when facing a faster bowler, what is the thought process of a good batsman?

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Jim2109

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when facing a faster bowler, what is the thought process of a good batsman?

this one has me puzzled. im a complete novice when it comes to batting, ive played 2 matches so far and have somehow scored 18 and 19 in the 2 matches. which i think are quite respectable scores for someone who is a bowler and does zero batting practice in the nets, if im at the nets then im bowling lol.

anyway, my question relates to what goes through the mind of a good batsman when they are facing quicker bowlers? against spin and slow-medium i am fine, i have time to react to the ball in flight and get myself into a decent position, and then sometimes even time to read it off the pitch after that before i play my final shot. however when the bowler gets up above 60mph im all at sea.

obviously the process is that you watch the ball in the hand, watch the bowlers arm come over and release the ball. i guess good batsmen can probably tell from the release point roughly what length the ball will be. then certainly they can tell after its travelled a few yards, as well as roughly knowing the line.

then i guess the next step is move into a good position as early as possible, adjusting that position slightly as the ball gets closer, picking a shot at the same time, executing the shot, then thoughts go into running, etc.

the issue i have is that i watch the ball in the hand, it leaves the hand, by the time ive established where its going, and tried to move my feet, im swinging at thin air and the ball is already past me!

any advice on how i can buy myself more time to settle into the shot? obviously i cant slow time down lol (wouldnt it be nice if it were possible!!), but there must be some tips on how to read the delivery earlier and be able to get my feet into position to offer a valid shot, rather than random swipes outside off stump. when i tried to get my feet into sensible areas i still didnt connect, and eventually edged to slip. its not so much that im physically too slow to get into position, its that im mentally too slow to make my decision on what to do. it probably doesnt help that i never know which shot to play based on length. sometimes il try to straight drive a short one, or sweep a full one. maybe i just need net practice against quick bowlers until it all clicks?
 
Re: when facing a faster bowler, what is the thought process of a good batsman?

you need to be in the best position at the point of delivery. head slightly over front foot, eyes level etc. and into your backlift as the bowler is in his delivery stride. you also need to read the ball out of the hand as you wont have time to read it off the pitch as you do with the slower bowlers. you can obviously improve this by practising against the quicks in the nets. I have also used a bowling machine set at 140 km/h to try and train my eyes to pick up a fast moving ball and get into position to hit it. sure i missed most of those balls but i doubt i'd ever face that speed in a match, so by facing the machine at a much quicker speed it makes me feel like i have a lot more time when facing faster bowlers in a match.

you've done well scoring 18 and 19 in two games, especially as you don't practise in the nets
 
Re: when facing a faster bowler, what is the thought process of a good batsman?

DizzyGillepsie;364028 said:
you need to be in the best position at the point of delivery. head slightly over front foot, eyes level etc. and into your backlift as the bowler is in his delivery stride. you also need to read the ball out of the hand as you wont have time to read it off the pitch as you do with the slower bowlers. you can obviously improve this by practising against the quicks in the nets. I have also used a bowling machine set at 140 km/h to try and train my eyes to pick up a fast moving ball and get into position to hit it. sure i missed most of those balls but i doubt i'd ever face that speed in a match, so by facing the machine at a much quicker speed it makes me feel like i have a lot more time when facing faster bowlers in a match.

you've done well scoring 18 and 19 in two games, especially as you don't practise in the nets
Click to expand...

thanks for the advice, my thoughts were pretty much along those lines, i just needed some confirmation. it seems that practice is literally the only way to "know" how to play against faster bowlers. i guess its a question of training the eyes to pick the delivery early, and then training the muscles so that they remember what they need to do, and then the whole shot becomes instinct rather than a consciously thought out process. thats obviously where im currently lacking, as i have no experience against quicker bowlers so have no idea what to do.

i think it might be worth me having a go against a bowling machine during the winter months. set at 70mph and then vary the line and length a little. one of the kids that plays at my club said he faced the bowling machine at 95mph last week and didnt even see the ball go past him lol. the first he knew about it was when it hit the wall behind him. ive heard that because the bowling machine doesnt have an arm, the reduced reaction time means that the ball is effectively the same as a person bowling 10mph faster. so 60-70mph should pretty much cover anyone im likely to face at club level.
 
