Cricket technique: playing the short ball

Cricket technique: playing the short ball

There comes a time in every batsmens career when the size and the strength of the bowlers gets to a point where the short ball becomes a common delivery to face.

For a lot of younger and seemingly talented batters this can be a very scary period. For a long time batsmen can dominate bowlers, however, now the tide starts to turn.

So, how do we face the short ball effectively?
1. Keep your eyes open and on the ball and don’t turn your head unless you are ducking and well under it.
2. Move your feet so your body weight is over your back foot.
– a lot of coaches say to move back and across so that your back foot is outside the line of off. My advice is simpler, move so that your weight is over the back foot and you are able to move your shoulders freely. This generally means a slight movement away from the body with the back foot.
3. Don’t collapse through your back leg. This means you stay tall with your head over your back foot and your weight distributed so you can easily pivot.

More technically we talk about have straight lines from your back foot up to your head. This ensures you can keep your eye on the ball and that you are able to move effectively to play the right shot.

The final point is to conquer fear. It will always be scary to play a good quick short ball. If you can conquer that fear and relax you will be much more capable of playing the ball effectively.