Is This Why Junior Batting Standards Are Falling?
Over the school holidays I ran a couple of cricket camps and over 100 young cricketers attended. I have been coaching for more than 40 years, and I have never seen batting skills as low as they are right now. I am not talking about talent. The kids were keen, athletic and full of energy. What I saw was the same handful of technical faults, over and over, in players of every age and ability. What I saw • Hands apart on the handle. Split hands make it hard to control the bat face and nearly impossible to play straight. • Stance. Players set up unbalanced or square-on, so their head and feet are out of position before the ball is bowled. • No straight bat on the off side. Most could not hit the ball through the off side with a straight bat. They threw the hands at it or cut and slapped across it. • ...