A blog by Â(c)hinaman:
it is OK to play off the front foot or the back foot,
it is OK to go across the line to hoick a ball outside off to midwicket
it is OK to reversesweep
it is also OK to top edge / inside edge for boundaries …
but not for a batsman to switch his grip before hitting.
Switch hitting:
Holding: KP Reverse Sweep Unfair
Kevin Pietersen’s switch hits against New Zealand in the first ODI have certainly raised controversy and Sky Sports cricket pundit Michael Holding believes it is unfair.
Pietersen belted two unbelievable sixes ‘left-handed’ after switching to from a right hander in the middle of bowler’s delivery stride.
“What you have to remember is that the captain and the bowler set the field. There are field restrictions that they have to adhere too.
There are almost as many misdirected shots the fielders will have to be prepared for.
So, fair enough, give the bowlers the opportunity to switch their delivery arm in mid run up
or over/around the wicket – if they can deliver a legitimate wicket-taker,
I will applaud.
For what’s next?
Stop the googlies?
Comments:
One Comment
A good point has been raised by Legbreak on our forum.
This is my re-take on this issue:
At the point of delivery of the ball,
1. the bowler does not know what stroke the batsman will attempt.
2. the batsman does not know what line the ball will take.
Both the rules can continue to apply based on the guard the batsman takes.
The guard marks the batsman as right/left handedness,
and the legside stays identified regardless of what handed stroke a batman eventually plays.
The ‘switch’ is decided and executed between delivery and hit.
To keep it simple, the switch hit can be accepted as a new stroke and new ‘footwork’.
It is not an easy shot to play, with a fraction of seconds to react, decide and execute.
There’s as much chance of players making a hash of than getting 6s everytime.