Justin Langer's : Seeing the Sunrise, anyone's read it

[King]

If you haven't then I recommend getting a copy from your nearest book store. It is one of the best books I've read of late. Not only does it give good insights into cricket, it's an excellent book for all budding cricketers. It talks more of the mental side of the game with anecdotes. Of late the subject of the cricketers in their books has turned towards mental aspect of the game which is fantastic. Mark Richardson's "Thinking Negatively" is a great book. Unlike the rest of the cricket stars you will relate to Mark Richardson instantly. It's a great read and a very light hearted one too. Sorry it's a long read but I promise it's a good one. Here are few excerpts from Langer’s book : On Steve Waugh : Of Steve Waugh’s greatest traits, his ability to encourage me to be my best is without doubt the quality I am most thankful for. The day before my best innings in test cricket, I was summoned by the captain for a few words. I had been under pressure for my position in the team because I wasn’t in my best form and I doubted my ability to make it at test level. Looking me in the eyes, Steve said to me, ‘I want you to know that I want you in the team. The coach wants you in the team and your team-mates want you in the team. You are one of the best batsmen in Australia. Go out there, back yourself, and show everybody and yourself what a good player you are.’ These words made me feel like I was the king of the world and I felt I wanted to repay his faith with something special. With this faith came a sense that I was alive and ready to take on the challenge. Later that same morning, I was listening in on the pre-Test press conference when one of the journalists asked a question that made my face flush with embarrassment and frustration. He asked Steve, ‘Have you got any advice for Justing Langer, who is obviously out of form and probably on his last legs as a Test cricketer?’ The captain stared at the journalist and pronounced, ‘Yes, I have some advice for Justin Langer … I will be telling Justin Langer to stop reading your ****.’ It was blunt and crude, but forthright, too. Not only had Steve encouraged me in private; now he was also offering his total support to me in public. Here’s how Langer learnt how to deal with critics from Sachin Tendulkar : In Adelaide in 2003, I found myself in a discussion with the master batsman Sachin Tendulkar. India had just beaten us in a test match and Sachin was in our changing room drinking champagne. Seizing the opportunity, I asked one of the world’s most fanatically supported cricketers how he dealt with the media, and in particular the critics. At the time, Sachin was experiencing an unusually lean streak with the bat. He said : Justin, I don’t read the press. I don’t listen to the critics and I don’t watch people’s opinion on the television. What I have learned is that I know how I am going and I don’t need anyone else to remind me. If I am playing well I don’t need anyone to tell me, and if I am playing poorly I don’t need anyone to tell me that either. As long as I am honest with myself then I am my best judge. I don’t need anyone lese to tear me down or build me up anymore. For a long time, I felt this approach was a difficult one to adopt. People would tell me not to read the press and I would reply, ‘If I don’t read it then I will inevitably hear the opinion second – or third hand, so I might as well read it myself.’ Often the people who suggested the media isolation strategy were people who had no real idea what it was like to be in the public eye. It’s all right for you to say that, I’d think to myself, but it’s not you they are talking about. But when the great Sachin Tendulkar suggested I have a go at ignoring the press, I sat up and listened. Australia’s next tour was to Sri Lanka and, as fate would have it, I was having a tough time scoring runs. In the past, the worse I was playing, the more I’d scour the papers and the internet to see what people were saying about me, but this time whenever I was tempted to look, I thought of Sachin’s advice and left it alone. I found that I felt very liberated. I knew I wasn’t playing as well as I would have liked, and I trusted myself to get on with the job and do what I had to do to get myself back among the runs. I have learned that it takes courage to stand above any criticism and let it go with a smile on my face. As long as I know that I am working hard, then that takes away anything anyone else can say about me. Criticism can be very fickle. One day, it can be black; the next, it can be white. If you have a good day today, you will invariably be praised and applauded for your performance. Unfortunately, the same is true if you have a bad day, and the fact you were excellent a day or two before will count for nothing. If you don’t play well then you will invariably be criticized or condemned. I eventually learned that if I didn’t take things too personally and understood how the media/fans merry-go-round works then I could get on with my job in a much more peaceful way. It goes without saying that criticism will hurt; of course it does. But keeping things in perspective helps lighten the load. As long as I know I am the one in the cauldron training hard and doing my best then I have nothing to worry about. As Theodore Roosevelt implied, it is easier for people to criticize than face the music themselves – just as it is easier to demolish a house than build one. Have you ever noticed that it can take many months to build a new house and yet that same house can be knocked to the ground within minutes by a natural disaster or a bulldozer? A beautiful tree that has grown for 10, 20, 50 or 100 years can be cut down in a matter of minutes. The lesson is that it takes courage, strength, discipline, time perseverance and wisdom to build a career, a home, a reputation, a character and a life, yet you can be assured it can be taken down in a short time by a silly action, an ignorant person, a poor choice, a disease or an accident. We must always be on guard and have our eyes fixed on where we are going and what we want to be, otherwise the fickleness of the critic, or of life, may strike when we least expect it. However, if I am out there, day in, day out, adding another brick to the wall, then I can stand taller and prouder than the critic who is sitting back with a poison pen, knocking me down while I am getting dirty, but better.

