Your Cricket How do you get yourself out of a bad patch of batting form?

[Hooper]

Last Australian summer, I played in a local Cricket competition and I was mainly used as an opening batsman, but used occasionally as an Off-Spinner.

I like opening as it is a very challenging place to bat and is an important part of the cricket team. I didn't have a great season, it was frustrating as hell, but my highlight was making that 52 in a winning team

Here are my statistics over the season. It contains all my batting innings, bowling stats and fielding stats.

Here is a picture of just my "performances" match by match:

As you can see, between 9th December and the 27th of January I was absolutely rubbish! I was moved all around the batting line-up and was just not enjoying my batting. I think that in that 9th December match I was hit on the elbow by a bounce that bloody hurt, then next ball later I was hit in the groin and I just felt like crap. After that I lost all confidence and batted poorly as you can see!

How is the best way to get yourself out of terrible form slumps like these? Take in mind that Iam an opening batsman normally, but batted in the middle order late in the season and that I only play 40 over matches.

 

[cricket_lover]

Hey man,

I was an opening batsmen for good time now, and have played reasonably challenging cricket..both in India and in Toronto.

It is difficult and challenging yes.

But there are certain things that can help you to do well.
1) practice...I just don't mean regular net practice. First, try to identifywhat your weakness is. (unless you've a dedicated coach, you'll have to do it yourself). Is it the pace, or the angle..or are you struggling with the swing or bounce. Or it might just be that concentration.

For an opening batsmen the technique is extremely critical. You don't have to be really great with your footwork..compared to spinners, but you'll still need the right balance and your head being stable.

First identify what your problem is..and then things will get easier.

 

[M.Di Venuto]

normally i go away and face some of the slower pace bowlers. this might sound silly but it gives me a chance to think as the balls coming down the pitch and i can concentrate on making sure im doing all the basics right, like footwork, follow through, head over the ball etc. i just play my shots then go back to the quicker guys again with my confidence up knowing im doing all the right things again

 

[Hooper]

Hey man,

I was an opening batsmen for good time now, and have played reasonably challenging cricket..both in India and in Toronto.

It is difficult and challenging yes.

But there are certain things that can help you to do well.
1) practice...I just don't mean regular net practice. First, try to identifywhat your weakness is. (unless you've a dedicated coach, you'll have to do it yourself). Is it the pace, or the angle..or are you struggling with the swing or bounce. Or it might just be that concentration.

For an opening batsmen the technique is extremely critical. You don't have to be really great with your footwork..compared to spinners, but you'll still need the right balance and your head being stable.

First identify what your problem is..and then things will get easier.

I struggle with bounce. Thats my main problem, because I am relatively short and I play against men, the think the can just bounce me, knock me on the head and get me out two balls later. I think Iam struggling with the pace and bounce coming into the body.

I have a solid technique and I have good footwork (I do the classic right foot back and across...).

normally i go away and face some of the slower pace bowlers. this might sound silly but it gives me a chance to think as the balls coming down the pitch and i can concentrate on making sure im doing all the basics right, like footwork, follow through, head over the ball etc. i just play my shots then go back to the quicker guys again with my confidence up knowing im doing all the right things again

Yeah, I did that, but I think I did it for too long and thats when I went into a match a bit to relaxed and got hit!

 

[M.Di Venuto]

well there is a time and place for it :P

Im fairly tall so I dont have too many problems with the short ball. but i see a lot of shorter guys who arent afraid to duck and weave lots. have u considered doing that rather than trying to put bat on ball?

 

[Hooper]

Yeah, but my instinct is always to use the bat.

But I may practice ducking, but I might try with a tennis ball first do you reckon?

 

[Almost_Austwick]

Get yourself in the net and face a barrage of short pitched bowling. Don't be afraid to get hit and just practice ducking, pulling and hooking. Get used to the ball coming at you, head height and remember that no matter what, keep your eye on the ball.

As for getting out of batting slumps, well, you can either try to bat yourself out of them, which may not always be pretty, drop down a level and try to get some easy runs or practice until you feel in from. Sometimes, it might just be that you need a little bit of luck though.

