This week’s article is a follow-up to last week on what it takes to be a successful batsman. As I discuss shot selection, batting with a plan, mental toughness, building partnerships and valuing your wicket, my hope is to assist players to build a solid foundation for success.Shot selection is critical to a batsman’s success. Being able to make the right decision on which shot to play within a split second of the bowler bowling is crucial.One of the biggest mistakes a batsman can make is premeditating what shot to play prior to the bowler bowling. However, many will agree, that no matter how long one plays the game it is one tendency that somehow creeps into all batsmen’s game. To counteract this tendency, you must clear your mind before the bowler runs in so that you can focus on the line and the length of the ball.You must reach a point of knowing what the length of the ball is going to be by watching the point of release from the bowler’s hand. This forces you to keep your eye on the ball at all times, which in return makes shot selection easier. However, you must know the basics and understand which shots to play based on the length of the ball.As an individual, batsmen always have a plan. In a 50-over match, if you are batting first, look to bat the full 50 overs as your first objective. Identify the stronger bowlers and try to score on a rate of three to four runs an over.When the weaker bowlers come on the ball, look to accelerate the scoring to six to seven runs per over.I find that targeting certain bowlers is the key. As a batsman, your job is to rotate strike and to put the bad balls away to the boundary. If you are batting second you know the average runs needed per over, thus making it easier to calculate.Last month’s Belco Cup was a prime example. St. David’s only needed to score 147 from 50 overs, which is less than three runs per over. As a batsman the plan should be simple, just look to bat as long as possible taking ones and twos.If St. David’s would have batted 40 overs they would have won the game easily in singles, with the odd boundary. However, we were bowled all out with more the 15 overs on the board. To be successful you cannot lack discipline, and you must assess the situation to come up with a plan.A plan, however, means nothing if you do not have mental toughness. This is the one area that we as Bermudian batsmen are at our weakest.Mental toughness is “Having the natural or developed psychological edge that enables you to: generally, cope better than your opponents with the many demands (competition, training, lifestyle) that sport places on a performer; specifically, be more consistent and better than your opponents in remaining determined, focused, confident, and in control under pressure.” (Jones, Hanton, & Connaughton, 2002).When I look around Bermuda there are two players who stand out to me that have that cutting edge, and they are Dion Stovall and Lionel Cann.Having this characteristic as a batsman is the reason why they are more likely to succeed on the international stage. Mental toughness comes from within, it is a determination not to fail, a determination to fight when every inch of your body says give up, or when things look extremely bleak.This is a skill that we have to try and teach more of our players, but I truly believe you must be passionate about your sport before this can happen.In every plan there must be a contingency plan for when things go wrong. Building partnerships is of the utmost importance in a game going to plan, but even more important after the loss of a wicket.When wickets fall around you, don’t panic because if you do failure is right around the corner. Buckling under pressure is one of our biggest problems domestically and internationally.One way of overcoming the pressure is by taking singles and rotating strike as often as possible. Another way that I personally use in difficult situations is setting small targets, e.g. if we are batting and the score is 42 for four I would bring my batting partner to the middle and say,” Our next target is 50”.Once achieving the target of 50 our next target would be 60 and before you know it we would have started to build a partnership.Lastly, you must VALUE your wicket. Batsmen need to love batting and make bowlers work hard for their wicket.Far too often batsmen are getting what I call “soft dismissals”, literally giving their wicket away without the fielding team having to toil for it.A team is made up of batsmen, all-rounders and bowlers and it is the responsibility of the batsmen to score runs. Players have a tendency to bat recklessly and carefree because they feel that if they fail someone else will come behind them and score runs. Players need to take pride in their performance and set higher standards to reach and refuse to be satisfied with mediocre scores.Hopefully, these tips will help our local batsmen to assess their own strengths and weaknesses and implement techniques to improve their overall game.As a cricketing nation we need our former players to share their knowledge and pass it on, no matter how small they may view it to be. Information shared is valuable and I encourage our current players to tap into players of the past and seek as much knowledge as possible about the game.Quote of the week: Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other Abraham Lincoln