| Batting Tips |
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| BATTING |
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| In the sport of cricket, batting is the act or skill of hitting the cricket ball with a cricket bat to score runs or prevent the loss of one's wicket. A player who is currently batting is denoted as a batsman, while the act of hitting the ball is called a shot or stroke. The terms batsman or specialist batsman are also used generically to describe players who specialize in batting |
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| Over time the development of cricket has led to a standard batting technique being used by most players in the game. Technique in this case refers to the batsman's stance before the ball is bowled as well as the movement of the hands, feet, head and body in the execution of a cricket stroke. Good technique is characterized by quickly getting into the correct position to play the shot, especially getting one's head and body in line with the ball, one's feet placed next to where the ball would bounce and then swinging the bat at the ball to make contact at the precise moment required for the particular stroke being played. |
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| Stance |
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The stance is the position in which a batsman stands in order to have the ball bowled to him. An ideal stance is "comfortable relaxed and balanced," with the feet 20cm apart, parallel and astride the crease. Additionally, the front shoulder should be pointing down the wicket, the head facing the bowler, the weight equally balanced and the bat near the back toe.
A few international batsmen use an "open" or "square on" stance. |
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Leave
The leave is sometimes considered a cricket shot, even though the batsman physically does not play at or interfere with the ball as it passes him. The leave is likely to be used by batsmen during the first few balls they receive, to give themselves time to judge the conditions of the pitch and the bowler before attempting to play a shot. Leaving a delivery is a matter of judgment and technique. The batsman still has to watch the ball closely to ensure that it does not hit him or the wicket; he also has to ensure that his bat and hands are kept out of the path of the ball so that it cannot make accidental contact and possibly lead to him being out caught
Defence(Block)
A block stroke is usually a purely defensive stroke designed to stop the ball from hitting the wicket or the batsman's body. This shot has no strength behind it and is usually played with a light or "soft" bottom-hand grip and merely stops the ball moving towards the wicket. A block played on the front foot is known as a forward defensive, while that played on the back foot is known as a backward defensive. The application of these strokes may be used to score runs, by manipulating the block to move the ball into vacant portions of the infield, in which case a block becomes a "push". Pushing the ball is one of the more common ways batsman manipulate the strike. |
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| Backfoot Defence |
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| This shot is played on the back foot and is known as a backward defensive. A basic bread and butter shot against pace bowlers. The keys are decisive footwork, a straight bat and soft hands which allow you to adjust up or down depending on the bounce, and to pull your hands and bat inside the line if you decide late to let the ball go. The key is to stay on line, not follow the ball if it leaves you late. One of those shots you must be able to play to keep your wicket intact |
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Forward defence
A block played on the front foot is known as a forward defensive with light or soft bottom hand grip. It's important to keep your bat and pad close together and your head over the ball.
Drive
A drive is a straight-batted shot, played by swinging the bat in a vertical arc through the line of the ball, hitting the ball in front of the batsman along the ground..Drives can be played both off the front and the back foot, but back-foot drives are harder to force through the line of the ball
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Cover Drive
The leave is sometimes considered a cricket shot, even though the batsman physically does not play at or interfere with the ball as it passes him. The leave is likely to be used by batsmen during the first few balls they receive, to give themselves time to judge the conditions of the pitch and the bowler before attempting to play a shot. Leaving a delivery is a matter of judgment and technique. The batsman still has to watch the ball closely to ensure that it does not hit him or the wicket; he also has to ensure that his bat and hands are kept out of the path of the ball so that it cannot make accidental contact and possibly lead to him being out caught
On Drive
This shot is played towards wide mid-on and mid wicket. This is a shot played by opening your foot to point straight down the pitch, bring the bat down nice and straight and still hit the ball hard enough to go down the ground.
OFF the pads through the onside The key is to let the ball come to you and then turn your wrists at the last instant. |
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| Cut |
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| A cut is cross-batted shot played at a short-pitched ball, placing it wide on the off side. The batsman would make contact with the ball as it draws alongside or passes him. A square cut is a shot hit into the off side at near to 90 degrees from the wicket (towards point) |
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| Square cut |
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| A square cut is a shot hit into the off side at near to 90 degrees from the wicket (towards point). It is an important shot in Test cricket because pace bowlers usually bowl short of a length and you need the cut to score runs. As long as you have enough width outside off-stump.you can hit the square cut quite hard, sometimes in the air as well as on the ground. |
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| Late cut: A late cut, is played as or after the ball passes the batsman's body and is hit towards third man. The cut shot is typically played off the back foot, but is also sometimes played off the front foot against slower bowling. Apart from defensive technique, the cut is typically considered the most important stroke a batsman must master |
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Pull and Hook
A pull is cross-batted shot played to a ball bouncing around waist height by swinging the bat in a horizontal arc in front of the body, pulling it around to the leg side towards mid-wicket or square leg. The term hook shot is used when the shot is played against a ball bouncing at or above chest high to the batsman, the batsman thus "hooking" the ball around behind square leg, either along the ground or in the air. Pull and hook shots can be played off front or back foot, with back foot being more typical.
