Cricket Coaching Batting Tips / Using my initiative to practice during the off season

by Richard Pybus
(Abilash , Adelaide, Australia)

Hi there,

I am a 16 year old cricketer from Australia, that is hoping to make playing for Australia a reality.
Currently, I really would like help and confirmation with two things.

1. During the winter season, it’s really hard to get much cricket match play, so hard that the only time i can face proper bowlers is once every week or two. So what i do is: Everyday, after coming back from school I go to my garage, where I throw the ball against a wall roughly 1.5 meters away from my stance and bat against it. I throw it at different speeds, sometimes as fast as I can and sometimes I try to put spin on the ball (I use a tennis ball and a plastic bat).

I am wondering, if this actually would help when it comes to playing out in the middle against opposition in match conditions, etc. I hear stories about how many of the great batsman start off like this, throwing balls and playing by themselves until they are recognized and picked up my states and clubs etc.

What else can I do to improve my batting skills, when I don’t have access to bowlers and can’t go to any nets etc. Please help me out!

2. I really struggle, or at least I’m no where near as good with the short ball as with balls that are played on the front foot. I don’t know why. To be honest, I’m not really “That scared” of facing short balls, although there is some natural fear. I face fairly quick bowlers and especially playing on bouncy pitches in Australia, I can’t let this affect my batting!

What activities/drills can I do to improve this? Anything I can do in my backyard? Out in the nets? Thanks alot!

One more thing, what is this thing about seeing the ball out of the bowler’s hand? I know what it means literally, but I find it very hard to pick length just by trying to look at the release point of bowlers.

Please give me tips on how to see the ball earlier and get into position quicker.

Thank you so much. I know this is a long e-mail, but please, please try to give some sort of feedback. You never know, one day when I reach the international level, I might turn around and thank you guys for helping me get there.

Cheers, Abilash.

Hi Abilash, practicing in the garage and against a wall is fine, the more your practice playing the ball bouncing off the wall and hitting it into space is good for your game.

A good drill for playing the spinners is to toss the ball in front of you with youre bottom hand and practice using your feet to hit drives on the ground and in the air. It encourages good foot work and challenges you to get to the pitch of the ball.

Use a normal swing ball and practice hitting the ball straight, working on rhythm and timing.

Then work on using your wrists to hit through cover and midwicket.

Another drill for the quicks is using a swing ball but on a short string so the ball is chest high so you can duck, weave and play the pull and hook.

To play the quicks better you need to train your brain to practice playing the short ball. You need to ask a friend or parent to throw the tennis ball or slazball to you underarm to practice cutting, pulling, ducking and weaving. Do under arm throws and over arm throws into the ground, a tennis court is great for this.

Then progess to a cricket ball with helmet on to get comfortable in the nets and middle.

Watching the ball out the bowlers hand is really about you looking at the ball in the bowler’s hand as he /she runs up so you pay attention to it. It’s simple really, you just need to do it enough to become a habit!

It was a great email and full of passion for your batting and cricket. Keep working and applying yourself, it’s how dreams come true.

Best wishes Coach

About Richard Pybus

I'm Richard Pybus, I've coached Pakistan, Bangladesh, Middlesex, Titans and the Cape Cobras in South Africa and the goal of this site is to help you to play winning cricket.