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BATTING The Fundamentals Batting really
consists of playing one
ball at a time. The batsman must learn to gear himself for playing each ball
with all the concentration at his command. Concentration can be
improved if enough hard work is done to build up a habit of mind. Attitude
is vital. If you build yourself up to the right frame of mind there is
nothing you cannot do. character plays a large part in this . Cricket
is a game to be enjoyed. Cricket is much more because it is a game that can
help shape your life. What you learn on the field will hold good for many
things in life too. A Straight bat and a stout heart are bound to take
you far. Confidence will come from doing things the right way as matter of
habit. To gain that habit, pay attention to the basics. Practicing in front
of a mirror at home will also be a sort of handy reference. The stance A balanced stance is essential.
The feet should be equidistant of the batting crease. If you feel more
comfortable placing them wider apart fo ahead though if you keep them too
far apart it will affect your readiness of movement. The kness should be
relaxed and slightly bent. The bat should rest lightly on the ground behind
the little toe of the back foot. The top hand should rest gently on the
front pad against the inside of the left thigh. Pick up the bat as the ball
leaves the bowler's hand. The wieght should be equally placed on both feet
at the crease. It is wiser not to move your feet until the possible lenght
of the ball is judged. The body should face point with the left shoulder
pointing at the stumps at the bowler's end. The head should be still with
the eyes as level as possible. Be relaxed as the bolwer comes in. You will
be relaxed if you are comfortable in your stance. Eyes should be level so
that they focus on the ball at the same time. See any picture of Sunil
Gavaskar at the crease and high. If it is not straight you are likely to
drag your bat across the line of the ball. A straight backlift may not come
naturally. The harder you practise earl in your career the better off you
will be keeping the backlift straight. Remember the left hand should take
complete charge of the backlift with the elbow bent. A firm grip with the
left hand ensures that the bat comes down straight. Remember the backlift is
as much as part of your stroke as the follow-though is. Footwork
and timming Footwork is a vital part of batting.
If batsmen have their feet glued to the ground they cannot play this game in
the manner in which it is meant to be played. To play any bowling, spin or
pace, footwork is essential. It is footwork that takes you and your bat to
the right position play every ball. Sunil Gavaskar, Javed Miandad and
Azharuddin are the best models for footwork. They move so easily from their
stance on assessing where the ball is going to pitch that they are always
that bit extra prepared to play. Gavaskar's back and across movement - the
shuffle on the right foot - is to be recommended only when batsmen are
facing bowlers of express speed. Otherwisee it would be wider to stay still
while anticipating and reacting according to the length of the ball. Timming
is everything in any ball game. At times firm push can fetch a boundary
while a fullblocked shot may be msitimed to become a catch. Incorrect timing
is the cause of many a false shot. footwork will help your sense of timing
must be in you. This is what called ball sense. Forward and back strokes These strokes form the basis of
all batting Remember that great batsmen are equally capable of palying
forward as they are of playing backfoot will give you that extra time to
watch the ball off the pitch while playing forward may give you the real
edge in attack. But never believe that all forward play is attack and all
the backfoot lay is defence. it is a possible to attack as well as defend
off both front and back foot. Remember defence is a platform for a batsman
must dominate the bolwing if he and his team are to profit from his presence
at the crease. Forward defence The forward defensive shots is the
basis of all forward play. it is played to the straight ball not far enough
up to the bat for drive. The objective is to drop the ball dead in front of
the bat. the left shoulder should lead you out and on to the line of the
ball. If you lead with the shoulder and head your body weight will follow
automatically. Your eyes must always be on the ball. The left foot should
take you as must bend just a bit so that there is no gap between bat and pad Forward drive Going forward to drive
balls that pitch closer to you is natural extension of the forward defensive
shot. Remember that the left shoulder is the key to all shots Remember that
left shoulder is the key to all shots off the front foot, particularly the
drives. the wider you intend driving to the offside the more should you
shoulder go in the direction of the shot. The left hand must be in total
command of all drives. if your left hand is slightly in advance of you right
hand it will ensure that the ball stays on the ground as you drive. In
defence there will be no follow through. When driving the bat should follow
through freely. Are you: 1) Leading with your left shoulder? 2) Taking
Your left foot as far forward as it will go comfortably? 3) Bending the left
knee? 4) Letting the left hand take charge of the shot ? 5) Moving the full
face of the bat along the line of the ball? 6) meeting the ball in front of
the left foot ? Power comes from the acceleration in the swing of the
backlift to follow through wrist work and transferring of weight. If you
have the basics right there is no reason why you cannot drive the ball hard.
