CRICKET COACHING

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXII, Issue 175, 9 July 1932, Page 3 (Supplement)

CRICKET COACHING

THEORY AND PRACTICE SOME PRINCIPLES OF BATTING. VALUABLE HINTS TO BEGINNERS Whatever may be the problems with which county . ieket is faced,’the hold of the game on England as a whole has never been firmer, and of this no evidence perhaps is more pointed than the demand for coaching before the season starts. Before the war no one had heard of indoor cricket schools, but now there are half a dozen within a iire-inile radius of Charing Cioss: most county clubs now cater for their members’ sons in April, whilst the school classes at Lord’s have g.own to proportions undreamt of by their founder, Sir Francis Lacey, But over and above these expert orgrnisa lions. countless fathers, uncles, and elder bi others all over the country are braving the wind —and maybe ruining their tennis c urts—in an effort to give their young hopefuls as good a chance as possible of “catching the I judge’s eye” in the early practice and trial games at the start of his term. In all humility and as one whom the experience cf twenty years has at least taught the difiicuiiics of a task he onto thought easy, 1 have sat down to try to offer them sor e few suggestions says a writer in the “Observer.” l-irst then, they will no doubt want to read some of the mass of material written on the technique of the game, and especially such of it as is particularly directed to their own coaching problems: moreover, if their pupil ■ really means business, he will want to read for himself, and it is important to be able to advise him well Equipment and Stance. It is idle to sneer at the value of i ‘ ‘book-learning” and the stud;, of | theory, but admittedly tho proof of the ! pudding is it the eating, so let us shut ■ our books and get to the nets. First, though, we must be sure that the j equipment is as good as may be ; the ; wicket must ba as good as rolling, and, I if need be, top-dressing can make it (matting is better than bad turf, and a fust indoor wicket probably the best medium for recapturing timing-faculty and strokes); pads and gloves should always be worn, for protection breeds I confidence, without which no progress : is possible; boots must be well studd.d, j for otherwise accurate footwork and i balance, whether by batsman or bowler, | is out of the question: for small boys | the size of the ball and the length of the pitch must be reasonably adjusted, and for all boys a bat of the right size and weight is absolutely essential. Nowadays the great bat makers turn out even their midget bats of beautiful wood and balance, but even so, boys tend to play with bats too big and heavy. Few boys of preparatory school age can profitably use a “size 6.” 'and fewer still who are under sixteen should play with a bat weighing more than 21b. 30z., including the rubber handle. More important even than the weight is the “pick-up” of the bat, and the help of an experienced player should always be sought to assess this important factor. With these preliminaries, let us get our batsman to the wicket and consider the essentials of his stance. The old-fashioned stiff and set position has been rightly jettisoned: ease, comfort, and, above all, a balance on both feet are the essentials, with the head, but not the shoulders, turned well down the wicket, so that “the camera” may be steady on its tripod and focus the ball early and clearly, Nothing is more important than to learn to keep still till the picture is taken and the mechanism of a definite stroke begun. The first movement in al! such mechanism is the back-lift; this should be made with both wrists and forearms—but not shoulders; the right elbow will be liberated from the right side, the bat will travel back towards and above the stumps, and, in the case of nearly all natural players, will be found to “open its face” towards point. Experience will in time teach boys the value of curtailing this back-lift when they first go in, especially on fast wickets and to fast bowling, but in the early stages of .wicket training a good free back-lift is essential to tstroke-play and timing. Feet and Head. It is none the less true for being trite that correct footwork is the condition of correct stroke play. Most coaches wisely emphasise the importance of moving across on to the line of the ball, but the necessity to move far enough whether back or forward is less firmly emphasised. Yet this is the secret of Frank Woolley’s off-driving, of Arthur Shrewsbury’s and Sutcliffe’s back-play, of Hendren’s hooking, and of Duleepsinhji's late-cutting. In back play—except for experienced players on turning wickets—the right foot should be Kept pointing .square to the line of flight, and not turned to face extra-cover which throws the left shoulder and elbow awry, and tends to warp the stroke out of the true line. The balance should be steady on the firmly planted back leg, but the ball of the left foot is an auxiliary; this should be about a foot in front of the right instep; much bad back-play—-especially to rising balls—-is due to the two feet being placed right together: 100 narrow a base always means bad balance. In forward play two very common, . but often undetected, faults are —

pivoting on the right toe so that the right shoulder and, side come forward mid dominate a stroke that ought ti be controlled throughout by the left, and advancing the left foot square, instead of diagonally, to the line of flight, which obstructs the straight swing of the bat. It cannot be too much emphasised that in all straight-bat strokes the bat is controlled by the left arm and wrist: a palm grip of he right hand is absolute anathema. It is the wrists and anger.; that give the power of line adjustment which is the hall-mark ol real batsmanship. But at least as important as cither feet or arms, is the head: that great coach, the late Aubrey Faulkner, used always to be saying: “Pipy the ball under your nose,’’ and of all batting maxims there is none better. Bring your head to the. ball in all forward strokes, wait till the ball is under your head in all back play: the first text will make the front foot go to the right place in attack and take the weight of the body with it: the second will ensure watchfulness and control in defence; above ail, keep the head down: the lifted head brspcal'.s arrogance or timidity, the true batsman's hopes may ba among the stars, but his chin will point to mother earth.

A Notts Error. In an obituary notice of AV. 11. Lockwood, famous Surrey and England cricketer, an English paper recalls the fact that the great fast bowler, who was born in Nottinghamshire, was given a trial! for Notts in 1886, when he was 18 years of age, hut he accomplished nothing of note that year, and the Notts authorities, not discerning anj’ great promise in his bowling, made no effort to induce him not to accept an engagement on the ground staff nt Kennington Oval in 1887. When he had qualified for Surrey, and had shown something of his quality, the Notte County Cricket Club tried to get Lockwood back, in 1889, but lie preferred to stay with his adopted county.

The final match for the Herefordshire Senior Cup, in Association football, took seven 'hours and 40 minutes of strenuous football without a decision being reached. It was played four times, with extra time, to a draw on each occasion. Then the battle was abandoned, and the two clubs concerned will hold the trophy jointly.