May 3, 2026

Why Nets Don’t Always Lead to Runs in Matches

The gap between training confidence and match performance

Some of the most frustrating moments in cricket come when things feel good in training… but not in games.

You’ve had a strong winter. The ball is coming nicely in the nets. Confidence is building. Then the season starts — and suddenly it feels different. Early dismissals. Poor decisions. Tension. Pressure.

In Episode 13 of The Cricket Mind Podcast, Nathan Wood and Briony Brock answered listener questions around exactly that theme: why so many players struggle to transfer practice performances into match performances.

The conversation also explored confidence, early-season expectations, team performances, and why so many cricketers seem to run themselves out in April.

What emerged was a wider point that probably applies to far more players than we realise:

Sometimes the issue isn’t that players aren’t training hard enough.
It’s that they’re training in ways that don’t prepare them for the demands of the game.

Feeling good is not the same as playing well

One of the first listener questions came from a batter who judged how they would perform based on how they felt before going out to bat.

It’s a really common habit in cricket.

Players often assume:

“I feel nervous today, so this will go badly.”
“I don’t feel fluent in warm-up, so I probably won’t score.”
“Everything feels right today — I’m definitely getting runs.”

But as Nathan and Briony discussed, feelings are not reliable predictors of performance.

Most experienced cricketers can remember:

feeling brilliant and getting out cheaply
feeling awful and somehow batting beautifully

The important thing is not eliminating nerves or discomfort.
It’s learning not to build a story around them.

Good performances come from what players do — not simply how they feel beforehand.

That sounds simple. But it becomes much harder once pressure enters the picture.

Why matches feel completely different to nets

This was probably the biggest theme running through the episode.

A listener described having a brilliant winter in training before struggling badly once matches began.

The answer from both Nathan and Briony was refreshingly honest:

Matches feel different because they are different.

In nets:

you usually keep batting after getting out
there are limited consequences
rhythm develops naturally
pressure is lower
decision-making is simpler

But in games:

innings can end instantly
scoreboard pressure exists
bowlers are unfamiliar
fielders create pressure
mistakes suddenly matter

That changes movement, thinking, decision-making and emotion.

Many players unknowingly shift from:

“See ball, hit ball”

to:

“Don’t get out.”

And that mental shift often creates physical tension.

The important takeaway from the conversation was this:

The goal is not to make matches feel like nets.

The goal is to prepare for the pressures, decisions and uncertainty that matches demand.

Practice design matters more than volume

One of the strongest insights in the episode was around practice design.

Nathan argued that many players spend huge amounts of time in technical practice — but very little time in realistic game situations.

That distinction matters.

Because players can easily leave training feeling:

technically improved
fluent
confident

…without ever rehearsing:

scoreboard pressure
consequence
decision-making
uncertainty
communication
emotional control

The reality is that cricket is not simply a technical game.

It is a decision-making game played under pressure.

And if training repeatedly removes pressure and consequence, players can unintentionally become less prepared for real competition — even while technically improving.

That’s why practices involving match scenarios, consequence-based games, decision-making, pressure, field placements, running between wickets, chasing targets can often become more valuable than another hour of repetitive throw-downs.

This is also why some cricketers can train well but still struggle to perform in matches. The issue is not always effort or ability — it is often that practice has not fully prepared them for the pressure, decisions and emotional demands of the game.

The trap of chasing previous performances

Another listener question focused on a player who scored 50 in their first game of the season — and then felt increasingly frustrated when they couldn’t repeat it.

This is another classic cricket trap.

One good innings quietly becomes the new benchmark.

And suddenly:

20 feels like failure
progress feels backwards
pressure increases
freedom disappears

Briony made an important point here:
A previous success is not automatically your new baseline.

Cricket simply doesn’t work in straight lines.

Some innings of 30 are more valuable than some innings of 70. Context matters. Conditions matter. Match situations matter.

The players who cope best with cricket’s ups and downs are usually the ones who stop obsessing over replicating outcomes — and instead focus on giving themselves the best possible chance in the next ball, next over, or next innings.

Coaching after heavy defeats

The episode also moved into coaching territory through a listener question about responding to poor team performances.

Again, the discussion avoided extremes.

Nathan highlighted the danger of:

going too hard emotionally
damaging confidence
attacking identity rather than behaviour

But equally, simply ignoring poor performances helps nobody.

Instead, both Nathan and Briony advocated:

honesty
specificity
emotional control
player involvement
actionable learning

One particularly useful distinction was:

“We are not bad”
versus
“That performance was not good enough.”

That subtle shift matters enormously.

The best coaches don’t protect confidence by pretending mistakes didn’t happen.

They help players learn from mistakes without making those mistakes define them.

Why early-season run outs keep happening

The final discussion centred around something every club side experiences in April and May:

Run outs everywhere.

The conversation was funny at times because it felt painfully familiar.

But underneath the humour was another important point about modern player development.

Nathan reflected on a conversation he once had with Lancashire’s Steven Croft about young players arriving with excellent technical skills — but lower levels of game awareness.

And perhaps that links back to the wider theme of the episode.

If players spend most of their development inside nets, isolated lanes, and technical environments, then things like: