Use of helmets hampers development of proper technique

May 22, 2012
Sunil_GavaskarBatsmen of today are unable to play quality seam and spin. It's the delivery that moves late that asks questions of them. They have no answers. Most seaming tracks or pitches with vicious turn have bounce and this makes the good length move closer to the batsmen. This shift in good length and late movement foxes most players of today. Why?


The game has changed in many ways. Batsmen now use heavier bats, their back lifts have become more exaggerated than before. Helmets have altered technique. Wickets once known for their spite and character have been destroyed to make way for higher-scoring games.


Under such staid circumstances where the shift in the game has been from back-foot to front-foot and from side-on to square-on, when today's batsmen are thrown onto a seaming track they start gasping for air.


Stand-out performers

Within this rot V.V.S. Laxman and Rahul Dravid stand out when it comes to contemporary batsmen. This is because till he was seventeen Dravid did not use a helmet and neither did Laxman till he was fifteen. Their instincts were moulded into proper technique without the comfort of protection. This makes them the last of our greats with a solid technical foundation built on superb back-foot play, the perfect balance and the ability to play late and play each delivery without committing themselves.


That's what made them so good against the quicks, seamers and spinners alike on challenging wickets. Both used light bats and both conquered the world of challenging pitches at will. Whilst it's essential to know how to play off the back foot on seaming tracks, for one to be able to play late and off the movement, back-lift and the weight of the bat matter as much. A higher back-lift and a heavier bat make it difficult to make the last-minute adjustments required to play good seam.


Of late, maybe because of the changing need to get quicker runs, batsmen have become more aggressive and an increasing number have started to use heavier bats with higher back-lifts. Though this high back-lift helps deliver greater impetus, it leads to a looser game.


Batsmen normally get around 1/3 of a second against the quicks to decide a shot and because of the extra distance the bat has to travel to meet a normal good length delivery, batsmen with bigger back-lifts are forced to commit that fraction of a second earlier than usual to make the desired contact. Because the momentum through the downswing of the bat is far greater than that of a normal batsman, once committed it becomes difficult to change the shot.


Further as the good length moves closer and the deviation off the wicket also moves closer, the batsman has lesser time to make last minute adjustments. On good batting tracks the big back-lift is an asset but on seaming tracks it becomes a grave liability.


Every child is born with an inherent instinct which is used in his development as a cricketer. Take this basic test: walk up to a man and just as you get near him bend down fast and drop your hand near his knees. Don't touch him. Stay a foot away.


The man will buckle and try and instinctively protect his groin by shoving his hands down. Try the same with a woman and you will find that she will barely react. Why?


It's because the man's instinct, evolved since childbirth, takes over. This is not the case with women. The player with the helmet is like the lady who will not flinch and the player without the protection is the man who will always move to defend himself.


This is exactly the case with cricket. This basic instinct of the child is used by the coaches and moulded into proper technique. And that's why it's absolutely necessary, keeping in mind that batsmen of today have a problem with the seaming and spinning delivery that we try to find out if we are making a mistake at the time of moulding instinct into technique with our youngsters.


Dravid, Laxman, Bradman, Richards and Gavaskar to name a few: all learnt their game and moulded their instinct into technique without a helmet, and that's why they became complete players on all kinds of wickets whilst the batsmen of today moulded their instinct into technique wearing a helmet and lost the ability to play like the stalwarts of old.


Owing to the extra protection have these batsmen become lazy and now have to commit themselves on the front foot? Have they forgotten how to play off the back-foot as a result? These are questions which remain unanswered.


Back-foot play was essential in the days before helmets. There was not a single batsman in the world that played the quicks on fast wickets off the front-foot. It was essential both to protect yourself from bodily harm and to stay on the wickets long enough to get runs. This of course changed with the introduction of helmets.


The fast bowlers thereafter lost their sting and the batsmen lost the knack of playing back. Playing off the back-foot is easier said than done. It's a discipline that needs to be inculcated from the very beginning. Many batsmen believe that just going back will ensure that the rest of the body will automatically fall into place but that's far from the truth.