Remember to always keep the ball along the ground Back to drive The principle of driving off the back
foot are nearly the same as those of driving off the front foot. The left
hand must be supreme and the left shoulder should lead in the direction of
the shot. Note how Azharuddin plays these attacking drives off the backfoot
and you will realise how profitable it can be to be a firm back foot player.
These drives are probably the safest shots in the game. Also observe how
Azhar make use of his hieght by rising on toes as he attacks the ball.
All the ball short of a length are best played off the backfoot. It is as
easy to drive a short ball on the stumps off the back foot as it is to learn
forward into ball of fuller length to driveT. The use of the wrists is
also to be recommended for additional power as well as changing the
direction of the shots at the moment of contact Check List
On drive This shot is treated separately
because beginners experience the most difficulty in playing this. The drives
into the offside with the head and left shoulder leading the shot are easier
to control and are more natural shots. The on drive presents a problem in
that the front foot must be got out of the way if the shot is to materialise.
Also the body weight should be transferred towards the on side with the
right shoulder droping a bit to ensure that the left leg is moved out to
face mid on or wider on the onside. Don't panic if youare unable to get this
shot going early in your career. Some experience is called for before the
shot can be played with control. When you do gain the mastery, play the shot
as often as you can. There is no greater thrill than playing this shot
correctly. Note all the movments when Dillip Vengsarkar, Sanjay Manjerkar
and Sachin Tendulkar bring off the on drive. They are as near perfection as
possible. Let us now take a look at other shots. Leg glance Does the leg glance really belong in
the section on drives? Probably not but the initial movment, forward or
back, is the same as for the straight drive. The forward leg galance is
played in front of the pad with the bat angled to steer the ball. Never
choose the ball on the middle stump or further to the off when you wish to
play this shot. The difference between the drive and the glance is that
though the latter is played with a virtual straight bat, at the vital moment
the bat is angled with the face of the bat being shut. The great Indian
cricket pioneer and batting giant Ranjitsinghji is credited with the
invention of this shot . So there is national tradition to follow but please
do not play it except when you are hemmed in by much bowling that is
directed at a fair length at your legs. The most suitable ball to be glanced
off the front foot is the one on good length just outside the line of your
front leg. the shorter ball may be glanced by going well on to the back
foot. But if it is very short, you are obviously going to play strokes that
are better designed to dealing with the short ball. There are many effective
shots that are played profitably too, with the horizontal bat. These shots,
in the playing of which the right hand dominates, may come more naturally to
all players. Sweep Shot This shot is invariably played against
the spinner This should be played only to balls pitching outside the line of
the leg stump. The ball must be hit along the ground. If you roll your
wrists properly at the time of execution of the shots you can keep the ball
well down. Remember that the front pad should be between the pitch of the
ball and the stumps. If you place your feet wrongly you might find yourself
bowled round your legs. Hitting to leg The full toss and the long hop, of
which much will be seen in junior cricket, can be nit very profitably to leg
provided that you follow these tips. It is said that much of junior
crickt is won by teams which bowl the least down the legside and which hit
most such balls bowled there by the rivals. Check List: 1) Get you
head on to the line of the ball and keep looking at it. Don't take your eyes
off it. 2) Make sure that your elbows are free from the body so that the
arms can go all the way to hit the ball 3) Hit the ball early and aim to
play it square. 4) Don't try to hit too hard if you do you will find
your body is off balance and your head would not be still. Hook and pull The arguments over which is a hook
shot and which is pull shot may be many. But that should not worry you so
long as you are able to get the short ball racing through the onside. The
shots are also very similar exccept that the hook is played inevitably off
the short ball that rise shoulder high and the pull is played to balls not
that short. The pull can be played effectively of the front foot too. The Pull The pull is hot hard into the ground.
