da heads bet： As a batsman, it’s never advisable to have a predilection for one stroke.
David Wiseman15-Dec-2002As a batsman, it’s never advisable to have a predilection for one stroke.The fielding team will set the trap, the bowler will produce the bait andthe batsman’s eyes will light up only to be dismissed.Pavlov’s Dog never had it this bad.There have been celebrated cases such as current Australian selector, AndrewHilditch who was known as the ‘Happy Hooker’ because of his indulgence forthe notorious stroke which often caused his downfall.If the fielding side does their homework they can turn the oppositionbatsman’s strengths into weaknesses. Stephen Fleming displayed that lastyear with much success against the Australians when he had a different fieldfor every batsman.So what about Nasser Hussain and the sweep? It seems as though this is theonly shot he can play when he is facing the spinners.In the first VB Series game against Australia at the SCG, Hussain was doinghis best to allow the sweep to get him out; either via lbw, bowled, topedging one or being caught on the fence.It is a low percentage shot for just one run. With there being only four men inthe circle, singles are on offer everywhere. He would be better advised topush through the vacant mid-on, mid-off area for the easiest of singles thantrying to be too clever by half.Hussain scored 52 from 81 balls. Against Shane Warne he scored 13 runs from 23balls. From Darren Lehmann, 11 runs from 29 balls. The spinners had him boggeddown, or rather is it that he had himself bogged down?Against the bowling of Warne and Lehmann, his highest single scoring shotoff either was two runs, which he managed once off each.Fifteen times he played the sweep for a return of five singles. He playedthe dreaded reverse sweep three times to Lehmann. He did not score a runfrom the stroke and twice had to survive vociferous appeals for lbw.The sweep is an interesting stroke. Many a batsman has had a fondness forit and it has been the downfall of as many.Jonty Rhodes utilised it to geat effect in 1994 at the SCG when it was theone and only plan he could muster to escape the clutches of Shane Warne.Steve Waugh has his ‘slog-sweep’, but the major difference between the shothe is employing and the one Hussain is doing, is that Waugh is hitting theball in front of square. By not having to turn his wrists with the stroke,he is able to gain maximum power and uses the shot for scoring boundariesand sixes.Hussain is scoring singles with the shot. Is it worth getting out for onerun?Then there is the reverse sweep……..Australian cricket has never looked kindly on the shot because basically itshould never be played. It is one of the lowest percentage strokes thereis, with the batsman able to get out in far more many ways then he can scoreruns from the shot.It was the shot which caused Mike Gatting’s infamous demise in the 1987World Cup final and a day doesn’t go by when he is not reminded of this.There is no way John Buchanan, Ricky Ponting, Shane Warne and theAustralian cricket brains trust are unaware of Hussain’s love of the shot.Warne and Lehmann will be bowling many balls to be swept and it will be upto Hussain to play the shot without getting out or devise an alternate wayof run scoring.If the batsman are going to improvise against spinners, it should be withtheir feet and not with the bat. Use of their feet allows them to turn theball into the type of delivery they wish to face. This also createsuncertainty in the mind of the bowler because they are now unsure as towhich length to bowl.Time will tell if Hussain is one of those who can “resist everything buttemptation”.