ECB Coaches Association links Coaching Insight 2019 | Page 42

40
Just Jos
“At times, yeah. I definitely
wouldn’t have been the
loudest kid in the class,
but it’s always been deeply
embedded, that thought:
‘Why do we do it like this?’
“To someone who has never
watched cricket, if the captain
puts the fielder in a certain
position and the fielder is
moved a ball later, it doesn’t
make any sense. But then
you start to realise why, and
it makes perfect sense. Or
why does the wicketkeeper
crouch down then stand
back up? All these funny little
unique things in our game,
that probably aren’t done for
immediately logical reasons,
they force you to think why
we do them.”
“I may come
across as quiet and
unassuming, but I
know what I want
and I’m not afraid to
challenge coaches.”
Even the thought of Jos
as “quiet and unassuming”
seems rather stuck in the
past. More fresh in the
memory are stories like
how, during the Pakistan
series in 2018, an eagle-eyed
cameraman homed in on the
top of his bat handle and
spotted the words ‘F*** it’
written on it.
Not that unassuming then,
but not without logic, as
Jos explains: “It’s a big
mental reminder. It gives
me freedom. Sure, I can be
analytical, but in the end,
f*** it. Just watch the ball.
“You know, if I’m out there
and it’s hard work, come
on. I don’t want it to come