[Ram]

Wow, those are certainly inspiring pieces. Thanks Ravi!

[Chandan]

Looks like it is a fantastic book. I'll buy it now! Thanks Ravi!

[King]

Looks like it is a fantastic book. I'll buy it now! Thanks Ravi!

You really should. I promise you won't keep the book down till you complete it in one single read. It's small enough to be read in one go. What I have posted above is hardly anything, most chapters are fantastic. It's a book that gives fantastic insight and foray into cricketer's mind, what ticks them, what troubles them and how they overcome it. I've read every possible cricket material out there but Justing Langer's Seeing the Sunrise and Mark Richardson's "Thinking Negatively" rank very high. They both are awesome reads.

[The Outsider]

Those are superb excerpts. Thanks for sharing, Ravi. Not sure how easy it will be to get the book in the US but will surely try to get hold of it.

[Lurker]

Excellent excerpts. Thanks much for sharing. I was a little perplexed by Sachin's stance of not reading anything on his failure, even from respected peers. I personally find it quite aloofish, almost borderline selfish. Then again considering what Sachin has achieved over the years it would be hilarious to debate his modus operandi. Any inputs on bowlers Langer respected the most? And mention of some unsung Australian cricketers, players who were good but couldnt make it big time?

[The Outsider]

I was a little perplexed by Sachin's stance of not reading anything on his failure, even from respected peers. I personally find it quite aloofish, almost borderline selfish. Then again considering what Sachin has achieved over the years it would be hilarious to debate his modus operandi.

He has worked one on one with Gavaskar in the past during slumps and has generally been keen on talking to some of his peers as well. Don't see what he would gain further by reading sensationalistic, ghost written garbage in the media which he cannot through personal interaction. No doubt, it would require immense will power to stay away from it.

[Ram]

