Learn how to play the forward defense

Just like its backfoot sibling, the forward defence is a ‘must-have’ in the locker of any serious cricketer. Particularly when facing an opening bowler, who is likely to try to get the new ball to swing and will pitch the ball up, all batters need to be able to come forward and defend.

More than anything, the forward defence is a shot which is played to a good ball. We would all love to smash every ball to the fence but sometimes, as batters, we must protect our wickets and respect the delivery.

Coaches often talk about showing the ‘maker's name’ (we hope Trogon) when playing this shot which means performing the forward defence with the full face of the bat and showing the bowler that you have minimal weaknesses! Others talk of being positive and showing confidence in the defence. That is to say, displaying ‘intent’ in the shot, getting in position early and checking your own footwork and technique post-shot.

The forward defence is something which can be played to all types of bowlers and requires speed of thought as well as hand-eye coordination. It’s a statement of the obvious but coming forward as opposed to going back in the crease decreases your reaction and thinking time before playing the shot!

• The clue is in the title and the majority of times a forward defensive shot is played the desired aim is to block the ball out from the stumps! However, particularly against a quick bowler, a batter can occasionally surprise themselves by the ball pinging off the bat a decent distance thanks to perfect timing.

• Without a solid forward defence, your innings will likely be a short one as you won’t be able to keep out good balls!

• An important part of the shot is a stable stance. If you don’t have this then you could lose your balance when attempting a forward defence to a spinner and leave yourself open to being stumped.

The Forward Defense Technique

When playing the forward defence, the batter will make the decision that the ball is straight, if missed it would hit the stumps, its a good ball so a forward defense to block it is the most appropriate shot - even in today's high scoring, freeflowing shots age there is still room for a good forward defense, even in T20s!.

• With this shot, picking the line and length of the ball is very important and needs to be assessed early.

In the below image the batt is still in his stance and has picked up the line and length of the ball.

• If the ball is clearly outside the line of off-stump then there is no need to play the forward defence as you do not need to defend your wickets! You would be better off leaving or playing an attacking stroke like the cover drive.

• When picking the length, the batter needs to intercept the ball at no higher than knee height. Any higher then the likelihood is that a back-foot shot would be better.

• The front leg should take a stride towards the ball, bending as the weight is transferred forwards - as you can see in the below image.

The image perfectly demonstrates that the batter has stepped forward, his weight is going towards the ball and his head is inline with the ball and he is ready to play the ball below his eye-line.

• Finally, the bat should be angled towards the ground to eliminate a catching opportunity for any fielders close-in. You can see from the above image that the batter has angeled the face of the bat towards the ground.

Now, there are other scoring options from the forward defense. If their are gaps in the field, maybe a gap in cover or mid-wicket, just adjusting the angle of the bat slightly means the ball can run-off towards these gaps which can mean a quick single - but you need to gauge the standard of cricket you are playing. If you are playing prem cricket, the likelyhood of gun fielders increases so quick singles like this could be risky, but if you are playing 4th team their is a good chance they are not going to hit the wickets for a run-out (no disrespect to 4th grade teams)

Conclusion

For as long as cricket has been played, the forward defence has been one of the most common shots seen, particularly at the start of a batter’s innings. If you come up against a talented bowler, you must be able to defend on the front foot!

So, let’s start working on this shot in the nets. Get your gear on and ask one of your team-mates to throw down a number of balls, all of which bring you forward. During this session, let’s forget about clearing the boundary and focus purely on preserving your wicket.

The pro player we have used for the videos and images uses a Trogon Cricket Grade 1+ English willow bat with our black and white sticker range.

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