Re: when facing a faster bowler, what is the thought process of a good batsman?

do not think. thats the important thing.

ive said it before on here, but i will say it again.

in the nets when you are practicing (which you will need to do, because it sounds like you have some untapped batsman inside of you) make sure you do the most you can against real bowlers. really think hard about every single possible thing you can, forcing yourself to do it all. you will find you will do very badly. dont let that get to you.

then when your out in the middle in a game, make sure you clear your mind. go ask your partner at the other end what they are having for dinner that night, or which girl in the stands is the hottest.

cricket is like golf, if you think about one thing when playing a shot, you will hit a bad shot. the human mind cannot think about more then one artificial thing at once. and since cricket is not natural, but movements brought on by an artificial concept, only one thing can be concentrated on. if you concentrate on getting your head over the ball, you will do that. but you will probably get too close to the ball and miss it because you cant concentrate, or change your object of concentration quickly enough, on the next part of hitting the ball.

thats what the nets are for. if you concentrate on one thing, do that over and over again your body will consider it a natural movement and autonomy will occur, you will do it without thinking. then move on after an over or two of balls faced and do the next thing. try not to do this for more then 5 different things, otherwise you will lose whatever information you have gathered out of your short term memory banks and it will be all for nothing. practice regularly with a sense of routine about it. once a week should be fine.

use that one item of concentration for your benefit. concentrate on watching the ball. everything else will fall into place. its not as hard as it sounds, but not easy.


about the thought process. i cannot help you with that. that is a completely individual thing. watch players in international cricket. i cant pick one from england because i dont watch english players, but a good one is ricky ponting. you can easily see he does the exact same thing everytime. and it obviously works.

it needs to be one that clears your mind. my thought process is a series of actions that i think about closely as i do them. each one i think about carefully. it goes as follows:

look at ground where i tap bat on ground behind back foot on centre mark or whatever mark i am taking
(thinking about it while doing it remember)
look up to see bowler take first two strides
look at ball position in hand
wait for half way through run up
move shoulders forward and lean on front foot as i am very fast at going back, but slow at going forward
tap bat between feet in my normal resting position with face slightly closed
look at bowlers eyes, then arm, then ball
fast backlift into resting backlift position as i have my bat set at about 90 degrees or more to my body as the ball comes down the pitch
then i think about being completely still, while watching the ball the whole way in hand
i dont tap my bat or anything as the bowler starts last few steps before delivery stride, im very still
then just as the bowler enters delivery stride with half a second left i scream BALL in my head and concentrate on watching it a lot

that clears my head of any other thoughts.

you have to work out what position you rest in best. bat resting behind back foot, in between or beside back foot. then work out if you like moving around a bit. see if you can concentrate better if you take one small step toward the bowler, or a simon katich type move across the stumps. i doubt you will though. work out if you like tapping the bat on the ground, some people do it furiously, others, like me, dont do it at all. make sure to keep your head still, but find out if you like moving anything just as the ball is delivered. maybe you like to shift your weight forward or back as the bowler delivers or change your grip slightly. see where you like your weight best. the important thing is feeling comfortable in your resting position. so you have to work out how you get there. i dont get into my resting position to the bowler is just about in delivery stride.

it is different for different bowlers, but as long as you keep it the same for every single ball you face, you should be able to eliminate bad thoughts and concentrate on watching the thing you actually want to hit.
 
Re: when facing a faster bowler, what is the thought process of a good batsman?

Concentration would have to be the key to this. Because if you hit the wrong ball you could be caught out, run out or bowled by any of the fielders.

It's the same thing when you are driving a car. You need to concentrate on what's ahead of you at all times. Just so you can avoid crashes.
 
Re: when facing a faster bowler, what is the thought process of a good batsman?

looks like some pretty sound advice, thanks. i definitely need to practice with the bat, its something to work on over the winter and into pre-season next year.

Boris;367246 said:
do not think. thats the important thing.

ive said it before on here, but i will say it again.

in the nets when you are practicing (which you will need to do, because it sounds like you have some untapped batsman inside of you) make sure you do the most you can against real bowlers. really think hard about every single possible thing you can, forcing yourself to do it all. you will find you will do very badly. dont let that get to you.

then when your out in the middle in a game, make sure you clear your mind. go ask your partner at the other end what they are having for dinner that night, or which girl in the stands is the hottest.

cricket is like golf, if you think about one thing when playing a shot, you will hit a bad shot. the human mind cannot think about more then one artificial thing at once. and since cricket is not natural, but movements brought on by an artificial concept, only one thing can be concentrated on. if you concentrate on getting your head over the ball, you will do that. but you will probably get too close to the ball and miss it because you cant concentrate, or change your object of concentration quickly enough, on the next part of hitting the ball.

thats what the nets are for. if you concentrate on one thing, do that over and over again your body will consider it a natural movement and autonomy will occur, you will do it without thinking. then move on after an over or two of balls faced and do the next thing. try not to do this for more then 5 different things, otherwise you will lose whatever information you have gathered out of your short term memory banks and it will be all for nothing. practice regularly with a sense of routine about it. once a week should be fine.

use that one item of concentration for your benefit. concentrate on watching the ball. everything else will fall into place. its not as hard as it sounds, but not easy.


about the thought process. i cannot help you with that. that is a completely individual thing. watch players in international cricket. i cant pick one from england because i dont watch english players, but a good one is ricky ponting. you can easily see he does the exact same thing everytime. and it obviously works.

