Knocking in a cricket bat
‘Knocking in’ is essential for preparing a brand new bat for use in a match. The aim is to knit together the fibrous textures on the face of your bat. It can be time consuming but will make your bat more powerful and should increase its lifespan as well.
There are three main stages:
- Place the bat on a horizontal surface and softly tap the blade with the ball for around two hours. Ideally you should knock the middle of your bat – every batsman dreams of the innings where he ‘middles’ everything – the most, but ensure you knock every part of the blade, including the edges of the bat, at some stage.
- After a break of at least two hours (overnight is fine), move on to the second stage, which involves the use of a wooden mallet. Bat manufacturers can supply mallets designed for treating their bats. Without covering the mallet, tap the blade with the mallet for around two hours. Again make sure you treat the entire blade. Your taps should be gentle at first but should gradually increase in force.
- Get a colleague to give you some gentle deliveries using an old cricket ball. Play a variety of strokes with your new bat, and look carefully for any large indentations appearing on the bat. If this occurs, you need to do more of steps 1 and 2, then try this step again.
Many cricketers pay to have their bats knocked in professionally.
Guide to batsmen’s strike rates
In cricket, the number of runs a batsman scores per 100 balls faced is known as their strike rate.
In multi-day matches, such as Test matches or major domestic competitions, strike rates can vary considerably. Most Test teams will have established batsmen with strike rates below 50, such as England’s Alistair Cook or India’s Rahul Dravid. Some will have strike rates around 60, such as Kevin Pietersen (England) and Michael Clarke (Australia). Many teams have lower-order players with rates above 70 – later in the innings players often have greater licence to play shots.
The best Test teams have both slower scorers around whom an innings can be built, and faster scorers who can inject momentum.
In one-day international cricket (50 overs), there are some batsmen with strike rates around 80, but for the most part, top-order batsmen have rates above 90. Craig Kieswetter (England) and Kyran Pollard (West Indies) are some of the best in this respect. Lower-order players, say around number 8, often score at better than one run per ball. In club cricket, strike rates tend to be lower, but there have been some exceptional club players who have topped 100 in this respect. A rate of 50 for the ‘accumulators’ and 70 for the ‘stroke players’ is more common at grassroots level.
In international Twenty20 cricket, a strike rate of below 100 is rare. Many top Twenty20 players have rates above 150, such as West Indies’ Dwayne Smith and Australia’s Mike Hussey. At all levels, T20 is about fast scoring, and many club batsmen would expect to have a rate of 100 here.
Many of the world’s top batsmen do not play Twenty20 simply because they score too slowly.
Where the best fielders should field
There are four main areas where a top-quality fielder is especially welcome.
- Slips. Many catches are taken from deliveries edged by the batsmen, especially at higher levels, and where faster bowlers with the ability to swing the ball are operating. Slip fielders must have excellent concentration, as there is very little time to react once the ball has left the bat. They must also have good gymnastic ability – many a slip catch requires the fielder to dive full length!
- Bat-pad positions. These are positions such as short leg and silly mid on, where the fielder stands very close to the batsman. It is normal to wear a helmet and leg guards when fielding here, but even so this is not for the faint-hearted – consider a top batsman hitting a full-blooded drive straight at you! The very best, with the lightning fast reactions required to take catches in this position, are worth their weight in gold, especially in teams with quality slow bowlers.
- Run-saving positions. Fielders in positions such as midwicket or extra cover endeavour to stop the batsmen taking quick singles. Many a spectacular run-out has been effected by a cover fielder swooping on a ball and then hitting the stumps with an accurate throw.
- Outfield positions. Fielders located a long way from the wicket should ideally be good athletes, as they have to cover longer distances, and they should be able to return the ball quickly and accurately over a long distance.
Wicketkeeping tips
Fitness. Remember that every time you stand back from the stumps, you will be constantly bending up and down. When standing back, you will also need to run in to the stumps regularly. A wicketkeeper also wears gloves, pads and often a helmet, and given that cricket is often played in hot weather, this can be very physically demanding.
Practice. You have a specialist role in the team, so practising outside of matches is vital. Ask for balls to be bowled from different angles, and practise diving to stop them. Practise stumpings as well, especially from leg side deliveries.
Concentration. Wicketkeepers take many catches, and when the bowling is wayward, you are often expected to display lightning reflexes in order to dive and stop the ball. Continuous concentration throughout each session is impossible, instead try concentrating for the key few seconds of each delivery.
Watch the ball. Keep your eyes on the ball, whether in anticipation of a routine take or a full-length diving catch.
Position of hands. Generally speaking you should take the ball with fingers pointing down if the ball is below chest height, and with fingers pointing up above chest height.
