 Then comes that off break again, and the batsman hooks it hard and high over those short leg fieldsman, but not over deep square leg. Even if we ignore terms like silly mid-on, LVW and googly, one has to admit that test match cricket is, well, unique. And while some may find a sport that takes up to five days to complete arduous, for those who love the game it is full of drama. It is not just talent that determines the outcome of the game, but also the type and condition of the pitch, the weather, and even the make of the ball. So in a game where there are so many factors, making the right decision at the right time seems difficult, but it's often the difference between winning and losing. We asked Jonathan Connor, a specialist in skills acquisition with Cricket Australia, to help explain how captains, bowlers and batsmen make good decisions. As a researcher, using sport as a vehicle to investigate complex, conceptual-motor decision-making in humans is just incredible. Just the fact that we're able to take people who have practised their sport for five, 10, 15 years and then investigate what it is that practice has done to them, whether it's neurologically or even their coordination patterns, to understand what it is that separates those who become experts, international level players, and those who don't. Cricket is a game where batsmen and bowlers usually take centre stage, but it's the captains who have the most influence, constantly making decisions that could change the game. In terms of the mindset of captains, it often depends on the circumstances of the game. The captain and the coach will always have an ultimate goal that they're trying to achieve, whether it be dismissing a team for a certain amount of runs, or perhaps if the opposition's in a really dominant position, it may just be limiting the number of runs that they score. Finds the gap as well. Aggression from Vince. So often what we see with Test Match Cricket is teams always trying to adapt to one another, so at different time periods of the game, you'll often see different strategies employed. And this requires the captain to be especially attuned to the situation of the game. The captain has to judge what he might think the batter is thinking, the position of the game, the pitch conditions, the ball, sort of judging who has the momentum, who is on top, and ultimately what their goal is, whether it's to take wickets early or limit the scoring run rate. One of the first decisions captains have to make is to choose whether to bat or bowl first if they win the toss. And this will mainly depend on the pitch. Each pitch has its own unique characteristics and almost has a reputation for what the ball might do on that particular surface. So often captains and coaches will have a pretty good idea of what to expect. But of the day of the game, they'll often inspect the pitch and basically make a decision as to whether they're going to bat or bowl first. And what they're probably often looking for is how much sort of moisture is in the pitch, how many cracks are appearing, and probably pretty importantly where those cracks might appear. Here's Harris. Oh, wow! Now I think they might have hit a crack. One thing in Australia we're quite well known for is that it's usually faster and bouncier, while the bowlers may have the advantage very early on in the day when the ball is new and the pitch is nice and green and soft towards the back end of the day and day two. You'd expect that the pitch gets a bit drier and a bit harder and will ultimately be an advantage for the batting team at the time. Which is why captains usually like to bat first. Since the first test between England and Australia in 1877, teams have chosen to bat first about 70% of the time. But results from more than 2000 test matches indicate no decisive advantage with the chance of winning, losing and drawing the game about the same whether teams bat first or second. The choices made by the fielding captain will have more influence on the game than the toss of the coin. Fielding captains at the start of a game are often thinking quite strategically in terms of being very attacking in their mindset. So you can imagine at the start of the game with new batters coming in, they're not a climatiser, a custom or a tune to the surface, the opposition bowlers, so they're probably at their most vulnerable. Hence why fielding captains would look to set the most attacking fields. Now this might look like large gaps in certain areas to encourage the batter to play quite expansive shots. Could have anywhere between three to four slips. The cover region is often left without too many fielders and that's to encourage some vertical bat shots that are often quite risky early on in the innings. The other one is the leg side. Now often captains will leave that area uncovered so batters can play across the line of the ball, which is also quite at high risk early on. He said it's straight to midweek if there was a juggle on. As the game rolls on, the captain will employ different attacking methods. Often the ball will become a bit older and perhaps be swinging a little bit less. So the captain might employ some spin bowlers or even part-time bowlers that the batter is not quite accustomed to. Another important decision for the captain is to choose when to take the new ball, which the fielding team can do after 80 overs. In most circumstances, this opportunity will be taken, but captains might delay taking the new ball if the old one is causing issues for the batsman. There have been some uncommon scenarios where the fielding team might opt to stay with the older ball. This might happen when the ball is reverse swinging or the spin bowlers are able to collect a lot of essentially spin and dip. Often if they do, it'll only be for a limited number of overs before taking the new ball. The number of decisions captains have to make does not end there. Test match cricket is a game where players need to constantly adapt and change their game plan. And while we often hear the term natural talent used by commentators, the ability to perform and make good decisions under pressure actually comes from practice and experience. One of the really crucial things about decision-making is that no one is born to become an expert. It takes years of practice and dedication, highly motivated individuals who are resilient to non-selection and other challenges that all athletes eventually face. And often we talk about the game is the best teacher for captains and for players learning to make decisions and learning from their mistakes. It's gone for it! There it is! When we talk about the number of hours players have practiced, again, you might have some players who achieve international level after accumulating four to six thousand hours of practice, while others might take the ten thousand hour rule that was often sprouted by Gladwell in his book Outliers. So the idea that overall practice hours is what makes an expert is certainly not something we sort of believe in. What we really advocate for is quality practice to develop those sort of decision-making skills in both captains and players. But getting access to quality practice and coaching might not be as straightforward as one might think. If you can imagine any talent biases that exist at a junior level, just get amplified. So the biggest one being that we're finding that kids who are considered all-rounders are more likely to make teams. Because let's say they don't do too well at batting, but their bowling is quite well. They get selected, they get more coaching, get more resources, more opportunities and essentially leave behind those that sort of don't get selected. But one thing we are finding, especially with something called the relative age effect, which is where we have a propensity as talent selectors to pick kids who are born in the first three to six months of the year and not select those born in the last three months of the year. Once we get to state level, what we find is that there's an evening out. So those born in the last three months of the year still make it into our state domestic system and those abundant first quartile born players are the ones that are more likely to get cut and not make it to the top level. Being born in the last three months of the year, constantly having adversity, facing challenges, playing against people older than yourself, helps you to sort of make it to the top.