it needs to be one that clears your mind. my thought process is a series of actions that i think about closely as i do them. each one i think about carefully. it goes as follows:

look at ground where i tap bat on ground behind back foot on centre mark or whatever mark i am taking
(thinking about it while doing it remember)
look up to see bowler take first two strides
look at ball position in hand
wait for half way through run up
move shoulders forward and lean on front foot as i am very fast at going back, but slow at going forward
tap bat between feet in my normal resting position with face slightly closed
look at bowlers eyes, then arm, then ball
fast backlift into resting backlift position as i have my bat set at about 90 degrees or more to my body as the ball comes down the pitch
then i think about being completely still, while watching the ball the whole way in hand
i dont tap my bat or anything as the bowler starts last few steps before delivery stride, im very still
then just as the bowler enters delivery stride with half a second left i scream BALL in my head and concentrate on watching it a lot

that clears my head of any other thoughts.

you have to work out what position you rest in best. bat resting behind back foot, in between or beside back foot. then work out if you like moving around a bit. see if you can concentrate better if you take one small step toward the bowler, or a simon katich type move across the stumps. i doubt you will though. work out if you like tapping the bat on the ground, some people do it furiously, others, like me, dont do it at all. make sure to keep your head still, but find out if you like moving anything just as the ball is delivered. maybe you like to shift your weight forward or back as the bowler delivers or change your grip slightly. see where you like your weight best. the important thing is feeling comfortable in your resting position. so you have to work out how you get there. i dont get into my resting position to the bowler is just about in delivery stride.

it is different for different bowlers, but as long as you keep it the same for every single ball you face, you should be able to eliminate bad thoughts and concentrate on watching the thing you actually want to hit.
Click to expand...
 
Re: when facing a faster bowler, what is the thought process of a good batsman?

what i do when facing the quicks is this.

first off a ball can hurt we all know that. u have to get a pre notions out of your head. dont think because he is quick he is going to bowl short all the time. play each ball to its merits.

ok when i am facing i make sure i concentrate on the bolwer from when he walks up to his mark to when he strides in. do not look at the background as he/she is running in. look at him and in particular his hand. i take middle stump when ever i bat, if it is a left arm bowler i open my stance. as he reaches his deliver stride i move slightly back and across to slips, . 2 reasons i do this

1) if it is short i am already sorta on the back foot to either cut or pull
2) it helps me get in line with the ball.

i also do a little hunch down so i am looking at the ball coming down (if u know what i mean). after my quick initial movement of back and across i move forward most times. it all happens really quick. best thing to do is not think about it. just concetrate on the bowler and the ball coming down.

hope that makes sense and hope it helps.
 
Re: when facing a faster bowler, what is the thought process of a good batsman?

Dont really change anything. But when/if I get hit, I try not to show pain.
 
Re: when facing a faster bowler, what is the thought process of a good batsman?

youngman;370023 said:
Dont really change anything. But when/if I get hit, I try not to show pain.
Click to expand...

Look the main thing is when the bowler gets into the last few steps of his run up you should be in the ready position. When his back foot hits the crease say something like 'Watch the ball', 'Move your feet' or even say 'now'. Just as long as your focussed on the ball then you will be alright. Make sure you watch it out of the hand as closely as possible and you should be able to react in time.
 
Re: when facing a faster bowler, what is the thought process of a good batsman?

ok as an opening batsman, i have this small technique or plan, as soon as the bowler releases the ball step forward no matter what then if you have to step back this gives me plenty of time to move the bat and play my shots, it works for me so give it a try.
 
Re: when facing a faster bowler, what is the thought process of a good batsman?

I agree with this technique, Greg Chappell used it to perfection. By taking a step forward, your body weight is behind the bat, thus giving you better control, timing and more power in the shot, stepping back or away you lose the power and control. Shorter balls you have more time to adjust and get on the backfoot

When facing a fast bowler you've never faced before, I tend to get in a defensive mode, I don't want to swing the bat too much as if he's really quick and I have a big bat lift, the ball might beat me and I'll get bowled. I make sure I take my stance in front of the wickets, he can't see any of them... I'm ready to just put the bat to the ball, not worried about hitting it anywhere, just placing the bat in a blocking mode....almost as in baseball and I want to bunt. once I get the feel of how quick he is, this gives you more time.... then I can adjust and start playing shots as I'll know how fast the ball comes on.
 
Re: when facing a faster bowler, what is the thought process of a good batsman?

Yes exactly, so give it a try, see if it works for you.
 
Re: when facing a faster bowler, what is the thought process of a good batsman?

im a bowler as well and i have a simple strategy when i face quicks, if its on the stumps & full, block it, if its very short, duck or hook, short & wide or on leg stump = runs, and if its on a good length, block as well
 
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