As I was drifting through endless channels of nonsense on the television the other night I stumbled across a gem of a programme about alternative therapies.

You are probably thinking, “What an earth has this got to do with cricket ?”

Well stay with me, and hopefully you will see how we can all benefit as a team.

The person in the programme was looking at alternative therapies in relation to confidence building and mental strength when facing a tough challenge. After a section of mind numbing science the show cut to Los Angeles. Because right now, the in thing in LA is the Cuddle Party.

A Cuddle Party is basically an event where individuals meet to experience mild physical intimacy through cuddling. Studies of the brain have revealed that individuals experience much less anxiety when they have experienced very recent physical intimacy such as holding hands or having a cuddle.

Don’t worry, I have not completely lost the plot and I am not suggesting for one minute that we hold our very own Cuddle Party in Cheshunt. But I am suggesting that we support each other emotionally as best as we can, as it will help both bowlers and batsmen rise to their task.

If our players have less anxiety they WILL perform better. Just remember anytime that you walked out to the middle to bat, and I guarantee that there was an element of anxiety. The more we can reduce this, the more the brain can focus on dealing with the ball. A kind word, or a pat on the back are just some of the ways that we can go about reducing team anxiety.

Interestingly, some years ago I tried to get the Rosaneri football players to hold hands during the team talk, based on the Brazilian team walking out onto the pitch holding hands under the Captaincy of Dunga. The footballers immediately rejected my idea under a shower of abuse, but looking back I was obviously years ahead of my time !