually, maybe that kind of pressure to perform went away.

and I think my is a first even now.

and

that maybe subconsciously as a 14 year old makes you relax a little bit. The change in environment. I think obviously a lot of other lads, maybe a similar age or younger lads were sort of going off, congratulations, well done. were sort of seeing the time like end of the day, cricket is a fickle game. That could have easily been, that could have easily got out in that first whatever.

So I think that was probably a bit.

what you look

how good it was by the same time. It crickets such as.

the overall

not break, not have broken that record, not have had that monkey.

my back at first seemed crickier and things could be very, very different. So I tried my best to stay, understand that this is just, you know, just a nice experience, but you’ve got to work hard to replicate that but

level

No, I think anything.

My main thing was

I wanted to just try and stay level, irrespective of people’s opinions or what they thought about that day.

Do you think as well it’s possible that because it was your record, it was all about you and what you’d achieved, that sort of puts that focus on your performance and your scores and your numbers ahead of playing the situation, playing the game at hand. sort of, and there can be a tendency for people to do that anyway, but when everybody around you is also focusing on what you did, know, often we talk about, did the team win? Like, you know, it’s, it’s kind of.

Only one side of things, isn’t it?

100%. Yeah. So I think we were, we, we, you know, it’s a good game. That one we did win. Uh, but yeah, 100 % as a youngster, you, you, can get into your own, your own individual performances very easily. What the main thing is, which is to win the game and perform for your team. And 100%, you know, as a youngster, I was, it came at a year where the previous year from County Age, I had for Cheshire and I was trying to get that side, which I did.

stats and

and you can actually lose essence.

I got dropped from my county age group side back into.

So obviously numbers play a big part in that. And yeah, you can get very in your own results. And generally as a player now as a 21 year old, I do realize that if I do focus too hard on them, things generally don’t fall into place the way I And I probably off when I’m focused more on performing for the team and getting the job done. So yeah, definitely. It’s probably my first exposure to where you had a little bit of individual praise and a bit of individual focus. But as I said, it’s can you then

on the road kind of starts.

like them too.

try and move away from that. Because remember, it’s a very small level in terms of, know, you’ve not got any media or anything like that. It’s a very surface level thing, but it’s your first bit of exposure. go, right, how can you deal with that? And yeah, as you said, 100%, your focus has to still be on the team and winning the game.

you

When you got dropped by your Cheshire Age group, I presume at the time that was tough to take. Looking back on that, do you think that was beneficial for your development or was it a hindrance?

It was the right call. 100 % is the right call. ⁓ But it hurt. definitely hurt. I remember it so clearly. We played the season. It was under sort of 14, 15 season ⁓ games and it was Lancashire one versus Yorkshire. And the talk was, you know, which player is not going to play in which game. And I remember seeing the squads come out and I didn’t get picked in any of them. And then I didn’t get any play the next year. I remember, you know,

And then we have three, two versus one.

That was hard to take.

I even, and also

But then when I look back and I look at my results, I look.

what I did for that team, go, probably I did deserve to be in that team. ⁓ but again, I’m a big believer that things, things are meant to happen for, for the right reasons. ⁓ and as a 14 year old, you know, it’s probably harder to adopt that kind of mindset. You know, you have it in your head that things are going to work out perfectly. And I found.

I wasn’t a county player and I lost that age group. Just, yeah, it hurt definitely. You know, you don’t, don’t, you don’t get to, to feel that sensation of being a county player, it was, it was just a motivator. It was like, right, okay, I’ve not done anything. What am I going to do now to prove them wrong? I probably didn’t prove them wrong. Prove them or do enough to be, I was, I was, I’m worthy of.

County Tagore State

to bounce back. Ultimately, when I came back into that time, we did the show that actually being back in the team

my mindset towards it was I’m going to try and do everything I possibly can to prove you wrong.

And when you were dropped did anyone have a conversation with you about what more maybe you needed to do or did they provide any level of support?

Yes, why?

Yeah, I had

a very good coach at that age group and he said, look, sort of phoned my parents and if I’m being honest, you know, if you look at my numbers, there’s nothing much more to look past and I know sometimes.

gave me quite a bit of clarity.

stats in cricket are contextual

But if I’m being brutally honest I didn’t have the results to perform or to be worthy of a place. And yeah, it was just a case of the skills now to go and post numbers that are challenging them county lads. I also think it’s very, very difficult, you know, as a 13, 14 year old, you’re not the complete cricketer. You know, there’s many different factors that affect you, whether that’s technically, mentally, whatever.

So right, have you got.

I know me.

So I also cut my coach.

a lot of slack, that it’s a very difficult position because you come to realize as a 21 year old that not in the age group at 13, it isn’t the be all and end all, but it definitely does feel like it at 13, 14. So I do give my sort coach a lot of slack to have those difficult conversations, which they are. I look back and I go, yeah, it was definitely the right thing. And I’m glad the coach did it, if I’m being brutally honest.

you

No y’all.

You mentioned that you looked up to the first team players at Warrington when you were 14 and you were that first getting into that environment and you wanted to be like them. At 14, was that your level of ambition or did you actually think at 14, I want to be a professional, want to become a first-class player, I want to play for, I don’t know, Lancashire or whatever your favourite county team was, or was that too far away?

I ever since I’ve started playing…

My goals and ambitions have never changed. My aim is, of course, the idea of being a professionally contracted cricketer is something that I’ve worked towards pretty much every day of my life. that was firmly in my mind as a 14 year old.

But I have, so obviously I work quite a lot as

worked with you a lot as

a youngster and we always spoke about how

to prioritize process over results and I always felt that every

time

I had it in my mind that I want to be a professional cricketer

things just wouldn’t seem to click or fall into place. I adopted the mindset that I just want to be the best cricketer I can possibly be And I’m just going to focus on.

And then I be

the best player I can be every single day. Can I be a better player than was yesterday? Things will fall into place and take care of themselves. So to the end goal was, is always been the same, but as a 14 year old or 13 or seeing them first team cricketers So that’s just right. The next hurdle, right? Can I just go and prove myself at that level? Can I, am I good enough to get to that level? And then the level after that.

That was just awesome.

