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Aislabie

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Reason I'm bringing this up is because I haven't picked up a cricket bat in years (picked up a cricket ball yesterday because I still have this match ball :D) because no one really plays cricket around here, though I did see people around play once at a park in the Dallas area. I'm just curious - to those living outside the more established cricket playing nations - do you play cricket often? How do you find people to play with and how well known is the sport?
I believe you would end up looking here.

I've not played cricket outside of any established nations so I'm really not the person to answer, but judging by what Dan Weston was saying, there are a lot of people in the same boat and the biggest thing cricket can do for itself is to let people know it exists for everyone, not just the brightly coloured franchises one sees in T20 leagues with the same players all the time.
 

fezza

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Found this on Reddit this morning. Turns out there's a ten over cricket league in Europe, with teams mostly comprised of immigrant communities.. and it's broadcast in Australia! Standard of cricket is as low as you'd expect but I'm glad to see the game reaching to every corner of the globe.

Reason I'm bringing this up is because I haven't picked up a cricket bat in years (picked up a cricket ball yesterday because I still have this match ball :D) because no one really plays cricket around here, though I did see people around play once at a park in the Dallas area. I'm just curious - to those living outside the more established cricket playing nations - do you play cricket often? How do you find people to play with and how well known is the sport? During the World Cup I'd tell my friends that I'm watching the Bangladesh games and their response would mostly be something along the lines of "oh cricket - is that the one you play with a paddle?" :haha

Contact the expat British, Aussie or South Asian communities - many will have community clubs or online forums. That's what I did when living abroad. We set up a new cricket club and the next year we were playing in the national league. It is hard work but very rewarding.
 

Willoughby63

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Hi,
Has anyone got any tips for how to play an on drive? I usually end up with my head falling over towards point and my foot too far outside leg stump.
 

bazman

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Hi,
Has anyone got any tips for how to play an on drive? I usually end up with my head falling over towards point and my foot too far outside leg stump.

Hi Willoughby63,

Hard to tell exactly without seeing you play the shot, but the main things to keep in mind are the basics for all shots first of all:
1. Balance at the crease as the ball is being delivered, weight towards the balls of your feet.
2. Eyes level, knees slightly bent.

Now you're ready to get into any stroke.

3. For the on drive, it's vital your head, followed by front shoulder, are moving straight towards the ball. Ergo your body weight is going to where the ball is coming from.
4. Your front foot needs to "open up" to aim straight back down the pitch. Note that by "opening up" we don't mean you need to move your leg out towards square leg. It sounds like this is causing your head to counter-balance you by falling over to point.
5. In this position - picture it or practice it if you can - you now have a free line through which your bat can come down in a straight line and push the ball between the stumps and mid-on.
6. Play the ball right under your eyes.

A good, simple practice would be to work up from the stationary ball-on-a-cone (or similar), just getting into the position described and playing the ball off the cone. You could then move onto a ball drop under your eyes or, if no one can drop it for you, you can tuck a tennis ball under your front shoulder, release it and play the shot. Remember the old rules still apply: keep a nice high front elbow and play it late, under your eyes.

* Like with all practice drills we tend to exaggerate the stride towards the ball in order to get the feel of our weight going forwards. With off-and on-drives, you'll find you won't be playing it with a huge stride generally, as the ball tends to be very full when we play this shot. Check out Ricky Ponting's masterclass where he points this out (especially as, facing 90+ mph bowlers, he wouldn't have time for a large stride) but still acknowledges the time and place for the classic "getting the stride in" in practice.

Players I suggest to check out playing on drives: Ponting, Tendulkar, Vaughan.

I hope this helps.

Once mastered, the on-drive is surely the pick of the shots.
 
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Markkkkk

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Have only played 1 cricket match since last year October, scored 176 off 150 so I guess I'm technically in form. Was also my highest score ever.

Best thing about it was that I was got my hundred in the 39th over and was dismissed in the 43rd, so I scored a casual 76 off 4 overs
 

Cricmad

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Not played cricket from a long time for my institution due to COVID -19 induced lockdown. Last time when I played , I scored 88 off 48 balls with the help of 7 fours and 5 sixes. I was going good and hoping for a century. But in an over, first I chipped the bowler for a mighty six. Next ball was same as earlier but a bit slow. Charged with the confidence I got from the previous one, I tried another but this time, I read it wrong and was caught.That's how the bowler tricked me. I got very disappointed and thought to continue this form in the next match but after it, no match happened due to the epidemic. After a long time, now we've started to play in nearby fields but tournaments are looking like a distant dream.
 
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ddrap14

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Just got back from the nets. Second nets in two weeks, but before that hadn't batted or bowled properly in three years (I did sub field when I was helping out our cricket team at school, and bowled an over or two in a practice of the same team, but not an hour and a half of cricket).

I'm knackered but both my hitting and legspin is improving. Worth it so much
 

falloutboy

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In some horrible form. A complete rut. Two ducks in a row. No score above 5 in the last 5 innings. No idea where to go from here.
 

pillowprocter

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I'm a fast bowler, and I'm looking for tips. I consistently hit my lengths at a consistent pace, can make it a bit fuller and shorter aswell. So my question is, what next? How do I improve from here?
 

Fenil

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I'm a fast bowler, and I'm looking for tips. I consistently hit my lengths at a consistent pace, can make it a bit fuller and shorter aswell. So my question is, what next? How do I improve from here?
Maybe work on the wrist position or even pushing the ball through slightly slant to get the swing and cutters going.

You can try and see if you can bowl a slower ball with split fingers a la Dilhara Fernando style.

images (2).jpeg
 

pillowprocter

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I'd love to do some ball-by-ball comms for a cricket match sometime... anyone know where to start?
 

Welwyn

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Jul 11, 2023
Not really my cricket but more 'my cricket adjacent'. Freaked out to see the BBC Sport website's cricket scores page just now and they have the scores from what is the England Physical Disability selection weekend tournament. That would have been unheard of back when I was playing. Weird to see names of players that I played against on the BBC Sport website lol.
 

asprin

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Played competitve cricket after 6 years.

20 over match
Batted at 3, 6 runs in 6 balls
1 over, 14 runs

Abysmal day on the field but I feel good from the inside. The captain, on the other hand, doesn't share the sentiment. Might not make it to the XI next time.
 

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