Author: Cricket Focus

You have just watched a fast bowler send down three deliveries that all look identical. The seam is angled the same way, the action is the same, the speed looks the same. The first one goes away from the bat. The third one comes straight back in at the stumps, and nobody in the ground saw it coming. That is not an illusion and it is not a trick with a hidden ball. It is the same delivery moving in the opposite direction, and it has a name. The reverse swing section of our cricket skills guide is a good…

Most new players buy a bat for one of two reasons. Either they want it to hit harder, or they want to look like the player they watched on television. Both reasons lead to the same mistake, which is buying a bat that is too heavy for the person holding it. Weight is the hardest part of a cricket bat to get right and the easiest to get wrong, partly because the numbers sound precise and the answer is not. This cricket bat weight guide walks through what actually governs the choice, what the Laws say and do not say,…

A new cricket bat arrives with a smooth face and a set of instructions that nobody reads. Then the owner takes it to the nets on Saturday, faces a hard new ball for the first time, and finds a dent in the middle of the blade by Sunday evening. That dent is the bat telling you it was never prepared for the impact. Preparing a bat is called knocking it in, and it is the least glamorous part of cricket but one of the few jobs a beginner can do properly that actually protects their equipment. The knocking a cricket…

Something happens to a new batter’s swing as soon as they pick up a bat, and it is almost always the grip. The hands squeeze, the wrists lock, and a ball that should be hit along the ground flies straight up. Nothing about the technique is wrong. The bat is simply being held too tightly for the hands to move quickly. The grip is also the only part of batting you can fix without a bowler in front of you, which makes it the easiest thing to improve this week. Work through the steps below and you will notice a…

Shubman Gill made 223 not out as India chased 406 in 43.3 overs to beat West Indies by 8 wickets. What the record chase meant for beginners.

Ask a new player which shot they want to learn first and most of them say the cover drive. That is a good answer. The cover drive teaches footwork, balance, and timing in one stroke, and it works against almost every type of bowling once you get it right. It is also the shot that decides a lot of games, because batters hit it over and over on the front foot. Plenty of beginners try it, though, and it goes badly. The bat swings hard, the ball goes straight up in the air, or it flies to the leg side…

Cricket rewards the player who can repeat a skill on demand. Most beginners start by trying to hit the ball as hard as possible, or to bowl as fast as they can. Those instincts are natural, and they slow you down. A hard swing with no setup misses far more balls than a controlled one, and a fast delivery that misses its length gets punished in every format. Below is a plain-English guide to the skills that decide matches: batting, bowling, fielding, and wicket-keeping. It is written for new players and parents in the United States who want a clear…

Player, replica, or fan jersey? Learn the four tiers, where official stores sell licensed cricket kits, and how to spot a fake jersey before you pay.

South Africa wears a pink jersey once a year on Pink Day, a charity match at the Wanderers for breast cancer awareness. Here is the full history.

RCB wears a green jersey once every IPL season as part of the Go Green initiative started in 2011. Here is the real reason behind the green kit.