{"id":31939,"date":"2023-12-17T10:39:13","date_gmt":"2023-12-17T08:39:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=31939"},"modified":"2023-12-17T10:39:13","modified_gmt":"2023-12-17T08:39:13","slug":"lessons-from-a-life-in-cricket","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=31939","title":{"rendered":"Lessons from a life in cricket"},"content":{"rendered":"
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MAKHANDA, SOUTH AFRICA – DECEMBER 15: Guest speaker Adrian Birell during the Khaya Majola Week opening ceremony at Graeme College on December 15, 2023 in Makhanda, South Africa. (Photo by Micheal Sheehan\/Gallo Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I sometimes wonder about the wisdom of getting some ex-player or current coach as a guest speaker to address a hall full of teenage players at events like the opening ceremony of the u19 Khaya Majola cricket week.<\/p>\n

They generally don\u2019t know who he is, and what they want is to go out and play, not listen to some old guy rattle on.<\/p>\n

So, when they rolled out Andrew Birrell in Makhanda on Friday night, jaded, sceptical old me rolled my eyes a little bit. Thirty minutes later, I was applauding enthusiastically along with everyone else.<\/p>\n

The man is a natural storyteller, and he told the customary Eastern Cape narrative about two old farmers at the Pig \u2018n Whistle in Bathurst \u2013 which is best not repeated \u2013 but his real impact was when he told the boys that the next four years are the most important of their lives, in cricket and away from it, and then explained why.<\/p>\n

They were spellbound.<\/p>\n

For those who don\u2019t know who Adi Birrell is, he was born and raised in Makhanda. He played for Eastern Province at school and first-class level, before turning to coaching. He coached at the Titans and Warriors before coaching Ireland at the 2007 ICC World Cup. In 2013 he was appointed assistant coach of the South African national team and he has been head coach of Hampshire in County cricket since 2018. He also coaches Sunrisers Eastern Cape in the SA20 tournament.<\/p>\n

When he played at the, then, Nuffield Week, his dream was to play for South Africa, but he didn\u2019t, and looking back he is glad that he wasn\u2019t good enough, he told the boys. It was the reason why now, at age 63, he is still actively involved in cricket at a high level.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy dream was to be a top professional cricketer, and when that didn\u2019t happen I turned to coaching. I was successful because I believed in that dream, but also because I did the hard work that was needed,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Birrell\u2019s father, Harry, taught at St Andrew\u2019s College in Makhanda for many years and it was from his teachings that Adrian draws four of the biggest obstacles that get in the way of making it in the game. The first, he told the boys, is failure to do the hard work. He distinguished between natural talent, which comes easy, but doesn\u2019t guarantee success, and real talent, which is about driving yourself to be better, and doing it while no one is watching.<\/p>\n

The second obstacle is drugs and alcohol. Birrell himself does not drink, and he believes that having clear eyes and a sharp mind every day of his life has given him an edge.<\/p>\n

Then there\u2019s peer pressure. \u201cYour friends will try to distract you and it\u2019s difficult to say no to them, but it\u2019s a sacrifice you have to make, Birrel said. \u201cYou won\u2019t make it if you don\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

The biggest obstacle, however, is arrogance and ego. Natural talent means the game comes easy to some, but that doesn\u2019t guarantee success. Those who aren\u2019t arrogant and who work harder than anyone else, despite having the talent, will turn out to be the superstars, he said.<\/p>\n

His advice to the boys was to bear these things in mind for the next four years. \u201cThe next years will determine where you go, in cricket and in life: he said. \u201cMy dream was to play for South Africa, but I wasn\u2019t good enough. I followed my father\u2019s advice and it paid off, however. I\u2019ve made a living out of cricket and I\u2019ve loved every day of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

With that, he wished the players well for the week, and they left. If they weren\u2019t inspired by him, they should have been – even jaded old me was!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I sometimes wonder about the wisdom of getting some ex-player or current coach as a guest speaker to address a hall full of teenage players at events like the opening ceremony of the u19 Khaya Majola cricket week. They generally don\u2019t know who he is, and what they want is to go out and play, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31,"featured_media":31954,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31939","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31939","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/31"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=31939"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31939\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/31954"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=31939"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=31939"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=31939"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}