KNOCKED BACK, BUT NOT OUT

Managing Deselection

For whatever reason deselection occurs, players can experience social, psychological, and emotional consequences. Dealing with these effects can be a challenge in itself, so how is best to go about it? PDM Sophie Connor explains.

Deselection is defined as the elimination of an athlete from a competitive team based on the decision of the coach. They must make a judgement about what is best for the player, the team and ultimately, what is going to help them achieve their goals.

As a player, you understandably want to be playing every game, showing everyone your skills and talent on the big stage, week in, week out. However, realistically, there might be times when you’re not selected and that can be a difficult pill to swallow. At first, you might feel upset, angry, disappointed or all different emotions rolled into one which you just can’t explain and that’s ok. Processing information like this is different for everyone.

Being deselected can knock your confidence and create a loss of identity. This is maybe just a small bump in your journey but focus on your strengths, look at positive past performances that reaffirm your ability, and ask your teammates one thing they think you’re good at. Cricket is a huge part of your identity, but not all of it and it’s important to remember that.

The best players in the world have run drinks on at some point in their career, in fact, it’s quite normal within cricket as there are so many uncontrollable factors that will impact the coach’s decision. Northamptonshire all-rounder Rob Keogh explains, “Deselection for any reason can be tough. Whether it’s injury, form or maybe nothing in particular. It happens to most players at some point in their careers. It can make you feel unwanted, not good enough, and lead to thoughts about your career potentially ending. The best way to bounce back is to use those emotions and disappointment to help you work harder to get back into the side, find out the reasons why you may have been left out and work hard to improve in that area. You can use the disappointment as determination to help you improve and get better as a player.”

When you’re not in that team environment, working on common goals on the pitch together, things can feel strange. Or if you’re in the match day squad, travelling and warming up with the team, wrapped up in the whirlwind of that environment but watching your teammates from the side-lines, it is absolutely going to be hard to manage. What else can you bring to the team off the pitch that can positively support the goal your teammates are trying to achieve on the pitch?

Deselection isn’t the end of the world, yes, you’ll feel different emotions but it’s how you react to the decision that shows your character and determination to succeed. Focus on the things you can control, your reaction, your attitude, your effort, and your commitment. Ask yourself, ok this is a setback but what am I going to do ahead of the next game? Ask the coach for clear feedback so you can set yourself some tangible targets to work towards.

Keep your head up, stay focused and if you need, talk things through independently with your PDM. We champion the ongoing interests of all professional cricketers and we’re here to support in any way we can.