Just because someone has the tag of 'media' attached to 'em, doesnt mean their opinions on cricket need to make sense. Besides, 99% of the media is just after TRPs anyways and are least bothered about offering object cricketing opinion. I am sure Sachin does read the opinions of a select few, but ignores the rest of the munadane majority. But the case with Sachin is, even long-time cricketing pundis got it terribly wrong when he was going through that slump during early 2007. Ian Chappell said something along the lines of 'Sachin has nothing left to do. If he thinks he isnt contributing to the team, he should go'. Sanjay Manjrekar was even more vitriolic in his comments in cricinfo. There was once a time when Mankrekar took repeated pot-shots at Sachin. Even a long-time Sachin supporter like Rohit Brijnath called for Sachin to self-introspect. But, the champion that he is, SRT proved 'em all wrong. Less than 10 months after he called for Sachin to reconsider his place in the team, Brijnath wrote this; 'Tendulkar still teaching lessons There is no weaseling out of this: I was wrong about Sachin Tendulkar. Earlier this year, his struggle painful to watch, I wondered: if he couldn’t mirror the exalted standard of his past, then why play? It was a miscalculation of the rage that courses through the uncommon athlete’s veins. Even now, across continents, you can hear the hum of Tendulkar’s desire. For just playing. For runs. For winning. He knows that the great athlete has to prove himself, constantly, that we’re not interested in his yesterdays but only his todays. . . . . What does Tendulkar play for? Team, himself, pride, records? Maybe he plays because part of him is just a boy who finds himself when bat meets ball. Maybe he plays because of a boy agog in the stands. Maybe he has summoned this last reservoir of energy to show a kid, now old enough to understand, why, for 18 years, the world has made such a fuss about his father. ' http://www.hinduonnet.com/2007/11/21/stories/2007112163162100.htm

[Fontaine]

It's true, matters of great concern should be treated lightly and matters of small concern should be treated seriously.

[DomainK]

Excellent excerpts. Thanks much for sharing. I was a little perplexed by Sachin's stance of not reading anything on his failure, even from respected peers. I personally find it quite aloofish, almost borderline selfish. Then again considering what Sachin has achieved over the years it would be hilarious to debate his modus operandi. Any inputs on bowlers Langer respected the most? And mention of some unsung Australian cricketers, players who were good but couldnt make it big time?

He has worked one on one with Gavaskar in the past during slumps and has generally been keen on talking to some of his peers as well. Don't see what he would gain further by reading sensationalistic' date=' ghost written garbage in the media which he cannot through personal interaction. No doubt, it would require immense will power to stay away from it.[/quote'] Lurker, he did not say that he does not read anything on his failure. He said he simply does not read/listen what the media in general has to say. The media always misleads. Media always exaggerates. They over do both praises and negative criticism and it invariably has a negative impact on the player's psychology. WHat Tendulkar does is evidence of character and tremendous will power. Most of his peers are his personal friends and if they have something to say, like Shwetabh pointed out, they can say personally. So, if a Gavaskar or a Dravid believes that he has a genuine piece of advice that can Help Tendulkar, they will communicate personally. They don't need a newspaper or a news channel or a website to get it through to Tendulkar. Everything else is truly immaterial. Tendulkar knows his game better than journalists and forum members do. He is a genius.:adore:

[Lurker]

First of all I would like to clear couple of things: a) I have not read Langer's book so my comments are strictly contextual. b) Quite possible there is lot more to Sachin's philosphy than what he shared with Justin. That said lets look at the following line(s)

Justin, I don’t read the press. I don’t listen to the critics and I don’t watch people’s opinion on the television. What I have learned is that I know how I am going and I don’t need anyone else to remind me.

Now lets stop being defensive for a second and be honest. How many people would read the above line(s) and not exactly wonder - Hey wait a minute arent you being toooooooo self-confident here?? My issue with Sachin's thoughts are 2 pronged: 1) He is suggesting,in his very own words, that he knows how he is doing and needs noone else to remind him. That is just not correct. It doesnt matter if you are Einstein or Roosvelt or Bradman or Jordan you definitely end up making some mistakes and then you need to be told that a mistake was made. Now this doesnt mean you read/hear every single article out there but it does mean that you have to be open to criticism and when Sachin says - I dont read press - what he is suggesting is that to him everyone from Arun Lal to Richie Benaud is in the same boat. 2) He doesnt suggest the support system that exists within the Indian team, and without. I would look past point 1 if I could see Sachin mentioning how he would much rather sit with Rahul Dravid, one of the all time greats, or Laxman or Kumble or Ganguly and make use of their experience/knowledge...or with Kirsten/Chappell. Shwetabh has hinted at Sunny and thats all good but there is little, or no mention of it at all. Hence my assertion. That all said as I have mentioned quite clearly that he has a modus operandi and if it works for him I am fine with it. xxx

[The_Black_Prince]

SR Tendulkar:

I don’t read the press. I don’t listen to the critics and I don’t watch people’s opinion on the television. What I have learned is that I know how I am going and I don’t need anyone else to remind me. If I am playing well I don’t need anyone to tell me, and if I am playing poorly I don’t need anyone to tell me that either. As long as I am honest with myself then I am my best judge.

