I posted a couple of months ago about my cricketing 50th anniversary — 50 years since I first played, back in 1973. And I have just realised that I am using a bat that is modelled on one I bought 40 years ago.
Not quite Trigger’s broom (or Plutarch’s Ship of Theseus, for the more Classically-minded), but there is a direct lineage from my old Gray-Nicolls GN500 to the bat(s) I have used this season with the Essex Seniors over60s.
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At the end of term we try to play a “proper” game with the age group classes, even with the younger players.
On Saturday, a small group of Dad’s gathered at the side of the hall to watch and encourage their children.
And we had calls from one father for the non-striker to “start walking” and “back up” as the bowler ran in…no wonder young batters are trying to “steal” a yard and straying out of their crease before the ball is bowled, if this is what they are being told to do!
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In the middle of last season, I was asked to move up the order to push the scoring rate along. I knew that I could not do this by batting conventionally — I do like a stodge!
So I resolved to apply (my interpretation of) Julian Wood’s theory of power hitting for cricketers — not slogging, but a technique to put bat on ball, consistently, and with force behind each hit. And it seemed to work.†
Whilst it is far from fully thought through, yet, there is some theory behind my switch from “batting” to “hitting”, and the practice (that clickbait “drill” in the title) to develop the technical and mental approach needed to implement the switch.
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The Teesra 