I’m no cricket expert.
I wouldn’t know a leg-break from a googly or a cover-drive from a hook, but some things are the same no matter what the sport.
And one of them is let criticism wash over you.
It’s something England captain Alastair Cook hasn’t been able to do this summer.
First of all he got into a war of words with Shane Warne.
Warne has had plenty to say over the last couple of years about Cook’s leadership, and earlier this summer Cook took him on.
And now this week, he has hit back at comments made by his old team-mate Graeme Swann.
It’s not easy sometimes, but it really is the best thing to say nothing at all about your critics.
In cricket terms, Cook should just give them a “straight bat”.
Yes, you can use words aimed in your direction to fire you up and prove people wrong, but don’t talk about them in public.
You can’t win.
The likes of Warne and Swann will always have the last word because they’re in the media.
And, whether you like it or not, they’re perfectly entitled to their opinion.
Cook obviously feels let down by Swann, in particular, because he used to share a dressing room with him, and has called him a “so-called friend”, but he has to remember that Swann has his own job to do now.
He is being paid for his comments.
I’ve been on both sides of the fence, and I will always try to be honest in my column or on the radio. If not, what’s the point?
The other point I would make is that Cook should try to avoid what the media are saying during a series for the good of his game.
That’s how we approached the Olympics. I didn’t know whether people thought we were doing a good job at Sochi, or the opposite. It didn’t matter.
Obviously, questions will be put to you at press conferences, but avoid everything else you can. That means not reading papers or going on social media.
Get yourself into a bubble and try not to let it be burst.
* We’re getting near to the start of the curling season now.
The guys are in Switzerland this week for their first tournament, and ours is in Canada in a couple of weeks.
By this time next week we’ll be back on the ice full-time.
It will be good to get into the routine of the season again after the summer.
We’ve got a new team member, Sarah Reid, this year and she’s already fitting in well.
We’ve had a few squad weekends, and Sarah is a pretty laid back girl as well as a talented curler.
She’s given us the commitment we needed by leaving her job as a nurse to go full-time. These days you have to be all-in. I’m sure Sarah will play an important part for us this year and in the future.
* I loved the story about the wee boy sending a letter to Ross Murdoch addressed “Ross Murdoch Commonwealth Champion”.
It’s great that he’s been tracked down after Ross put it out on Twitter, and he is coming down to Stirling to meet him.
I guess it shows the power of social media these days.
I still get mail coming in after Sochi, and a lot of the letters are from children, which is really nice.
Mind you, I’ve never had one just addressed “Eve Muirhead, Olympic medallist” though!
They come from here, there and everywhere. There are a lot of German curling fans out there!