Leg Glance
A leg glance is a delicate straight-batted shot played at a ball aimed slightly on the leg side, using the bat to flick the ball as it passes the batsman, deflecting towards the square leg or fine leg area. The stroke involves deflecting the bat-face towards the leg side at the last moment, head and body moving inside the line of the ball. This shot is played "off the toes, shins or hip". It is played off the front foot if the ball is pitched up at the toes or shin of the batsman, or off the back foot if the ball bounces at waist/hip height to the batsman. |
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Reverse Sweep
A reverse sweep is a cross-batted sweep shot played in the opposite direction to the standard sweep, thus instead of sweeping the ball to the leg side, it is swept to the off side, towards backward point or third man. The batsman may also swap his hands on the bat handle to make the stroke easier to execute. The batsman may also bring his back foot to the front therefore making it more like a traditional sweep. The advantage of a reverse sweep is that it effectively reverses the fielding positions and thus is very difficult to set a field to. |
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| Bowling Tips |
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| In the sport of cricket, bowling is the action of propelling the ball towards the wicket defended by a batsman. A player skilled at bowling is called a bowler. |
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| There are two different types of bowlers, pacers being the quick's and spinners having the ability to turn the ball from one side to another. A single act of bowling the ball towards the batsman is called a ball or a delivery. Bowlers bowl deliveries in sets of six, called an over. Once a bowler has bowled their over, one of their team mates will bowl an over from the other end of the pitch. |
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| Wrist spin is a type of bowling in the sport of cricket. It refers to the cricket technique and specific hand movements associated with imparting a particular direction of spin to the cricket ball. The other spinning technique, usually used to spin the ball in the opposite direction, is finger spin |
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Leg spin: Spins from leg to off, left to right as the batsman sees it. The leg break is the leg-spinner's attacking delivery
-The grip is two fingers up and two down, with the split
-between the second and third fingers
-which are spread across the seam
-The thumb rests on the ball and does not do anything
-Shane says his grip is a little unusual because his first
-two fingers are closer than most leg-spinners.
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| The Delivery |
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| The spin on the ball is roughly 30 degrees so that the ball both spins sideways and dips with the over spin. Closest variation is the top-spinner, where the seam points to the wicketkeeper and the ball over-spins straight down the pitch. A back spinner, which doesn't bounce as much and often traps batsmen in L.B.W. or Leg Before Wicket decision |
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| The wrong 'un:Bowled with a leg break action, but the wrist faces down on delivery, meaning the ball moves from off stumps to leg stumps. |
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| The Grip |
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| Same as the leg-spinner |
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| The Delivery |
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| The front shoulder has to drop a little to allow the wrist to come right over the top and the ball to come out with the opposite spin on it - off-spin rather than leg-spin. At the last moment you have to flick the ball out of the off-spin way with your fingers |
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| The Zooter |
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| The Grip- The ball is held much further back in the palm of the hand, which holds the ball back as you let it go
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| The Delivery |
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The ball is pushed out the front of the hand, from the palm, and either floats or skids through the air, maybe swinging in a little. The seam is straight up and down and the zooter does not spin. And a couple of illustrations of top spinner. A top-spinner is a type of delivery bowled by a cricketer bowling either wrist spin or finger spin. In either case, the bowler imparts the ball with top spin by twisting it with his or her fingers prior to delivery.
