This is part of a series on How to exploit batsman's weaknesses. To see the other weaknesses click here.

A "closed off" stance is one of the easiest weaknesses to spot and exploit because the batsman reveals his hand before he has even faced a ball.

It's also very common in club cricket. At the level I play I see it every weekend at least once, especially with lower order and tail-end batsmen.

Being closed off is another way of saying the batsman is too sideways on when he takes his stance. This can be shown in either the feet or the shoulders like this:

Although this might look normal on first glace you can see the following technical points:

• The head is slightly too far to the off side and not over the toes
• The front shoulder is pointing towards mid off

Also, not shown in the picture, but often seen, is the front foot closer to the off side than the back foot, the opposite of an open stance, and so is called a closed stance.

Although the stance itself is not a weakness, it does lead to mistakes that you can exploit.

The closed off batsman gets his body in the way when playing on the leg side, meaning he finds it impossible to play straight on the leg side and ends up hitting across the line of balls that should be driven or flicked, as shown here:

front foot technical error: closed off

back foot technical error: closed off

It can also cause a secondary problem of tipping over.

Tipping over is where the batsman's weight falls to the off side and his body follows, meaning he or she is more likely to play at balls outside the off stump that should be left.

Option 1: Bowl outside off stump

The closed off batsman will favour the cover drive and on side square shots because it is very difficult for him to hit either straight or on the leg side.

Early in the innings you can combine his keenness to get going with a favoured cover drive with his lack of judgement of the off stump by bowling a 5th stump line:

 

Ideally this line will not be a standard length but either:

• Slightly pitched up encouraging onto the front foot to chase a wide one and nick off.
• Back of a length because the back foot movement means drives will be played away from the body and again bring slips and the keeper in for catches.

The field setting would depend on the game situation and the bowler but when varying from the standard remember:

• A square leg position is vital, probably just in front of square.
• Standard midwicket and mid on will have very little to do. You could hide bad fielders there, use them in close catching off side positions or have them in close for the leading edge.
• Deep midwicket should be in your mind despite the outside off line, especially with off spinners or inswing medium pacers. This is because the batsman may hit out in frustration.
• Place as many slips and gulley positions as you dare.

If the batsman hits a few boundaries and get his feet moving, don't persist with this line too much, perhaps only turning back to it as a variation.

Option 2: Bowl at the stumps and moving in

If you can move the ball in to this batsmen (swing, seam or turn) you can do two jobs in one:

• Dry up the runs by cutting off all scoring options except square or behind square on the leg side.
• Increase the chance of bowled or LBW as the batsman plays across the line of the ball in front of the stumps.

To do this, your target area (that is to say, where the ball is as it passes the stumps) is shown here:

The length will depend on how much bounce you are getting. The aim should be to hit the stumps as you can't get many bowled or LBW decisions without that..

When the batsman does hit the ball on this line it will be in an area between forward square leg and fine leg:

Set your field to cut off these shots and there will be nowhere to go.

As a variation (which in my view is underused) you can bowl around the wicket.

It might make it harder to get an LBW decision but bowled is still possible and it will tuck the batsmen up even more giving him even less room to score on the off side

There is also an option to bowl short on this line.

On a bouncier pitch with a faster bowler on, the closed off batsman will not be able to play the short ball well because he is playing around his body. That means bowling short and putting in leg side close catchers such as short leg or leg gulley.

Going around the wicket with a shorter length can also be used.

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Last night I took the job of captain of my club second team.

It's been a few years since I was in charge of a side, and what instantly sprung to mind was: What should I do first?

As new captain, a hundred ideas flash through your brain as you try to work out how to get the best from your inherited team.

Of course there are the practicalities to consider, like gathering player phone numbers for the inevitable last minute scrabble to get eleven players, making sure travel arrangements are clear, working out who is making the teas and putting on the covers on a Friday night: The normal rhythm of a club side.

Here are the things I considered, I would love to hear yours if you have just been made captain of your club or school team:

In a club structure there is always movement between teams. Most teams will have a core of ever-presents and some fringe players (either a bit too good, and able to move up or not quite good enough, and making up the numbers).

This means talking to the other captains in your club is vital to your success.

You need to know their opinions of players so you know how often your star batsman might be pinched by a higher grade team, for example.

Other captains can also give you an insight into the personality of players. I have only played for my club for a few seasons because I moved. The other captains have been playing since they were teenagers and so know a lot more about the make-up of the cricketers in the club.

From Test sides to occasional friendly pub teams, every side has a philosophy of some kind.

It's just an unspoken atmosphere in most cases, but it's always there.

And the captain has the greatest influence over it by the tone he or she sets.

That's not to say you can suddenly turn your village team into a well oiled professional outfit, but you can find out what the current unspoken philosophy is and try to influence it positively.

I'm lucky because the side I am inheriting has a philosophy close to my own anyway. We have a positive supportive team spirit, plenty of lively discussion and always look to control the game rather than letting it control us.

You may not be so lucky, but there are always tweaks you can make with the support of the team.

In my case I'll be looking to improve our consistency, foster an even greater team mentality and improve our run rate (so we can declare more aggressively).

Of course, this is just a paper exercise until the rest of the team back your plans, which led me to my last thought.

Find out how your players tick

As captain you want the side to be moulded to your aims, but to do that you need to know your player's personalities and aims.

A serious player who trains hard and plans ahead will need very different handling from the guy who turns up five minutes before play and warms up by smoking a cigarette.

Ideally, you will have a good idea who your core players are at least (if not your whole team). Most captains have a broad idea about the personality of those players too. So it's up to you to think how you will deal with each one.

As a way of helping you think this through, try the following exercise:

• Write down your important players names in a list.
• Write down what role you think suits them best in the team, for example: opening batsman, strike bowler, finisher or mops up the tail.
• Write down what you think is the best way to get a good performance from them. Examples might be: public praise, a quiet word of thanks, being ignored, being wound up, being told what to do or being asked for advice.

Chances are no two players will need the same approach. Keep this in mind when you are trying to fit these players into their roles in the middle and motivate them to do better.

Use this as a template from which to build a profile of each player in your head. Of course, it's just a paper exercise, but it may help clarfiy your thoughts on your player.

It will take some trial and error to work out what influences them most, but there are also some tricks that work for everyone in building up trust and influence in your job as captain.

And for me, that is the first job of any new captain: To gain respect and trust.

In fact, its so important to your success that you can never take your eye off doing it. It's the first and ongoing job because if you don't have respect and trust nobody will listen to you and you can't make your tactics work.

So that's what I'll be trying to do, what about you?

image credit: Gary_T_W

Want to get off to the best possible start as a new captain? Learn from the best with the interactive online course Cricket Captaincy by Mike Brearley.