I’ll

worry about them

afterwards. But my main aim is can I do this? And then as soon as I got into that environment

like with anything the goal posts move, you know, you get there and you

this

is going to be the thing that makes you go, I’m happy. You go, I want the next thing. So a brilliant thing online thing where it comes with, with mountain climbers where they think it’s on is here.

Don’t know.

about the the false peak

top of the mountain or whatever they want and

then they get to that peak and they realize actually the peak’s even higher and I always knew that but as soon as I got

And I’ve been the

first team environment as much as I wanted. I’d never be satisfied. I want to always go higher and higher and higher. Um

because that’s just sort of.

the

way I’ve always been. But at the same time, still go about this still a very important thing and a big thing to be a first-team cricketer and I don’t want to take that for granted at all. So no, it’s a combination of both, I would say.

definitely respected the opportunity to

I didn’t even know you were listening to me, Ro That’s nice that you can recall that. So from scoring that first senior 50, your journey has taken you through quite a few different environments and situations. What would you say has been the biggest step up for you so far?

I think for me it’s…

player, I’ve been a very late developer. when I say a lot of the step-ups and the difficuties I had as a player came very young.

look at it that I would.

So actually just simple.

levels of

under 14 to under 15 county you’re under 15 to under 16 county. They felt a jump. They definitely did. It felt like it was. And I was, times I’d be in them environments and I’d be like, difficult.

lads were progressing a lot quicker than I was. A lot of the time,

This is hard. This is really, really…

You know, I finished.

As an under 18 with the age group system going, I’ve done pretty much nothing. But then if someone said that in two years time you’ll be in that Cheshire first team environment. I environment. And for the first time ever in your Cheshire career, you’d walk in and feel like you belong. Say, I wouldn’t think that would be possible.

Someone’s setting two years time in that chest and you’d actually be going into that.

So I’d actually say that a lot of the jumps up and the steps up.

that

I found were the most, were the largest was probably when I was younger, just because I wasn’t developed as a cricketer. didn’t know my own game mentally. I didn’t handle things very well. And I think actually now, even though statistically and along the ladder, they’re probably a lot bigger, but I’m experiencing that. I feel a lot smaller just because I feel I’ve developed a lot later as a cricketer than lot of other lads have.

jumps a problem.

They actually definitely

It’s interesting as well because young people in all aspects of life, sort of try and find a way of knowing where they fit in by comparing to others. And I’ve seen quite a lot of people who, you know, they do that at club level and they’re like, yeah, I’m pretty good at this. Then they break into that county system, they go through it, they start comparing. And then suddenly their confidence goes, it feels like such a big step up because people are so much better. Do you feel like you, that was something that was…

something that you used to do, you still do or was not relevant.

Yeah, I think it’s something I used to do far too much as a youngster. ⁓ Comparisons and this person’s doing this and this person’s doing that.

than what we’re exposed to now where all your stats are

⁓

available and so is everybody else’s. You feel compelled to look and check As a youngster, it affected me a lot more. ⁓ but again it goes back to what me and Nathan used to speak about from being a youngster is that you’ve got to focus on your processes.

How to lo-

I think definitely a

goes back to.

And if I go, well, if I control everything, if I can sit down, exactly what I want to.

I do in the week on a Sunday night with my diary and I can plan out

this week. So I’m a better cricketer come next Sunday. As long as I’ve, you know, I eat the right things, train hard, been the best. Well then. We’ll take care of themselves. And I’m not going to try and compare myself to anybody else because everybody’s on a different path. We’re going to develop at different rates. People are going to be exposed to different advantages and disadvantages.

the right.

quick as I can possibly be. I’m going to let those.

people.

So actually if I want to compete fairly,

I

might as well compare myself to myself because I’m the one who’s been exposed to all those advantages and disadvantages. Focus on the process of just being a better player and focusing on myself. eliminate, but they definitely do reduce or dilute 100%.

All the things I’m comparing.

Just out of interest, what month is your birthday?

29th

Night

for July. I’m six weeks off being the year below.

Interesting. So have you heard of the relative age effect? Yes. So for those who aren’t familiar with it, it basically is a piece of research and it’s across sport that says if you’re born at the start of an academic year, you’re far more likely to become a professional player. And that’s based on, you know, you’ve got a physical advantage early on. People identify you as a

Talented players, so you get more investment, you get more coaching. Those who are younger, they tend to not get that investment because they haven’t got the physical capability. And so it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. However, there was a bit of research done and I think it was by the ECB. It was certainly on England cricketers and

The research was that the majority of people who play test match cricket for England are born start of the year, October, November, academic year. However, those who went on to play at least 50 test matches, the majority of those were born at the end of the academic year. And the premise was that actually the ones who went on to have really outstanding international careers were the ones who

had to overcome adversity and had to overcome their physical disadvantage by being more, you know, technically skillful or mentally, you know, tough or whatever term you want. So I was just curious there in terms of your journey, because I suspect Rohan that a lot of the players that you played with at county age group level,

perhaps fallen away and those who maybe were in front of you have kind of not got to play, you know, for the Cheshire main team now or playing professional cricket. Is that fair? that your experience?

Yeah, I would agree. I looked at a lot of the boys at under 13 level. A lot of them were October born lads, November born lads, bigger, taller, stronger. And yeah, which I always do. I look at it the pecking order and I go, where do I rank? Where do I, you know, where do the coaches probably see me? If I’m being honest, I’ll ever probably be 13, 14 and

Yeah, if I looked at it, they all-

I probably wouldn’t even be in that style.

and look at it now.

Obviously,

cricket is a fickle game, things change quite quickly, but I like to think I’ve definitely climbed up that ladder. I don’t know of that squad, think there’s only me and one other lad who’s maybe been exposed to first team cricket for Cheshire and all the lads have gone down different careers or given up with cricket.

which again just makes me sort of shows me the power of just sticking to it.

being,

and being consistent, you know, and understanding that there’s no reward for being the best 13 year old in your team as much as it feels like it is the be all and end all. It’s definitely consistency that’s going to take you there. But likewise, I’ve said, know, cricket is, I’ve come to us is such a fickle game. Everything, you know, as I talk about, skeevy things don’t really mean anything. I am so, I could be right, the higher or lower. So

You can assist.

was packing all the in the ground. They could change overnight.

Yeah, definitely I’ve found that it’s felt different from when I was younger to older. And yeah, obviously the pool of players you’re competing against or competing with is definitely very different to what it was six, seven years ago, 100%.

