Changing lives with Cricket.

Martial arts are often seen as sports for hard people who like to fight. Or sporty people who want to express themselves physically. But there is another side to martial arts and that is the intriguing philosophy underpinning the external manifestation. This philosophy often contains elements which help in forging character and development of the self. I'm sure that Funakoshi used this in licking young ne'er do wells into shape physically and mentally. Doshin So certainly used martial arts as a tool for forming people into socially responsible individuals.

But this is unique to martial arts owing to its philosophy and grounding in Buddhism which has important self-development doctrines, right?

Not quite. A cricket team in LA, USA, is using cricket as a vehicle to clean up gangster neighbourhoods. Established 15 years ago it is captained by a homeless activist, Ted Hayes, who feels that cricket has lessons for life which can show gangsters that there are other ways to live their lives.

Mr Hayes says, "We were... successful at teaching the homeless guys civility through the game".

Marvellous.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-12382224

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compton_Cricket_Club

Mind power: keeping clarity when others are trying to spoil your game

"The essence of good cricket is having a clear mind, so the strategy for the fielding side is to get the batsman thinking about other stuff - whether it's the runs he has or hasn't scored in the past, what his feet might be doing, what his head position might be, what the selectors might be thinking about him, what the crowd might be saying," explains Justin Langer, former (excellent IMO) Australia cricket opener.

"As soon as you start thinking about those things, you're away from having clarity in your mind. That's what sledging is for me - sowing some seeds of doubt in a player's mind. But if you're playing well, with that clarity, it can't touch you."

(Taken from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/tomfordyce/2010/12/revolution_in_the_head.html)

Interesting take on mind power: keep a clear mind when there is around you trying to put you off. This shows great self awareness too: confidence in your own abilities.

Ricky Ponting's fighting spirit

It's always great to beat the Aussies. Why? Well we're old rivals, it's clear to see, but also it's cos they're such bloody good athletes. As I type this on a sunny summer afternoon England are on the verge of winning the Ashes from them. It's not over and there is a *slim* possibility that they could see today out and bat all day tomorrow. But it's so slim that I wouldn't want to make a ham sandwich of that slice of slim-ness.

The amazing thing is though that the Aussies never give in. They have an amazing resilience in the face of adversity which has stood them in good stead in the past. At the opening of play today they were 80 for no wicket and the openers looked mighty comfortable. Even when they were sent from the field of play Ponting looked really in command. If it wasn't for an amazing run out Ponting, one of the best batsmen in the world and certainly a great captain, he may well have steadied the ship. The commentators never cease to say that the Aussies have the "stomach for a fight", "never say die" and this has been clear today with an incredibly solid fight back. They'll be kicking themselves over their first innings collapse of 160, something which has been attributed to English teams in the past.

If you're going to pick a fight with an Australian then make sure you know you're in for the long run.

And good luck.

Photo credit: Gary Weightman

Post match interview with Ponting. Note his tempered response regarding his runout.