In the first part of the series we talked about the grip. I may have missed a point here and there but I think the content I provided was sufficient for all of you to understand the proper or basic gripping technique of a cricket bat. Moving on from the grip we will go to the next basic and an important part of a batsman's batting, the stance.
How to take a proper or basic stance?
Before we get to know how to take a stance, we should first know what exactly the stance is?
Stance actually is a position taken by a batsman to face a ball about to be bowled by a bowler. So the most important thing in stance is that a bastman has to be ready and relaxed.
So, let's get to the stance now. We have witnessed so many different stances throughout the eras. We have seen players with very unusual stances with great results as well. Players like West Indian Shiv Chanderpaul and Australian George Bailey have had a completely different and opposite stances. Shiv Chanderpaul has had a stance that's a lot open, his chest facing the mid-off fielder, his feet more towards extra cover, a completely different stance to the basic one. While on the other side, George Bailey at one time in his career was seen playing international and domestic cricket with a stance that was opposite to that of Chanderpaul's. His stance was more of a back-on. He showed half of his back to bowler, his chest was almost pointing towards gully or third man and his front foot was a lot ahead of the backfoot, both pointing towards backward point. When you think of both these stances, it sounds weird, but they both have been successful with it. The thing that I wanted to highlight here was that whichever way you feel comfortable and at your best, back it and stick to it. But yeah, I am here to talk about the stance, so I should convey the best and most preferred techniques of a batting stance.
As you know how to grip the bat from last part of the series, you have to add on to that knowledge. Take the bat and get to the batting crease. Mark your guard according to your preference. The conventional way will be to mark you leg stump.
After taking guard, keep the front part of your back foot on the mark and your front foot away from your back foot at a distance of your shoulders. So your feet are now a shoulders length apart from each other.
Keep your knees a little flexed and your weight should be distributed evenly in order to move both forward and backward easily.
Take a side-on position, or a little open. Your front shoulder should be facing towards the bowler or it can be a little open more between the blower and a straighter mid-on fielder.
The top hand should rest inside the left thigh while the bottom hand should rest on your right thigh. You can adjust the way you feel comfortable.
The conventional way for your bat to be pointing towards is the slips, first slip would be great.
The most important part of your stance is your head. The head has to stay relaxed and the eyes should be at level in order to get a clear view of the ball.
Your right eye should be on the middle and off stump line. It will help you judge the line of the ball better. So anything that's pitched outside the line of off stump, you can easily deal with it.
That's all about stance and I have a quick tip for you to get better at judging the ball. Some of the players have used it in international cricket as well.
While you're facing a bowler, try to look at the ball more with your right eye. When you look at the ball with your left eye you may get a bit blind sided but when you're a bit open and your head is facing directly towards the bowler you will get a clearer view of the ball being bowled.
That's all for now. Stay tuned for more and do comment if you are helped in any way and if there's anything I need to improve on and things that I missed or was wrong about.
Thanks!!!