Print

[addidasf55]

Right I had my first game of the season yesterday. Opened and got out in the 17th over when I was on 40. My questions regarding the crease when batting. I start off with one foot inside and the other outside the crease (equal distance). Their opening bowler was bowling at the top of a good length so I took a step forward in my default stance to make his deliveries fuller to allow me to drive. Their other bowler bowled line and length but most of his deliveries would've gone just over the stumps. He was awkward to get away.
my next reaction would've been to step out of the crease to play him but the keeper was 5 feet from the stumps and I didn't want to miss one and get stumped. So I ended up kinda playing that bowler out only hitting the bad balls away. What should I have done? Step out of the crease? Step back in the crease? I'm good on the pull (pun?) and decent on the cut.
Just for info it was a 40 over game so I didn't play too slowly haha, I just don't like the feeling of a bowler tying me down.

[Slogger]

Hi Addidasf55,
I've had similar problems in my time batting, I bat in the top order also. I feel cramped in the crease and have always felt more comfortable on the front foot. So when a bowler bowls a pace that allows the keeper to come up my scoring slows a bit. Especially when the bowler can hit that length that is too short to drive and too full to pull or cut. My solution is that I  have to stop worrying about hitting boundaries and big shots. I completely focus on 'getting off strike' as often as I can and if I'm lucky enough to get a bad ball to take full advantage. Even that can be hard, so I move around the crease alot. I generally go toward the off side and look to get my thigh pad behind the ball and work it for a single into the leg side. I find there is less risk in this than going toward the off side. It also throws the bowler off his game and they generally start bowling fuller at the stumps which brings driving back into the game.
Obviously you risk getting out LB but its better than slowing the scoring rate too much.

[smilley792]

I do the opposite. I open. And am extremely confident in my front foot play. Not so much in my back foot.

so I Used to bat further and further out my crease to get as much pitched  up as I could. Yet would always get done in by the bumper.


I switched to batting well in my crease (front foot is just over the line).
If it's pitched up it goes. If it swings I have extra time to negate (or watch go through)
Yet now i have so much time when it's short. I can put almost all short balls away. Which results in more and more over pitched deliveries. YYeah

[Seniorplayer]

Aas an opener i do the same very rarely leave the crease never get stumped just watch the ball and decide to play or leave alone.

[jwebber86]

im going to have a go at standing further back in my crease at nets this week.

not sure but ive have been hitting almost everything through the covers the last couple of weeks maybe this will help

[addidasf55]

I might try batting deeper next time. No point pushing further and further out, ending up just making the bowler seem faster.. The only reason I wanted to bat one foot either side is because I'm slow to get my feet going at the start so wanted to negate some swing at the start by batting forward. Also with the low bouncy wickets in April means I can essentially just play 90% of the deliveries off the front foot, unless it's ridiculously short, which'll be left alone. (Flawed Understanding?)

As for the guy at the weekend I ended up defended the first or the first two balls on average, just rotated the strike on the third.. Didn't have a problem rotating the strike, maybe that's the best plan, let my partner deal with the bugger haha.

[Akewstick]

This is slightly advanced for my level, because it's pretty rare I come across a bowler who can hit a tie-you-up good length 6 times in a row, or 4 times even. But viewing it simply, the bowler's going to bowl his length to YOU, not the position on the wicket, surely?. Don't bowlers bowl "shorter" to a much taller batsman than to a short one, and adjust so the ball meets them at waist height?

So if they want to bowl you a length ball and you're a yard nearer, they'll still bowl you a length ball.. if they can. i.e. If you're going to move in your crease, it's in the hope it'll throw them off their length, and if that's true you're better going back to give yourself more time and play later than go forward and have less?

[richthekeeper]

In my experience, no, that's not the case.

Most bowlers at club level have a length that they naturally bowl, so finding a way to put them off that length is a sure fire way to disrupt their rhythm. If someone bowls a nagging back-of-length to me I'm looking to get back in my crease and play square of the wicket off the back foot. Similarly if they're bowling almost full enough to drive, I'm coming forward.

[addidasf55]

Yeah id say maybe a 70% of them nag away at a length and don't really realise if you move forward/back. They assume that they aren't getting their length right- by the time they figure it out, you've gotten enough freebies.
20% will bowl aggressive either full or short. 10% will bang it in on every pitch because I'm 5'11" haha

Plus most of these bowlers will try and bowl at the top of off come rain or shine

[Cin88]

In my experience, no, that's not the case.

Most bowlers at club level have a length that they naturally bowl, so finding a way to put them off that length is a sure fire way to disrupt their rhythm. If someone bowls a nagging back-of-length to me I'm looking to get back in my crease and play square of the wicket off the back foot. Similarly if they're bowling almost full enough to drive, I'm coming forward.

This. Although I will add that standing outside the crease can sometimes be the difference between back of the length and full enough to drive at, or between a yorker and a low full toss. It pays to have that extra bit of distance up the pitch if it means being able to play to your strengths. I've been known to stand up to a yard outside the crease (in terms of back foot position) if it means being able to get on the front foot and drive the ball. I'll generally stand with my back foot inside the crease if the keeper is up though, totally kills the risk of being stumped.

[Seniorplayer]

This is slightly advanced for my level, because it's pretty rare I come across a bowler who can hit a tie-you-up good length 6 times in a row, or 4 times even. But viewing it simply, the bowler's going to bowl his length to YOU, not the position on the wicket, surely?. Don't bowlers bowl "shorter" to a much taller batsman than to a short one, and adjust so the ball meets them at waist height?

So if they want to bowl you a length ball and you're a yard nearer, they'll still bowl you a length ball.. if they can. i.e. If you're going to move in your crease, it's in the hope it'll throw them off their length, and if that's true you're better going back to give yourself more time and play later than go forward and have less?

[abdulwq]

Absolutely right.

Yeah id say maybe a 70% of them nag away at a length and don't really realise if you move forward/back. They assume that they aren't getting their length right- by the time they figure it out, you've gotten enough freebies.
20% will bowl aggressive either full or short. 10% will bang it in on every pitch because I'm 5'11" haha

Plus most of these bowlers will try and bowl at the top of off come rain or shine

[edge]

Incredibly satisfying when you move out of your crease and get a load of lovely drive balls before the bowler realises and adjusts, then you move deep into your crease and take advantage of what are now some nice short ones.

[Cin88]

That's where the whole strategy of moving out of the crease and back again when they adjust falls apart for me, i'm useless against the short ball from pace bowlers (i'm not exactly the best against pace to begin with anyway). I can't seem to get the cut, hook or pull shots right, pretty much reduces me to waiting for a back foot leg glance or trying to drive off the back foot with mixed results.

[Northern monkey]

I've gone back to batting out of my crease,to try and negate stupid swing,that we sometimes get with cheapish balls.
I also find more often than not, it puts the bowler off their length,
I can usually pinch a few full bungers and again, negate any seam movement.
Decent bowlers will either adjust their length and or bring the keeper up, but I find it's better than just standing there and taking what's bowled at you.
A lot depends on the wickets your on too
Where I play nowadays , not many balls actually bounce over the wickets!
So anything straight has to be played