 

[aussie_ben91]

As an opening batsman you should be setting yourself a target that you will still be in after 10-15 overs & generally leaving widish balls outside the off-stump & looking to protect your wicket. That should be your main goal; not particulary making quick runs like you'll see a Sehwag or a Gilchrist do. By no means, don't shut down completely but once the shine and swing has been taken off it should be easier to make runs from then on in.

Don't dwell over poor scores either. If you feel as if you are struggling, go back to the basics, don't worry about scoring runs but firstly getting your head straight & over the ball. Spend sometime in the middle; treating it like a nets session where you are simply trying to middle everything & it should do you the world of good, you'll begin to feel more comfortable and progessively things should fall into place.

It sucks for you though, 40 overs isn't that long. I play 60-80 per innings. Are you playing local club cricket or grade cricket?

 

[M.Di Venuto]

Yeah, but my instinct is always to use the bat.

But I may practice ducking, but I might try with a tennis ball first do you reckon?

nah cause the bounce is too different. i'd use one of those rubber like practise balls which wont hurt your ribs as much
maybe watch some footage of someone like ponting to get an idea of how to play the hook and pull shots well. that actually worked for me when i couldnt hit a cover drive i watched mark waugh for a few hours.
sounds basic and probably silly but i think its worthwhile

 

[Hooper]

...Spend sometime in the middle; treating it like a nets session where you are simply trying to middle everything & it should do you the world of good, you'll begin to feel more comfortable and progessively things should fall into place.

It sucks for you though, 40 overs isn't that long. I play 60-80 per innings. Are you playing local club cricket or grade cricket?

Then everybody gets mad at ya for batting too slow and Iam accused of not playing for the team.

I tried once to just play Test Match for first ten overs and ended up getting like 7-8 runs in the first 10 overs...boy, you shoulda seen the boys on the side! They were goin off at me, because it's only 40 overs.

I play 4th Grade cricket.

nah cause the bounce is too different. i'd use one of those rubber like practise balls which wont hurt your ribs as much
maybe watch some footage of someone like ponting to get an idea of how to play the hook and pull shots well. that actually worked for me when i couldnt hit a cover drive i watched mark waugh for a few hours.
sounds basic and probably silly but i think its worthwhile

Yeah, learn from the best they say, Iam looking at Youtube as we speak. Mark Waugh was the most beautiful batsman of all time (good choice to look uo cover drives), but he was pretty ordinary at short-pitched bowling.

 

[King Pietersen]

Michael Vaughan is another to watch. Has a masterful technique and imo is a much more beautiful batsman than Waugh was. Vaughan is the benchmark in world cricket atm, for good looking shots and awesome technique. Dont let the dip in form worry you too much, your scores dont look that bad anyway, just take each innings as it comes and play your natural game. As AA said, try getting one of the quicks from your club to bowl bouncers and short balls at you just so you can learn how to play them. Or even get a bowling machine out.

 

[Almost_Austwick]

The key is to work on the areas that you're weak at as much as those in which you're strong.

If you feel that you're never going to be strong against the short ball then learn to duck and not get tempted to hit it. It will take a strong will but after a while people will realise that you're going to ignore it and will stop bowling it at you.

 

[King Pietersen]

Or will keep bowling it as they know you'll just leave it and have a guarenteed dot ball/ a wicket if you go for it. Working on a shot to play the short ball is the better option i feel. Slightly harder work but worth it.

 

[Hooper]

Yeah, true Dan. Thats what they figured out within the space of an over. Bowl short to me and I'll either get hit, try hooking or dot ball.

 

[Almost_Austwick]

I don't know, but I'm guessing the standard that he's playing means that the bowlers aren't going to be able to consistently pitch it where they want which means bowling short pitched ball after short pitch will always leave you with at least one boundary ball an over.
Plus there are probably rules which limit the number of short pitched balls an over?

This is where you have to learn patience and be able to leave alone the good ones and hit the bad ones. I meant more that you don't have to completely cut out pulling but you need to learn when to use it and in your case at the moment its probably easier to avoid playing it unless you're 100% certain (in your mind) that you're going to be able to score from it.