How did you find the step up to Cheshire first team?

I loved it. I absolutely loved it. I had it in my head for a while. It’s the standard I wanted to be playing at.

I remember my first ever

game

was against Derbyshire first team. So was a professional team in the showcase game. So not only was it my first game for at a minor county level, semi-pro level, but it was also against a professional county. And I remember every time I played for Cheshire age groups, I would rock up to the game with this pang of nerves and my chest would feel tight and I wouldn’t want to play there. And it was the most refreshing thing to get out of the car that day against Derbyshire.

Be there. It was the most refreshing

and say there’s no way out and there’s nowhere else I want to be. I cannot wait to play this game. I this is a environment in the professionalism of the warmups.

see the step open and buy.

seeing people actually come down and watch something.

watch it. That’s really,

really gets me going. You I’m one of those players where if there is people watching, I really enjoy it. I actually probably struggle more with a man and his dog watching and there’s nothing really going on. It became a bit of an event, you know. He’s still people there, more people are watching it online.

quite a lot of, but I really, that, when it’s just.

with, you know, actually I found with chess should be.

There’s lots more.

There’s more of a buzz about it and how when it

It’s that

environment where I absolutely love this and I want to be playing this level for as much as possible. I want to come here and just enjoy it. want to try and,

wanna make an impact, you know don’t wanna-

prove that I can perform and provide value to Cheshire

gesture

as a county to know it was. I, I can’t speak high enough really about that sort of first team environment.

can only speak.

An inner adult version, it sounds like an adult version of 14 year old you. I was just in a really good mood that day.

Yeah. And I guess so.

100%. Yeah, I probably never even looked at it like that, but yeah, I was in a great mood and when you’re in a good mood and you’re happy to be there, a lot of your worries seem to just feel definitely reduced. So no, yeah, I probably not even looked at it from that perspective.

If you like playing in front of a crowd, Ro, and you’re not that much of a fan or you don’t get motivated by playing in front of one man and his dog, maybe you should go down the franchise route as opposed to the first class county championship route. And actually a serious question behind that Ro is, do you have a preference in terms of the route you want to go as a pro?

You’ve got lots of different opportunities now, don’t you? You can go down that franchise route. It doesn’t have to be that four day first class route that people of my generation had to choose. What’s your thoughts on the future for you as a pro?

Um, well look, I think

Generally, I’ve come to find based just off patterns that.

fine

every time I have a clear plan in mind.

of how things are going to pan out. They very, very rarely pan out anywhere near to that, to the way I have it in my head.

And it’s made me think just as a player, just in life in general, is…

it

worth me planning out how I’d like it to go, you know, look at it as I go, okay, well, I’m a semi-professional cricketer now. I’m going to do everything I possibly can and work as hard as possibly can to achieve the goal of being a professionally contracted cricketer. But when it comes in, I’ll have

I that the way I sort of process it.

reason I

Whatever format, whatever

that happens, I’m just gonna just go with it.

⁓ I know the game, I’m seeing myself, I’m evolving a lot. ⁓ plan exactly how from care or thought very conscious thing that I don’t go this way because very rarely those things do. I’m, I’m making my practice and my skillsets that well, okay.

teams evolve as a player and

So I haven’t actually found out how I’d like it to go. And that’s not a lack of. It’s actually.

want to put myself down this path that is going to

open and we can show it.

my open to

any opportunity.

opportunity

that gets thrown my way. you know, if I do get an opportunity to play a red ball game, am I prepared for that? If there’s an opportunity to play a white ball game, am I prepared for that? then care of itself. ⁓ I am very fortunate at the end of this week, I’ve got my first kit against Worcester.

I’ll sort of the rest take.

So I’ll be very

taste of second team cricket.

So my thing is going, okay, well, I never thought that would happen so soon. And that was never ever processed that.

really would happen soon in the season or whatever. again, in my thought, I’ve

gone like, well, I’ve done everything I can this winter to be a successful red-ball cricketer. Now let’s just go and see how that goes.

successful red

You mentioned about being a semi-professional cricketer. That’s a good segue into actually the reality of being a club pro. So let’s talk about life as a club pro. I think I’m right in thinking that last year you had your first taste of being a professional for a local club side. That club side was Widnes who played in the Cheshire Premier League. Now I say played because unfortunately

They were relegated. So that must’ve been a tough season for the club in general. and particularly when you’re the pro at the club, when they’ve had a tough time, how did you find being the pro each week, being the center of focus, you know, particularly during a difficult season, was it something you enjoyed and relished or did it feel burdened, you know,

Did you feel the weight of expectation?

⁓ I think if you look at it, you apply a little bit of perspective in reality. Not alot should awfully

change, you’re paid per game and it shouldn’t really be too different. But yeah, I think it was definitely noticeable.

I tried my best to apply the same process.

just

as I applied whether I was getting paid or whether I wasn’t getting paid. But no I definitely noticed a change in environment. think…

For me as a person, I enjoyed…

the responsibility that people are putting their trust in

me to go and perform. And I definitely liked that. But at the same time, it brought complexities. mean, I know was, you know, there was, was, was times where, frequently I would hear phrases like get paid score runs. you know, if only it was simple. ⁓

it was that simple.

And I think the way I looked at it was,

is that, you know, at the end of the day, no sportsman

can guarantee success or failure in whatever sport. You can guarantee is how well you prep. And I believe that my preparation, even as a non-paid player was where it needed to be. I think I can control really. And at the end of the day, it’s, to be brutally honest, it’s more of a, you know, you don’t really

The only thing you

Well, that’s only thing.

It’s more of a destruction. Destruction.

In the grand scheme of things, know, club cricket and semi-pro cricket, you’re not exposed to anything like that. But at the same time, there’s definitely a…

media

bit

of noise that floats around, you know, I meant there’s a

There was a parody Twitter account.

was around this winter and I’d have him get dropped in and say, know, this per Rohan’s chasing cash or looking for the next big whatever. yeah, it was

my name.

It

definitely opened my eyes that more people talk about it

I might have initially imagined and more people place a real value on you getting paid as a player than I might have initially imagined. But again, I just, that is just noise and just try and do my best to do the best I could possibly do in the week in my prep and come match days. Well, yeah, to answer your question, there was, I could definitely sense there was a change in mindset, 100%.