A top spinning cricket ball behaves similarly to top spin shots in tennis or table tennis. The forward spinning motion impedes air travelling over the ball, but assists air travelling underneath. The difference in air pressure above and underneath the ball (described as the Magnus effect) acts as a downward force, meaning that the ball falls earlier and faster than normal
In cricketing terms, this means that the ball drops shorter, falls faster and bounces higher than might otherwise be anticipated by the batsman. These properties are summed up in cricketing terms as a "looping" or "loopy" delivery. Also, the ball travels straight on, as compared to a wrist spin delivery that breaks to the left or right on impact. A batsman may easily be deceived by the ball, particularly given that the action is quite similar to a leg break. In modern day cricket Anil Kumble is considered the foremost exponent of the top spinner |
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| Fast Bowling |
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| Fast bowling, sometimes known as pace bowling, is one of the two main approaches to bowling in the sport of cricket. The main aim of fast bowling is to bowl the hard cricket ball at high speed and to induce it to bounce off the pitch in an erratic fashion or move sideways through the air, factors which make it difficult for the batsman to hit the ball cleanly. A typical fast delivery has a speed in the range of 136 to 150 km/h (85 to 95 mph). |
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| Grip |
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| The first thing a fast bowler needs to do is to grip the ball correctly. The basic fast bowling grip to achieve maximum speed is to hold the ball with the seam upright and to place the index and middle fingers close together at the top of the seam with the thumb gripping the ball at the bottom of the seam. The image to the right shows the correct grip. The first two fingers and the thumb should hold the ball forward of the rest of the hand, and the other two fingers should be tucked into the palm. The ball is held quite loosely so that it leaves the hand easily. Other grips are possible, and result in different balls - see swing and seam bowling below. The bowler usually holds their other hand over the hand gripping the ball until the latest possible moment so that the batsman cannot see what type of grip he or she is employing and prepare accordingly. |
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| Run-up |
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| A fast bowler needs to take a longer run-up toward the wicket than a spinner, due to the need to generate the momentum and rhythm required to bowl a fast delivery. Fast bowlers will measure their preferred run up in strides and mark the distance from the wicket. It is important for the bowler to know exactly how long his or her run-up is because it needs to terminate at the popping crease. If the bowler steps over this, he or she will have bowled a no ball. |
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| Action |
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| At the end of the run-up the bowler will bring his or her lead foot down on the pitch with the knee as straight as possible. Fast bowlers tend to have an action which leaves them either side-on or chest-on at the end of the run up. A chest on bowler has chest and hips aligned towards the batsman at the instant of back foot contact, while a side on bowler has chest and hips aligned at ninety degrees to the batsman at the instant of back foot contact. West Indian bowler Malcolm Marshall was a classic example of a chest on bowler, while Australian pace bowler Dennis Lillee used a side on technique to great effect. |
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| Follow Through |
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| After the ball has been released, the bowler "follows through" at the end of his or her action. This involves veering to the side so as not to tread on the pitch and taking a few more strides to slow down |
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| Line and Length |
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| An effective fast bowler needs to be able to hold a consistent line and length, or in common terms, to be accurate. In this context, line refers to the path of the ball towards the batsman, in the horizontal dimension running from the off to the leg side, while length describes the distance the ball travels toward the batsman before bouncing. Length is generally seen as the more important of the two for a fast bowler. The faster the bowler, the harder it is to achieve consistent line and length but sheer speed can make up for the shortfall |
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| Strike Bowling |
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| Strike bowling is the term usually applied to bowlers that attempt to get a batsman out through sheer speed and aggression, rather than trying to make the ball move through the air or off the pitch. Against top class batsman, these techniques are usually only successful when employed by genuinely quick bowlers in the fast and fast-medium categories. |
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| Bouncer |
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| A bouncer is a ball which is aimed to pitch in the first half of the pitch, meaning it has had time to rise sharply to chest or head height by the time it reaches the batsman. This causes two problems for the batsman who receives the ball. If he or she attempts to play it, their bat will be at eye-level making it difficult for them to watch the ball onto the bat and time their shot correctly. If he or she leaves or misses the ball, it may strike him or her a painful blow on the head or chest and occasionally result in injury. For this reason, bowling spells containing many bouncers are said to be intimidatory bowling. |
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| Slow Ball |
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| A slower ball is a ball which is delivered exactly like a usual pace delivery in terms of action and run-up but where the grip is changed slightly in order to slow the ball down. This deceives the batsman, who will likely attempt to play the ball as though it were at full speed, causing him or her to mistime their shot. The result is usually that the ball strikes lower down the bat resulting in it leaving the bat at a slower speed (a cricket bat has a middle - hitting the ball at this point will result in the maximum possible energy being transferred to the ball; as the ball is hit away from the middle so the energy transferred, and hence the speed, will decrease). Also, the bat will generally have travelled further when it hits the ball and be in the upward part of its arc, causing the ball to leave the bat at a steeper angle. The combination of these can be a slow-moving, looping catch which is relatively easy to catch. In an extreme case, the batsman will play the shot so early as to completely play over the ball, and be clean-bowled. |
