Opinion Cricket thread

[Kangaroos4eva]

For those in the know about batting, trigger movements, yea or nay? Ponting style-forward press or back and across?

I was thinking of the back and across to open the stance up and get the feet moving, as I am only doing half steps forward or back to the ball, which leaves me in no-mans land.

 

[Kangaroos4eva]

Bumrah, Jadeja out of the 4th test and Viahari is extremely doubtful.

Not sure they've got enough players to replace them.

Indian first-class cricket has plenty of able reinforcements, akin to us in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

 

[Themanbun]

For those in the know about batting, trigger movements, yea or nay? Ponting style-forward press or back and across?

I was thinking of the back and across to open the stance up and get the feet moving, as I am only doing half steps forward or back to the ball, which leaves me in no-mans land.

I personally disliked them. I always bat better when I'm still at the crease. They also tended to make me fall to the off side which I had huge problems with.

I'd take a video of you facing ten deliveries with the trigger movement and the same ten deliveries without it. Watch and see whether you're in a good position or not to meet the ball properly.

Then there's comfort, how you feel using them, etc.

I'd occasionally use them deep in my innings as a method of essentially taking my stance outside off to work through the leg side.

For me, not sure about for others, but it's all about level eyes, having your weight stable, and using your dominant eye to sight the ball. Everything else is just comfort.

If you're taking half steps and feel that's the issue, the usual drill is to hold the final footwork position (either forward or back) and feed deliveries (all in the exact same area of course) with you just bringing your hands through the shot. Another method is for you to call out "full, short, good" as the ball is released. Tends to help in getting players to commit their weight forward or backward.

Do you struggle committing forward or backward more? Do you play on turf or synthetic? Some people do back and across to pace and forward press for spin.

Ben Williams has a tonne of great stuff on YouTube.

 

[Themanbun]

This article may be useful Kangaroos4eva

PitchVision - Live Local Matches | Tips & Techniques | Articles & Podcasts

PitchVision.com - An interactive platform for the sports community. Watch Multisport Live Matches, Match Highlights and Personalised Player Videos. Explore Interactive Video Scorecard, Articles and Podcast.

www.pitchvision.com

 

[SpiderBurton22]

For those in the know about batting, trigger movements, yea or nay? Ponting style-forward press or back and across?

I was thinking of the back and across to open the stance up and get the feet moving, as I am only doing half steps forward or back to the ball, which leaves me in no-mans land.

Standard of cricket?

If you're facing 130+ k's and have a fraction of a second to react then yeah, if not keeping the head still and reacting is what I'd do.

 

[SpiderBurton22]

Indian first-class cricket has plenty of able reinforcements, akin to us in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Absolutely, having a billion people helps.

 

[Themanbun]

Jhye Richardson too good for the BBL this season.

 

[Kangaroos4eva]

I personally disliked them. I always bat better when I'm still at the crease. They also tended to make me fall to the off side which I had huge problems with.

I'd take a video of you facing ten deliveries with the trigger movement and the same ten deliveries without it. Watch and see whether you're in a good position or not to meet the ball properly.

Then there's comfort, how you feel using them, etc.

I'd occasionally use them deep in my innings as a method of essentially taking my stance outside off to work through the leg side.

For me, not sure about for others, but it's all about level eyes, having your weight stable, and using your dominant eye to sight the ball. Everything else is just comfort.

If you're taking half steps and feel that's the issue, the usual drill is to hold the final footwork position (either forward or back) and feed deliveries (all in the exact same area of course) with you just bringing your hands through the shot. Another method is for you to call out "full, short, good" as the ball is released. Tends to help in getting players to commit their weight forward or backward.

Do you struggle committing forward or backward more? Do you play on turf or synthetic? Some people do back and across to pace and forward press for spin.

Ben Williams has a tonne of great stuff on YouTube.

I have tinkered with them in the past, but I found I lost my off-stump when I did it.