I guess this means that Sachin will not read my opinion that he is again batting like a mediocre player in Sri Lanka.

[Guest BossBhai]

-- Removed on request of the user --

[Chandan]

2) He doesnt suggest the support system that exists within the Indian team, and without. I would look past point 1 if I could see Sachin mentioning how he would much rather sit with Rahul Dravid, one of the all time greats, or Laxman or Kumble or Ganguly and make use of their experience/knowledge...or with Kirsten/Chappell. Shwetabh has hinted at Sunny and thats all good but there is little, or no mention of it at all. Hence my assertion. That all said as I have mentioned quite clearly that he has a modus operandi and if it works for him I am fine with it. xxx

This is because Langer didn't ask Sachin about how he helps himself come out of lean phases and what helps he takes and who does he trust the most in helping him. Langers question was:

Seizing the opportunity, I asked one of the world’s most fanatically supported cricketers how he dealt with the media, and in particular the critics. At the time, Sachin was experiencing an unusually lean streak with the bat.

I hope you see the difference here.

[King]

First of all I would like to clear couple of things: a) I have not read Langer's book so my comments are strictly contextual. b) Quite possible there is lot more to Sachin's philosphy than what he shared with Justin. That said lets look at the following line(s) Now lets stop being defensive for a second and be honest. How many people would read the above line(s) and not exactly wonder - Hey wait a minute arent you being toooooooo self-confident here?? My issue with Sachin's thoughts are 2 pronged: 1) He is suggesting,in his very own words, that he knows how he is doing and needs noone else to remind him. That is just not correct. It doesnt matter if you are Einstein or Roosvelt or Bradman or Jordan you definitely end up making some mistakes and then you need to be told that a mistake was made. Now this doesnt mean you read/hear every single article out there but it does mean that you have to be open to criticism and when Sachin says - I dont read press - what he is suggesting is that to him everyone from Arun Lal to Richie Benaud is in the same boat. 2) He doesnt suggest the support system that exists within the Indian team, and without. I would look past point 1 if I could see Sachin mentioning how he would much rather sit with Rahul Dravid, one of the all time greats, or Laxman or Kumble or Ganguly and make use of their experience/knowledge...or with Kirsten/Chappell. Shwetabh has hinted at Sunny and thats all good but there is little, or no mention of it at all. Hence my assertion. That all said as I have mentioned quite clearly that he has a modus operandi and if it works for him I am fine with it. xxx

In this time and age you don't need critics to tell you what's going wrong with your cricket. Right after you are done with your inning you will have a DVD of your ball by ball inning ready for you to watch if you are an international cricketer. On top of it you have terrific coaching aids like Siliconcoach (that is the one used by most international cricket teams) you don't need a critic pointing out your deficiencies. Tendulkar in an interview mentioned he takes input from his team members not with standing if they are newbies. The media can be ruthless and mindless. You can see from the responses of Waugh what some section of the media deserves. Unfortunately Tendulkar is not Steve Waugh and he deals with the media differently. The men that recently have failed to put up with the critics and media are Vaughan and Collingwood. Imagine if they had mastered this art of ignoring the media? They would have been far successful than what they are right now. As an international sportsman you need terrific amount of single mindedness and the ability to only absorb constructive criticism otherwise it's only a matter of time you will end up a mental wreck. Tendulkar's been great because he's been able to handle the media better. Imagine you are in Rahul Dravid's shoes now. What's better? Reading the critics, columns and everything that suggests his best days are over or just relax do the mundane stuff and work hard at his game using his support staff for help? I would rather do the later because the critics often can be wrong given their knowledge of the game from inside the ring is almost nil. There is no two ways about it if you are an international cricketer, you have to forgo following the media and never ever take offense to anything that is said by the crowd outside the boundary. The comments you often hear from the crowd at a player fielding at the boundary is so terrible forget the player even some from the crowd can't bear with it.