The shot is best played to the short ball that does not rise too high. The
back and across movement will position you prefectly. When you size up such
a juicy short ball coming up. Remeber to roll you wrists before contact so
that the ball is kept down. The Hook Hooking the short pitched ball is one
of the glories of the game. A good hook shot player can make the most of
fast, short pitched bowling. The back foot should not only go back but also
far enough across to the offside so that the line of the foot is outside the
line of flight of the ball. It is extremely important to keep you eyes on
the short ball to be able to bring off this shot safely. The shot is
dangerous to play on fast wickets as a miss would mean the ball making
painful contact with your helmet or face. Do not attempt to play this shot
unless you have been in for a reasonable period of time and feel well set to
be able to meet the ball confidently Proper evasive action bouncer and
proper backfoot defence to short ball will equip you better to deal with the
threat of the coming at your body. By all means hook but only when you are
well prepared to play the shot. Don't be fooled by the false confidence
given by the helmet. You must keep your eye focused on the ball all the
time. Your wrists must roll over. In short, you must be very good batsman to
play this stroke well. Watch srikkanth play the hook and you will know how
this shot must be played. The Cut A square cut is played to a
ball which is short in length on the off side of the wicket. The back foot
palys a vital role in the execution of the shot. To cut well, Judgement of
length, timing and flexiblity of wrist are very important. Look at how well
sanjay manjerkat beings of the shot. Sometimes with both his feet off the
ground to pack greater power from the weight of his body. The most important
thing to remember is that the bat must come down on the ball from above. The
cut is a natural shot to play and a vauable aid scoring. practise it
regularly at the nets and you find it gives you a good feelings as well as
runs whn you bring off the shot in the match. The cut can be played both off
the front and back foot. But it is a far safer shot when played off the back
foot because you can see the short ball for a longer distance and hit is
harder. A cut off the front foot. Check list 1) Get the bat up
high so that it comes down on the ball 2) Don't Jerk your head in any effort
to get a lot of power into the shot. 3) Meet the ball at the right time. The
best cut shot is the one that uses the pace of the ball to send it on its
way to the boundary. 4) let your right hand control the execution of the
shot. use all your wrist power to guide the ball into the ground. The late cut This shot is played to a ball outisde the off stump. playing late means excatly that. Instead of hitting the ball square as it passes the body, it is hit late. This shot can be very useful in limited overs cricket but is not be readily recommended at your grade of the game. Unless you are well in and wish to make use of gaps in the field, it is best not to attempt to play the late cut. Approach The thrill on the game lies in attacking the blowing Don't let the bowling Don't let the bowler get on top just because you are beaten once or twice outside the off stump. if the ball is there to be hit, it must be hit. the more you practise the better you will feel when playing shots in the match. Be modest when you score runs. May be that way you will score more BOWLING Fundamentals Bowlers win matches. That saying holds
good even in the modern age in which the limited-overs game has taken such
strong roots. Most boys tend to believe that bowling is hard labour,
particularly when they have to bowl long hours at the nts, Since they do not
gets to bowl long spells in matches, they may get to feeling that the many
hours of practice are wasted. no wonder the tendency to concentrate more on
batting from a young age seen. It must be made clear to any youngster that
it is almost as much fun to bowl as it is to bat. Defeating a batsman by
bowling a crafty ball to a planned field placing is a thrilling as getting
runs. The battle aganist the batsmen can be temendous fun if a bowler works
