Batting (cricket)

Don Bradman is widely regarded as the greatest batter of all time, and he set many batting records during his career in the 1930s and 1940s which remain unbeaten.

Sachin Tendulkar set many modern-day batting records, including being the first player to score 100 international centuries across all three formats of the game.

Technique refers to the batter's stance before the ball is bowled as well as the movement of the hands, feet, head, and body in the execution of a cricket stroke.

The advent of limited overs cricket, with its emphasis on rapid run-scoring, has led to increasing use of unorthodox shots to hit the ball into gaps where there are no fielders.

Additionally, the front shoulder should be pointing down the wicket, the head facing the bowler, the weight equally balanced and the bat near the back toe.

[4] A slight crouch is adopted in order to be in a more effective striking posture whilst also isometrically preloading the muscles; this allows the stroke to be played more dynamically.

[5] Some players (notably, in recent times, Brian Lara, Virender Sehwag)[6][failed verification] have employed an exaggerated backlift.

By stepping back towards the wicket, the batter also receives the advantage of having an extra small amount of time to react to any unexpected lateral movement or variation in bounce.

Vertical-bat shots are typically played with the batter's head directly above the point of contact so he is able to accurately judge the line of the ball.

At this point, the bat can either be stationary and facing straight back down the wicket – known as a block or defensive shot; angled to one side – known as a glance or deflection; or travelling forwards towards the bowler – known as a drive.

Leaving and blocking are employed much more often in first-class cricket (including Test matches), as there is no requirement to score runs as quickly as possible, thus allowing the batter to choose which deliveries to play.

The stroke involves deflecting the bat-face towards the leg side at the last moment, head and body moving inside the line of the ball.

Although the opposite term off glance is not employed within cricket, the concept of angling the bat face towards the offside to deflect the ball away from the wicket for the purpose of scoring runs through the off side is a commonly used technique.

The leave is often used by a batter during the first few balls he receives, to give himself time to judge the conditions of the pitch and the bowling before attempting to play a shot.

Unorthodox shots are rarely used in first-class cricket as the pace of the game is slower and it is relatively more important to keep one's wicket than to try to score runs off every ball.

The most famous example of a reverse sweep backfiring was in the case of Mike Gatting of England against Allan Border of Australia in the 1987 Cricket World Cup Final.

With England on course for victory, Gatting attempted a reverse sweep off the first delivery bowled by Border, top-edged the ball and was caught by wicketkeeper Greg Dyer.

Because of the unorthodox nature of hand and body position, it is often difficult to get a lot of power behind a reverse sweep; in many situations, the intention is to glance or cut the ball to the back leg area.

A slog is a powerful pull shot played over mid-wicket, usually, hit in the air in an attempt to score a six.

It is almost exclusively used against reasonably full-pitched balls from slow bowlers, as only then does the batter have time to sight the length and adopt the kneeling position required for the slog sweep.

The shot was pioneered by Kevin Pietersen, first performed off the bowling of Muttiah Muralitharan in England's 2006 home series against Sri Lanka.

It was subsequently used in the New Zealand series in England in 2008 when Pietersen performed the shot twice in the same over against Scott Styris on his way to making an unbeaten century.

To play a scoop shot, the batter is on the front foot and aims to get beneath the bounce of the ball and hit it directly behind the stumps, up and over the wicket-keeper.

This shot, though risky in the execution, has the advantage of being aimed at a section of the field where a fielder is rarely placed – particularly in Twenty20 and One Day International cricket where the number of outfielders is limited.

A version of the scoop stroke called the Dilscoop was developed by Sri Lankan right-handed batter Tillakaratne Dilshan during the 2009 ICC World Twenty20.

[9] The shot got its fame through MS Dhoni,[10] who played it on a regular basis as a way to score boundaries against full and yorker length deliveries.

The strategy he will decide on will incorporate a number of preconceived attacking responses to the various deliveries he may anticipate receiving, designed specifically to score runs with minimal risk of being dismissed.

The openers or the starting players in Test cricket are often chosen for their sound technique and ability to defend their wicket, because the first 1–2 hours of an innings, especially if it begins in the morning, are usually characterized by good conditions for bowling, specifically in terms of the pace and bounce of the pitch and the lateral movement of the ball in the air.

Their job is to take over from the openers and typically play a careful and prolonged innings, effectively tying up one end of the batting.

The best batter of the team is usually put at number 3 or 4, to protect them from the difficulties of batting against the best bowlers on a fresh pitch and to allow them to play long innings.