[Lurker]

Probably a good idea to split the Sachin discussion into another thread since this has moved away from Langer's book.

As an international sportsman you need terrific amount of single mindedness and the ability to only absorb constructive criticism otherwise it's only a matter of time you will end up a mental wreck. Tendulkar's been great because he's been able to handle the media better.

Being an International Sportsman is not a year 2008 phenomenon Ravi. Kapil Dev and Sunny Gavaskar and Imran Khan and Viv Richards have all been there done that. And yes I would be interested in knowing if any of these, or other, past greats have made a blanket statement - I dont read press. Personally to me that is quite an ignorant statement to make(then again I am not Sachin tendulkar). I am not suggesting in the least that Sachin Tendulkar should start reading a Sanjay Jha but there are tons of excellent writers out there who can, and have, helped other players and Sachin is no exception.

Imagine you are in Rahul Dravid's shoes now. What's better? Reading the critics, columns and everything that suggests his best days are over or just relax do the mundane stuff and work hard at his game using his support staff for help? I would rather do the later because the critics often can be wrong given their knowledge of the game from inside the ring is almost nil. There is no two ways about it if you are an international cricketer, you have to forgo following the media and never ever take offense to anything that is said by the crowd outside the boundary. The comments you often hear from the crowd at a player fielding at the boundary is so terrible forget the player even some from the crowd can't bear with it.

Why are you thinking that every critics would say all of what you have said?? Is it possible that a good critic can actually point out why Dravid is failing?? Is it possible that a critic can actually be away from the politics that lies inside a team, specially Indian team, and can give an independent point of view?? This atitude of just shielding yourself from criticism is something I am completely at a loss to understand. Sachin saying he knows whats best, or worst, for him is a case when a person no matter how great he is can actually go very wrong. Maybe thats why he failed as a captain, probably should have been just a wee bit open. xxx

[King]

Is it possible that a good critic can actually point out why Dravid is failing?? Is it possible that a critic can actually be away from the politics that lies inside a team, specially Indian team, and can give an independent point of view?? This atitude of just shielding yourself from criticism is something I am completely at a loss to understand.

Yes it is possible to find that one critic that is constructive and can throw a lot of light but among tonnes of other critics that are there for sadistic pleasure the good ones do get lost. It can't be selected reading from the player's perspective. He will have to go through the **** to find gems but that's hard to do. Moreover you would rather rely on the support staff, mates, co-players for support rather than read reports from the media (most media men are burly huge guys that may not have played decent cricket at all) that gives no perspective nor has any understanding of the game from inside. I'd rather approach a mate in the team than a critic outside and particularly in the media. The likes of Justing Langer looked up to Matty Hayden and the Steve Waughs for support while the likes of Michael Clarke looks up to Langer for inputs with regards to his cricket.

Being an International Sportsman is not a year 2008 phenomenon Ravi. Kapil Dev and Sunny Gavaskar and Imran Khan and Viv Richards have all been there done that. And yes I would be interested in knowing if any of these, or other, past greats have made a blanket statement - I dont read press.

All the great cricketers of the past have been bothered by lunatic critics and mindless press. It is no secret. The best quote is from Sobers, the great all rounder of yesteryears when asked why he mentioned he wouldn't like to play cricket now, he said "Because of you folks" pointing at the media.

[fineleg]

Can one of you make a "scanned pdf" version of the book available via ICF?:P Many thanks to you :D ps: Is this book available in US?

[Online]

can I buy this in the US? Is it available in India? Thanks for the excerpts Ravi

[Holysmoke]

^ its on amazon