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I became a cricket fan after the 2005 Ashes series and continued to enjoy the game during the 2009 Ashes.

I remember listening to the coverage of the final Test over the internet while we were in Poznan for the World Championships, and it was really special to be able to share the winning moment with our coach Paul Thompson, who is Australian.

Cricket is so utterly different to rowing as to be almost incomparable but listening to an interview with recently struck a chord.

He was talking about varying his attack pace; how in the past he’d come to the crease, start batting in first gear, shift up to fifth gear, then normally get himself out because he was playing with such intensity and aggression and he was unable to shift the gear back down again for a spell.

This has seemed very relevant to us in the last few weeks as we have gone from the battleground of Karapiro in New Zealand, where we won,Ìýto the British winter in the snow and ice, doing the long, plodding sessions that form 90% of our winter training.

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