There are lots of lessons to be learnt from people who have been there and done it, but sometimes we have to take our lessons from the negative aspects of what has been said.

I discovered two quotes this weekend from the cricketing world and felt that I needed to share them with my fellow cricket lovers.

The first of which draws on a lesson that can be taken from another cricketer’s poor attitude and negativity in his preparation. The cricketer in question is Chris Gayle a current West Indian international. Asked recently what he most looks forward to when touring. He replied, “The pussy”.

Clearly, this is not the words of a man who is prepared and focused on winning a test series in a foreign country. Not surprisingly all commentators to a man agreed that Gayle woefully underperformed in a recent test series against England.

The lesson here is that whatever level of ability we have, we must focus on what needs to be done to win games of cricket, not what makes a great holiday.

The second quote comes from the great Fred Trueman, and for me highlights the trend so far this season of batsmen winning man of the match awards.

Trueman once commented, “Batsmen bat for women, and bowlers bowl for beer”.

Fred was making the point that batting is very glamorous and rewarding when it goes well, but bowling is more about hard work and toil with not so much recognition.

The Trueman observations are best highlighted in the current England set up. Kevin Pietersen clearly being a batting ladies man, and Matthew Hoggard being the hard working, unglamorous fast bowler !