Following Yorkshire failing to clinch victory against Hampshire at the Rose Bowl man of the match Younus Khan was interviewed by BBC reporter Kevin Howells. In his rather broken English the Pakistani right-hander explained how despite scoring more than 300 runs and taking four wickets he was disappointed to not to be on the winning team.
Having players with winning mentalities is crucial to sporting success. It seems obvious that all professional sportsmen would want to win and be successful. However there is a difference between wanting to win and being prepared to do anything to be victorious.
It's a sliding scale. One player may want to win a match, but another may be desperate to and will run faster, concentrate harder and go further to achieve victory. It's often said about sporting teams in cup matches that one team 'wanted it more' than the other.
Peter Schmeichel the Danish goalkeeper who was the backbone to Manchester United's many years of success spent one of his final playing seasons at mid-table Aston Villa. The charismatic 'keeper publicly condemned the Villa players saying they had no desire to win matches. He said by losing they actually reduced pressure on themselves because expectations were lowered. Losing was easier. Schmeichel had spent years in the Old Trafford dressing room surrounded by winners such as Roy Keane and Alex Ferguson and the difference was clearly more than Schmeichel could take.
Looking at the current Yorkshire team it is good to see there are characters who are used to winning. Younus Khan is one of the best batsmen in the world and has been vice captain of Pakistan, a country where cricketing victory is expected. Captain Darren Gough, despite being in his twilight years, has never settled for second place giving his all for England and inspiring Essex to one-day silverware. Craig White and Matthew Hoggard have both been part of successful England teams surrounded by other determined 'winners' such as Dominic Cork and Andrew Flintoff. Australians are known for their win-at-all-costs mentality and having Jason Gillespie in the team must also be positive. After sharing dressing rooms with Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, Ricky Ponting and Steve Waugh and being the 5th most prolific Aussie test bowler I can't imagine he will tolerate less than determined play from his Yorkshire team mates.
Hopefully these older players can pass on not only their cricket ability but also their winning mentality to Yorkshire's new generation. Whether Adil Rashid, Joe Sayers and Tim Bresnan will be prepared to go the extra mile to secure victory time will tell. But having an environment in which victory is expected and forging a winning habit can only help.
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