Modern Drills

For

 Cricketers

By

 

Harry Shapiro

 

       Forwards by Graeme Smith and Anton Ferreira

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Modern Cricket Drills

 

Section 1: Beginners and juniors

 

THE FRONT FOOT DRIVES

 

 

Drill 1: A batter stands at a crease with a bat in his right hand and a ball in his left hand .He steps forward swinging his left arm back as he does so and then bends down to place the ball on top of a low tee. He then takes up his position at the top of the back swing. From this position he swings his bat through the downswing and follow through

 

Drill 2: A batter stands at a crease with a bat in his right hand and a ball in his left hand .He steps forward swinging his left arm back as he does so and then bends down to place the ball on top of a low tee. He then steps back and takes his stance in the normal way. He steps forward swinging the bat back as he does so and pauses with his foot placed next to the ball his front knee bent and his eyes looking down on top of the ball. He then swings the bat through the downswing and follows through.

 

Drill 3: A batter stands at a crease with a bat in his right hand and a ball in his left hand .He steps forward swinging his left arm back as he does so and then bends down to place the ball on top of a low tee. He then steps back and takes his stance in the normal way. From this position he steps forward to play the complete front foot drive.

 

Drill 4: Draw three circles, one on the offside one straight and one on the leg side. The batsman starts in the position at the top of the back swing at the offside target. His partner drops the ball from shoulder height the batsman dives the ball on the second bounce. He then moves to each of the other two

 

 

 

Drill 5:Draw three circles, one on the offside one straight and one on the leg side. The batsman starts in his normal stance position. His partner drops the ball from shoulder height into the offside target the batsman drives the ball on the second bounce. He then moves to each of the other two targets

 

 

Drill 6: A batter takes up his normal stance .His partner stands between 6 to 10 meters away and under arms a low bouncing ball towards the batter who steps forward to play a front foot drive.

(A player can do this drill on his own by throwing the ball against a wall and so that it bounces two or three times on the rebound.)

 

Drill 7: A batter takes up his normal stance .His partner stands between 10 to 12 meters away and under arms half volley or low full toss towards the batter who steps forward to play a front foot drive. Repeat 10 times before changing.

(A player can do this drill on his own by throwing the ball against a wall and so that it bounces rebounds as a half volley or full toss.)

 

Bowling

Developing the basic action

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Drill 1: Stand three meters from a wall or a partner. Take up a position with legs apart, weight on the font foot and the front elbow tucked in behind the front hip. Start with the bowling arm vertical and release the ball with a wrist flick. Gradually lower the bowling arm to horizontal keeping the arm straight through the release and swing.

 

Drill 2: Stand with the feet together, hands in against the chest Lift the front knee up close to the body. Step forward; unfold the arms by rotating in opposite directio  when the front arm is high release the ball as in drill 1.Follow through with a step and full body rotation

 

Drill 3: Stand with legs apart, weight on front foot, toe of the back foot on the ground. Reach up with the front arm, look at the target behind the front elbow, ball held next to the back knee. Pull the front elbow into the hip and release the ball as in drills 1 and 2 with a complete follow through.

 

Drill 4: The bowler stands with his weight on the back foot and front foot off the ground. The arms are folded backing the coil position. The bowler then coordinates the front elbow pull down, the front foot plant .The ball is released as in the previous drills with a complete follow trough

 

Drill 5: Place a bat or stump one pace back from the stumps. The bowler walks about 3 paces and then jumps over the obstacle to land in the delivery stride position. The bowler continues this drill until he bowls the ball with the full delivery action and follows through.

 

Drill 6: The bowler jogs in from about six paces and then continues as in drill 5

 

 

Section 2: Intermediate and advanced Cricketers

 

Batting

 

Moving Down the wicket

 

             

 

 

Drill 1:  Draw a line about 3m in front of the batting crease. On this line draw three circles one on the off side, one straight and one on the on side and place a ball in each circle. From his normal stance position the batter moves down the wicket to drive each ball in turn. It is important for the batter to maintain the correct balance, body position and swing of the bat for the drive

 

Drill 2:  Draw a line about 3m in front of the batting crease.  Roll the ball from the full length of the pitch.  The batter must come down the wicket and drive the ball before it reaches the line. 

 

Drill 3:  Draw a line about 3m in front of the batting crease. On this line draw three circles one on the off side, one straight and one on the on side and place a ball in each circle.. A batsman takes up his normal stance position His partner drops the ball from shoulder height into the offside target. The batsman moves down the wicket to drive the ball. It is important for the batter to maintain the correct balance, body position and swing of the bat for the drive

 

Drill 4:  As for Drill 2 but lob the ball underarm so that it will bounce just short of the 3m lines.  The batter moving down the wicket must hit the ball on the half volley or full toss.

Visual Skill training and hand eye coordination

 

        

 

DRILL 1 (Eye movements ) Keep fingers shoulder high and  30cm apart and for 30 seconds look from one finger to another as fast as you can. Left to right and then left again count one.

 

DRILL 2 (Thumb rotations) Hold your thumb at arms length in front you .Rotate the thumb using different patterns as in the diagram. Follow the your thumb movement with your eyes without moving your head. As you become more proficient increase the speed of your thumb.

 

DRILL 3  (Balance Board) A narrow board about 5 metres long is placed on two bricks. A player wearing an eye patch walks forwards and backwards along the board while his partner throws him a beanbag or ball to catch.

 

DRILL 4 Do close catching in pairs using two balls and standing about two metres apart. Throw between ankle and knee height and keep the balls moving as quickly as possible.

     

DRILL 5  Each partner starts with a ball in his right hand. They simultaneously throw to each other’s left hand. The players try to keep the ball moving as fast as possible for about two minutes. As a variation they can throw from right hand to right hand.

  

DRILL 6  A player starts with a ball in each hand. He throws both balls simultaneously for his partner to catch. This exercise can be done individually by throwing  two balls simultaneously against a wall and catching them on the rebound.

 

DRILL 7. Stand two metres from a wall with  tennis or rubber balls in each hand.. Throw the ball in the right hand against the wall and transfer the ball in the left hand to the right hand and catching the first ball in the left hand. Continue for two minutes counting how many catches you can make without dropping a ball.

 

DRILL 8  One player stand with his arms extended at shoulder height with a ball in each hand. His partner stands in a catching position about a meter in front of him. The player drops either ball for his partner to try and catch. Each partner has two minutes.

 

 DRILL 9 A player stands with his back to a partner about two meters away. The partner throws a catch underhand and shouts turn as he does so. The player must turn and attempt to catch the ball.