THE CRICKET CLINIC!!!

I used to work in a bookies so I've seen many stupid bets in my time.

Originally posted by Shane Warnabee I need help with my batting. I can hardly see the ball when it comes fast and how is it possible to watch the ball till the end? I also need help playing legspin with a lot of bounce and spin which pitches on good length and on the leg/ middle line. What shot do i use?

practice, i am not a good batsman myself but like they say practice makes a man perfect and it holds true here too . If you have the batting equipment(pads etc..) then wear it, make yourself completely guarded and then make somebody bowl at you fast. After few hits, you will start feeling comfortable with pace .

I think pace is easier to get used to than spin, well at least for me .


Edited by STNOOR - 18 October 2007 at 8:10pm

It's as simple as this, if you don't watch the ball come out the bowlers hand, you won't be able to bat to some standard. If you follow it all the way, then is where you'll be the most successful!

Originally posted by STNOOR Originally posted by Shane Warnabee I need help with my batting. I can hardly see the ball when it comes fast and how is it possible to watch the ball till the end? I also need help playing legspin with a lot of bounce and spin which pitches on good length and on the leg/ middle line. What shot do i use? practice, i am not a good batsman myself but like they say practice makes a man perfect and it holds true here too . If you have the batting equipment(pads etc..) then wear it, make yourself completely guarded and then make somebody bowl at you fast. After few hits, you will start feeling comfortable with pace . I think pace is easier to get used to than spin, well at least for me .

Shane, I think you are not watching the ball.  You are seeing it come out of the bowler's hand, but aren't watching it.  Which is why, you dont have enough time to play it.

I had that problem too, when I started playing about 5 years ago.  And I started trying this, and it worked for me - Focus your eyes on the ball, right from the time, the bowler is beginning his run up.  Your attention should be nowhere else, but just the ball, all the way through the bowler's run up, action and eventual release of the ball.

You wont be scared anymore after that, as you'll be sighting the ball better.

As STNOOR said, facing fast bowling is easier.  It's the spinners who are a real challenge.

Originally posted by andrewb3363 Hi i have no problem with picking the line of quickies but can't pick the length especially off bouncers

My friend, once you figure out the length part, let all of us know :)
That is the hardest part -  picking the length.  Good batsmen, pick the length early.

The way I pick the length is (and this takes a lot of practice) - is to see, how long the ball is in the air, before it hit's the pitch.  If it is fractionally longer in the air than usual, then I know it's full, so I just go forward to the line, that I've already picked.  If it's not in the air that long, I know it's short.  The tough ones, are those, that are inbetween.  Good batsmen, pick that too.  I dont.

And this varies from bowler to bowler, and pitch to pitch.  Which is why, its key, to play a few balls from a bowler to get the measure of him, before you go for your shots.

About bouncers, it depends on what you want to do to a bouncer.  Are you intending to avoid it?  Or do you intend to hook it?

Avoiding it is easy - the moment you see that the ball is pitched short (most likely the bowler's half of the wicket), you know it's a bouncer.  I just either duck or sway away.  I know my limitation for this shot, and I try not to get adventurous, even when wearing a helmet.

But, if you intend to hook it, it's mostly your body position.  If you are standing on leg guard, move quickly to middle and off, that will get your body/bat, behind the line of the ball, and just hook it.  (Still not easy, if the ball is climbing a lot more quickly that you would want).

This shot, requires a very quick eye, and if you dont have it, I wouldn't advise you to play it.  There is no shame in acknowledging your limitation to a bowler.  Moreover, it's a smart move - you wouldnt be throwing your wicket away, for, if your technique is shaky for the bouncer, you could either get hurt, or get out - outcomes, that dont favor your team.

Hi guys im 13 and need help to decide if i should quit leg-spin or not. I tried out bowling leg spin in the nets in 2006 and thought it was good. after that everything went downhill. Firstly, i was bowling front-on instead of side-on, secondly I couldn't grasp the variations and finnally, I could'nt get 'em straight!>>>>So i tried out pace. It came out lovely just the action and the aim needed a bit of tweaking but the pace was 'brill' my coach said. What do you guys think?

Which one get you more wickets? Secondly, is there a reason why you can't do both? I can bowl both leg spin and pace and long as you put twice the amount of effort then bowling both would be a good asset for the team.

Sounds like you're a pace bowler.

Originally posted by MP12 I've been known to make a few risky bets at times. I've been known to pick the outsider in horse races. As for cricket, I've won a little sum of money over the years.

Originally posted by bayraz hello im a 18 year old right hand fast bowler..dont know about my speed..but one thing i want to ask about my action..i kinda try to copy brett lee's action..i run fast..and jump high...but when i finish my action..my fingers of my right hand hits my left leg below my knee...and it happens so fast and hard that my fingers sumtimes get hurt.. ! i just wanted to know..if this is a good sign ??or is this sumthing negative??i mean is this helping me to bowl fast?or is this decreasing my pace??please i need advices!

Shane,
You have answered your own question.  You do need to practice is quite a bit.

Though, dont feel too bad about it.  High catches are among the most difficult, because, you have to judge it. 

But you havent said where your difficulty is.  Be more specific next time.
Are you not able to reach the ball in time (which means, you need to practice your judgement, or do you reach it, and then the ball pops out of your hands).

Key points to remember for high catches:
1.  Keep your head still, even if you are running a bit, to judge it.  If your head is moving a lot, you wont judge it right.
2.  Cup both your palms together, and close to your chest, when you get near the ball.
3.  The most important of all, and why a lot of people drop high catches - the moment the ball reaches your hands, you need to 'pull' it.  If you keep your hand static without moving it down (to pull it), it most likely will pop out of your hands.

Hope that helps!

Originally posted by spin wizard Although I'm not that good an overall fielder, I'm very good at high catches. You don't move to catch the ball until you start to judge it. In other words, don't move as soon as it has been hit. You hold your hands in a cup by your throat and when the ball is nearly in, you pull down a bit. Or, you can do the Aussie way where the palm faces the sky and the back of the hand behind the shoulder but I have no experience there so I can't help you with that one.

well punch i don't have too much of a problem with the judgement. The ball just pops out when it reaches my hand. I try moving it as it don't pull my hands down. thanks
for the help punch and rest.

Hi, I'm new to these forums...started playing cricket again recently so I need some tips. I can do(well, "attempt" if you want to put it that way  )any type of bowling with my right arm, be it fast or spin. I can do leggies as well as offies. But in my offbreak bowling, I can't get it to turn the other way like I do googlies in legspin bowling. How exactly would I do that?
And, to put it straight, I suck at batting . Still trying to develop that part. Any tips will be much appreciated.

Aight, the doosra..I saw Muralitharan bowling it in a Youtube vid. True, I can't get a hold of it @_@. Guess I need loads of practice for that one. Oh well, I'll just do a googly :P.