Index

Sweep, reverse sweep


Sweeping describes a shot - a sweep shot - frequently played by the striker to a slower ball, where the bat describes an arc just above, and parallel with the ground, in an attempt to clip the ball wide of the wicket-keeper and find the boundary on the on side. Many strikers will go down on one knee to execute this stroke.



The reverse sweep is a variation of the shot that has grown in popularity with the increase of one-day cricket in the professional game. An inelegant stroke but, when it succeeds, a very effective one, the striker plays the reverse sweep by turning the blade of the bat away from the ball and hitting it behind the wicket on the off side, rather than the on.

From the spectators' viewpoint, a reverse sweep by a right-handed striker looks rather as if he has suddenly become a left-handed one, and vice-versa.