hard enough at his craft. Given some intelligence, much practice, more
determination and a will to succeed, anybody can become a good enough
bowler. Bowling is an art that demands utmost attention to detail. It can be
mastered provided hours of sweat are put into practice. Don't forget that
Kapil Dev is a glamorous a figure in Indian cricket as Sunil Gavaskar. he
has done as much service to the country in taking wickets as Gavaskar has
done in scoring runs. The prime requisite of a bowler, of any type, is that
he must be able to command accuracy in line and length. Aby such command can
be won only by sheer persistence and practice. The basis of a good
bowling action is: 1) Correct grip 2) Smooth, comfortable and physically
economical run up 3) Fluent follow through Remember that for all types
of bowling tha ball must be held in the finger and not in the palm. The
runup helps retain balance while building momentum to deliver the ball. the
basics of the craft are: 1) Back foot must be parallel to the bowling crease
before delivery 2) Eyes must be fixed on the spot where the ball is intended
to land 3) The front arm must be straight - reaching for the sky 4) Look at
the batsman over your lead shoulder 5) Prefect the unwinding of the
body so that the wieght is transferred from the back smoothly 6) The bowling
arm must complete the semi-circle in one fluent movement 7) The last stride
of the runup is a jump off the left foot. The lead arm will strat swinging
upeven as you jump. The turning movement is vital to the whole action. 8)
The bowling action must follow a gradual acceleration to the wicket 9) The
lead shoulder must not be opened too early. Otherwise you will bowl open-chested
10) Don't allow the front leg to crumple 11) Follow through smoothly Fast bowling Right from boyhood one trend to take
10 to 12 steps before delivering the ball. This is a natural tendency. It is
only later that bowlers learn that the ball can be sent spinning down the
same length of the pitch. To be a fast bowler is probably the dream of every
youth. Lads willing to bowl fasr must be encouraged in a country that is so
short of pace bowlers. Don't be disheartened if you are not able to knock
out ten batsmen the moment you start learning to bowl fast Pace bowling is
very hard work and needs tremendous commitment. Pace bowling may be all
about power, strength and aggression. But sheer brute force is not likely to
achieve much without the backing of good runup, action and follow through.
Rhythm is very vital to this craft. You gain it only by going through the
routine day after day. The mere ability to move the ball in the air will not
help if there is no accuracy in line and length, Swing will help even the
fastest bowler vary his bowling from ball to ball. mixing of pace will bring
in subtle variations. A disguised slower ball is as much of a suprise weapon
as a super fast delivery. Swing Imran Khan float the
interesting theory that it is wrist action which determines the swing of the
ball and not the body action. Swing is the most important weapon in the fast
bowlers' armoury. There are only a few bowlers of express speed who can also
make the ball swing Imran is one of them. The slightly slower men move the
ball a lot as Kapil Dev does. Outswing The ball running away to slips late in
flight is the most dangerous that a batsman can come across early in his
innings. To bowl the genuine outswinger, the seam must be pointed towards
slip. The first two fingers must be alongside the seam with the thumb
supporting the ball from underneath. One side of the ball alone should be
polished and this side should be pointing towards the leg side if yopu are
to bowl a good outswinger. The closer you get to the stumps while you bowl
the prefect outswinger with the side-on action the more likely it is that
the batsman will be forced to play at the ball. In general, Your target with
the outswinge should be the middle and off stumps. But if a batsman is
showing the tendency to play to leg you should aim at his leg and middle
stumps so that he may be induced to hit across the line of the outswinger.
Check list 1) Are you bowling straight enough to make the batsman play the
ball? 2) Are you bowling up to the bat to force the batsmen to play forward?
