Opening The Batting

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Superowl

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i have recently started to open the batting at my club, i have no trouble hanging around but i can get bogged down pretty easily and not keep the scoreboard ticking, what would be some ways to help me get into a more positive frame of mind.

when i am in the nets my defence is solid and i like to think i can play almost all of the shots with some degree of skill, but the last 2 games i just havent been playing them

any tips or hints to help guys ?
 
I don't think anyone but yourself can explain why you choose not to play shots lol! ;)

Its not uncommon for openers to get bogged down, it happens to the best of us. But the good news is you're fulfilling the primary role of an opener - which is to see off the new ball. If you want to be more positive, think of it like this: the new ball is hard and the bowlers will be bowling at their fastest, which means if you go for your shots, the ball will absolutely fly, and any catches will take some catching. Luck favours the brave - and it especially favours the brave opener.

Alternatively, if you're really too scared to play shots, work on making your defensive shots more productive - drop it at your feet and take off for a quick single, angle the bat hit the ball into gaps. You might even consider taking guard further back or further forward to upset the bowlers length.
 
yeah, i take gaurd outside my crease at the start to negate any swing that they may get, i also have started moving back and forth from my crease every over or 2 to upset his line. i have started to play more shots recently after reading your advice and its working cheers

and i am always partial to a glance to 3rd man :D
 

Its not uncommon for openers to get bogged down, it happens to the best of us. I have been opening the bat ever since I was a teenager & have had my moments when I did get bogged down.(Not by the oposition bowling but my own inner mind's over protectiveness of my wicket ).This trait to put a heavy price on your wicket does make openers cut down all the risks & eventually struggle for runs. The best solution is to be mentally alert & keep trying to rotate the strike.Thus the pressure of scoring freely wont curb your defenisve role play of a opener.

The role of a opener is typically a thankless job but often gets highlighted whenever a early wicket falls.So the typical tendency of most openers is to drop anchor & cut out all the risk shots or attacking shots.But with the advent of T20, IPL,etc & also the likes of Sehwag, Hayden ,Slater,etc in longer versions,the openers role has also modified.The opener is no longer just a defensive-preserver of wickets but now a days ,he is a aggressive option too. If the opener can get the team off to a flyer ,rest of the team mates gets a moral boost too.

Irresepctive of our approaches to the opening ,the main requisite is to play according to the situation of the match & the format,yet not changing too much of your basic batting style! Just remember you are a successful opener becasue of your existing style & hence no need to change the approach drastically-but just align mental preparedness to face different challenges during the innings.

The prime objetive is definitely fulfilled of an opener if the new ball attack is warded off without loosing early wickets.The challenge is to typically face the best of the opposition bowlers & anchor the innings against the now changing mantra for attacking batsmenship at all costs during every phase of the inings,currently-all thanks to the slamb-bham variety required for T20s & IPL,etc.

Personal Example: Upto a year back,I was playing my natural game by rotating the strike,bidding my time to see of the better bowlers of the opposition & then attacking as & when -milking the change bowlers.This was a verry successful approach with me topping the batting averages for my team with almost 30% of innings wherein I carried the bat through the innings & also scoring heavily/consistently. Then,I started playing the not so competitive tennis ball circket of 12/15overs & the onus was on slogging.Our team was full of stroker players & suddenly my game had to evolve to accommodate the dynamics of the batting order. In the bargain,I started trying slogging like the others with resulting reducing averages & shorter innings.This year,again I started focussing on playing to my strengths by ignoring the slam-bang variety & lo,the averages shot up drastically & so did the high scoring return.Noticing thereby that whenever I opend & played out the anchoring role,the team's win percentage was far highere than what we had whilst having free stroking batsmen,who made attractive 10-20's & more inconsistent with regard to the larger team's perspectives.

Hence ,to summarise:
  1. Always back your strengths-natural way of batsmenship.
  2. Always be mentally aware of the dynamics of the match situation to adopt quickly.
  3. Be ready to sacrifice flair for consistency & results will soon follow.
  4. Back your shot selection.
  5. Playin to the team's cause is more important than playing to the gallery.
  6. It is not the change in r basic techniques but attitude, fraem of mind, temparement that is more important to be more attacking,yet not sacrifice consistency.
  7. Once in a while,bat lower down the order to release all the pressures of opening & enjoy playing attacking cricket.
  8. Always,try to bat out partnerships with free flowing batsmen at other end,so that thr run rate is not too affected thereby reducing pressure whilst at the wicket.
  9. Once in a while indulge in big hitting to free your mind, in inconsequential matches & try out all your attacking shots to be fine tuned,in case you might need them in some chronic stages of key matches against tougher opposition.
  10. Enjoy whatever you do..attack or defend & do it well by ignoring the score sheet.Incidentally you would have done well if you just play your normal/natural ways.
 
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