A Good Technique For Fielding!

                                        'Catches Win You Matches', It is a saying in cricket which is 100% true. Batting and Bowling are the Two main portions of cricket, But Fielding is a part of Cricket where you act as a catalyst to your team's success. Sometimes you win matches because of you fielding alone! Though Batting and Bowling are the areas where players work the most, but a good fielder can be as good as a batsman and a bowler. A fielder can change the course of a match in just a matter of time! He can make a dead match alive for you and can even take the match away from you! Such is the role of a fielder in cricket. 

                                        The first and foremost thing you need to have to field in cricket is a good, strong pair of hands. If you don't have one, you can develop by training hard. Your hand needs to be strong enough to stop the hard cricket ball. You need confidence and have to believe in yourself to become a good fielder. Fitness is the key of a fielder. Remember, a fielder might have to run the ground as much times as the ball is hit. You need to practice throwing the ball from the deep to the pitch. 

                                        One of the major challenges for fielders in cricket is fielding in the slips. A slip fielder is often a catcher and he has to concentrate on every ball being bowled. No matter how good a fielder is, slip catching  is always a challenge to them. Your reflexes need to be extremely fast when a fast bowler is bowling. You need to bend your back all the time which may lead to fitness issues. Slip catching is regarded as the toughest part of fielding. For this reason there have been many players who were regarded as specialist for that role.

                                                Close-In Fielding is also one of the attacking field setting used in mostly test matches to get wickets. The challenge in fielding in this position is getting hit by the ball. Though you have protection, it is very useful to get wickets. You have to be alert all the time in this position and have to react quickly to pounce on a catch. This type of field setting though is not used in One Day and Twenty-20 cricket. 

                                               Fielding in the deep - Usually fast bowlers field here as they have good arm to throw from such a distance. When the ground is a Big one, then throwing techniques such as relay throes are used by the fielders where the fielder in the deep throws the ball to the fielder in the 30 yard circle and the fielder in the circle quickly throws the ball to the wicket keeper or the bowler. Fielding in the deep is a challenge for fielders as they can get high catches which may be sometimes too high that even a blink of an eye can get your positioning wrong and you can end up making a mistake. You need quick legs fielding in this position to reach the ball quickly. 

                                                         

A Good Technique For Bowling!

                        

                              Hello everyone! Here I am to tell you more about Cricket training methods. This time it is about bowling technique. Well, there is no such thing in this cruel world known as bowling technique. Some will say that the bowler just have to pick the ball up and throw it towards the batsman to get him out! Well, how true is that? You may have heard that there are different types of bowlers- Pace bowlers, Medium pace bowlers, spin bowlers,etc.. What advantage does this difference gives them? Frankly speaking, it's all about angles! The more you try to play with angles, the more successful bowler you are!

                                       Now let us begin with pace bowling. If you want to become a successful pace bowler you need to learn mainly all the balls in the book. First of all you need to learn the art of swing bowling. Pace bowlers usually bowls at the beginning of a match when the ball is 

new. To take maximum benefit of this situation the bowler has to swing the ball. Now how difficult is that? Well there is nothing easy in this world! The basic thing one must know of swing bowling is the grip. Being a fast bowler you ought to hold the ball with your index finger and the middle finger on either side of the ball. Now for the ball to swing, you have to maintain one side ofthe ball i.e. to keep the shine of the ball. Have you seen bowlers rubbing the ball on their pants? Well they does this on one side of the ball. While one side of the ball is rubbed, the other side becomes shinier than that side. The shinier side shows the direction of the swing. Well, you may be wondering that's so simple! This is just basic of swing bowling! You have to position your wrists in the direction of the shinier side and you need some pace behind it for the ball to do the talking.

                     

                                   For eg. A right handed bowler is bowling to a right handed batsman. If he wants to bowl an out-swinger then he has to hold the ball with the shinier side towards the index finger and the wrist position towards the first slip. To bowl an in-swinger hold the shinier side towards the middle finger and vice versa. 
                                      In this way you can master the art of swing bowling by rigorous practise. But if you cannot swing the ball as you desire then can you survive as a bowler? Yes, you can! Have you heard bowlers bowling in express speed? What is the role of speed in pace bowling? Well, its all about pace in pace bowling! But not just pace, it's more about line and length in pace bowling. If your line and length are good, you will be a successful bowler. Pace variation is also an important factor, mainly in the death overs or when the batsmen will try to hit at everything on offer. Pace variation makes it difficult for the batsman to time the ball and may lead to edges, the ball may loop in the air or even miss the ball. Some common deliveries used by fast bowlers to bowl slow balls are off-cutters, leg-cutters, back of the hand delivery, etc.. 
                                         While all this was about pace bowling, now lets focus on spin bowling. There are mainly four types of spinners. For Right Handers: Leg break bowlers and off break bowlers and for Left Handers: Slow left arm orthodox and left arm chinaman. While off breakes can also be called left arm orthodox for left handers, similarly, leg breaks can also be called left  arm chinaman for left handers. Now we will talk about off spin and leg spin.

