Quick Tip: Measure Control to Score More Runs | Cricket coaching, fitness and tips

Quick Tip: Measure Control to Score More Runs

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Here's a quick way to measure batting beyond just run scoring.

In the scorebook, a run is a run whether you edge it and get dropped or blast a cover drive out of the middle: It doesn't tell the whole story of how you are playing.

That's where a new stat comes in: control.

Control gives you a broader idea. Here's the description from Cricinfo:

"[Control is] based on where the ball hit the bat, whether or not it was mistimed, and whether or not the batsman played at the ball. It is a binary measure. A batsman is either in Control or not in Control for each delivery."

I recommend you read the whole article here for a good analysis of Control in the IPL.

But the take home point is that it's easy to measure at any level.

A scorer or a coach can watch and simply note down how many shots were controlled and how many were not. At the end you can turn it into a percentage that tells a story about your innnings.

What kind of things can you see?

If your team scores 200 runs and the control is low (say 60%) you know it's below par. The reverse is true if you score 200 and control is above 80%.

Average control in the IPL is 74%. When you know your average you can look to try and improve it, giving you a better goal for training.

If you see an individual has low control against a spinner, but high against seamers, you know what you need to work on.

I'm sure you can come up with more, so give it a try at your next match and start using analysis to improve your team!

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