3) Don't waste the new ball by pitching beyond of stump Good batsmen will
merely let it pass Inswing The seam should point to fine leg. The
polished side should be on the offside. The first two fingers are on either
side of the seam. the inswinger is the best bowled from wide of the crease
with the ball angling towards leg stump from off and middle. The higher the
arm action is the later will be the swing. You must push the ball out with
you fingers when you are releasing it. The idea would be to get the ball to
duck in between bat and pad or to catch the inside edge and set up a catch
for the close-leg fielders. An inswinging yorker, as bowled by waqar Younus,
can be really deadly ball. The Leg Cutter The leg cutter is very much allied to
the inswinger. By pulling the finger across the seam at the moment of the
delivery some leg spin is imparted to the ball. Hence it runs away from the
bat on pitching. Remember to pull releasing the ball. It is advisable to
concentrate on swinging the ball one way to a set field rather than trying
to mix both swings. Master one swing first. Once you have established
mastery over one types of swing you can experiment with the other too but
the line is very important if you are going to try this in a match. Approach Fast bowlers should use a lot of
intelligence besides hard physical effort. Change of pace is invaluable. A
bouncer followed by a yorker can be weapon. Sometimes, even a legbreak or
offbreak bwled deliberately with the new ball may prove a surprise. If
you are a fast bowler, learn to think like one. Concern yourself with
bowling fast first and then seek to establish the controls like variations
of length to test the batsmen. the medium pacer's accuracy is quite
different from the pace like fire of the fast bowler. if you are fast, bowl
fast. As a bowler, learn to stay on the offensive. To begin with, the
intiative is with the bowler. Don't give it away easily Spin bowling For slow bowlers the power of spin is
the basis of the basis of their craft. It may take many years to mature as a
spinner but only work is likely to bring success. If a fingers and wrist
must impart the spin. This will come only with practice. Off spin may prove
easier to bowl because it is more closely allied to the first principle of
running in serval places to deliver the ball which is what comes naturally
to all. Leg spin is far more difficult to master, though because of its
rarity you may find wickets easier to get. Leg spin A proper pivot of the body is vey
essential if leg spin is to be imparted. The ball is gripped in the first
three fingers and spun off the knuckles of the index and third fingers. The
third finger is the key to spin. The wrist should be bent forward until the
moment of release. As the ball is released the thrid finger flicks outward
towards the batsmen and the thumb downdards away from him. the wrist flips
forward. Put yourself through the motion while in front of a mirror and you
will get an idea of what is being said here Top spin is imparted by
the forward flip of the wrist beginning a little earlier so that the spin
imparted in directly down the line of flight and not towards the slips. The
googly is bowled by the wrist turning over even earlier. the back of the
wrist faces the batsmen as the ball comes out. This is called back of the
hand spin. This may not comes easily. There is absolutely no substitute for
practice. The coaches would do well to advise their budding leg spinners to
first learn to spin the ball and then try to attain some control over
length. Off spin The first two fingers assume greater
importance off spin whereas it is the leg spinner's thrid finger which does
most of the worrk. The stock ball may be off spin but the off spinner must
have the arm ball, the floater and the drifter and even the slow medium away
swinger if he is to dedicate terms to the batsman. The higher the action the
more the bite and higher the bounce off the wicket. Class batsmen concede
that it is bounce from a spinner which cause more problems that the spin
itself. The sideways turn of the body should be exaggerated and the
unwinding must be delayed a bit so that the ball delivered with the maximum
drag across the body. Left hand bowling The principles of bowling spin with
the left hand are the same as that of the off spinner expect that everything
is in reverse. the same techinques apply to left arm spinners though their
natural swing or swerve is into the right hander and their natural turn is
away from the right hander. Bowling round the wicket has several
advantages for the left arm spinner, especially when he bowls with a slight
shine still on the ball. The ball tends to cmoe into the batsman in the air
and breaks away from him as it spins. Another weapon in the left arm
spinners armoury is the arm ball which comes in with the arm and then goes
straigh on after pitching. He can get leg before victims easily with such a
ball. The slight inswing to the right handder does the trick. The left arm
spinner is a valuable member of the side because he can expect to be more
economical than even the right arm off spinner. The chairman is a legbreak
as blowed by the left arm spinner. It may be really worthwhile to view tapes