I usually have an open crouched stance with the back foot on middle/off and the front foot on leg. My head is pushing out to the bowler's delivery hand and I am reportedly very still on delivery. My main problem is between the ears after release about whether I should commit to a line and length with my feet. When I am batting poorly, I am overthinking being definitive with my feet, watching the ball, loosening my bottom hand and playing it late. I am pretty good off my pads, but my driving is shocking atm. Either getting bowled, nicking off with late swing or hitting on the up through the off-side. Either half-steps or playing down the wrong line ala Shane Watson.

Struggling forward and back, but more so the front foot. Backfoot is more of an issue of getting back inside the line of the ball, but I generally pretty good with the shorter balls. Again, good on a leg-stump line, but tight to off-stump is seeing me hit to midwicket in the air, so I need to get inside the line more. Mostly synthetic nowadays.

I think the main issue is picking the right line (including playing for spin/seam/swing) and length. Kind of caught in two minds with my mental prompts and not being definitive enough. I like that calling out the full, good and short drill, even if I do that in my head as the ball comes out of the bowler's hand.

 

[Themanbun]

I have tinkered with them in the past, but I found I lost my off-stump when I did it.

I usually have an open crouched stance with the back foot on middle/off and the front foot on leg. My head is pushing out to the bowler's delivery hand and I am reportedly very still on delivery. My main problem is between the ears after release about whether I should commit to a line and length with my feet. When I am batting poorly, I am overthinking being definitive with my feet, watching the ball, loosening my bottom hand and playing it late. I am pretty good off my pads, but my driving is shocking atm. Either getting bowled, nicking off with late swing or hitting on the up through the off-side. Either half-steps or playing down the wrong line ala Shane Watson.

Struggling forward and back, but more so the front foot. Backfoot is more of an issue of getting back inside the line of the ball, but I generally pretty good with the shorter balls. Mostly synthetic nowadays.

I think the main issue is picking the right line (including playing for spin/seam/swing) and length. Kind of caught in two minds. I like that calling out the full, good and short drill, even if I do that in my head as the ball comes out of the bowler's hand.

Heh, I actually moved to a similar stance to help my dominant eye get line of sight and to correct falling to the off side. Used to be an excellent cover driver but played around my pad too much, then opened up and improved on the pads. Still kept my cover drive, but started to struggle when it was full and quite wide of off. I usually start with a dominant eye test when working with a younger bloke, but if your stance is already open this will probably be useless since you've got both eyes on the ball anyway.

Sounds like it's in between the ears then mate.

That drill should help a lot in decision making. A trigger movement might help on reducing the clutter in your mind, they are reported to improve focus, but sometimes blokes can get a bit too mechanical with them and focus on that instead.

Hitting on the up definitely sounds like you're not transferring weight and pushing too far with your hands, causing you to not play the ball under your eyes.

If you can get access to a bowling machine, another good practice is to set it up on a consistent line and length fullish and just outside the off stump.

Practice constantly playing the ball under your eyes. Keep your usual stance, but you'll know where the ball is pitching. You'll know you're doing it right when you tend to 'donk' it downwards - just watch some of Kane Williamson if you don't know what I mean. Playing the ball late is usually a result of having your eyes and weight in the right position - sometimes it's easier to focus on the end product (playing late) if someone is struggling with an indecisive mind.

Once you get used to that you can then start extending hands through the shot as well.

Honestly it's really hard to work on some of these things if you only get an 8 minute hit twice a week.

Whatever you do try to keep it simple and work on one drill/objective at a time. Don't tinker with everything at once, you'll end up a mess. Try one drill, give it a few weeks, try to master it. Then try another.

Once you get in the middle on match day, shut your mind up and just bat. You don't want to be thinking about this stuff on game day.

 

[SpiderBurton22]

I like Riley Meredith.

 

[dus]

I like Riley Meredith.

Him and Jhye coming through as the young quicks is exciting.

Jhye doesn’t mind swinging the bat also.

 

[Kangaroos4eva]

Heh, I actually moved to a similar stance to help my dominant eye get line of sight and to correct falling to the off side. Used to be an excellent cover driver but played around my pad too much, then opened up and improved on the pads. Still kept my cover drive, but started to struggle when it was full and quite wide of off. I usually start with a dominant eye test when working with a younger bloke, but if your stance is already open this will probably be useless since you've got both eyes on the ball anyway.