Big value.

I try to just look at

And was it an opportunity that you sought out or did they approach you?

So told on a few occasions, probably occasions prior to becoming a paid player that the club were going to pay. ⁓ And I just, every time I got told, I just put it to the back of my mind and said, when it comes, when it comes. But they did come up when I was like, well, I’ve been told three times now. I’m just curious to know what’s going on. I spoke to the chairman at the club and they said, yeah, we, you know, we will, that’s something we will do for this season. ⁓

I actually got back three.

And again, was something that that when I look at my priorities.

as a cricketer that

really doesn’t come anywhere near the top. I know a lot of people will have opinions and they’ll think it might do, but it really doesn’t. But again, I tried to see it as just a nice thing that the club are willing to do that and they’re willing to put me. But yeah, I had it a few times actually. I said that it’d be something good for me to learn to deal with. yeah, so they initially came from them approaching me.

that trust.

If you take away the relegation element as in terms of how you performed, how do you feel about that?

So go by my own standards I under performed.

Look at it ag.

Statistically, if you look

I compared to the rest of the team, I did, did fine. You know, I think I was the second highest one score. think in the league, I was the highest or in terms of wickets, ⁓ I was right up there as well. So statistically I was fine by my own standards. I would have expected a lot better. ⁓

And again, I try and put a lot.

that

down to my own

my own mindset and my own-

Preparation and my own decision-making come match day I said being honest. Yeah, I did have an effect on me 100%. You know, getting paid was something that it, I had it in my head that only difference is going to be that when I walk out, the opposition are going to say stuff to me. did really expect it to come from within. Um, now I put part of that down to environment and part of that down to the novelty of it. But again, it’s just.

brought about,

like any

Well, it doesn’t have to be sport, it’ll be a job. You’re going to get exposed to people’s opinions and it just comes where it’s just a distraction And that’s what I did probably find that the payment thing was. It was a lovely thing, but ultimately it was, I just deal with the distraction of having a value on what I’m doing for the club?

Ultimately a lot of it you… …stracts you.

I think people do underestimate how demanding it is to be a club pro because you can stick to your processes and you can do your side of things, but you can’t control the reactions of those around you. And the difference between being a club pro and being a full-time professional at a county side, for example, is that in the county side, everyone’s getting paid. Whereas in a club, you might be the only person or one, two or three people. And then the amateurs.

If you’re not performing as a pro, the amateurs are going, hang on a minute I’m paying to play and you’re getting money for this. So that creates a whole different dynamic, I think. So I think people do underestimate, it takes me back to my first gig as a club professional. And it was for a club in Yorkshire. ⁓ It was the Bradford league. I was only 18 at the time. I’d just signed a professional contract for Lancashire.

So I would play for Lancashire second team during the week and then drive over to Yorkshire to play for this club side at the weekend. And at the time I used to have a sponsored car. We all did. which had my name written on the side of it in big silver letters alongside Lancashire County Cricket Club and the sponsor. So just picture this Ro I’d be turning up in Yorkshire to these Bradford league games in this car.

that says Lancashire — and my name — and then play in my Lancashire kit against all these seasoned, gnarly, battle-hardened Yorkshire club players who didn’t really take kindly to the fact that, know, I was this young upstart from the wrong side of the Pennines. And at the time, Yorkshire club cricket, particularly the Bradford league, was probably the best standard of club cricket in the country. It was definitely the toughest. And I think it was without doubt one of the steepest.

learning curves of my career because I had to adapt pretty much everything just to survive it and there were two things that really stood out. ⁓ It’s all coming back to me now. ⁓ So ⁓ I actually got dropped from the first team. I was the pro.

Wow

And they dropped me for a league match. So imagine that the club pro being dropped from the team and looking back, I think they dropped me hoping that would leave the club in a huff and therefore they wouldn’t have to pay me for the rest of the season. But me being the stubborn mule that I am, I did go and play in that second team match in my car, in my Lancashire kit And I did manage to muster a few runs and I got back into the team.

But do remember it was completely humiliating. I did consider quitting the club. I’m I didn’t in the end. But the second memory, and I think a lot of people, this resonates with a lot of people, pros. The second memory I’ve got of that club was that I used to get paid after each game, like most people do, by the chairman. He used to give me my money, my match money in a little brown paper envelope.

And on the occasions when I did well, he used to give me this little brown envelope very quietly when no one else was looking. But when I didn’t do so well, he used to stand at the dressing room door and throw this paper envelope at me. And sometimes it would just hit me. And then it would fall to the floor in front of all my teammates, accompanied by some kind of sarcastic comment, you know, that’s money well spent again.

You really deserve that today, Mr. Lanky Boy, don’t you? Whatever it was. So he didn’t praise privately. ⁓ He praised privately and he scolded publicly. ⁓ But I did learn a lot from that and it did toughen me up. ⁓ Yeah. So I think actually it can be a tough gig, but you’ve gone to a different club this year, haven’t you? You’re about to start with a new club.

And that is Lindow again in the Cheshire league. So what lessons do you think you’ll take from that first experience at Widnes and being the club pro to now, you know, your time as the pro at Lindow

I think it’s very…

hard

or

just to deal with that environment.

in the first year and I think my main thing this year was to not get

not

get seduced by the.

of being paid, you know, and to understand whether I come away earning nothing on a day or come away earning whatever.

that irrespective of whether

this payments not going to good.

be a metric to decide whether

you’re improving as a cricketer. know, as I said at the start of the podcast is can I just be the best cricketer I can possibly be?

My only goal is I

going to be determined.

Statistics, skillset,

speed and what

the way I’m doing things, my decision making.

payments probably not going to be a very good indicator of that Probably try and detach myself.

be very good indicator of that.

more from that and focus on more what matters, which is just winning the game.

it.

I think that from what I’ve gathered with this

with this new environment with Lindow.

and the taboo topic of payment or whatever. think the environment makes me a lot more excited to play. think what it’s like, the way they’ve,

that makes they understand. They spoke

to me about it the vibe that they’ve created makes me go, okay,

I touch wood I don’t think I’ll be exposed. Difficulty.

to those kind of extreme

difficulties that I probably felt in my first year being paid at Widnes

But again, I guess you never know. My priority is.

pretty going to know, know, my, my,

at the moment, know, as a player of Lindow is, you know, which was sound, but my decision trying to sign me and can I actually go and provide value to them and win them games of cricket? I think with, when I was at Widnes I already knew they knew I could play. So now it was almost trying to prove I’m worthy of becoming a paid player.

as a player in league, can’t go and prove that he sounds good enough. think it’s that they can’t go and prove that they’ve made the right decision.

crew.

