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.
