Prominent cricket figure, Michael William Gatting or fondly known as Mike Gatting, made a short visit to the Malaysian Cricket Association (MCA) for a training session with the national Under-19 team who will be participating in the ACC Youth U19 ASIA Cup 2017.
 
During his session with the boys, he shared that all training sessions – even at the nets – must be considered as a real match; to make sure players always have their heads in the game. They practiced their bowling and batting for two hours, where Mike observed and corrected any mistakes.
“We can’t change too much in a day, but his advice will definitely carry us through,” said Virandeep Singh, Malaysia’s Under-19 captain. He finds having former international cricketers coming over isn’t much about enhancing their skills, but more to getting them motivated and mentally prepared for the tournament.
 
Mike’s years with cricket as England’s national player, captain and now advocator, has made him the cricket expert he is today. He took some time after the training to sit with us and spoke about attitudes, winning mindset, healthy lifestyle and education.
Malaysian Cricket Association President; Mahinda Vallipuram, said that he sees the visit as an opportunity for players to receive new skills and techniques from a renowned cricketer as a preparation booster for the upcoming ACC Youth U-19 ASIA Cup; where they will play against the likes of India and Pakistan. He also expressed how playing against test nation teams is good exposure and a form of developing their cricket skills – which is in line with ACC’s objective of organizing this tournament.
 
Mike advised the players to always have a positive mindset – to walk into the pitch to win.
“Believe you can win”, Mike said before he left. “If you yourself don’t believe, then there is no winning for you.” 
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