As the County cricket season gets underway, Jim Troughton talks to me about his hopes for his second year as captain of Warwickshire.
I think Warwickshire have a very good chance of winning the Championship this season. We can take confidence from a great season last year where we came so close to winning the title.
Obviously it was disappointing, when you get that close you look back on matches, opportunities, and lost games. But although it was a bitter pill to swallow, it's still a great feeling to get to that position. It was exciting right up to the last game, so we're hungry for that to happen again. Hopefully we can be as consistent and ruthless this season. But a lot of hard work needed to go in over the winter to make sure we prove that it wasn't just a one off.
The main thing that we did last year was never really look too far ahead of ourselves; we didn't look at our position in the table until coming up to the last game. I think if we can do that again this year; just think about winning each delivery, and then the overs, the sessions, and the days take care of themselves.
We've made a couple of signings this winter: Chris Wright on a full contract after his performances last year, and Jeetan Patel as our overseas player for the whole season. The guys that performed last year now need to put in the performances again this year. That's always the challenge, to come back and be as consistent as before. We've got batters who can bat long periods, bowlers who can get 20 wickets, and a good clutch of all-rounders as well. I don't want to pick anyone out; the whole point of last year was that it was massive squad effort. We had quite a few call-ups to Lions duties, Ireland duties and the full international side.
Last year we probably looked ahead of ourselves in the one-day format, instead of concentrating on where we were as a team. We didn't adapt as quickly as we would've liked to accepting that our formula had changed somewhat. The previous year, when we did very well in one-day cricket, Bell and Trott were a constant, Neil Carter wasn't injured like he was a lot of last season, and we had Imran Tahir in the middle overs taking wickets. So we've done a lot of planning this winter and been very specific on our one-day skills and identifying a bit more role definition for the guys.
I've been in the game long enough to accept that we have to switch quickly between formats. The T20's are all in a clutch so that's good; you have time to focus on one format for a tournament. The year before I was the full captain I captained the T20's, so that helped me. I think if you come out of that unscathed it puts you in good stead for the other forms.
The most hectic time for me as a captain and player is day one of a championship match. I have to get my routine done nice and early so it gives me enough time to assess the conditions, pick the final 11 and decide what we are going to do at the toss. Days two, three and four then take care of themselves. One thing I learnt last year was to be able to dedicate a twenty minute period to myself.
I've enjoyed being captain much more than I thought I would. I'd been a bit reluctant previously, but I just felt the time was right. Being able to have an effect in the field, make decisions, change games and work with the players, that has helped my own game in a way. It takes my mind off it; sometimes you can get it bit self-involved in your own technique and game.
The guys think the new facilities at Edgbaston are fantastic. They love the changing rooms and we really feel at home now. We've had the winter to settle in, and we've got even more growth to do into it as the season goes on. We're very much looking forward to this summer kicking in.
I'm not heavily involved in the financial side of things at Warwickshire, but the cricket's healthy. That's first and foremost my job, my role, to make sure Warwickshire cricket club as a cricket side are going in the right direction and on the same page. Primarily we are a cricket club and the performances on the pitch are my responsibility. The club are well behind us and hopefully the members are too.
The relationship between the captain and the coach is crucial to any team. I'm very lucky with Ashley Giles, Graeme "Pop" Welch, Dougie Brown, Chris Armstrong who is the Strength and Conditioning Coach, and Gerhard Mostert who's the physio. The relationship there is a very strong one with longevity, we've had five years with this management structure. The guys know each other from playing days as well as post playing days. We've got to a point with the club where we are very good at self-policing ourselves. We know what's expected, we've got a set of standards that run through the club the team. That puts us in good stead, and hopefully we can leave a legacy.
Cricket is full on year round now. Gone are the days of turning up March 1st nice and fit and go on from there. We were back in the first week of November for testing. December was fitness based to get ourselves up to a better level than we were last Christmas, which we achieved. That allowed us to be more specific with our cricket skills in January and February. Now we are looking forward to a nice trip to Barbados, one of the sacrifices we have to make!
That trip for me last year was great as a new captain. It enabled me to bond with the guys and put into place some of the things that I wanted to as captain. Hopefully it's the same this year; I'll be able to reinforce a few things and we'll be able to work on our one-day game and strengthen our four day game. What's brilliant about the pre season trip is that you can train very hard, the facilities are fantastic, and there are a lot of counties out there so you're playing against top quality opposition and getting outside, which is a bonus. Then on the other side of that, you get time to have meetings with your bowling coach and the individual bowlers, batting group and team meetings. And you have a bit of fun as well which is great for younger lads who are new at the club, or new signings who the guys don't know very well. Everyone then feels that much closer off the field, which always helps with performance on the field.
I'd like to keep playing for as long as my body will let me. Hopefully that dictates how long my career goes rather than anything else. I'm enjoying what I'm doing now, I'm enjoying my cricket and I'm enjoying my captaincy. I've only ever worked in two year periods, which usually is how long contracts last for. I've got in my mind how long I'd like to keep going, whether I'll share that with people is another thing!
I have many options after I retire. We've had PCA funded seminars on the subject of transitional modes from cricket to beyond. It's about finding out what you think will keep you as interested as playing cricket did, whether that's coaching, teaching or something else. I feel that I owe the game something. The captaincy that I've taken on is very close to man management and a stepping-stone towards head coach of a team, so it's something that I am very interested in, along with other options.
But as far as I'm concerned I've got two years on my contract which I am fully committed to. I want to be putting in the performances, and hopefully improving Warwickshire as a squad and as a team.