In 2005 the England cricket team won the Ashes in dramatic fashion. They were hailed by some a heirs to the world title with a young side of talented cricketers ready to take on, and beat, the world's best.

What happened was indifferent form culminating in a 5-0 whitewash at the hands of the very Australian side they had beaten less than two years before.

What happened? Perhaps it was a fear of success: A genuine problem that is hard to identify but can hold back cricketers and teams at every level of the game.

Do you recognise the signs in yourself or your team?

Most cricketers play to win. Even in the friendliest village or park game we want to take wickets and score runs. However, some players are sabotaging themselves without realising it.

Players may say to themselves; "I want to do my best" but find the behaviours are very different:

• Putting off going to training or the gym
• Not getting enough sleep
• Not eating well
• Having a negative mindset (There is no point in trying to hard as I will probably fail)

Why does this happen? It's more than being lazy. Each action gives a handy excuse. It's easy to say you tried your hardest but you were just too tired after playing in the Xbox all night.

Why does fear of success happen?

It's counter-intuitive to think anyone would be afraid of doing well. Sure, we all have some level where we fear failure but to fear the opposite. Why would you?

The answer is that success and failure are tied closely together. Imagine that you are a star spinner and you are playing on a wicket that turns square. Everyone will expect you to bowl the opposition out in no time because you have done it before. However you are afraid that today will be the day you can't rise to the challenge. You are also worried that even if you do bowl like a dream you won't be able to maintain this high standard for long; you will be found out.

Another reason to fear success is that worry about what to do when it is achieved. What if you make it as a professional player, for example, and you lose all motivation to play once you are there?

These reasons are about the burden of success: The higher the success, the greater the expectation and the more the fear of failure. The easy route is to not succeed in the first place. Perhaps it is a more natural reaction than it seems.

How to overcome fear of success

For players who fear the crash after the high, the key is a change of mindset.

After a success or a big win there will be a natural high. The inclination is to do nothing as everything is going according to plan. However, this is the time to talk about what happens next and deal with the possible negatives that come from success.

Most players will never need such a conversation, but if a coach or captain has made them aware that negative thinking after success can lead to failure, he may have cut of a problem before it occurs.