Whereas I think I’m stripping it bit back down to the basics it’s more with Lindow and just being like, can I just prove I’m right to be at this club and right to be a first teamer and right to just walk into that team? There’s a lot of good lads in that team and they’re a successful side. And my thing is, can I just contribute to their collective goals of trying to win the Premier League? So that’s where my focus would be more so.

as people.

Well, I took a

I telling

myself as a person, a bit of a sponge, you know, I like to look at things and just absorb everything I possibly can. I think that experience was unbelievable. I know being at the nets, I was bowling into India and then when they didn’t need us, you’d be sitting on the bench and you were watching how they went about it. So I think it was just a blessing to sort of be there. And then actually seeing the net bowlers that sat on their phones.

holy shits that day

Number one, was just in a horror. was blessed. I said, right, wow, the other two or three.

What a golden

golden

opportunities for me to actually just learn and absorb myself and what top level pros do. So Bumrah coming in bowling ranked number one in the world. And I said to myself, said, right, out of every person on the planet, this guy is number one.

So remember us.

who at the time was.

Let me watch and let me see what

it takes to be number one in the world. Just a normal guy. expected, you know, expected this person that, he’s just a normal person. And then I said, well, know, business from a test match.

And he was. ⁓

persona this person. You build up in your head and you see

Let me see how he goes about his two days out.

Let me see how meticulous and how thorough he

is

in his preparation.

And was pretty laid back, if I’m being brutally honest, you know, it wasn’t obsessive filming or note taking or conversations

wasn’t to film in or know conversations,

it was very much sort of a casual session and business.

A casual session went about the same with a lot of the batters,

which I found was quite eye-opening that these guys are at the top of the game, maybe exposed to all the pressure.

game they’re going to

especially from a billion fans in India and number one they were just normal people but anything

And number two, they weren’t doing it at the

ordinary. And which made me sort of think that, maybe the key, isn’t your intensity is your raw consistency. Can you just do that?

Yes,

such, but it’s just day in, day out,

every single day, which is ultimately what they were doing.

I found the environment of that India setup

yourself,

because I was lucky enough to stay for the England session in the afternoon. And I saw a very, very big contrast in environments between the India setup and the England setup And I think I did notice this with the India setup that. There’s a lot more media, a lot more coaches and the environment was a lot more intense where they were. More conversations, was lot less talking and chatting. when you do speak to them at the end or when we do bowl to them, you just realize they’re not just normal people.

They were lot safer, a lot less.

the end of the day you know you

They are.

which

Gave me quite a lot of confidence to go up, you know, you have this perception they’re going to be this this person.

person, they’re

not. And it gives you a confidence to go, well, know, there’s nothing stopping a normal person. If a normal person could go and do it, well, why can’t anybody else? So no, was a day that I have stilled in my head where I go, wow, like that was just probably one of the best experiences of my life.

Very I-

in

So, contrasting it to the English setup, then, how would you… what were the differences? And if you think about what you think would be ideal for your own preparation, which was your preference?

Well, the England

England

environment was considerably more laid back. was music on, there was chatting, there was a lot of joking.

Lots.

coaches were’nt really watching. I

watched Ollie Pope back for 10 minutes. I counted he got out six times.

the sidearm.

don’t think I saw an Indian player do that. And I think if I did see an Indian player get out once, it would be like the end of the net and they’d really feel it. I made an effort when I wasn’t bowling to go and sit with some of the pros. I had a really nice chat with Zak Crawley and got to know him as a person. then it seemed to very much in a sense that

person.

They were very laid back.

the impression I got with the

England

players, they were trying to get out of their own way. They weren’t trying to drill themselves or get into this mindset They were just trying to remove tension or pressure or anxiety or worries and just be as relaxed as possible. ⁓ which contrasts to India’s thing where they were, the coaches were watching them and they were very much putting a judgment on what they were doing. ⁓ being more suited to the English environment and the Indian

which contrasts

own perspective I probably

environment, but at the same time, the

Indian environment is definitely not a foreign

environment

to me and I think I could probably a blend would work out perfectly, but to lean more towards one, would probably be that that England environment. Yeah.

You mentioned about the Indian environment and you said that they’re not doing anything out of the ordinary. How do you think your skill levels compare to theirs in that environment?

Well, I walked into that net session thinking I’d be spending half of it going and collecting my ball from the other side of the net.

into that next mission and I thought I was going to be off.

pleasantly surprised to pick up a couple of wickets.

You know, managed to, I managed to bowl Jurel who was the keeper, the way going.

Snick off, he’s wild, who was the old. Well, actually came up.

You know, crickets, it made me sort of realize that cricket is one of them games. The.

games where actually jump

and the level and it’s probably not always big as you think. It’s probably more marginal. But the thing I did notice from them was their consistency. They still make errors like everybody does, but there were far few errors. You know, if there was a ball to defend, they know they’re defending that and they were ultra, ultra disciplined in that.

was that the consistency of areas like

also drop the ball.

So I I expected them to be whacking it.

and to be everywhere

and the speed of the ball to be completely foreign to what I’ve experienced. She went into that environment with all and everybody here and Morne Morkel their bowling coach standing next to me watching me. And I honestly, after an over of two, three balls even said, I feel like I belong here. So I definitely had that with do it. The difference between then and what I’ve been experienced to is

I am all the Sky Sports Media there.

All in coach literally.

But know what can, but the thing I thought that was the

their consistency. It wouldn’t be 10 minutes before they make a mistake. And if they did make a mistake, it’d be one throughout the whole session. That was the key difference I found.

Do you think that consistency, based on your experiences, comes from the sheer amount of cricket that they’ve played and the sheer amount of time they’ve spent working? Or do you think it’s a particular process or maybe it’s more mental? Where do think that comes from?

I think it’s hunger.

You know, I’ve lived out in India and played out there and the whole.

I for an Indian cricketer who’s not an international cricketer

international cricket.

