The Cricket Mentoring Podcast · Cricket Mentoring

How a Big Bash team prepares for a final + What makes Steve Smith so special

·30 min·1 clip

Steve Smith says his T20 turnaround is 'mostly mindset' and he plays with 'complete freedom'.

1. The Cricket Mentoring Podcast episode focuses on Skulls’ experience with the Sydney Sixers around the Big Bash final at Optus Stadium. 2. Liam Hindle hosts and asks the questions, while Skulls speaks as a coach and mentor who was invited into the Sixers environment. 3. The episode asks how the Sixers prepared for a final and what makes Steve Smith so distinctive in T20 cricket. 4. Skulls says Josh Phillippe called him when the Sixers were down a coach and asked him to help when the team came to Perth. 5. He checked with Adam Voges, who told him to go for it because he was not contracted with WA Cricket. 6. Skulls says Greg Shippard, Josh Phillippe, and the Sixers staff used him as an extra pair of hands for throwing and fielding work. 7. He describes being involved the day before the game, at the training session, and again on game day. 8. On the training day, he says the team did fielding on the outfield, then nets, then a team meeting. 9. On game day, he says players arrived in waves from 1.30 pm for a 4.30 pm start and followed different routines before the toss. 10. He notes the final was played at Optus Stadium in front of a record 55,000 crowd in Western Australia. 11. Skulls says the preparation around the final was individualized rather than uniform for every player. 12. He compares the season schedule to the NBA, with constant travel and very little time for extra training. 13. He says Steve Smith and Mitchell Starc were managed differently because they came off a heavy Ashes season. 14. He says Smith now goes for weeks without picking up a bat, which he thinks leaves Smith mentally fresh. 15. Skulls says the best players sit in a calm-but-focused state before batting, including Smith, Daniel Hughes, Josh Phillippe, Moses Enriquez, and Jack Edwards. 16. He says Smith kept asking, 'what's the time?' while waiting to bat, but still looked relaxed and ready. 17. Skulls argues that elite players can 'flick a switch' from casual conversation to performing against 140 kph bowling. 18. He says the best players are usually 30-plus because they have refined technique, tactics, and emotional control over time. 19. Listeners who like cricket mindset, preparation, and Steve Smith will get the most from it. 20. Listeners wanting match tactics without player-development detail may skip it.

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