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Kevin Pietersen said: “That is a new shot, played today” after twice reversing his stance and whopping Scott Styris for six. No it isn’t. It’s batting left-handed. People have been batting left-handed for a while now.
It’s a new approach though, even if it’s not a new shot. Is it unfair? Batting wrong-handed should be anything but an advantage if you take field placings out of consideration.
One of the best things we’ve heard said about it came from Nasser Hussain, who basically advocated Bodyline. If the batsman reverses his stance and you find yourself with three leg slips and a leg gully all of a sudden, then bowl to that field.
Not that one-day cricket often features three slips and a gully, but that’s one-day cricket. It’s about hitting boundaries, not taking wickets. Would a batsman be so keen to ‘switch hit’ in a Test? The hook shot’s tricky enough when you play it the usual way round.
“Whether he bats left or right handed his head is basically in the same place”
Not sure who was responsible for saying that but it’s something I heard about the new shot.
I think anyone who says that swapping your hands round on the bat whilst the bowler is bowling, then reversing your stance gives you an unfair advantage over people who don’t have to do all of that in the space of about 5 seconds should try and actually do it. I’m willing to speculate that there aren’t that many people who could actually pull it off.
It’s a bit like saying that if Pietersen played all of his shots with his eyes closed, then it would be unfair as it might put the bowler off a bit, especially if KP had his initials tattooed onto his eyelids, as I’m guessing he does.
On the other hand, maybe England’s out-of-form batsmen aren’t actually that bad after all – they’ve just been batting back-to-front for the last 2 years (or in Ian Bell’s case, probably upside down).
Its not a new shot. KP himself has played it before.
Proof here: http://www.wellpitched.com/2008/06/switch-debate.html
one day cricket isn’t about hitting boundaries, it’s about getting as many runs as possible.
That’s my genuine comment for the week taken care of.
I’m all for a bit of Bodyline, especially if Kevin Pietersen’s the target, but I suspect that a short-pitched assault from Kiwi medium-pacers is not exactly going to strike fear into the hearts of opposition batsmen.