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[S563]Slow Pitch Batting Tips

by Prasannamoorthy, Pra

Batting is one of the most fabulous and exciting part of cricket. A good batsman is one who scores good runs and at the same time protects his wicket. The higher the shot selection together with fast reflexes & free-flowing shots, one could become an excellent batsman.
Shots in batting vary from the square cut, hook, off-drive, pull to the sweep and the leg-glance.

The Cover Drive

It is one of the most elegant shots in cricket, but not often seen in Test cricket as fast bowlers do not pitch full enough that often. The important thing is to get the foot across the pitch of the ball and then to stroke the shot, rather than hit it too hard. Mark says, ?I will play this shot more to spinners, when you could make a little room for yourself.?

The On Drive

On Drive is tough shot as it is hard to open your foot to point straight down to pitch. One needs to bring the bat down and straight and then hit the ball hard enough to go down the ground. Boonie says, I used this shot to great effect against fast bowlers whenever they over-pitched.

Off the Pads through the On-side

The key to this shot is to let the ball come to you and then turn your wrists at the last instant. One could play this ball on off-stump when ball is seen well. This shot often goes to four because there are plenty of gaps in the field area.

Square Cut

This is an amazing shot. As long as one has enough width outside off-stump, one could hit the square cut quite hard. This sometime goes in air as well on the ground. You can score well in Test match if square cut is adopted, against spinners it is played off the stumps on the slow pitch.

Back foot Defense

A basic bread and butter shot against speed bowlers. The keys are important footwork, a straight bat and soft hands that allow you to bend up or down depending on the bounce, and to pull your hands and bat inside the line if you choose to let the ball go. The input is to stay on line, not follow the ball if it leaves you late. One of those shots you should be able to play to keep your wicket intact.

Forward Defense

Soft hands are significant here too, especially against spinners where you may have close-in fielders waiting for a catch. It's significant to keep your bat and pad close together and your head over the ball. Again, a good shot in that it allows you to keep good balls out of your stumps.

There is a high element of risk with the sweep shot, so good judgement and excellent timing is essential. Avoid playing the sweep and reverse sweep early on in your innings especially to straight deliveries, as it is not a good idea to play it until you have your eye in and know how the pitch is playing and what the bowler is doing. As for example, if the ball stayed low it would be quite easy to misjudge and get out LBW or bowled which you definitely want to avoid, so be patient and play yourself in first.

The sweep and reverse sweep are both cross batted shots and should ideally be played to slow deliveries which are of a good length and not too full. To play the orthodox sweep shot, first wait for the ball to be released before making any movement ? DON'T PREMEDITATE THE SHOT!

Once you have determined that the ball is there to play the sweep shot to, move your front foot as far down the wicket towards the pitch of the ball as you can. As you are moving forward bend both knees simultaneously so that you whole body is low down, let your back knee touch the ground to act as an extra base of support. Try to stay balanced and relaxed. Bring the bat down from the off side and across the ball towards the leg side and aim to hit it either in front of or behind square leg. You can roll your wrists over the ball as you hit to help keep it on the ground. Aim to have your arms fully extended when you contact the ball.

To play the reverse sweep, get in to the same position as for the orthodox sweep, however this time, bring you bat down and across from leg side towards the off side, so you are aiming to hit the ball through the gully area. This shot requires very good coordination and timing as you have to twist the bat round so that the bat face faces the off side at the point of contact without altering your grip.

Common problems:

-Premeditating the shot- deciding to play the shot before the bowler has bowled the ball. Wait until the ball is released from the bowlers hand before deciding to play the shot.

-Playing the sweep too early in the innings before getting your eye in. Wait until you are set and know how the pitch is playing and what the bowler is doing before attempting the shot.

-Trying to hit the ball too hard. Good timing and technique is better and more effective as you need to reduce the risk as much as possible.

-Playing the shot to deliveries which are either too full or too short, so good judgement of length is required.

Remember that the sweep and reverse sweep are quite hard shots to master and carry quite a lot of risk, so make sure that if you intend to use them, practice the shots in the nets and in training to get a feel for the shot and so you know when to play it; so that when you come to use them you are confident and skilled enough to do so.

Article Source : Cricket In Times Square

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Both Prasannamoorthy & Ian Canaway are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.

Prasannamoorthy has sinced written about articles on various topics from Cricket, Trucks and Cricket. Prasanna Moorthy is a cricket coach having intense Knowledge in the field. Please contact for further information and for further. Prasannamoorthy's top article generates over 9900 views. to your Favourites.

Ian Canaway has sinced written about articles on various topics from Credit Cards, Recreation and Sports and Computers and The Internet. Discover amazing cricket tips and tricks and learn how to play awesome cricket so that you can explode your cricket results and destroy your opposition! Visit, http://www.CricketSecrets.com right now to pick up a free report to help you improve your crick. Ian Canaway's top article generates over 33100 views. to your Favourites.