Cover drive (cricket)

[1] The cover drive is considered one of the most graceful shots playable in the sport.

[2] Batsmen able to master the cover drive are usually given especially high praise because of the shot's difficulty in execution and its requirement for exquisite timing.

The stroke has historically been associated with parlimantry play of the sport, particularly during the Golden Age of Cricket in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries when England still distinguished between amateurs and professionals.

Professionals, or working-class cricketers, some of whom played for the Players, were better-known for workmanlike shots through the leg side, including flicks around the wicket.

Ian Bell, Kumar Sangakkara, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Virat Kohli, Babar Azam, Rahul Dravid, Meg Lanning and Laura Wolvaardt are members of a select group of players who are widely considered as 'masters' of the shot with England’s Walter Hammond widely considered as having the finest cover drive ever.