The position of the toe when the back foot moves across is crucial. The toe facing point locks you into place for playing in the arc from the bowler to point. It ensures you stay side on and play straight. If you need to play to backward of point, or past gully, then it's better to open the toe just a mite further. If you want to play on the on-side then face the toe towards cover, it will force your leading shoulder to mid on and open your chest out.


Compounding errors

A trivial mistake leads to compounding errors. Many try and play to cover with the toe of their back foot facing cover. No sooner that this happens than you become open-chested, the natural downswing of the bat is now from third-man to mid-on. To play to mid-off instead of playing straight which you would have done had you been side-on now you find yourself playing inside out. This inside-out angle increases when you play to covers. You have compensated one error with another.


Once your instinct gets used to such error-riddled techniques, even the slightest fault in judgment gets you out. Consistency in scores becomes unattainable. In order to get power of the shot, the complete weight of the body needs to be transferred onto the back foot. Many batsmen, being front-footed are hesitant to commit to their weakness and get caught in no-man's land when they try and play back.


Please don't confuse the shuffle with back-foot play. The shuffle stops you from locking yourself into a front-and -across position. As explained earlier that's doable on slow wickets but disastrous against both pace and seam on quicker tracks.


The shuffle forces you into position and as you are well balanced at the time of delivery, it gives you the extra split second required to position yourself post delivery. The seaming ball needs to be seen onto the bat and that's the reason back-foot play is so essential to thwart the late movement.


Unless the batsman is used to playing back, he tends to hang the bat out. That's always suicidal. Batsmen with expansive back lifts have this tendency of hanging their bats outside the off stump on seaming tracks. You have to play close to your body at all times, Most back-footed players have shorter back-lifts over which they have complete control at all times and are masters at working the ball around their hips.


My gut feeling is that after a proper comparison between cricketers of the two different eras, namely pre-helmet and post- helmet learning years, we will find that proper technique can only be inculcated without the use of helmets by youngsters. The cricket world has to shift to the back foot and unless that happens, seaming tracks will continue troubling batsmen.



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News Network
June 12,2020

New Delhi, Jun 12: The BCCI on Friday called off Indian cricket team's short tour of Zimbabwe in August due to the threat posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The announcement was on expected lines after Sri Lanka Cricket announced on Thursday that India's limited overs tour in June-July was postponed indefinitely.

"The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Friday announced that the Indian Cricket Team will not travel to Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe owing to the current threat of COVID-19," BCCI secetary Jay Shah said in a statement.

"Team India was originally scheduled to travel to the island nation from 24th June 2020 for three ODIs and as many T20Is and to Zimbabwe for a series comprising three ODIs starting 22nd August 2020," Shah added.

The Indian team is yet to resume training and the camp is unlikely to take place before July. The players will take around six weeks to be match-ready.

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News Network
February 21,2020

Wellington, Feb 22: shant Sharma's lion-hearted bowling effort met its match in Kane Williamson's elegance as New Zealand ended an attritional second day of the opening Test against India with a slight upper-hand, here on Saturday.

After another lower-order collapse that saw India get bundled out for 165, Ishant, coming straight back from an ankle injury, took three for 31 in 15 overs despite Williamson's effortless 89 in New Zealand's day-end score of 216 for 5.

New Zealand now lead by 51 runs.

Mohammed Shami (1/61 in 17 overs), during his final spell of the day, removed Williamson, who couldn't check an uppish drive. Henry Nicholls' (17 off 62 balls) struggle seemed to have hampered Williamson's rhythm.

During the final hour, Ravichandran Ashwin (1/60 in 21 overs), who also bowled beautifully throughout the day, relieved Nicholls' of his agony with a delivery that had drift and a hint of turn as India skipper Virat Kohli snapped the low catch at second slip.

Williamson looked good as he hit some delightful strokes square off the wicket. The square drive on the rise off Jasprit Bumrah (0/62 in 18.1 overs), followed by a cover drive, showed his class.

In all, the New Zealand skipper hit 11 boundaries off 153 balls.