It’s basically a semi-pro cricketer

are

here. There’s no training facility they go into.

to a lot of the time they’re getting paid.

And actually you only really experience that pro level.

level

when you’re in either a franchise or you’re an international. And when you’re competing against a billion people and everybody wants your spot, there’s no real room for mistakes, case of hunger, and maybe a bit of fear as well. You know, they don’t want to lose their spot. I think you can definitely see it. When you were on the Indian lads you could see they were carrying pressure on their shoulders 100%. You could just see it with certain players.

You can.

no real reason. So I think it’s just a

walk around, you could see they were carrying pressure on.

I

think it’s, number one, think it’s a skillset and a rep.

petition, you know, India is very much from what I’ve been exposed to is that you hit thousands and thousands of balls. But I also think it’s just the reality that they have a couple of bad games and that could be the end to them. And that could be them filtering into a billion other people. It’s very different as an Englishman when you probably get a little bit more opportunity. It’s not as cut throat I guess.

You wrap it,

So you alluded to it before that you went out to India quite recently actually where you did have the opportunity to play and practice cricket all day, every day. Do you feel that volume of cricket that you get out there, did it help you with your cricket? Did it supercharge your cricket? Because you’re just hitting so many balls and getting the opportunity to practice much more than over here.

Say yes, and no

⁓ I would say ultimately the more you do something, the better you’re to get. So, know, I went to India and I was exposed to hitting a thousand balls a week, which was a lot. That was effectively three hours a day, six days a week, which was tough. You know, I had blisters on my hands after it and it me a better player. But it also got my eyes to that.

thousand bulls

definitely make

But

repetition isn’t just

King, as much as people say it is, in my own perspective, you can go and face the same bowler, the same ball and the same pitch six days a week. again, something you’ve me a lot about Nathan is repetition without repetition. So can you face different bowlers or different wickets, different challenges? One thing you can sometimes with is hit balls and hit the ball. I found the magic was

something you spoke to.

And I think, I was finding India is they just hit balls, hit balls, actually.

When I was working under a coach or working with a bowler who was a level above me in terms of skill set I found actually the repetition there really catapulted me. But repetition for repetion sake an average seam bowler or spin bowler, probably didn’t excel me as much. All the exposure to the environment I felt made the bigger difference as opposed to the pure number of reps.

that that’s where I.

Rapposition for Rapposition.

which is probably what I thought it was more

So that’s a phrase repetition without repetition that I borrowed from a skill acquisition expert. for those who aren’t familiar with the term, basically, if you’re just on a bowling machine and the ball is in the same place, that would be repetition. And actually that doesn’t improve you that much. It’s the variability.

within the volume of repetition, where you learn actually the subtleties of amending your technique or delivering the ball, et cetera. ⁓ So really interesting that, so what I’m hearing Rohan is that you have the opportunity to get lots and lots of volume. What about matches? you play any matches out there? Did you kind of have the opportunity to test?

test out that repetition in game situations.

Yeah. So I played a few matches out there. I was fortunate enough with my first one to get some runs, which was good. But my gosh, is when I spoke struggle to play just in front of a man and his dog. There wasn’t even a man and his dog there. Like it was in the middle of nowhere. Game was meant to start at half nine So I’m like, right, I want to be there for eight, eight 15, do my warmups, do my marking up my runups.

about how.

stop.

game started at 11 because they just…

people just don’t turn up on time. It’s not that kind of structure. ⁓ to falling over and me, I pull away and, I decide.

to it, sight, screen, keeping a little bit particular.

be

put back up. There’s not that kind of structure. It’s just you get on with it. When I came to matches, was, again, it goes back to that thing. You have to try and prove yourself. And I’ve sort of found is like when I’ve had to try and prove myself touch

the app. ⁓

And the

which

wood I’ve have always done okay, because I’ve had that little bit between my teeth. The volume definitely helped me. It’s coming into those games, but the volume, 7,000, 8,000 balls a hit. They were 8,000 balls in the nets, know, and match practice is just so different. The different kind of feel and…

again. There were 6,000 of

It did also make me appreciate comment

and home

as well and seeing the facilities you have at home and actually seeing people coming to watch you play cricket and realizing that how hard it is to make a name for yourself out in India with the standard of cricket. Like it’s just, it’s outrageous really. But definitely did feel that it made a difference because you’re exposed to different weather circumstances, different soils. So you have to adapt to your game based off that. But no, yeah, the volume and repetition did help come those games 100%.

how hard it

When you were out there, was there much talk about the mental side of cricket? Is that something that they talked about or was involved in the set-ups?

No, really no. ⁓ If at all. It’s very much technique, very much your repetitions. It’s very different. So I know in England, if I do something wrong or if I make a mistake, a coach would speak to me about that. We’d have them chat. We would assess, it a mental thing? Was it a technical thing? In India, you get shouted at. You feel like you’re in school and it’s hard.

you tap.

The style of coaches.

You you become tense, make a mistake, you mis-time the ball and you get shouted at if you’ve done something wrong. And ultimately then you tense up a little bit, a little more pressure. My gosh, this is going be hard. How am I going to live here and play and, and, know, perform? Very different environment than I ever experienced. But to answer your question, no, they put, they want to relax and enjoy yourself and play cricket. In terms of mindset,

You missed.

I remember coming away from that first session being like, this is going to be hard.

And he’s tough.

I’ll be in Simon.

was very

little.

It was purely about your technique and have you got the technique to survive? Have you got the tactical side to perform? The mental side about managing your emotions didn’t come into it a lot really.

Yash

So sticking on the mindset and the mental side of things, you’re playing for quite a few different teams at the moment. Club side, university, Cheshire, maybe some others. And with all those different setups, I should imagine that there are different mental challenges that come with those environments. Do you find, or have you found that you might be going well in one environment, in one team, but having a stinker with?

the other and that perpetuates it and if so how do you deal with that? do you manage that?

Yeah, probably been my biggest, one of my biggest challenges so far, know, let’s say for team A, team B and team C. Well, with team A, I generally don’t put that confidence into team B. Team A, I definitely take those negatives into team B. So.

if I perform.

take that.

