RN : Daniel Bell Drummond, you had a highly successful England youth career and were once described as the ‘most exciting young batsman’ from the country. How have you managed the expectations over the years that come with being a professional cricketer who is close to knocking on the door of international cricket?
DBD: I have always had high expectations of myself and from others. Growing up, it was difficult at times to deal with the pressure but I grew more accustomed to it and have definitely taken it in my stride. It is a great thing to be spoken about positively as someone having high potential to go far. I have certainly enjoyed the hype to some degree.

In the last 5 years a lot has changed, where sometimes I am seen as someone who has not lived up to my potential because I have not played for England (yet), however, I am able to separate myself from this. I am very proud of the career I have had thus far and I trust that there are a lot more good days ahead. I still have personal goals too that I want to achieve on my cricketing journey.

RN : How do you prepare for a game the day/night before? Are there any specific routines or drills you follow to get yourself in the zone both skillswise and mentally?
DBD : From a training perspective, I will train accordingly to make sure I am in a good place with my game. I like to face the sling & go through some batting drills to make sure I am ticking all the right boxes. The night before, I will go through the opposition players and figure out which bowlers I will come up against. I will visualize batting against them. I prefer having a quiet evening and being in my own space so that I am feeling focused for the next day.

RN : How does your training differ during the off-season vs during the season when there are plenty of games on?
DBD : In the off season, I tend to work on different things. Sometimes I will re-model my game by changing my trigger or backswing. It is a great time to start afresh as I am out of competition, so I am always looking to expand on what I have. Last winter, I worked on my white ball game in particular, improving my range hitting and sweeps.

During the season with the schedule being hectic, I tend to stick with my drills and really focus on the basics to put me in the best place for the next match. I try playing the odd club game or friendly to work on little changes so that I can get a feel of how things work in match situations when the pressure is a lot less than a professional game.

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