Sounds like it's in between the ears then mate.

That drill should help a lot in decision making. A trigger movement might help on reducing the clutter in your mind, they are reported to improve focus, but sometimes blokes can get a bit too mechanical with them and focus on that instead.

Hitting on the up definitely sounds like you're not transferring weight and pushing too far with your hands, causing you to not play the ball under your eyes.

If you can get access to a bowling machine, another good practice is to set it up on a consistent line and length fullish and just outside the off stump.

Practice constantly playing the ball under your eyes. Keep your usual stance, but you'll know where the ball is pitching. You'll know you're doing it right when you tend to 'donk' it downwards - just watch some of Kane Williamson if you don't know what I mean. Playing the ball late is usually a result of having your eyes and weight in the right position - sometimes it's easier to focus on the end product (playing late) if someone is struggling with an indecisive mind.

Once you get used to that you can then start extending hands through the shot as well.

Honestly it's really hard to work on some of these things if you only get an 8 minute hit twice a week.

Whatever you do try to keep it simple and work on one drill/objective at a time. Don't tinker with everything at once, you'll end up a mess. Try one drill, give it a few weeks, try to master it. Then try another.

Once you get in the middle on match day, shut your mind up and just bat. You don't want to be thinking about this stuff on game day.

Thanks mate.

 

[SpiderBurton22]

Heh, I actually moved to a similar stance to help my dominant eye get line of sight and to correct falling to the off side. Used to be an excellent cover driver but played around my pad too much, then opened up and improved on the pads. Still kept my cover drive, but started to struggle when it was full and quite wide of off. I usually start with a dominant eye test when working with a younger bloke, but if your stance is already open this will probably be useless since you've got both eyes on the ball anyway.

Sounds like it's in between the ears then mate.

That drill should help a lot in decision making. A trigger movement might help on reducing the clutter in your mind, they are reported to improve focus, but sometimes blokes can get a bit too mechanical with them and focus on that instead.

Hitting on the up definitely sounds like you're not transferring weight and pushing too far with your hands, causing you to not play the ball under your eyes.

If you can get access to a bowling machine, another good practice is to set it up on a consistent line and length fullish and just outside the off stump.

Practice constantly playing the ball under your eyes. Keep your usual stance, but you'll know where the ball is pitching. You'll know you're doing it right when you tend to 'donk' it downwards - just watch some of Kane Williamson if you don't know what I mean. Playing the ball late is usually a result of having your eyes and weight in the right position - sometimes it's easier to focus on the end product (playing late) if someone is struggling with an indecisive mind.

Once you get used to that you can then start extending hands through the shot as well.

Honestly it's really hard to work on some of these things if you only get an 8 minute hit twice a week.

Whatever you do try to keep it simple and work on one drill/objective at a time. Don't tinker with everything at once, you'll end up a mess. Try one drill, give it a few weeks, try to master it. Then try another.

Once you get in the middle on match day, shut your mind up and just bat. You don't want to be thinking about this stuff on game day.

Fantastic advice.

Park, country cricketers etc, can get so caught up in technique that it actually stuffs their mind and affects their batting. The best thing to do is know your game, know what your capable of and play within your means. Work on your weaknesses, but don't let it obssess you. Not everyone can be a Steve Smith

 

[Themanbun]

Fantastic advice.

Park, country cricketers etc, can get so caught up in technique that it actually stuffs their mind and affects their batting. The best thing to do is know your game, know what your capable of and play within your means. Work on your weaknesses, but don't let it obssess you. Not everyone can be a Steve Smith

Definitely.

The most consistently good players at local level that I've seen have one or two shots (maybe a cut shot and a flick off the pads) and just leave or defend EVERYTHING else. They are masters of knowing their limitations and just keep it simple.

 

[Kangaroos4eva]

Standard of cricket?

If you're facing 130+ k's and have a fraction of a second to react then yeah, if not keeping the head still and reacting is what I'd do.

Fastest I face is 110 with most around 80-90. Reactive is good off the pads, but my driving, outside cover drives, is abysmal atm.

