Tips on opening the batting
If you are new to opening the batting, first remember that it is a specialist role which depends as much on temperament as on technical skill (remember Alistair Cook!). When you go out to bat, the ball will be shiny and hard, the bowlers fresh and the fielders raring to go....cricket may be a team game but when the umpire calls "Play!", it is you against the other 11.
By now you probably know something of your own strengths and weaknesses: rely on the first and minimise the second.
Generally, you will score slowly at first. Don't rush into a flurry of shots. If you miss the first one, don't think, "Phew! Almost got me there." Think: "One up for me - I'm still here."
A run here and a run there will keep the strike revolving, unsettling the bowlers, making the opposing captain think of changing the field (especially if you openers have different styles or are left- and right-handed), add to the team total and help your average. Every run is a success for you. Even if it is a mis-hit off an edge, carry on impassively as if it is just another run to you.
In the first couple of overs, play straight to keep out the balls on the wicket and leave anything that isn't a rank bad ball. Think in advance where you can pick up easy runs at low risk: to balls on or outside the leg stump that are pitched up, try playing forward with a soft grip pushing the ball to square leg or mid-wicket. It it is short, glance it off the hips down to third man. I am left-handed and there were always runs that way. If the ball is going across you pitching on off-stump or just outside, try a forward defensive with that soft grip, letting the ball run between slip and point: gully will stop some but often the ball will run down to third man for a single.
You will be facing (probably) the fastest bowler(s). Unless it is your real strength, don't pull or hook until the ball is softer and you have picked up the pace of the wicket. Let those short balls go: they won't get you out and the bowler is running up and down in the sun getting sweaty and annoyed (who'd want to do all that running up and down in the sun? Take up batting, I say).
Try to develop a real (and, ideally, regular) partnership with the other opener. Agree how you will call together for runs. At the end of the over have a quick chat about the bowling, whether you are getting your foot to the pitch of the ball, etc. Set yourselves targets: "Let's get to 10 and see how things go." Especially in opening, it isn't the individual score that matters, it is building a partnership, getting a good team start before the first wicket falls.
Don't worry if the fielders are close to the bat: just concentrate on keeping the ball down. When a fielder is pulled out of the close catchers, say to yourself, "Another little victory for me."
If you are still in there batting, don't worry about playing and missing. It is always fun to see the bowler getting frustrated. If he or the other fielders think they'll try "sledging" just like the grown-ups (or, at least, like Australians), completely ignore them and don't even change your facial expression. They'll soon stop and, if they don't, they are getting frustrated and looking silly not you - you're still in.
Gradually, you will gain confidence, realising that you are hitting the ball cleaner and pushing it into gaps. Don't get over-confident but take every opportunity to hit the ball.
The key is doggedness and determination and concentration. Watch the test players muttering to themselves as the bowler runs up to bowl. They will be saying something like, "Bat-and-pad-together", "Watch-the-ball, watch-the-ball" or "Get-in-line". This gives them a routine which composes them, reminds them of the job in hand and how they are to tackle it....and makes them concentrate.
Strive to make yourself a specialist opening bat. It is a job that lots of players think they can do but when the ball is bouncing or the pitch difficult, they aren't to be found. You will often go out on a sticky wicket, see off an aggressive bowler, compile a hard-grafted 20 .... and then see an agricultural slogger wnader in and hit a quick 30. Don't worry, he wouldn't get into double figures as an opener and you'll be opening next Saturday. And every club I have played for has one or two batsmen who looked great in the nets - far more elegant and technically correct than I - but who couldn't score more than 20 all summer. Batting, especially opening the batting, is about exploiting your strengths and minimising your weaknesses - you don't want to be a "pretty" batsmen, you want to be the one the opposition want to get out. Who did India fear most: Cook or Bell?
And finally, one of the best things of being an opener is that you always know when you are going in and you can prepare yourself mentally - maybe with a few throw-downs in the nets, maybe with a quiet walk around the boundary. And then when you do go out: again, it is you against those other 11 and all your team wants you to do well and give them a good start.
If you persevere, one day you may achieve three things at once: score a 50 or a hundred, be not out and be on the winning side. As you walk off, your team will say "Well batted!". The opposition will say that, too, but they will say it through gritted teeth ..... and you will remember how you feel at that moment for years and years to come!
