No Team Chat for Harry Brook

Not the first Cricketer to reject Team Meetings

Kevin Pietersen may or may not have stared out of the window and whistled during an England team meeting in Australia before the fifth Test when they were 4-0 down at the end of the 2013-14 Ashes, but if he did it would not have been the first time a cricketer had struggled to concentrate in the format. Not many will have displayed their contempt more obviously.

It’s not just cricket which struggles with meetings. Businesses and politicians have been holding them for centuries, often out of habit. If they are just a product of ‘routine’, they’re not just a waste of time but often counter-productive.

My attention was drawn to Harry Brook’s comments on the eve of the second ODI against South Africa. Asked whether he had chatted to the squad after their mauling at Headingley, or even (whisper it) called a meeting, the England white-ball captain charged in off his long run:

“I’ll never have a team meeting, (they’re) the most over-rated things ever. We like to work individually, lads getting their analysis stuff individually. We like to keep things as simple as possible and I think having meetings can over-complicate things, people talking about the opposition too much and forgetting about what they do best,” Brook said.

Never? What, like, never?

“For me personally, a meeting is a waste of an hour. I’m not very good at sitting there and listening. I wasn’t very good at school and it’s always made me feel like going into a classroom. Personally, and for Baz as well, we don’t really like having meetings. Individual chats here and there mean more.”

It sounds extremely definitive and uncompromising. And very much from his own viewpoint. Fair enough about the ADD at school, he certainly isn’t alone there and, for many of us who became involved in sport, it’s not hard to empathise. I’ve sat through many editorial meetings convinced my head was going to explode. Sometimes, they’re held before every Test match. Even the limited overs games. Nightmare, honestly. Same old things repeated over and over again. You come to dread them and they can ruin the day.

And then come the exceptions which prove the rule, subject matter which genuinely concerns both the production crew and commentary team. How to handle sensitive subject matter, like the tribute day to Graham Thorpe before the second day of the Oval Test between England and India. That was a meeting I was grateful for.

England had won just seven out of 21 ODIs before the second match against South Africa at Lord’s and their performance was embarrassing to the point of negligence in the first match at Headingley. That might have been reason enough to have a little team chat - together. Maybe, and maybe not. But even if there is a common ‘understanding’ amongst a group, sometimes it helps to confirm it. There’s no hard in reassurance.

The major point to make, perhaps, is the one made by the man who brought Brook’s comments to my attention, a veteran of the county circuit as both a player and coach. He was perturbed (to say the least) by Brook’s comments but suggested that the player’s attitude could be attributed to ‘history’ as much as his own shortcomings.

“What he said is probably a sad reflection on his own experiences. He’s right, of course, about long, dull, predictable team meetings. They extract energy rather than provide it. But why has he sat through so many like that? Talking and listening as a team is important to its progress and the development of individual players.

“Boring, uninspiring meetings are the responsibility of the coaches and managers, not the fault of players who can’t concentrate through them. Some of the best meetings can last less than 10 minutes, five even. All the individual chats have taken place, that’s where the most important work is done.

“The team meeting can just be a rubber stamp, a chance for everyone to look into a mate’s eyes, and for them to look into his, and say: ‘right, we’ve all chatted and we know we have each other’s backs. We’re a team and we stand by each other’. It doesn’t have to be much, but it can make a difference,” said the coach.

Harry Brook is learning how to be an international captain on the job, which can’t be easy. He may, perhaps, reflect on the comments above and consider that his view of ‘meetings’ may not be shared by his teammates. And that ‘his way’ is not necessarily ‘the way’ to get the best out of them.