The “Dilscoop”

It says something of the evolution of limited overs batting in the past decade that we now take for granted that batsmen will fearlessly employ the “Dilscoop”, as it came to be known in honour of its most famous practitioner. In truth this shot has existed for decades at the fringes of big-time cricket but it was Zimbabwe’s Doug Marillier and Western Australian Ryan Campbell who pioneered its use at moments that previously called for convention. Campbell was playing it 15 years ago but the shot was perfected by the Sri Lanka opener Tillakaratne Dilshan.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The “Dilscoop”. Illustration: Oli Holmes/Guardian Australia

Normally played in the closing overs, the premise is simple but the execution far less so; get in line with the ball, crouch – usually on one knee – and use the pace of the ball to flick it over both your own and the wicketkeepers’ head down to the region between third man and fine leg. A lot can go wrong here. The batsman might flick it into their own body or face, to a straight delivery they can miss and be trapped in front or bowled and it’s hard to control the exact destination of the ball once contact is made.

The Dilscoop requires a degree of premeditation or at least a very fast identification of the ideal length (slightly short) and line (preferably a foot outside off stump) to play it. There is also now a willingness among some players to swivel slightly as they play it or adapt to the angle of the delivery, sending the ball squarer.

The man most likely to employ it on a regular basis in this World Cup is New Zealander Brendon McCullum, for whom it’s a lethal weapon. India’s Rohit Sharma might also play it in ways that defy any kind of analysis.

The reverse slog-sweep

In Bob Woolmer’s Art and Science of Cricket, the 642-page masterpiece coaching manual by the late South African legend, Woolmer doesn’t err in many areas – particularly when it comes to batting – but you wonder if he’d lived beyond the 2008 edition whether he’d cut the line, “this chapter covers all of the cricket shots you are ever likely to play.” What a shame he wasn’t around to dissect the rapid developments since.



Woolmer speaks briefly of the “reverse hit” – only devoting three-quarters of a page where it might now take 10-12 to cover off every variation. Then it was seen primarily as a means for breaking the shackles and upsetting the rhythm of bowlers, spinners primarily. “As a disruptive weapon,” he said, “it’s almost unparalleled.” Glowing in his praise of Jonty Rhodes’s nimble footwork, Woolmer would probably be equally delighted by the reverse slog-sweep that Australia’s Glenn Maxwell plays. Maxwell was on the receiving end of a lot of grief late last year for claiming that he views his new-age reverse strokes the same way he would a cover drive but it’s not as silly as it sounds; these shots are endlessly honed in the nets and even if they occasionally get him in trouble, there’s not much you can do as a bowler when someone so effortlessly switches hands and slaps you over the point fence from a perfectly reasonable line outside off stump. Forearm strength helps, but you can only time it well as Maxwell if you’ve put in the hours of practice.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The reverse slog sweep Illustration: Oli Holmes/Guardian Australia

The switch-hit

There’s a slightly maddening debate – often engaged by Ian Chappell – to say that right-handed batsmen are actually “right-facing left-handed batsmen” and left-handed batsmen vice versa. Following this thread, it sort of makes sense that as prodigious a ball-striker as Australia’s David Warner, who happens to bowl and throw with his right hand, should be adept at switching his hands and using that right hand as his “bottom hand” to heave the ball into the stands at what would be cow corner to the traditional right-hander.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The switch hit. Illustration: Oli Holmes/Guardian Australia

This differs from the traditional reverse sweep because the batsman – Warner and Kevin Pietersen the most notable exponents in this case – has no intention of keeping the ball down. Again it can break up the rhythm of the bowler and it’s not merely unconventional, it’s a statement of dominance and aggression. Warner’s most celebrated version of the stroke, against India’s Ravi Ashwin, helped him stop the bowler from coming around the wicket and defensively angling the ball in towards the pads to curb scoring. Pietersen tended to play his over the cover fence but Warner’s goes straighter and is thus a little harder to set a field to. Despite the reservations of many, it’s also now MCC-approved.

Slog to cow corner

It should also be pointed out at this point that while many runs in this World Cup will still come from strokes you’d see in an MCC coaching manual, there’s also something to be said for the more old-fashioned brand of slogging. In this realm, clearing the front foot and heaving towards cow corner remains tried and true. This should especially be the case on smaller grounds in New Zealand and when there is pace and true bounce in pitches.



Facebook Twitter Pinterest Slog to cow corner. Illustration: Oli Holmes/Guardian Australia

It’s a hallmark of virtually every truly stupefying limited overs innings in recent times – AB de Villiers’ Wanderers massacre, Corey Anderson’s brutality against a similarly inept West Indies attack, James Faulkner and Chris Gayle on numerous occasions – that a fair proportion of balls disappear over the cow corner fence as a result of cross-bat swipes. This is also something that we’re now seeing earlier and earlier in ODI innings as players become braver and more willing to chance their arm from ball one, safe in the knowledge that pace and thunderous bat-speed will mean even mis-hits could travel the full journey. Faulkner, De Villiers and a host of Kiwis are ones to watch on this front.



The ramp

We’re using the safety of a familiar term here but this shot, where the batsman steps towards off, drops to one knee and uses the pace to play a hybrid sweep/glance/hook over the fine leg fence has too many different mutations to categorise firmly. At the Wanderers, De Villiers played three of the most absurd and exhilarating versions you’re ever likely to see, making the potentially fraught act of batting in a game of international cricket look like the cartoonish imaginings of a video game.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The ramp. Illustration: Oli Holmes/Guardian Australia

In his version, De Villiers sort of adapted elements of the ramp and the slog sweep, but the latter was traditionally hit against the pace or spin and much squarer. In this ramped version, he swivels side-on from the ball and uses the pace on it to loft over fine leg. It can’t be as easy to execute as he makes it look but it’s particularly dangerous on small grounds – or at least ones with short boundaries to fine leg – and against wayward attacks. A question though: is anyone else good enough to play it as well as De Villiers and will anyone bowl as badly as the Windies did that day? If so, stay alert if you’re in the crowd.