Bumrah, in particular, was punished by Williamson, who also back-cut him for a boundary and Taylor then punished another half volley through the covers.

There were quite a few loose deliveries on offer from the Indian pacers and in between a few did beat the bat. With the 'Basin' baked in sunshine, batting became lot more easier and Black Caps seized the initiative.

Bumrah, in particular, failed to find his length consistently. Either he bowled too full and drivable length deliveries or too short that even Rishabh Pant failed to gather with the ball going a couple feet over his head.

This is where Ishant came into the picture. While he was lucky to get opener Tom Latham out with a delivery drifting on leg-stump, the other opener Tom Blundell (30) had a typical Ishant dismissal written all over it.

The ball was full on the off-stump channel and jagged back enough to find the gap between his bat and pad.

Williamson and Taylor then had a partnership of 93 runs during which New Zealand also got the lead before Ishant, coming back for his third spell, bowled one that reared up from good length and proved to be an easy catch for Cheteshwar Pujara at short-leg.

Once Nicholls came in, Williamson, who was batting fluently, suddenly had a player at the opposite end who scored only 4 off 34 balls.

Looking good for his 22nd Test hundred, Williamson, in his bid to get another boundary, couldn't check a cover drive and the low catch was taken by substitute fielder Ravindra Jadeja.

Earlier, New Zealand's debutant Kyle Jamieson and veteran Tim Southee took four wickets apiece as Indian innings folded in 68.1 overs.

Jamieson (4/49 in 16 overs) and Southee (4/49 in 20.1 overs) took four of the five wickets that fell on the second morning with India adding only 43 runs to their overnight score of 122 for 5.

Rishabh Pant (19) started with a six but then a horrible mix-up with senior partner Ajinkya Rahane (46) resulted in a run-out and the little chance of recovery was gone for good.

It was a poor call from the senior player and Pant had to sacrifice his wicket in the process.

Ashwin then received a beauty from Southee, pretty similar to what Prithvi Shaw got, while Rahane inside edged one while trying to leave it alone.

With India at 132 for 7, Rahane knew that time was running out as he played a square drive off Trent Boult to get him a boundary.

Southee then got rid of Rahane when he tried to shoulder arm a delivery that made a late inward movement. Mohammed Shami's entertaining 21 then enabled the visitors to cross the 150-run mark.

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News Network
January 15,2020

Dubai, Jan 15: India skipper and batting mainstay Virat Kohli was on Wednesday named captain of the International Cricket Council's ODI and Test teams of the year, capping off a memorable season for the world No.1.

Apart from Kohli, there were four other Indians who were picked in the ICC's Test and ODI Teams of the Year.

While the Test team featured double-centurion Mayank Agarwal, opener Rohit Sharma, speedster Mohammed Shami and left-arm spinner Kuldeep Yadav found a place in the ODI side.

Kohli enjoyed a tremendous run in both the formats in 2019. The 31-year-old hit his seventh Test double hundred on the way to a career-best unbeaten 254 against South Africa in October last year.

It was a breakthrough year for opener Agarwal, who smashed two double tons, one century and went beyond the fifty-run mark twice. He hit a career-best score of 243 against Bangladesh in November.

Kuldeep, too, enjoyed a memorable year as he joined the golden list of bowlers with two hat-tricks. The chinaman claimed his second ODI hat-trick of his career against the West Indies last month.

In the absence of Indian pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, Shami rose to the occasion making the best in the business hop, skip and jump with his pace, swing and bounce through the season. He scalped 42 wickets in 21 ODIs over the last 12 months.

The ICC's Teams of the Year 2019:

ODI Team of the Year (in batting order): Rohit Sharma, Shai Hope, Virat Kohli (captain), Babar Azam, Kane Williamson, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler (wicketkeeper), Mitchell Starc, Trent Boult, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav

Test Team of the Year (in batting order): Mayank Agarwal, Tom Latham, Marnus Labuschagne, Virat Kohli (captain), Steve Smith, Ben Stokes, BJ Watling (wicketkeeper), Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Neil Wagner, Nathan Lyon.

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