Lives in Cricket No 52 - Schooled in Cricket (2nd edition)

166 what was happening. Maybe other star players whose perfectionism was not so great would have done better if they had done the same. When Johnny was coaching he would be serious and gently dogmatic. He taught the basics. A star tutee, Rodney Cass, told me that playing at a high level was mainly to do with doing the basics consistently and proficiently. It did not require too much sophistication. It should be stated that some of the players who benefited from Johnny’s provisions, not just those who had already achieved top level before attending, but some younger players, went more for cricket practice and never had private tuition from the master. Dickie Bird for example, found batting in the spinner’s net against bowlers such as Don Wilson and Jack Birkenshaw an inspiration and Johnny’s presence and him tossing up the occasional ball would be a bonus. Bird described to me with good humour how Johnny would be reluctant to teach the batsmen how to play his own bowling as he still wanted to get them out if they should meet in league cricket. But Dickie Bird was coached at Headingley by Arthur Mitchell and didn’t want to have any other individual coaching. Dickie Bird also told me how Johnny encouraged those practicing to discuss with each other their views, and this created a healthy learning environment. Bird felt he learnt a lot from Johnny though never wanting his individual coaching. Cass on the other hand was happy to learn from Mitchell, Leyland and Johnny Lawrence without issues. While batsmen must often have to concentrate on learning from one main source, every great player learns something, whether directly or indirectly, from more than one source. The narrowness of just having one source would be stultifying and hopeless to someone wanting to understand things from all angles. I believe this to be true in any walk of life, any art, any science, any craft and any sport or game. Johnny alone taught no-one to be great – but he certainly made mammoth contributions. He was inventive and A coach and those he influenced