 

[SpiderBurton22]

Fastest I face is 110 with most around 80-90. Reactive is good off the pads, but my driving, outside cover drives, is abysmal atm.

My best advice would be not to overcomplicate things. As Themanbun said if you can, get on a bowling machine, do it. Perfect for setting up your cover drive.

 

[7577969923]

Definitely.

The most consistently good players at local level that I've seen have one or two shots (maybe a cut shot and a flick off the pads) and just leave or defend EVERYTHING else. They are masters of knowing their limitations and just keep it simple.

Reminds me of an interview I read with Darryll Cullinan. He said what really turned his game around was understanding the structure of a successful innings. He worked out that when he made a big score 80% to 85% of the deliveries that he faced were either left or defended yet he spent his whole time in the nets practicing shots. He then switched his training to spend the vast majority of his time focussing on balls he wouldn't score from. How many club cricketers would practice a leave on Thursday night?

 

[DarkPhoenix]

Think its hilarious for the Indians of all people to be calling for Paine's head, especially when they love a w***er like Kholi.

Paine's chatter before captaincy: Hilarious, great for the game, what a character.
Paine's chatter as captain: REEEE, terrible look, so disrespectful, how dare he!

 

[Caracas]

Think its hilarious for the Indians of all people to be calling for Paine's head, especially when they love a w***er like Kholi.

Paine's chatter before captaincy: Hilarious, great for the game, what a character.
Paine's chatter as captain: REEEE, terrible look, so disrespectful, how dare he!

Naw, naw, Timmy got it wrong this time around and he knows it - for whatever reason. He’s got plenty of credits in the bank, though. When he was captain originally and took on Virat, he was excellent. The crap with Ashwin was just stupid - in my “pro-Paine” opinion.


On iPhone using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[Kangaroos4eva]

My best advice would be not to overcomplicate things. As Themanbun said if you can, get on a bowling machine, do it. Perfect for setting up your cover drive.

That often is the problem as sometimes you play a good innings and then get 4 low scores in a row and you are re-thinking everything.

I have decided to focus on a simple forward or back mental prompt, after picking up the line and length early out of the hand, and initiating a small stride forward/back leading with a dipped shoulder/head to get the head over the ball to play it a bit later.

I also changed my grip so only the fingers and thumb of the bottom hand are holding onto the bat, rather than resting in the palm. Stops me from re-gripping the bottom hand too much on delivery.

 

[Bertie22]

Naw, naw, Timmy got it wrong this time around and he knows it - for whatever reason. He’s got plenty of credits in the bank, though. When he was captain originally and took on Virat, he was excellent. The crap with Ashwin was just stupid - in my “pro-Paine” opinion.


On iPhone using BigFooty.com mobile app

Yes, a poor game on many levels from Tim Paine. The pile on has been predictable and a lot of it warranted. However I have been bemused by the commentary on Paine's captaincy performance by Sunil Gavaskar. Sunil was a great batsman who I had the privilege to watch on many occasions. His commentary is usually pretty good. But old farts like me remember the MCG Test in February 1981 when Sunil was given out lbw. He did not like the decision at all and spat it big time. He walked off very reluctantly and took his batting partner with him, presumably to forfeit the match. I recall the Indian team manager ( a military man??) coming onto the ground and intervening before Gavaskar and his partner exited. Ironically, India went on to win the Test. But Sunil was CAPTAIN. He was prepared to forfeit the match because he felt hard done by, despite his sanitising of the narrative in recent years. So as a captain, was this the right example? Compared to Paine's actions as captain in the recent Test, where does Gavaskar's action sit?

That said, any touring team anywhere in the world feels hard done by. From an Aussie perspective, think Headingley in 1972. Whipper snappers can google it. Specific incidents can be used as a get out of jail (gaol) card to mask underperformance on occasions. In the sub continent, cricket and politics are inextricably linked so distractions can be played up. Think Murali being called for chucking at the MCG, Lillee and Miandad making contact in Perth eons ago. There are others. Touring is a tough gig so let's keep it all in context.

A famous historical figure is reported to have commented on casting the first stone...Hopefully Tim Paine learns from this and moves on. We are all learners.

