“Don’ts for Cricketers” – on preparing to play the ball

Don’t forget to stand still, or you will never make a player. It is a good plan for a young player to have his right leg pegged down if he cannot naturally stand still.

Here’s one I can’t agree with. Head still, eyes level, perhaps, but I don’t think we can be so dogmatic, anymore. A consistent trigger movement is fine, so long as the batsman can watch the ball at release and is able to make appropriate movements to play the ball.

As to the “good plan”…

Of course, back play was not encouraged back in the day! And I have, on occasion, resorted to placing a space-marker (cone) behind a batsman’s back foot, as a physical reminder to the player not to move that foot away to the leg side. But pegging the leg down seems extreme!