The Christmas period usually throws up a mixed bag of televisual delights and this year was no exception.

Probably a fair proportion of Rosaneri men had to sit through Brucie talking about dancing on Christmas day.

But amongst the dross I did pick up on a nugget of information that got me thinking about our 2009 series against the boys from The Cotswolds.

Apparently Saddam’s Republican Guard genuinely believed that US Marines had to eat a baby as part of their basic training !

Once up close to the enemy, the Republican Guards had it in their minds that they had no chance at all and their only hope of living was to surrender. The ground battle was a walk over and the state of mind of the Republican Guard meant they had lost before they even started.

Where this rumour started does not matter, what matters is that we take note of the importance of mind games.

Sending a text to Berryman telling him that our Batsmen have started eating babies is probably not going to work, but there must be something that we can do to start working on victory before we even set foot onto the pitch.

Maybe we should look at it from the other side of the fence. By the fact that we must believe in our own ability and make sure that we don’t turn up already beaten in our own minds.

Being positive is not always easy, but we must train ourselves to remain positive at all times even in the most adverse circumstances.