Know your limitations. Be honest about whether you can realistically stand up to a particular bowler. You standing up may keep a batsman in their crease, but this is unlikely to benefit the team if you cannot react to edges, or stop potential byes.
Advise the captain. Don’t be afraid to offer your opinion on how bowlers are performing, after all you have the best view of this.
Tips to avoid no-balls
Bowling no-balls can be very costly. There is a one run penalty for the no-ball, plus any runs scored off that delivery are added to the total. The bowler must also deliver an extra ball as a result, and in many one-day competitions, the delivery following a no-ball is a ‘free hit’. A bowler who is unduly worried about where his feet are landing is also likely to lose control.
If you experience problems in this area, try the following:
Measure your run-up. Once you have decided the optimum number of paces in your run-up, start from the popping crease and mark the point where this number of strides is reached, whichmarks your start point to run in from on each delivery. Ensure you start with your heel on the stumps side of the popping crease. Always start the run-up on the same foot.
Adjust your mark if necessary. Take advice from colleagues and move your marker if you are regularly bowling no-balls or bowling from too far back.
Practise your run-up. Hopefully the more you try out your run-up, the more consistent your rhythm and stride pattern will become.
Trial run-up. If there is an opportunity for a trial run-up during a game, use it. You must gain the umpire’s permission, and it is most likely to be allowed at the fall of a wicket or during an interruption in play.
Seam bowling tips
If a cricket ball delivered by a bowler lands on its seam, it is expected that the ball will deviate to some degree. While there is always merit in bowling a wicket-to-wicket line, having the ability to make the ball deviate is clearly a significant weapon in a bowler’s armoury. Bowlers of medium-pace and above are generally known as ‘seam bowlers’.
The basic seam bowler’s grip is to hold the seam vertically and place the middle and index fingers of your bowling hand either side of the seam. The ball should be resting on the thumb and third finger and your wrist should stay completely straight. Watch a video of the great Australian Glenn McGrath for a textbook example of how to make use of the seam on a ball.
The aim is to try and keep the seam straight at the point of impact with the pitch.
Variations on the standard seam delivery include the off-cutter and the leg-cutter. Both deliveries involve holding the seam at a slight angle and gripping the seam with the thumb and index finger. If you are a right handed bowler you should also place your middle finger down the right hand side of the ball for an off-cutter and down the left for a leg-cutter. Cutters will not be as fast as the standard seam delivery.
A good bowling action will make the ball much more likely to move off the seam. Try and find a good coach who can appraise your action and suggest any improvements.
Glenn McGrath:
Bowling drills
Hitting a length - lay a broadsheet newspaper on a length, opened out to reveal two pages. Once you have mastered hitting this, reduce the size to one page, then half a page, and so on. For more experienced bowlers, mark different target points for length balls, yorkers, bouncers etc; or for variations such as slower balls and googlies; and practise hitting these targets.
Other accuracy drills - practise hitting a set of unguarded stumps. Alternatively mark a channel down the off-stump line, and two channels either side, and award yourself two points for pitching it in the middle channel and one point for the channel either side. Repeat each of these 10 times, and keep doing the drill to beat your personal best.
Body alignment - a bowling action should be entirely front-on or entirely side-on, otherwise you run the risk of a stress fracture. Practise your action without running up to get this right.
Spin bowling flight - as well as practising bowling the right line, practise bowling with flight. This can be done by placing another set of stumps in front of the usual set, or tying a piece of string across the net. You then try to hit the stumps while also getting the ball over the string or front set of stumps.
Playing a long innings
Big scores are the backbone around which an innings can be built.
Physical fitness is very important if you are to play a long innings. Cricket is often played in hot weather, and come the end of a long stint at the crease, you will have done a large number of short sprints up and down the pitch, all while wearing gloves, pads and possibly a helmet.
Concentration is vitally important. It is virtually impossible to concentrate throughout a full session of play, so learn to relax at certain moments, such as when fast bowlers are walking back to their mark, or at the end of an over. But when you are preparing to receive a delivery, total concentration is paramount. Watch the ball all the way. Don't let external worries trouble you - learn to block out the sledging of the fielders, and if you play a bad shot but get away with it, concentrate on doing the right thing next ball.
A good coach can teach you how to execute each of the common strokes, but the best coaches can help you with when to use each of these shots. Learn to judge line and length early to help you decide which shot to play, when to defend and when to leave the ball. The pitch conditions could also affect your shot selection, e.g. the pull stroke may not be advisable if the bounce is low. Many a batsman has met their downfall by selecting the wrong shot for a particular delivery.