 

[Caracas]

Yes, a poor game on many levels from Tim Paine. The pile on has been predictable and a lot of it warranted. However I have been bemused by the commentary on Paine's captaincy performance by Sunil Gavaskar. Sunil was a great batsman who I had the privilege to watch on many occasions. His commentary is usually pretty good. But old farts like me remember the MCG Test in February 1981 when Sunil was given out lbw. He did not like the decision at all and spat it big time. He walked off very reluctantly and took his batting partner with him, presumably to forfeit the match. I recall the Indian team manager ( a military man??) coming onto the ground and intervening before Gavaskar and his partner exited. Ironically, India went on to win the Test. But Sunil was CAPTAIN. He was prepared to forfeit the match because he felt hard done by, despite his sanitising of the narrative in recent years. So as a captain, was this the right example? Compared to Paine's actions as captain in the recent Test, where does Gavaskar's action sit?

That said, any touring team anywhere in the world feels hard done by. From an Aussie perspective, think Headingley in 1972. Whipper snappers can google it. Specific incidents can be used as a get out of jail (gaol) card to mask underperformance on occasions. In the sub continent, cricket and politics are inextricably linked so distractions can be played up. Think Murali being called for chucking at the MCG, Lillee and Miandad making contact in Perth eons ago. There are others. Touring is a tough gig so let's keep it all in context.

A famous historical figure is reported to have commented on casting the first stone...Hopefully Tim Paine learns from this and moves on. We are all learners.

Fair enough. As I mentioned in an earlier post, when you set the bar high for yourself, you’re going to get extra hammered when you don’t measure up to it. I’m sure Paine will bounce back. It was a bit of a quadruple whammy. (1) It was out of character for Tim. (2) He played badly in the test. (3) Ashwin and India held out for a fantastic draw. (4) There were other controversies- the crowd issues + the Steve Smith storm in a teacup. There’s an argument that if Paine hadn’t lost his focus, we might well have won.


On iPhone using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[KiwiRoo]

Naw, naw, Timmy got it wrong this time around and he knows it - for whatever reason. He’s got plenty of credits in the bank, though. When he was captain originally and took on Virat, he was excellent. The crap with Ashwin was just stupid - in my “pro-Paine” opinion.


On iPhone using BigFooty.com mobile app

smack on . Cricket Australia would have been on his case so fast that he wouldn't have even have got the pads off.They know how much of a whack Australian crickets reputation took after sandpapergate. They know that sponsors and supporters weren't at all happy. Paine has helped rejig this somewhat, but they would be reminding him that juvenile behaviour like that (if it continues) can undo the good work quickly.The "ugly Australian" tag has already come out pretty damn quick on this side of the Tasman


Having said that he's apologized, and he wouldn't need CA telling him that he came out looking like an idiot..and lets move on.

 

[remfan101]

Paine had a bad day, which has probably happened to every cricketer ever. His keeping and leadership have been consistently fantastic prior to this point. His sledging went a bit too far, but it was also far from unforgivable and pretty light on by historical standards.

Still, Gavaskar’s subsequent attacks on his character and place in the side are probably the most ridiculous exaggeration and overkill I’ve ever seen. Really bizarre, personal, heated stuff, and it seems kind of out of character for the guy as well. You have to wonder if there’s something else going on/ some prior history there, however unlikely it seems.

 

[Caracas]

smack on . Cricket Australia would have been on his case so fast that he wouldn't have even have got the pads off.They know how much of a whack Australian crickets reputation took after sandpapergate. They know that sponsors and supporters weren't at all happy. Paine has helped rejig this somewhat, but they would be reminding him that juvenile behaviour like that (if it continues) can undo the good work quickly.The "ugly Australian" tag has already come out pretty damn quick on this side of the Tasman


Having said that he's apologized, and he wouldn't need CA telling him that he came out looking like an idiot..and lets move on.

I read his column in the Herald Sun in a café this morning. I thought it was very good. No silly excuses. No “I apologise if I offended anyone” crap. Just straight “I need to be better and I will”. Well done Tim.


On iPhone using BigFooty.com mobile app