Cricket Battingt
Cricket Battingt
1st Edition
By Conrad Lotz
Batting is my passion and I strive to better my game with each practice session or match, making it as interesting
and intense as possible. I started at the bottom having never played any major school or University cricket. I
started playing for the University 3rd team. Through hard work and determination over the years I was able to
become the most consistent opening batsman in my province and eventually received First Class honors.
Now, I’ve taken the time to use what I’ve learnt and share it with you; even though the odds might seems against
you, you can rise above the rest using batting basics and hard work.
Bibliography………………………………………………………… 283
Additional Materials……………………………………………..284
The Mongoose cricket bat was designed by inventor Marcus Codrington Fernandez with the intent to spice up
game of cricket. The former Australian batsman Stuart Law, funnily called it
"a half-brick on a stick“. The mongoose bat is a specially designed T20 bat.
The blade is 33% shorter than a conventional bat and the handle is 43%
longer. It is believed to provide 20% more power and 15% more bat speed
and gives the batsman an advantage. Though the bat is more powerful,
lighter, because the longer handle offers greater leverage. The Mongoose
was approved by the ICC on the 22nd May 2009. 4 days afterwards this new innovation was first used by Stuart
Law playing for Derbyshire vs Durham (YouTube video) on 26th May 2010. It was launched at IPL 3 on the 19th
March 2010 by non other than Matthew Hayden, playing for the Chennai Super Kings. Hayden had success with
the bat early on scoring 93 of 43 balls. (View the CricInfo commentary or YouTube).
Playing more front foot strokes like drives and cut shots require a
firm and powerful top hand follow through. If the top hand is
more prominent, it generates more power than the bottom hand
which produces a stable technique and correct bat angle.
The grip for the top hand should be firm on the bat. Upon impact from the ball it must not turn in the batsman’s
hands while playing shots. This can cause top edges because the full face was turned toward the side and the ball
hitting these edges – most of the time – seems to find hands willing to catch the ball in the field.
Adam Gilchrist was famous for using a squash ball, gripping it between the bat handle and the top hand. He
squeezed it hard with the top hand to ensure that the bat does not turn and the hand provides all the superior
force when playing shots. This was discovered only after he played a masterful 149 from 104 balls in the 2007
Cricket World Cup final in Bridgetown. This caused a huge stir as it was suggested that it was not lawful.
However, no laws was breached. It was clever innovative batsmanship!
2. The head and front shoulder must lean forward and almost
align with the front foot.
6. The hand will tuck the bat behind or between the feet. This
is personal preference. Some batsmen tuck the bat outside
the feet or in the between them.
A batsman can stand wider with the feet which will cause less foot
movement and is preferred by batsman that put more power into
the shots. It will be to the batsman’s advantage to learn the basic
stance first before customizing the stance.
Shot Mechanics
MS DHONI
ROSS TAYLOR
2. The head will face the bowler while the chin should
almost touch the facing shoulder.
4. The hands will grip (Chapter 4) the bat and lift the bat
in a horizontal position.
5. The knees must be slightly bent and relax for the feet
to move easily into position.
10. The arms will bring the hands and the bat to an
outside off stump position lifting the bat and the bat
will be positioned in the area of the front pad. This
shot does not require any force or power.
12. The bottom hand will be in front and the top hand will
be back, both hands twisted slightly.
13. On the point of contact the arms will assist the hands
to almost scoop the ball towards the 3rd man area.
14. The hands must not switch throughout the shot, but
remain with the left hand at the top of the handle
1. Take a stride with the front foot towards the line of the ball.
2. The back foot will move behind and in front of the front foot. *
3. The front foot will then take another stride towards the pitch
of the ball.
4. All the weight will be transferred onto the front leg.
5. The eyes will remain on the ball until the ball is under it.
6. The hands will bring the bat through until contact is made
under the eyes
This is the only place other than a cricket field where one can learn the value of one’s wicket. A wicket is a
valuable thing and should not be made cheap. Often, batsmen walk in to bat, time the ball sweetly but nick the
ball three times and get caught for trying to clear the field and on top of that still feel it was a great net session.,
because they played some big shots. Does this sound familiar? This is the biggest mistake.
Batting in the nets must always be done with the next match in mind:
Read the wicket first by leaving some deliveries. It might be just a nets practice session but the wicket can still
provide assistance to the bowlers and be difficult to bat on.
Identify the bowlers that you can score runs off. Target the weaker bowler or even the good bowler that’s
struggles bowling on the wicket.
Execution: The top hand will grip the bat while the bottom
hand will be placed behind the back of the batsman. The
batsman will play any drive shot. The hand will swing
through the line and should hit the ball of the cone. The
ball must be hit with the full face of the bat and must go
into the direction where intended.
Workload: 50 hits
Workload
2 Sets x 12 Repetitions
Workload
3 Sets x 1 minute each (time can be adjust as the muscles strength improves)