"You have to play a good level of cricket to understand what the players are going through" - Mike Hesson on role of head coach

Former New Zealand head coach Mike Hesson believes that it helps if a coach has played competitive cricket, as he will be able to understand what the players are going through.

He revealed that when he started preparing to be a coach, he would bat against the likes of Shane Bond. Hesson also suggested that it is important to have a good team of support staff who can share their experiences with the cricketers.

Speaking on the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) podcast, he explained:

"You have to play a good level of cricket to understand what the players are going through. When I started preparing, I faced Shane Bond and a lot of other international players, so I understand the feeling of what it's like in terms of playing that extreme pace, being under pressure, the anxiety levels and how you cope with it and dealing with the ups and downs of failure and success.

"You need to understand that and need to have felt that to be able to share, but you also need to have a really good group of coaches around you at this level. So if a player does require that from a coach in terms of sharing some experiences, then there are other people in better positions than me to do that. As a coach, you need to accept that as well."

Hesson served as the head coach of the Blackcaps team for more than seven years. He was at the helm of the New Zealand side when they made it to the final of the ICC ODI World Cup in 2015.

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"You need to understand where to intervene" - Mike Hesson on where the coach needs to step in

Mike Hesson further stated that a head coach needs to be aware of where and when he needs to step in to help a particular player.

He emphasized that understanding comes with a lot of experience. Elaborating on the role of a coach, he said:

"If there is an issue with a player, along that continuum of skill, you need to understand where to intervene. If you haven't coached at a lot of different levels, you don't understand where and when. You can see the problem but you don't know how to fix it.

"That's the advantage of coaching for 25 years and coaching for different people and different levels is you understand the skill in its entirety. So you know when to say nothing and just let it evolve, and if you are going to intervene, how and when is the challenge of coaching."

Hesson is the current Director of Cricket Operations at RCB and will be with the Bangalore-based side in the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2023).