of Bedi's bowling to find out the nuances of this craft. Approach All the spin in the world may be useless if it is not backed up by variations of flight. To be able to properly flight the ball, the spinner must bowl slow enough to set batsmen a problem in gauging where the ball is going to come down. By bowling all the ball to a standard arc the spinner will become so predictable that batsmen will counter-attack rather easily. Variations of flight and pace will come only with experience. Don't panic if at an early age any experiment sends the ball as full toss or a a long hop to the batsman. Strength of fingers is vital to bolwing spin. Learn alll possible excersie from your coach so that you can toughen your fingers early and make them extract spin oput of the ball. There is strength to be had for fingers in squeezing a rubber ball constantly. You must bowl a length on true pitches and await an error from the batsman. Too many eperiments on a good pitch may make you so expensive that the captain will switch back to medium pace for containemt. You must wear down the batsman by accuracy even as you probe his weakness by varying your trajectory. There is absoutely no short cut to sucessful spin bowling. Ti will come only with practice and experience. Learn to use the width of the crease in varying the line. Modern cricket is loaded aganist the spinners. The batsmen use such heavy bats today that they can club you out of the game. Patience is the mother of all virtues. You must have it in large quantities to successful as a spinner. But then spin bowling is such an enjoyable craft which does not take too much out of your body. FIELDING
Fundamentals 1) Keep your eyes on the ball all
times - whether you are fielding a ball on the ground or you are catching
it. 2) Move swiftly behind the line of the ball and as far as possible
towards it even as it is coming to you 3) Make sure that your
body gets in behind the line of the ball as second line of defence to your
hands 4) Whenever any fielder throws the ball to the keeper or to the
bowler's end, It is the duty of fielders in suitable positions to provide a
backup 5) if you are not in a close catching position, You must
walk in with bowler when he is running in to bowl 6) Try to let
your hand give with the ball. Don't grab the ball. If you do, you will find
it will spill out almost as often as it stays in the plam. Bend both hips
knees so that your head is down when you are about to field the bail
7) Get quickly into a side-on position so that you throw the ball to either
end for a run out or return it to the keeper when you are sure the batsmen
are not going to attempt a run 8) Your backfoot should be
side-on to the ball 9) As far as possible, throw the ball on the full
to the keeper or bowler 10) Hitting the stumps to effect a run out may
be thrilling but this should be attempted only when there is no time for the
keeper or the bowler to reach the wicket. If you hit the stumps when it is
futile to do so you may give away overthrows or even see the ball deflect
off the stumps for more runs. 11) When you take a catch, kepp the ball
for a few seconds to show that you are in control. Don't throw it
permaturely in the air to celebrate the catch, you might spoil the act by
losing your grip on the ball 12) The stance is importance for close-in
fielders. The body should be balanced and ready to take off in any
direction. Stay down until the ball has been well sighted and you are moving
to take catch. Keep your head still and watch the ball or when at first slip
or when 'keeping, watch the outer edge of the bat. Practice methods
A good coach can organise various practice sessions and also make them as
intersting as possible. A coach must impart the importance of
enthusiatic approach to fielding. A roller offers an ideal angled surface to
send the ball in suprising trajectories at fielders. But there is nothing
like a batsman in front of a slips cordon edging full pitches to the
catchers. This is the best possible simulation. Don't let cricketers
laze at the nets after batting or bowling. Keep them occupied with
intresting fieldings Practice Wicket-Keeping The wicket-keepers is one of the key
members of the team. A good keeper can inspire confidence in his team.
Particularly in the bowlers. The wicket-keepers needs more mental stamina
than even the fastest of bowlers. He must be ready to keep the whole if
necessary Fundamentals 1) The weight of the body should be
evenly balanced on the heels. 2) The feet should be apart an
approximate distance of a foot and half from each other. 3) Crouching should
be comfortable with the head down and the whole stance relaxed. 4) the
fingers should be pointing downwards or upwards in collecting high balls or,
sometimes even sideways but they should never point at the ball. 5)
Concentration should be total on every ball bowled because each one is a
potential wicket taker. 6) A good wicket-keeper should be fully aware of his
position in relation to the stumps. He should watch the ball and not what
the batsman is doing. 7) Never grab the ball. Let your hands give with the
ball. The hands must give a few inches so that the ball has less chance of
leaping out of the gloves. 8) Rise along with the ball, not too early
Stance The stance should be comfortable. A good coach can demonstrate
the basic principles of wicket keeping and also the movement of the feet.
