Fittest Side in the Comp!
Interview by Shoaib Naveed
The new Premier Coach Mark Tulloch sits down for a chat on coaching and why fitness is key to his approach.
Q. Coach tell us a bit about your Cricket history, where have you played?
All over the place actually. Played club Cricket in Auckland for a long period of time and captained Cornwall. Played Queensland U-13s to U-17s and grade Cricket in Brisbane. Part of the Auckland and Wellington B sides. Then played professionally in Wales for a while. Overall though, I enjoyed my cricket at Auckland the most; love the grounds and conditions here. I was pre-dominantly a left hand middle-order bat who bowled a bit of left arm seam as well.
Q. So this is you’re first time coaching?
Well I got my certification around seventeen and did a bit of junior coaching in Wales, but this is the first time I am doing it as a full-time thing with a Premier side.
Q. How did you rate North Shore in your playing days?
They were always a good club. Had some pretty handy Cricketers throughout and always offered a challenge. You always knew you would get a good game but they didn’t always live up to the potential.
Q. Do you see a bit of the same with the current side you are managing?
A talented bunch of young cricketers, I see a lot of potential and hunger in these guys and can see them playing representative cricket. They are keen to perform and do well but I also see a lot of them not living up to their potential. A lot of the batsmen who aren’t getting enough runs and a lot of bowlers who aren’t getting the number of wickets they should be getting.
Q. In the little time that you have been in charge have you been able to identify why?
I will put it down to mental toughness and a bit of lack of concentration, which I am working on with the new fitness regimes.
Q. You are pretty big into fitness…?
Fitness was huge in Australia where I played, and then I also joined the Army for a while and found out a lot more about it. I am a physical trainer by profession and you have to be fit to play good Cricket at any level.
Q. Can you expand on that a bit?
Bowling for instance is all about injury prevention and being able to bowl long spells and being able to bowl consistently well through out that spell. Batting is all about mental toughness and being able to concentrate for long periods of time. You have to be on the ball through out the game. You need stamina, endurance and a high level of concentration for both these things. The fitter your body is the better you are able to concentrate on the game and what your job is on the field. You run a three out there as a batsman and you start huffing and puffing the next thing you know you get a good one and your stumps are down. You are a fast bowler or even a spinner, you want to bowl consistently well to keep the batsman under pressure and bowl long spells, if you are not fit you’re line and length starts suffering midway through or even worse you might pick up an injury and be out of Cricket all together. So yeah fitness brings much needed concentration and mental prowess along with the physical benefits needed to do well at any level of sport.
Q. Your thoughts on T.J the new Captain
He is the best player in the side and gives it his all on the field and in the practices. The boys look up to him. He leads from the front, has the confidence of the team and most importantly has a sound cricketing brain.
Q. Being a captain yourself what qualities do you reckon captaincy demands?
It would certainly help if you performed at your game individually and gave the side an example to follow. Belief in your own game and skill and equally belief in your team’s ability is a must. Whatever the attitude of the captain, it is going to catch on with the rest of the team pretty quick, so it is essential that the players know they have the captain’s confidence. Also you are bound to make mistakes every now and then, and it is how you learn from those mistakes and progress your game that is more important than any thing else.
Q. Your aims for the season and can the club finish top.
I am eying the top three and want to push the team to strive for the top. We are going to be the fittest side and the best fielding side in the competition, no compromises on that.
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