Having the ability to move your feet to a spin bowler or medium pacer is something that is becoming more important as each day passes, and its not only with the introduction of 20/20 cricket that it plays such a pivotal role but test cricket as well as the need to score freely in all forms of the game continues to rise. Just take a looking through the top players in world cricket it seems clear to me that while they do all hold their own areas of expertise; Pontings’ back foot play, Sehwags’ Ability to clear the ropes, or Dravids’ mental toughness, in addition to this they also carry similar traits, including the ability to score freely against the slower bowlers, something which is led by great footwork - Ricky Ponting, Michael Clarke, Rahul Dravid, AB de Villiers, Virenda Sehwag, even our very own KP, they could all do a job with Ramps on BBC1 7pm on a Saturday night (or when ever that dancing show comes on??)!!
When moving your feet there are a number of thought processes that need to take place, and they'll probably happen at various different stages throughout the shot, some being pre planned while other are more reactive decisions, so lets start from the beginning.
Whenever you move you feet your first movement is key, a positive first step with the front foot toward the initial line of the ball is key. From here there are 3 prominent ways you can move you feet and each has its own reason to be used. The main reason why we have each of the three is the way you can alter your body shape when it comes to the point, and consequently set yourself to be well position to hit the ball in a particular direction.
1. Setting to Hit Straight
Following the initial movement toward the ball the aim here is to maintain a strong balanced side on position, this is done by clicking the heels together as the back foot advances meeting the front, and then the front foot making its final step to position itself along side the line of the ball where contact can be made.
2. Setting to Hit to Off
Rather than clicking the heels together following the initial stride the back foot passes to the leg side of the front, known as a "crow hop", as the front foot then moves toward the ball the positioning of the feet is now slightly closed and as a result so is the body naturally set to strike the ball toward the off side.
3. Setting to Hit to Leg
Of the 3 this is the method that has become more prominent in recent times, with the ever-increasing demand for batsmen to clear the ropes. Rather than clicking the heels together or employing the crop hop, you cross your back foot passed the off side of the front foot before finally stepping toward the line of the ball with the front foot again. This should create both a foot alignment and body position that encourages a natural swing of the bat toward the leg side. This method also allows you to travel he furthest down the wicket, allowing you to generate more momentum and ultimately produce more power.
Which ever of the 3 you lose its important that you finishing position is as organised as the position you would expect to be in for any drive shot, with a solid base, front knee bent, head down and weight continuing to move into the shot.
So if that’s all it takes what makes these top international players so special? Well unfortunately there’s a bit more to being and expert on your feet than just knowing how to move them, after all if it were a simple as that we'd all be experts. So what are the other factors that set the likes of Michael Clarke aside from the rest of us as mere mortals in comparison??
Decision making
Speed
Consistency
Control
Decision Making
Making the choice to advance down the wicket can be done in 2 ways; either a premeditated decision where your mind it made up prior to the ball being delivered, or a reactive decision caused by a specific action caused by the bowler, we call this a cue.
So why would we premeditate moving down the wicket? Well there are a number of reasons but its most likely to help you as a batsmen keep up with the rate by attacking the bowler, to push a fielder back on to the boundary to create an easy single, to hit a particular bowler out of the attack before he gets a chance to settle, or more simply maybe the ball just isn’t turning enough to worry you. Either way confidence is key, as anything but total commitment to the shot will bring trouble.
Not only can we premeditate when we move down the wicket but also which method of advancing we use. The decision of which style of footwork we use can be pre planned, maybe based on the style of bowling and a desire to hit with the spin, possible the size of a particular boundary, or the placement of the field. Any of these may encourage us to pre-plan which way we want to hit the ball and so if we are going to advance, how we’re going to go about doing it.
What cues might you react to prior to leaving your crease? Generally you need to spot a ball that you feel is full enough that will allow you to get to its pitch or close. The best way to do this is to try and assess the immediate projection of the ball as it leaves the bowlers hand. By establishing the regular arc of the ball as the bowler releases it, as soon as you can spot a ball that has slightly more flight after release that can be your cue to advance. Be careful here though as quality spin bowlers can flight the ball more whilst still shortening the length of the delivery.
Speed
Moving quickly is key for a number of reasons; some are more obvious than others. Clearly the faster we can move the further down the wicket we can move the more deliveries we can get to the pitch of. In doing this though, being able to move quickly also allows us to move later providing us with more information and “cues” before we make our ultimate decision to advance. Finally the more speed we have the more momentum we can transfer into the ball, and ultimately the more power we can produce.
Control
As we know control of our body and our balance is key to cricket and all its disciplines, in fact poor balance is one of the most common problems I see in cricketers young and old today as so many lose balance falling to the off side simply when striding out to drive. So if we can lose balance by just taking one step towards the ball, it makes sense that this could become even more of an issue when taking the common 3 steps used when advancing down the wicket, and to the need to control our head position, and limbs and our base is even more important. When watching today top professionals have a look to see how still their head stays as they advance down the pitch, keeping their eyes level and locked on the ball.
There’s one other thing that can disrupt our head position and our focus on the ball and that’s our hands. Try to make sure that as you advance not only you keep you head still but you also keep your hands fairly still, until your single fluid back swing. A common mistake will see batsman’s hands rise and fall as they advance, resulting in the head doing the same and ultimately the eyes not maintaining the same focus on the ball.
Consistency
As with any skill within the game one of the traits that the worlds best hold that allows them to score big scores over and over again, and in this case allows them to advance down the wicket on command and with complete confidence, is consistency. The ability to reproduce a skill under pressure, and to do so perfectly is one that is not easy to achieve, but there is one way you can get there… Practice. It’s the same reason that Michael Clarke, hits the stumps from points almost every time he gets a sniff or a run out, or Glen McGrath hit a line and a length over and over, and over again, yes these players had a great deal of talent to go with it, but as a cricketer looking to progress the one thing we can control is how much effort we put in, so if you want to play the spinners like your idols pick up your bat and start moving those feet.
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