Tips on what to do when waiting to bat

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Spiderlounge

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Tips on what to do when waiting to bat

I was playing yesterday at #6 and after a few early wickets went down I found myself next in to bat, but such was the success of our 4 and 5 that I was waiting a full hour and three quarters to go in, whereupon I was out first ball. Can someone give me tips on how to remain in the right frame of mind and preparedness when waiting a long time as next man in?
 
Re: Tips on what to do when waiting to bat

You don't to be honest. Switch off for the majority of the time if you can but switch on with a few throwdowns every now and then. The problem is, if you try to maintain a batting frame of mind for any length of time, it can ruin your concentration for when you get out there.

You get tense, anticipation sets in and as you say, a first ball duck can often follow (hence the old adage of 'one brings two'). The key is too have a system where you know you will need to bat but without wasting too much energy thinking about it.

I tend to put my pads, thigh pad on but leave my box,gloves etc off. If I want to focus then I'll put my box in and gloves on, before taking them off again to relax. I know that I will (most probably) need to bat at some point, so I'm ready for it but I'm not wasting energy trying to remain or enter a batting 'zone'.
 
Re: Tips on what to do when waiting to bat

While the openers are batting, I always have a bit of a look at the bowling, preferably from behind one end.

As Mas Cambios says, dont sweat on it. I usually bat at 4, so I always put on my pads and thigh pad as soon as the first wicket falls (if you're at 6, do it when the third wicket falls) and then I completely switch off, just watch the game as a spectator. Then, when the second wicket falls, I focus myself by putting in/on my box and gloves, getting my bat, and getting out there.

If you've been waiting a long time to bat, make sure when you face up you're ready. Look at the field, tap the pitch, all that stuff that helps you focus.
 
Re: Tips on what to do when waiting to bat

What I usually do is put on everything but my right glove and helmet (I put them on when concentrating, similar to Mas). I pad up quite quickly, so if I'm batting at 7 (around about where I normally am) I wait till the 4th wicket goes down and the number 6 walks out there. I never do throw downs as I think they give me false hope that the ball in a game is going that slow and is easy to hit, makes me attack too much.

Then I sit and watch the game. I make sure I don't think about my batting or role at all, but rather concentrate on the other guys out there, see what they are doing right or wrong. Then when the wicket falls I have a routine. Right glove on before I stand up, helmet on as I walk past the boundary. I then do a couple of warm up exercises as the whole way I am thinking about what the past two batsmen have done right/wrong, not analysing myself but the others, then apply that to what I have to do. I take guard, check the field, go over all the points I have collected (such as the last batsman was troubled by the off spinner with a big off break, that's my main weakness so look out for it), then face up and concentrate as hard as I can.

That's my routine that I follow every single game, no matter how friendly (I play in social games quite often).
 
Re: Tips on what to do when waiting to bat

It depends for me.
I just sit around chatting and forget about everything else.
Then when I go out and I'm telling myself, move your feet, watch the ball, etc
If i'm there to stop the fall of wickets i'm thinking, get bat on it, watch the ball. just stop hitting your stumps.

Generally if I'm going in to bat though, I wont have had to wait very long because around number 8 or 9 means that people are losing wickets fairly fast
 
Re: Tips on what to do when waiting to bat

To me, I always get my stuff ready quickly so I am not in a rush to get out there if a few wickets fall. I usually bat at 4 so I have my pads on when the openers go out there to start with my glves, bat, box and helmet next to me. I watch the first ovr from each new bowler and check on how many overs a bowler bowls to see fatigue or something like that. Other than that, sitting with the team chatting about anything and everything with the occasional cheer of a good shot.

then when you get out there it is business as usual.

key tips, get ready early, watch some of the bowlers to get a grip on what you will face especially what spin they bowl or if they are left arm, then zone out and have fun before you bat with your team.

good luck
 
Re: Tips on what to do when waiting to bat

I tend to normally bat at 4 so its quite likely i'll be getting a bat earlyish in a game. So I pad up and take a chair away from everyone to watch the bowling from one end and concentrate. Then if it looks like i won't be in for a while i go back and join everyone and relax for a bit. then eventually i want to get back in the right frame of mind so either i'll go back on my own or sometimes i like to grab someone else to come back to where i was before and have another look at the bowling with me this time and have a bit of a chat about it. Basically repeating this process until its time to go in!
 
Re: Tips on what to do when waiting to bat

Everyone is different I guess, but personally I like to switch off, watching the game without being too intent.

If there's a bowling change I'll have a fairly intent look at the first over of the new bowler but aside from that I think it's important not to get too absorbed in the game.

When you cross the rope though, some sort of mental cue - for me it's a loud voice inside my head that says "NOW!" to start switching on, whereupon I look for the ball, wherever it is (usually umpire's hand) and focus on that all the way for the first few balls.

So if you let one go, turn and watch it into the keepers glove, then track it all the way round the field back to the bowler. You probably only need to do it for the first few balls and then you're likely off the mark and away.

This might sound a bit silly - but I was given this advice by a sports psych (with a strong cricket background) and was dismissed in fewer than 30 balls only once last season after having 6 ducks in the previous two years combined (I think 3 or 4 were first ballers).

Everyone is different but this definitely worked for me.
 
Re: Tips on what to do when waiting to bat

i'm not really a fully fledged batsman, more a bowling all rounder or a bowler who can bat a little bit, but what i try and do is just before i go out to bat, clear my mind of any distractions, and focus on batting, where i want to hit the ball, etc. Before hand, i tend to get a bit nervous, so i try and simply talk to others on non cricket related issues, just to get it out of my mind.
 
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