The above image shows us the grip of a leg spin bowler and how the ball goes after being pitched

The above image shows us the grip of a off spin bowler and how the ball goes after being pitched

                                         In an off Spin delivery, for a right handed batsman, the ball is pitched on the off stump line or outside it and the ball spins back towards the middle or leg stump. In a Leg spin delivery, for a right handed batsman, the ball is pitched on the middle or the leg stump and after pitching, the ball spins away towards the off stump or outside it. 

                                           Usually spinners bowl in the middle and the end overs when the ball is a bit softer and easy to grip for spinners, but some tactical captains sometimes use their spinners in the starting overs. Confidence is the key to success for any spinner as he becomes the target of the batsmen to hit runs.

                                             Line and length of a spinner must be in control all the time even if he is getting hit for runs. He must have a couple of variations up his sleeve too! In this modern era of Twenty-20 cricket, it has become very difficult for spinners who doesn't have much variations. A disciplined line and variations help a bowler to outfox the batsman and get his wicket.

                                       

 

A Good Technique For Batting!

                         Many of you would have heard many people saying some have good technique while some not. You must have also wondered what can a technique do when you have to just hit your bat at the ball coming towards you no matter where you are standing and how you are standing. Well, If you think so then you are probably wrong. Saying all this stuff is simple but a good technique does matter. A good technique means the ability to play the right shots to the right balls. You cannot play a hook shot to a yorker , obviously! If you shot selection is good then one can say your technique is good.

                         Well, I will not show you all the basics here but some tips about your technique. No matter how much you practice before a match, it is always safer to play a few dot balls or singles at the start of your innings rather than playing all your shots in the beginning. But you must also have the right technique to stay in the crease as you might be shaky at the start of your innings. Your eyes must be always on the ball till it hits your bat and deflects. You may be said wise if you leave the balls outside the off-stump at the beginning but keep an eye on the seam position of the ball so that you might not become a victim of an in-swinger! Playing a fast bowler if he bowls a short ball some of the option that will come to your mind will be playing a pull shot, a hook shot or if its outside the off-stump you might play an upper cut. But playing these shots at the start of your innings might be risky so it will be wise to leave some balls. If he bowls a fuller length delivery you might be tempted to play a drive AND THAT IS THE BIGGEST MISTAKE YOU WILL DO! I'm not saying you must not drive a ball at the beginning, but always try to play safe. If the bowler is a swing bowler then he might bowl an out swinger just at or outside your off-stump to tempt you to drive and make a mistake. If you have a good technique you can survive this. He can even bowl an in-swinger or a straighter ball at the same time to surprise you. You must be ready for all the surprises he may offer. In this case fitness matters a lot! Fitness enhances your reflexes. A smaller backlift may help you stay there at the beginning.

                         And if a spinner comes at the start of your innings you might have to change your technique a bit. The most important thing when you play a spinner is having a close look at his hand and his fingers. Watching that you might come to know which ball may spin in, which may go out and which one will be straight. But you must always be ready for surprises because the world does not run as you want it to or as you see it! A spinner may keep bowling consistently in a good line to test your patience. Sometimes you might be tempted to go over the top but that me also be a trick to get you out. When a spinner bowls a short ball you might be right to hit him over the midwicket or if its outside off you might cut it square of the wicket. That might fetch you runs but if you avoid it you might get a life!

                          Once you are set after playing 20-25 balls you can start playing your shots. But remember start with the ground shots.

Outside Off-stump:

1) Fuller length ball: If a bowler bowls a fuller length ball outside the off-stump, adjust your position behind the ball and play a front foot square drive or a cover drive. You must lean forward for better results. Play a little to reduce the possibility of the ball going in the air.

2) Good length ball: If a bowler bowls a good length ball outside the off-stump, Adjust your position behind the ball and play a back foot cover or square drive keeping your body straight and not leaning forward.

3) Short Pitched Ball: If a bowler bowls a short pitched ball outside the off-stump, be ready to play a square cut. All the weight of your body must be on your back foot. If the ball is too high you can play the upper cut if the third man is in or is placed squarer.

On Stump Line:

1) Fuller length ball: Play a straight drive while getting right behind the ball, leaning forward and keeping your balance intact and eyes on the ball. If its on you legs you can play an on-drive or to the fine leg region. You can also play a sweep shot if its a spinner.

2) Good length ball: If a good length ball is targeted on your body try playing a leg glance or play it square of the wicket.

3) Short pitched ball: Play a pull shot by getting on the back foot behind the line of the ball and playing to the square leg region. Play a hook shot if there's no fielder in the deep or you have faith in yourself that you can clear the rope!

                                Well, and after all this if you are still not out, Go and slog all over the place. And here most of the batsmen throw it away! Getting the freedom to hit in the power play overs or at the end of the innings does not mean that you have to hit the ball anywhere. Try hitting the ball in the gaps. You might have seen that in the power play overs when there are just 2-3 fielders placed outside the 30 yard circle, batsmen get out holing a shot straight to them after having such a good start and playing so well. While this might be a bowler's trick but a batsmen must also have an alternative if he thinks that he might be a victim to the bowler's trick. He must try hitting in gaps and is open spaces as far as possible. If looking for a six, look for areas where there's no one in the deep. At this time you have freedom to play all the shots available in cricket. Once again fitness is very important as you can convert ones' to two's in crucial time.

                                So there I am. Will tell more about bowling in my next post, Thank you!