Talent wins moments. Application wins matches.
27 November 2025
I was in Perth this week watching England play. From an English perspectiveโฆ painful.
And hereโs the irony: this was ๐๐ฏ๐จ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅโ๐ด opportunity. Australia came in with two players injured, and lost two more during the match. They were effectively held together by tape - and sheer will.
Yet look at Starc and Head. They played almost single-handedly at timesโฆ and they ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ช๐ฆ๐ฅ themselves:
โฌ๏ธ ๐ฆ๐บ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐
โฌ๏ธ ๐๐ถ๐ด ๐บ๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐
โฌ๏ธ ๐ฃ๐น๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐บ
England had extraordinary talent - world-class players - but some batters didnโt match the moment:
โฌ๏ธ ๐๐ถ๐ฑ๐ปโ๐ ๐ฝ๐น๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐๐๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป
โฌ๏ธ ๐๐ถ๐ฑ๐ปโ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ฝ๐
โฌ๏ธ ๐๐ถ๐ฑ๐ปโ๐ ๐ฝ๐น๐ฎ๐ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐บ
It reminded me of something I see with leaders:
๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ผ๐บ ๐๐ถ๐๐ต๐ผ๐๐ ๐ท๐๐ฑ๐ด๐ฒ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ.
๐ง๐ฎ๐น๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐๐ถ๐๐ต๐ผ๐๐ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฝ๐น๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ๐ ๐ณ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ด๐ถ๐น๐ถ๐๐.
๐๐ป๐ฑ โ๐ฝ๐น๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ป๐ฎ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐น ๐ด๐ฎ๐บ๐ฒโ ๐ถ๐๐ปโ๐ ๐ฎ ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ด๐.
Hereโs the simple formula behind it all:
๐ง๐ฎ๐น๐ฒ๐ป๐ ร ๐๐ฝ๐ฝ๐น๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป = ๐ข๐๐๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ๐
If a Talented individual scores 1 out of 10 for application, their max score is ๐ญ๐ฌ.
For me? I'd prefer an average talent (6/10) who applies themselves (9/10) = ๐ฑ๐ฐ.
The maths is unforgiving: ๐๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐๐ฎ๐น๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐๐ถ๐๐ต ๐น๐ผ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฝ๐น๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฐ๐ผ๐น๐น๐ฎ๐ฝ๐๐ฒ๐, ๐ท๐๐๐ ๐น๐ถ๐ธ๐ฒ ๐๐ป๐ด๐น๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ.
Australia applied themselves. England didn't.
Whether in cricket or leadership, outcomes reflect not just what you ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ - but how you ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ญ๐บ it.
That said, with unfailing (=delusional) optimism, bring on the 2nd Test.