LEFT ARM OVER
NEIL MANTHORP: International cricket must work harder to keep the best
Social media, cellphone cameras, floods of money and tighter playing schedules are some reasons things have changed so much for cricketers
Up until the last decade or so the delicate art of "managing" players was largely left to the captain with the assistance of a good vice-captain or senior pro. We’re talking emotional management, of course, not kit endorsements or contracts. Whatever the most enduring part of his legacy might be, Hansie Cronjé was an excellent mood manager, apparently able to recognise instantly whether one of his players needed praise, reassurance, a scowl or a bollocking. Everyone who played under him felt appreciated and understood. But it was towards the end of his captaincy reign that things started to change, when administrators could no longer be kept out of what had traditionally been "private" to the players. "What happens on tour/in the change room stays on tour/in the change room." That sort of thing. Social media and cellphone cameras are one reason things have changed — it’s hard to keep the lid on a player’s big night out when pictures of him with his shirt off in a nightclub have been...
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