1.
Getting the right team? It’s not always about the big names. Yesterday’s winners Notts Outlaws could have picked their test player Stuart Broad, but they didn’t. Instead they chose the right team for the right format, and the consistent players who had got them to the final. Actually on finals day, the biggest names of each of the 4 semi-finalists (big hitters Alex Hales and Shahid ‘boom boom’ Afridi especially) failed. Strong internal day-to-day consistency from everyone is always better than flashy ‘outstanding’ individual showcases.

2.
Knowing the situation you are in: Samit Patel and Brendan Tayor won the final match with a 132 run partnership, just when it looked like the team was crumbling. They did it by batting slowly, carefully, not at first with lots of big, popular T20 hitting, but assessing the situation and slowly, deliberately building an innings. The crowd were impatient, knowing that the run rate might be too slow. But, faced with a potential collapse, these two made the right decision, built slowly, then accelerated. Knowing context, planning methodically & choosing the right strategy for the long journey.

3.
Are we really a team?  More than any other of the 4 teams on the day, the victorious Notts Outlaws had a discernible habit. As we watched from the stands, every wicket they took would precipitate the whole team, from all corners of the field, sprinting together for celebratory high fives and hugs. Contact which spoke clearly of authenticity. The other teams did it to some extent, but it wasn’t the same. More tokenistic, with less intensity. How much do we come together as a team and really build each other up, genuinely spur each other to become better at our practice, authentically celebrate what is going well and revel in our collective strength? Build strong team-building habits 

4.
It’s not about the manager: For the girl who is struggling in that maths group in Y8, it is the teacher who is more important to her than the Head or the CEO. Moores is a steadying, strong presence but the attention of the media and the crowd is focused on the players, not on him. Know who is really important.

5.
Learn from failure: Peter Moores, who had two unsuccessful spells as England manager (including one spectacular falling out with Kevin Pieterson) says “To win both white ball trophies in a season is a really rare thing. If you do that then it’s very, very special,” he said. “I think a lot of it comes down to mindset. We’ll go there as a settled team, a settled group of players who have gone through a bit of a journey. We were slow out the blocks and honestly, we weren’t really a proper team. We’d made a lot of changes – we had four or five different players and that took a bit of settling. Credit to (captain) Dan Christian and the players. They were honest and admitted they hadn’t got it right. ” We learn much more from our failures than our high points. 

6.
Catching practice at night: while we waited for the final to begin, Andrew Flintoff and David Lloyd (Freddie & Bumble to aficionados) goofed around singing Karaoke Elvis and Jonny Cash. Magic. Some players relaxed, watched and laughed along with the crowd, but there was a small, core group of players in the darkest corner of Edgbaston, away from the flashbulb media-scrum, who did catching drills for 30 minutes before the final game, as the sun was setting over West Bromwich. Catching in the dark. Adjusting eyes. Yesterday catches won matches. Remember what our colleagues do and achieve for children in schools in the quiet moments, thoughtfully and away from the spotlight. That’s what counts.

7.
Learn from the best – 25 years ago the game was dying on its feet. County Cricket had all the vim and vigour of a picnic in Tunbridge Wells. Anticipation for a game looked a little like this:

Rather than this (people queuing for tickets for an Indian IPL game):

So the game learnt from mass-popular formats such as IPL (Indian Premier League) and it became more international, more sexy, attracted the big channels, and and caught the imagination of young people again.

Over the summer reading the excellent Cleverlands by Lucy Creehan, has reminded me that there is a lot to be learnt from the performance of schools in other countries, not just for their quantitative PISA rankings, but also for the qualitative learning we can take. This can guide us in how we re-culture our schools to drive better progress and think more widely about what school should look like to be successful in the future and feel less like an annual slog for teachers and leaders (as well as students). Educating our next generation is a serious business, but it needs to be a profession with huge amounts of heart and fun, so that it attracts the best next generation of young talented inspirers. Let’s enjoy the ride!

8.
Award sensitively! And finally the beautiful moment when the only injury of the day was incurred by the oversized trophy being presented rather forcefully, amongst the flowing champagne, into the Notts skipper’s head. Note to self!