What Management learning can Cricket give?
The game of Cricket was introduced and popularised by the colonial masters, and it certainly made a strong cultural bond within society. In the process, it became the most venerated sport in the South Asian part of the globe. Cricket is played everywhere, in the cities and in the villages, where sufficient space can be found as a playing area. It can be the end of a narrow street or a patch of bare land. These matches are played using a tennis or rubber ball. It is a common sight in most countries of this part of the world, to see children, after returning from school, throwing away their books at home, to engage in a game of cricket. Unfortunately, this is rarely seen in Colombo and the suburbs, due to lack of space and also due to the involvement of students at tuition classes, after schools hours.
The South Asian nations evolved as forces to be reckoned with, and hold a major stake in the management of cricket. Financially-rich Indian cricket has introduced innovations such as IPL, which attract greater spectator interest and global viewership. Cricket has now spread across the Atlantic to North American nations, Caribbean Islands, the African continent, the British Isles, part of the Middle East and most parts of Asia. The game has become highly commercialised and the centre of gravity of cricket is now moving eastwards towards India. Of the three formats of the game, Test cricket is still the most respected, but the shorter versions draw massive crowds. The game has not only increased its financial capacity, it has also generated employment opportunities to numerous people. The game of cricket has evolved so much that, it provides important lessons in Management as well. I wish to draw parallels from the 1996 Sri Lanka (SL) Cricket Team which became world beaters, to relate to some Management theories that may have been in operation. Here are 5 Management areas with relevant theories.
1. Succession Planning
Leading up to the period of the 1996 World Cup (WC), it was evident that SL Cricket teams had a good succession plan. Sri Lanka had a schoolboy backup to replace retiring seniors, which was very much evident in the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s. SL team Management adhered to Henry Fayols classic Management principles which emphasise that, Management has a responsibility to ensure the stability of personnel, by implementing a systematic succession plan. The team in 1996 was a result of excellent succession planning during the ’80’s and early ’90s. The composition of the team consisted of youth and experienced players, with the youth fairly exposed to competitive cricket at the highest level.
Grooming Players for
different roles
The team of 1996, groomed cavalier style openers much ahead of the WC, to engage in aggressive batting. One-drop and Nos. 4, 5, 6, 7 batting positions were manned by well-established world class players, who had been well groomed to play in these positions since their young days. The bowling department was spearheaded by 2 world class bowlers.
2. Teamwork
It was good to realise that the 1996 team had used Tuckman’s teamwork theory well. Various Stages of the model- Forming, Storming, Norming and Performing, have been in operation, may be 3-4 years (or earlier than that) prior to the WC. This model shows how teams evolve.
Forming
The team started gelling together gradually from the early 1990s. During this period there could have been sizing up of individuals
Storming
Team members, during this stage of 2-3 years prior to the WC, would have seen themselves as part of the team.
Norming
At this stage, possibly in 1995, after the famous 1995 Australian Tour and the controversial ‘No-ball’ debacle, the togetherness of the team was reinforced.
Performing
The combined energies of the team, sound relationships of the team members and the strong focus on the task at hand, synergised well to achieve the goal of winning the coveted WC. It was a case of effective teamwork, and members playing the roles they were expected to play, for the greatest achievement in one’s cricketing life.
3. Motivation
The 1996 team was a highly motivated and focused lot, with a strong and determined leadership. Hertzberg 2-factor theory can be applied to the motivation of the team- Motivational factor and Hygiene factor. It was evident that Motivational factors were fully satisfied, such as efforts of team members being highly appreciated, enjoyed playing as a team, every member had a good future. The Hygiene factors were equally satisfied by paying good remunerations and benefits, maintaining relationships like a family.
4. Change Management
Unfreezing
Using ‘Lewins’ Change Management process in the game of cricket, the SL Cricket team would have followed this model in preparation for the 1996 WC, by unfreezing the status quo of opening the batting with technically correct batters. This process was further analysed and found that scoring runs while consuming overs would pressurise the middle order and tail-enders, during the final onslaught. A different approach was going to be introduced
Making Changes
The Sri Lankans introduced batters with a cavalier approach, to open the innings, giving them the freedom to score runs freely and aggressively, thus making a change to the conventional batting order. This was a novel idea and would have received the support of every member of the team.
Refreeze the new status quo
SL cricket soon adopted this change of batting order. The team had already seen results of this change in their encounters at home and away, prior to the WC. The Team refreezed the new status quo of opening with cavalier batting.
5. Contingency Planning
Generally, a contingency planning process involves actions of predicting what can go wrong and having alternate solutions readily available. An excellent contingency plan was evident in the SL Cricket team at the 1966 WC. When one of the two aggressive batsmen got out, a solid left hand batsman replaced him, to be followed by the best of the batters. The contingency plan worked very well in the Semifinals, when the 2 openers were out in the first 2 overs and the departure of the one-drop batsman saw the implementation of the plan, by changing the batting order, to avoid a further collapse and consolidate. This paved the way for SL to make a decent score to defend.
Highlighted above are 5 areas out of many concepts which successful cricket teams can provide examples for good Management practices.
Modern day Cricketers must prepare for new developments and adapt to changes taking place, but always maintain the true spirit of this great game.