Luke Sellers - Know the Game: Complete skills: Cricket

Bloomsbury Sport

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This electronic edition published in 2015 by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

Westline Publishing, 2008, 2010, 2015

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British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN: PB: 978-1472-9-1958-8

ePub: 978-1472-9-1959-5

Published in 2008 as Know the Game Skills: Cricket: Batting , Know the Game Skills: Cricket: Bowling and Know the Game Skills: Cricket: Fielding

Photography: Empics Sport/PA Photos, Getty Images and Julia Barnes.

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Contents

Profile of a batsman

Bats, pads, gloves, helmets

Practise your grip, stance and backlift

Rock solid defending

No way through: playing back foot defence

How and when to leave the ball

Dynamic drives to attack full-length bowling

How to play brilliant back foot drives

Learning to punish short and wide deliveries

Attacking the short ball

Its all in the timing

A weapon against spin bowling

Running well and improving your game with good communication and awareness

Profile of a bowler

Line, length and pre-match preparation

Side-on, front-on and mid-way actions

The run-up, the bound, the coil, the release and the follow-through

In swing and out swing

Variations

Off spin, leg spin and left-arm spin

The floater, the googly and other spin variations

Profile of a fielder and field placings

Getting ready to react

Top tips for fielding close to the wicket

How to take a safe high catch

Learn to throw with power and precision

Attacking the ball and stopping singles

Saving runs in the outfield

Moving into a throwing position at speed

Learn how to chase and return the ball as quickly as possible

A safe way for fielding in the deep

Profile of a wicketkeeper

How to keep to slow bowlers

Effective technique for keeping to fast bowlers

When using this book, concentrate on one coaching point at a time. Practise each point until you have mastered it before moving on to the next one.

You do not need to work through the book from cover to cover. Choose a shot you want to work on and practise it until you are happy with the outcome.

About the author

Luke Sellers is an ECB-qualified coach.

He was formerly the community cricket coach for Gloucestershire, working with young players of all abilities and in coach education.

PART ONE : BATTING

To win any game of cricket a team must score more runs than the opposition. Thats the simple part. How you score runs, what shot you play and the way you play is all down to the individual. In international cricket there are many types of batsmen, from attacking players such as Englands Kevin Pietersen to defensive ones such as Indias Raul Dravid. Pietersen takes on bowlers from the start of his innings, while Dravid is known as the wall because bowlers find it almost impossible to get past his defence .

This book will help you to improve your attacking shots and defence and give you top tips for facing fast bowlers or spinners. It will help you to develop a sound technique, which is essential for all top batsmen. However, every individual is different and not everyone bats in the same way. If you play your shots differently to the way described in this book and are still successful then you shouldnt change the way you bat .

WHAT MAKES A GOOD BATSMAN?

Concentration

Confidence

Good shot selection

Quick reactions and foot movement

Ability to read the game and adapt accordingly

Patience

Courage

PROFILE OF A BATSMAN

The best batsmen in the world have the ability to bat in different ways depending on the situation of the game. A good batsman must be able to change the way he plays depending on what his team needs him to do, the bowlers he is facing and the pitch conditions. The number a batsman bats may also affect the way he plays.

Opening batsmen must have great courage and quick reactions to face fast bowlers with a new ball. They may be forced to play quite defensively to help the team through the difficult early stages of a match. Often the most gifted players, with the greatest array of attacking shots, bat at number 3 or 4. Batsmen at numbers 5 and 6 will have to be comfortable against both spinners and fast bowlers, and may need to be able to score runs quickly, particularly in a one-day match. Whatever their position, all batsmen need to keep concentrating over long periods of time to ensure they dont give their wicket away. Remember, it only takes one ball to get you out!

DID YOU KNOW?

The highest run scorer of all time in Test cricket is West Indian Brian Lara. He made 11,953 Test runs before retiring in 2007 .