More Control and Less Bottom Hand in Your Batting

Not so much a coaching tip as a plea to all young cricketers or more specifically their parents. GET A BAT THAT'S THE RIGHT SIZE AND WEIGHT.

The size of the bat is relatively easy to judge and there is an easy way to judge the correct size. When you're in the shop, the batsman takes their stance, puts the bat behind their back foot toe and lets it rest gently into their inner thigh. The top of the handle should be about 3/4 of the way up the thigh. It becomes obvious if a bat is too big if when the stance is taken, the toe of the bat is resting some distance from the feet.

Probably even more important is the weight. There is no standard weight for a bat, whatever the size. If the bat is too heavy, the bottom hand will be needed to support it in playing all shots. A strong bottom hand grip results an angled bat. If the bat does come through straight, control will be difficult and it is likely to push through through early and too far, popping up a catch. Cross bat shots, such as the pull, will be difficult as getting the bat up high and through the shot in time is hard work.

What is the correct weight? Well what can a young cricketer easily handle. The bat may look great with professional looking thick edges, or be made of the cheaper kashmir willow which save a few pounds, but if a young, growing boy or girl cannot control the bat as they swing it around, even with one hand, then it is likely to be too heavy. GET A BAT THAT'S THE RIGHT WEIGHT.

If you can get to a shop where the bat can be tried out, that's far better than mail order. If you go the mail order route, make sure it's returnable if it's too big or heavy when it arrives.

Batting - Better use of the bowling machine?

The bowling machine is great when we want to groove a particular shot as it sends down the same delivery time after time. However some people will say that its repetitiveness is its weakness as a training tool and they prefer "throw downs" from the coach, who can vary each delivery slightly, to make practice more realistic.

This is a valid argument, although we must not forget why we want to groove a particular movement into a shot in the first place.

There is an alternative way to use the bowling machine. Challenge yourself to find three different scoring shots to the same delivery. For example, if you set the machine for the classic front foot cover drive, no doubt you will soon have mastered that and will feel great about your chances of nailing every that's ball just outside off stump through the covers for four. However you don't have to be Andrew Strauss to work out that if you reinforce the covers, you will cut out the runs when your bowler over pitches.

As a batsman, we need to find alternative scoring areas, which could mean driving the ball straight, playing it later behind square, flicking it through mid-wicket or even trying some sort of scoop over the keeper. Whatever the response, a one dimensional game will allow the fielding captain to keep you tied down but finding different shots and different scoring areas to the same delivery means he is looking for extra fielders and the panic starts to set in.