Remember that there are no halfway positions: either the 'Keeper stands up
or stands back. Syed kirmani is the ideal 'keeper to watch in action Note
the movement of his feet especially when he goes down the legside to take.
Footwork is a essential to keeping as it is to batting. By moving his feet
the 'keeper gets right behind the line of the ball. A good 'keeper' is also
the best adviser to the captain on what his bowlers are doing and what are
the possible weaknesses of the batsmen. Equipment The wicket-kepping pads should be light and short Flexibility is everything. Golves are extremely important. The face of the gloves should be in good condition and must not be allowed to become too smooth. Wornout gloves should never be used becayse this may hurt the finger. Inner gloves of soft leather provide extra support. RUNNING BETWEEN THE WICKETS Call out often after every ball. Say 'yes' and no' decisively, 'Wait is also a good call as it wil;l put yoour partner on the alert for a possible run that may not be there to begin with but may materialise if there is a misfield back up immediately after the ball leaves the bowler's hand. Run the first run as though it is the winning run. Remember that over 25 percent of all runs scored come in singles. Slide your bat from a few yards in front of the crease you are running to. Kepp off the pitch. Note the position of all fielder particulars the good ones. You must also know soon who are left handed throwers in the side. Keep you eyes on the ball while turning for the second or third run. Change your bat hand if necessary to keep yourself in sight of what happening. Keep out of the way your partner while running between wickets. The correct order of doing things in running more than a single is run, turn and call. Don't waste tiome by slowing sown in front of the crease you have to reach. The coach should reach hsi pupils the importance of running which is the best demostrated by getting them to pad up and run the length if the pitch in paries after calling. Remember the golden rule that no run is worth so much that you can risk losing a wicket. The only exception may be in the slog overs of limited-overs cricket.
SAFETY AND PHYSICAL FITNESS Safety The first task of a coach should be
the safe running of the practice nets. The problem of injury to trainees
should not occur because of poor safety consciousness. The wicket should be
well rolled and the grassness. The wicket should nbot be so wet or damp that
they cause injury to batsmen by unpredictable bounce. Matting wickets must
be watered and rolled before every sessions. The surface should be even and
free of gravel. The mats should be hammered in tight. Otherwise the ball
will bounce awkwardly. All nets should be in good condition. There
should be no holes. Otherwise, batsmen in adjacent nets may be injured.
Never allow a batsman to apd up in such a position on the field that his
body is exposed to the ball being struck by the batsmen in the nets. Those
not batting should keep their eyes on the ball unless they are secure behind
the nets. The bowler who walks back to the mark should be careful about the
balls being struck. While bending to pick the ball near the bowlers runup
area watch out for other bowlers who may be running in. Physical
fitness The importancem of itness can never be overstated. The game
can go on for several hours in a day over several days. If a player is not
fit he is more likely to commit a mistakes from fatigue. Batsmen may commit
silly mistakes after scoring 30 or 40 runs because they are tried or are
unable to concentrate. If the wicket-keeper is not fit, he may lose
concentration and miss a vital catch or a stumping. A bowler may send down
loose balls because he is tried. It is rather important for coaches to
devise a training schedule. It is not good practice for a player to turn up
at matches while not being in regular practice. Each player should choose a
set of excercise, in consultation with the coach, which are particularly
suitable to his game skills. These excercises will vary greatly in form and
contennt depending on wether the player is a batsman, a fast , a spin bowler
or a wicket keepers. As a mean of limbering up before practice, some running
floor excercise and short springs are advisable for wicket-keeper situps are
recommended. |
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