Cricket Technique: Batting, step 1 – Setting up

Cricket Technique: Batting – Setting up.

 

The set up to play your shots and face a bowler is possibly the most important part of the game of cricket.  Whilst there are some guidelines to what is best there is no real hard and fast rules to what should be done.  There is also a lot of room for variation.  Generally, however, there are things that have been shown to work time and time again.  In this article I’ll attempt to outline the bare essentials and point out the key factors that should not be neglected and also, show some areas that can be experimented with.

 

It is obvious from watching international cricket that there is a wide range of set up styles from the front on variation of Chanderpaul to the wide stance of some of the English Cricketers and then the majority of “text book” stances around the world as well.  Below is a simple guide to creating, coaching and developing an effective stance and progressing that stance to facing a bowler.

 

Stance:

1. Comfort: This is my first hard and fast rule.  A batsmen needs to be comfortable, if not the muscles will not be able to move as effectively as possible and the batter will not be able to completely focus on the delivery
2. Head forward and eyes level.  A batter needs to be able to see the delivery coming down at them, to make this as easy as possible you need to have your eyes level and looking as directly towards the bowler as possible.
3. Shoulders and hips aligned.  You want to avoid the hips and shoulder being aligned at different angles.  Making sure the two are square will minimize rotation and aide in body weight transfer and create a more stable base for movement to be initiated from. Generally this will be side on to the bowler, however, some instances of front on and mixed have proven to be effective.
4. Feet in a position where they are able to move forward as easily as they can move backwards.  This is probably where the most variation comes in, wide, narrow, shoulder-width and front on stances have all been proven to be relatively effective at the international level.  The key here is to ensure the feet can move quickly, consistently and in a way to cover all shots.  An example of a difficult stance is the front on stance, this stance generally makes it easy to play off the back foot aggressively but makes it extremely difficult to get the front foot far enough outside off to play the off drive or cover drive effectively.  Example: Chanderpaul bats front on but has a second movement early to attempt to move more side on with the bowler early.
   1. I recommend a side on stance with the feet at a comfortable distance a part (as close to shoulder width as possible).

 

You now have your stance sorted and need to know how to use the bat, the grip and backlift are the basis of effective shot control and will be explained below.

 

Grip:

1. Create two V’s with the thumb and index finger of each hand.  Place the top hand just above the middle of handle with the V travelling down towards the inside bottom edge of the bat.  The bottom hand goes on below the top hand with the V facing towards the outside bottom edge of the bat.  The Top hand should grip hard enough to life the bat and swing it around, whilst the bottom hand should really be only tight enough to guide the angle and face of the bat around.
   1. N.B: There has been a fair bit of discussion recently on the topic of grip strength with no consensus really decided upon. It is generally accepted that the above be true but some say you should grip with the top hand much tighter to have more control whilst others argue that this prevents the muscles from moving as freely.  My advice is to grip the bat in a way that feels comfortable.

Backlift:

There is an extremely large variety in backlifts, from the open face to closed and with the bottom of the bat angling from gully through to the keeper.  The following are my tips on having a good backlift.

 

1. Hands close to the body – if your hands are away from the body it is more likely that you will rotate across the line of the shot or push your hands through the line.  Some have their hands in line with their front leg and others the back leg, I recommend back leg as it forces the top hand to be a bit more dominant but comfort should dictate this decision.
2. Lift the bat up with the wrist of the top hand – this makes the bottom hand relax and ensure the top hand is in control
3. Angle the face of the bat in any way that allows the bat to naturally come down so that it is dead straight facing as close to middle stump at both ends when playing a front foot defensive.
4. Make sure you life the bat before the bowler reaches their delivery point.  This ensures you will start in the best position to play your shot.  Don’t let your hands get away from your body or lift the bat too high and make sure the top hand stays in control.

 

The Grip, Stance and Backlift are the three important technical parts of ensuring you are best in position to face a bowler, there is one more area that is almost always overlooked when coaching young athletes learning how to play cricket and that is the mental process.

 

The mental process teaches a batsmen what to do, when to do it and how to mentally prepare to execute the correct shot in the heat of the moment.  My mental tips are as follows:

 

Mental Preperation:

 

1. Find a routine that focuses, relaxes and switches you on: This can be anything from skipping to whistling or breathing to blinking. The routines are as varied as the individuals that play the game and the reason it is often overlooked is there is no rules governing what to do.  My personal rules are as follows
   1. Specific breathing
   2. Same stance routine (Eg: Two taps behind the toe, shift weight backwards then forwards, look up, tap bat again and then intitiate your backlift)
   3. Say a mantra to focus your self, can be as simple as watch the ball repeated to more complex as watch, move, play.  Don’t make this more complicated then it has to be, I recommend sticking to three words.
2. Make sure you are relaxed and not being disturbed by any fielders, bugs are distractions on the field or off the field, if you are walk away, switch off and refocus.
3. Clear your mind from all other distractions other then the bowler and the ball.  Trust your technique and your memory of where the field is placed.
4. Practice your mental rehearsal and make sure you do the same thing over and over again – eventually it becomes a habit that ensures you can concentrate through the hard times.

 

That’s it.  This is the start to being able to play some shots.  Next, is the technique associated with the bowler running in and the release of the ball!