But if I perform badly with

It’s been a bit of a challenge. Exactly, yeah. So it has been tough, that really came and hit me hard in my…

to meet situations.

first

season at Widnes i was doing fine i was a 17 year old

He was just over half as I.

average in

40 for them with the bat and then I had three weeks with Cheshire under 18s with the three days. Didn’t perform well, felt out of place and I let that confidence drip into my Widnes game and ultimately my average dropped from 20 from 40 to 28 by the end of the season. So it was definitely a learning curve to be like, right, you

had a terrible two three

And again, I probably don’t really know how to be honest. I probably probably haven’t really figured out how to navigate. I try and sort of go like. separate by the same time, if you.

through that, I’m being brutally honest. Keep everything s- You’re scoring

hundreds and scoring runs for Team A.

You want to try and carry that confidence.

into

any other team you’re playing with. Something I’m sort of through really. I think my current mindset is just each day as it comes. So just try and go, well, irrespective of having a good day or a bad day, you’re going to have them. Success and failure are going to be inevitable at certain points. Back of your mind, just focus on what’s in front of you today and not try and carry too much baggage or

So yeah, probably not figured out how to go.

My best is to take

Both.

Just try and put that all to the.

confidence from the day before. just let it all sort of figure itself out. I struggle with a lot, 100%.

God, something that’s do.

That reminds me that the idea that you take through the sort of not so good performances reminds me of this anecdote in this brilliant book that think Nathan’s read as well. Golf is not a game of perfect by a sort of sports psychologist. And he talks about a free throw player in basketball. And this free throw player has this mindset of if he’s missed the last, you know, if he keeps missing, he says,

I’m going to have to make the next one because I’ve missed so many now. That’s what the stats will say. If he’s scored lots in a row, then he goes, well, I’m on a run of great form. Of course, I’m going to score the next one. It’s all about how you interpret your experiences and whether you interpret it as something that means good stuff is going to happen. If you have a rough start to the year, ⁓ that’s all the bad stuff over. It’s got to be a good year now.

Or do you go, ⁓ this is going to be the worst year ever, it was a rubbish saw?

Yeah, 100%. I think you’re so important. I’ve not even heard that. That gives me confidence to go in like, well, I’ll go into the season in a bit of a rough.

already listed.

patch. It’s your perspective.

that’s

going to be quite a big thing and sort of building off that I remember.

Last winter I was

in Canada and I went to watch an NBA game and in the warm-up stuff on the Toronto players he was doing some sort of free throws and I got there 70 minutes early so I watched the warm-ups intensely and he missed nine free throws in a row and I thought on the day of the NBA opener that would just cause him to be nervous and tight and tense

that seven.

I saw.

and I watched his facial expressions in

in his

body language and he didn’t even change one bit.

I guess it just goes back to what you’re saying. It’s just your perspective. You know, if you let those things fest, if you let those things…

play on your mind, you give those negative thoughts energy, they become something. And like you said there, if you sort of just change it, reframe it, you can actually just be the failers, it’s just bringing you closer to success.

It’s a story we tell ourselves, isn’t it? So my example of that was that if I dropped a catch if we were fielding first and I dropped a catch, I linked that with batting well in the second innings. If I caught a catch in the first innings, I’d say, well, it’s my day. I’m definitely going to get.

get runs. But I don’t know why. I probably batted pretty well after dropping the catch once and I linked that. But these things get deep seated and sometimes, particularly in the cricket, think. Fascinating stuff. So let’s look ahead to the future. Where do you want to get to the game and in the game and what are you doing at the moment to help you achieve it?

So yeah, I, from when I started out, my goal is professionally contracted cricketer. Generally in cricket environments, I never really say it. I just feel it sort of rubs people up the wrong way and you’re better off just keeping your head down and working hard. Um And I think the way I go about trying to achieve it is just, as I said to you at the start, it’s where I can be. Can I just go and just focus so intensely on that process of being a better cricketer?

right

to involve.

How can I just be the best?

that things like results, stats, contracts, take care of themselves.

whenever.

I try and make sure that in order for me to achieve, I’ve to think like that. So I go, right, can I think and act like a

and try and carry myself like a pro at kind of weeks.

I structure my

work to benefit me to work towards those. At the same time, I also completely switch

towards goals and

On the other side, I’ve got

to from that as well. Part of pursuing something that matters so much to you, something you sacrifice so much, or something you put so much energy into, is that it’s quite a mentally draining and fatiguing thing. To find things away from that, mentally focused, so I can give 100%. I probably haven’t found enough of them from being honest. Actually, I find that when I fully immerse myself in trying to achieve what I want to achieve,

So can I actually, that keep me fresh and.

I feel like a lot of time I get quite burnt out after a couple of months because I’m like, it’s difficult. Every decision you make, you’re trying to push it to where you want to get to. And that’s why think a big learning curve for me and a big thing that’s helped me is going right. when I’m trying to be a better cricketer, I’m a hundred percent in on that. But then when I’m at the pub with my mates, I’m out and just be Rohan at the pub with his mates and not think cricket. And that’s a hard thing for me to do.

yourself close.

be 100.

That is something I definitely think has helped me in my pursuit to be a professional cricketer is that allow yourself time to switch off as well because it’s a draining sport cricket. you let it consume.

Yeah, it’s such a great point because focusing on the processes is all well and good, but equally you don’t want to go too far where your whole identity is. I have to be doing this many training sessions. I have to be kind of not eating this, not drinking this, not staying up late. It’s hard to get that balance. I can imagine at university it must be quite challenging.

Yeah, it is tricky. It is tricky. I think you better not beat yourself. But I go, okay, if I do want to go out with my friends now and again, that’s fine. You shouldn’t beat yourself up for that. You’re still a young lad and you still can do that. Just a time and a place for that. And that’s why I sort of go, right, as long as I can control everything that’s in my power and my processes, then great. Can I just, you know, come on game day?

of that.

And also at the same time.

and

just be relaxed and trust that I’ve done everything I can.

which is a difficult thing, you know.

I do believe that a lot of the time my success and failure cricket so far hasn’t.

It’s

always been down to my skillset. It’s been to how, what frame of mind I’ve been in and how my decisions have been made on match day. But again, I’ve spoke to you a lot about this Nathan, every time I try and relax, end up not being relaxed.

I play better when I’m relaxed.

So it’s actually finding things that subconsciously make me relax without me trying to relax.