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| One of a number of different grips is illustrated to the right. Essentially the only difference is that the middle and index fingers are split and come down on each side of the seam. This causes more drag on the ball as it leaves the hand, slowing down the delivery. Slower balls are also bowled by using the off break grip and finger action used by off spinners. A slower delivery may also be achieved - less commonly - by using a leg spin grip and wrist action or by supporting the upper aspect of the ball with only one finger or with the knuckles. The slower ball is particularly effective against a batsman seeking to score quickly. Consequently, its prominence has increased with the development of one-day cricket, and particularly at the end of an innings where batsman will attack with abandon. |
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| Seam |
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| Seam bowling is the act of using the seam of the ball to cause the ball to bounce in an unpredictable fashion when it hits the pitch. By generating variations in bounce, the bowler can make it more likely the batsman will make a mistake in his assessment of the ball and give away their wicket |
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| Cutter |
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| A cutter is the term used to describe a fast ball which is spinning, that is, a delivery that is rotating around the opposite axis to the seam instead of keeping the seam straight. While this rotation is nowhere near as much as that achieved by a spin bowler, the small variations it can produce are still enough to discomfort a batsman due to the speed of the ball. Cutters can be an effective way for a seam bowler to get the ball to move if he or she is not receiving much assistance from the pitch. |
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| A ball rotating around the seam will move either right or left when it hits the pitch, depending on which way the ball is spinning. A ball bouncing to the right is said to be an off cutter as it is travelling from off stump to leg stump for a right-handed batsman. Conversely, a ball which bounces to the left is a leg cutter, travelling from leg to off stump for a right-handed batsman. Cutters are usually aimed so that they hit the pitch just outside the batsman's off stump and move away from the wicket. This will cause the ball to catch the outside edge of the bat instead of the middle and fly up to be caught in the slips. |
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| To bowl a cutter, the bowler employs a different grip. The two grips are shown to the right, with the uppermost one producing an leg cutter while the lower one shows the grip required for an off cutter. As well as changing the grip, the bowler must pull his or her fingers down the appropriate side of the ball as it leaves their hand in order to impart the required spin. The action of bowling a cutter also increases drag on the ball as it leaves the hand, causing the ball to slow in the same way as a slower ball and this can also help to confuse the batsman |
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| Swing |
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| Swing bowlers cause the ball to move laterally through the air, rather than off the pitch like seam bowlers. Normal or conventional swing bowling is encouraged by the raised seam of the ball, and conventional swing is usually greatest when the ball is new and therefore has a pronounced seam. As the ball gets older, the wear makes swing more difficult to achieve, but this can be countered if the fielding team systematically polishes one side of the ball while allowing the other to become rough. When the ball has been polished highly on one side and not on the other and if the ball is bowled very fast (over 85 miles per hour), it produces a reverse swing such that the ball swings in the opposite direction as in conventional swing. Contrary to popular opinion, this swing is not produced by air flowing faster over the smooth or "shiny" side as compared to the rough side. |
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| Swing is produced due to a net force acting on the ball from one side; that is, the side with the more turbulent boundary layer. For conventional swing bowling, the raised seam and the direction in which it is pointed governs the direction of swing. Due to the angled seam of the ball, air flowing over the seam produces turbulence on the side that the seam is angled toward. This causes the fluid boundary layer to separate from the surface of the ball later (farther toward the rear of the ball) than the other side where a laminar boundary layer separates earlier (farther forward on the surface). There is a net pressure differential (greater pressure on the side with the laminar boundary layer) and thus the net force moves or swings the ball in the direction of the angled seam. Conventional swing bowling is delivered with the seam angled such that the smooth or polished side of the ball faces forward to move the ball in the direction of the seam i.e. toward the rough side. |
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| A swinging ball is classed as either an outswinger, which moves away from the batsman, or an inswinger, which moves in toward the batsman. In most cases the outswinger is seen as the more dangerous ball because, if the batsman fails to recognize it, it will catch the outside edge of the bat instead of the middle and fly up to be caught in the slips. Inswingers have their place too, especially combined with the yorker as the inswinger can catch the inside edge and break the wicket, or hit the batter on the pad rather than the bat, resulting in a possible LBW decision. |
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| Reverse Swing |
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| Reverse swing is a phenomenon which causes the ball to swing in the opposite direction to that usually produced by the orientation of the shiny and rough sides of the ball. When the ball is reverse swinging, the ball will swing towards the shiny side. Balls which reverse swing move much later and much more sharply than those swinging conventionally, both factors increasing the difficulty the batsman will have in trying to hit the ball. |
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| Reverse swing is much more dependent on conditions than normal swing, and so it is nearly impossible to achieve consistently. In reverse swing, the rough side is placed forward. The seam is angled in the same way as in conventional swing (10-20 degrees to one side) BUT the boundary layer on both sides is turbulent. The net effect of the seam and rough side is that the ball actually swings in the direction opposite to where the seam is pointing to. Good reverse swing bowling requires the bowler to deliver the ball at a fairly high speed (80-85 miles per hour or greater), which is only achieved by a select few fast bowlers in the world. |
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| Dipper |
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| A dipper is a swinging ball which is deliberately bowled as a yorker or a full toss, the latter not normally being a ball that a fast bowler would choose to bowl. The indipper moves in to the right-handed batsman while the outdipper moves away. |
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| In order to be effective, a dipper has to generate a lot of swing to make up for the variation in movement lost because the ball is not bouncing on the pitch. However, because the batsman usually expects a full toss to be an easy ball to score off, dippers have huge surprise value and can be extremely difficult to play especially if the bowler is very accurate and manages the yorker rather than a genuine full toss.
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