And actually me being at university, being around good people, my friends, they need it, trying to just be a good person in general, a really good switch offs from cricket. And actually if I could put my energy into them, I’m spending less time thinking about the game. I’m still putting as much effort as I possibly can. So then hopefully come game day, I’m in a bit of a fresher kind of mindset to be in, as we said, that good mood to hopefully go and perform.

trying to help my friends.

Well, actually then, Ben and

sounding very wise, Ro, if it doesn’t work out as a player, I think a coaching career beckons for you You are right about those outside interests being so important. I think it just helps you maintain a healthy relationship with the game if you do. So that sounds really positive. ⁓ We’ll draw it to a close shortly. What advice would you give to players

trying to follow a similar path using those wise words that you’ve given us.

I’d say it starts with a work ethic and it starts with a work ethic where…

Catholic. ⁓

You real way of getting around, getting, and then putting in. I remember I had a fielding session with you when I was 13. It was a fielding and S&C session.

field in

And I ⁓

And you didn’t say to

me, you said it to my dad. And you said that basically said, I don’t think he’s fit enough. And I remember hearing that and it hurt. And I remember going, well, there’s no way around it now. The only way is through and actually putting in as as possible. Walk onto a pitch and pride myself that I’m the fittest guy here. I’m the, you know, I’m in the best position to perform.

those reps working as hard as… So I can actually…

So I’d say it’s work ethic.

First

thing I say, there’s no way around the reps or whatever. There’s no cheat. There’s no drug you can take. So I say that. At the same time.

I would say it’s also

I think when people say work, I agree to a perspective.

Cause all at the

end of the day, come game day, come match day, come presentation day in your business or whatever. Actually just manage that situation and you know, sometimes the reps through that is the ability to manage your emotions on that day. It’s the ability to make good decisions. So would say almost into a frame of mind. Easy.

presentation.

is how well you actually manage that situation.

don’t always carry a

trying your best to into a friend’s YouTube, but again, that’s not always easy.

I would… away

from the game as well, so obviously not let things consume you.

think there’s so much, it’s such a multifaceted.

thing.

⁓ And you’ll obviously be in a position where you’ve actually achieved it. So you’ll have a different perspective from myself.

My

thing is that I think the big thing for me is controlling. You control your.

I say it’s in your processes. think if

you think too much about what you want, it’s generally slip away from you. I’ve found, and I think if I just focus on doing the right things generally my advice to a youngster is just focus on getting better and to be in the best play you can be. Let the results take care of themselves.

Thanks.

because I’m doing the right.

I think what’s also really interesting there is if obviously hindsight’s very nice to have, but if you look at your cricketing journey where you did get dropped from that county side by focusing on your processes, you did find a way back in. Whereas I think it’s quite easy for people to come so fixated on that goal of being in that county side and what that means about them and how they are as a player and how can they get back in.

And that makes it almost even harder to achieve. Whereas as you say, if you focus on those processes, you get your head down and you keep working on your cricket, taking opportunities that come your way, then actually that’s more likely to get you where you want to be in the longer term.

100%. I think it’s so. ⁓

It all

goes hand in hand as well with that. I’m trying my hardest to do, which is difficult. It’s hard. Cricket and.

It’s something I hope but chin myself from

who I am as a person, know, very, very often the reason I don’t feel and is me feel.

Reason-wise, like failure because of how it makes

and how the effects it has on in the week where if I perform badly on a Saturday, Sunday just feels different. The week feels different. Actually detaching yourself. You still your own person with your own values and your own friends and this and that. And cricket is just one aspect of that. Every time I find they start to blend.

day.

for him and you are. ⁓

And I think.

is when things go wrong. I think important thing to take into not just cricket, but into life and in business or whatever is that, make those things and realize that you’re pursuing whatever it is, isn’t who you are as a person. And if it is, you’re just going to be bound to the emotions and the results of whatever that is, which becomes very tricky from what I’ve experienced.

It’s important. say a lesson. I’ll probably.

lie

try to separate.

think I’m going to start calling you Gandalf. ⁓

sorry.

Right, final question. If you were coaching a 14 year old Rohan Luthra, what would you do or say to him?

Tell him to stop stressing to start with. I tell him that things will always work themselves out. I tell him that.

Trust, trust that things will fall.

into

place, things will happen in a way you will never imagine them to happen and they will for it. But it will do.

eventually they will.

Everything good or bad that’s happened

And

you’ll look back on and go, I’m glad they’ve happened. So run with them and don’t block them or fear them.

understand that part of you as a cricketer as much as you think it’s going to be base pure.

Uh-oh.

only

on your skill set, it’s probably not. You’re going to have to make good relationships and you’re going to have to be a coachable individual and someone who’s willing to learn and willing to get better.

coach.

I understand that if you just do the right things.

for

long enough, things will fall into your favor. ⁓ I don’t think I’ve ever been a lad who’s been complacent or anything. I’ve been a lad who’s probably thought too much and worried and stressed too much as an over thinker. I like controlling what’s happening at certain times throughout the day and it has to be structured. And I sort of say to my advice to my younger self would be keep working hard, enjoy the process of things not going the way you expect them to go.

I like things to happen.

because they very rarely do. And part of that, think, lack of control will feel a bit weird and a bit scary, but sometimes that’s where the best things that have happened to you in cricket have come from.

Allah

Sound advice. Ro, we very much appreciate you giving us your time today. Although, you know, being a student, you’ve probably got lots of time to give, but anyway, we still appreciate it. It’s been great hearing about your journey so far. I think there’ll be a lot of players listening to this who are in a very similar position to you, so I think they’ll take a huge amount from what you’ve shared with us today. So here’s wishing you.

The very best of luck with everything going forward. We’ll be keeping ⁓ a close eye on how things progress and let’s hope that the chairman of Lindow Cricket Club isn’t throwing little brown paper envelopes at you at the end of this.

Briony thank

Well, Nathan thank you

very much. I’ve really, really enjoyed being on. thank you for me on.

keep having

Thank you. So right next week, we’ve got former Kent spinner and level four coach Rob Ferley on the show. And we’re going to be talking all things spin, what makes a good spin bowler, the mental demands on spinners and also how to captain and how to coach them. So it should be a great episode. So thanks for listening or watching. And if you’re enjoying the show, then please do.

Give us a follow so you don’t miss any future episodes. You can find all those details in the show notes. Briony, let’s call that stumps. Let’s see you next time.