Hi,

MS Dhoni's stats show him as one of the finest one day batsmen of his generation. Does that mean you can copy his methods to emulate his success? This week we look into it and find out.

Plus, there are articles on bowling actions, fields for spinners and an exclusive session planner for cricket coaches who like to capture their plans on paper.

Have a great weekend,

David Hinchliffe

Can You Emulate MS Dhoni's Finishing Method?

In a recent article, MS Dhoni's method of finishing one day games was put under the microscope.

It's worth a read in itself, but I wanted to look at Dhoni's method from the viewpoint of a non-professional batsman.

Can a club or school player emulate this method in their games, or does the Indian's rare genuis and skill mean you would be foolish to try?

How Dhoni Wins ODIs

If you didn't read the article, the key points are:

1166 runs in 27 innings at 83.28
An obvious delay in his charge for the target, only hitting more than 6 an over in the last 5 overs.
Happy to wait for a bad ball than rotate the strike (high dot ball percentage early on).
A predominantly straight bat, playing high percentage cricket
The ability to score quickly over the leg side

Clearly, the headline figure is the runs scored, but the interesting part is how Dhoni goes about pacing his innings.

For a batter with a lot of power, he plays in a suprisingly "old fashioned" way. He plays straight, puts away the bad ball, and calmly waits.

Such is his confidence, he seems to be happy letting the required rate climb, safe in the knowledge he can easily score 50 runs in the last 5 overs.

As S Rajesh says,

"He has guided the team when wickets have fallen around him, consolidated during the middle stages of the innings, and been there during the slog overs, performing each role to perfection."

Finish like Dhoni

The last 5 over onslaught aside, everything described so far is possible to emulate by a lesser mortal.

Possible, but not easy.

First, You need to adapt to your own ability to score in the final overs, and for most players this means keeping the run rate in the 5 an over range, even in the last few overs.

Unless you know you can go big effectively at the end, and you have wickets in hand on a good batting track, 5 an over is just possible to get for most batters in most situations, but will keep the bowling side interested.

However, with that number in mind instead of the 10 an over Dhoni can score, you can go about things the same way.

Play the percentages. A straight bat is still the best way to score runs consistently.
Stay calm under dot ball pressure. Most batters face a few dots in a chase and feel they need a "get out" shot. Your ability to stay calm and focused will keep you in the chase rather than slogging one up in the air.
Go big at the right time. Of course in most chases, you will need to go big to get over the line. Have 1 or 2 higher risk shots that you are confident of playing and have practiced.

In many ways a chase is more about confidence in your ability than technique. One feeds the other, but if you master the basics and have a reliable higher risk shot you are technically set to follow Dhoni's finishing method.

One way to work on the mental side of a chase is to use scenario batting in nets. BATEX is a great example of a simple way to adapt nets to a chase like this.

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Forced to be Brave: How Spinners Will Achieve the Holy Grail

I used to get annoyed watching the ODI game when a new batter would come to the wicket against a spinner and merrily knock 10 singles in 15 balls without any pressure.

The field setting and the tactics were so defensive.

The New ODI rules and regulations will change all that.

With 5 men as a minimum inside the inner ring, here's what will happen:

Batters will be squeezed
Pressure will be mounted on the batter
Players will be forced to go ariel earlier in their innings

This can only lead to good cricket and a completely different phase of the game to watch or play.

Having 1 less boundary fielder (4 maximum rather than 5) will also shift the lines that some bowlers aim to hit.

Will deep mid wicket be left open for more of the game (especially when the ball is going away from the swing of the bat)?

Will we see attacking lines with a slip being kept in the game for longer periods of the game?

Here are some fields for an off-spinner to right handers that we will start seeing being deployed in the ODI game:

With this field, the off spinner can bowl an attacking line, bringing slip into play and encourage the new batter to take on a slog sweep early in the innings.

Straight midwicket, straight extra cover and the bowler act as a tight squeezing triangle ensuring that the only precise and perfectly struck balls that get past them to the deep men straight down the ground. No easy 1s.

This is an imaginative field as the only boundary options available here are to reverse sweep or play into out over mid off:

Again, it's an example of a "force the issue" field setting rather than a wait and see one.

Some batters may be able to hit these two tough shots early on, but these players will be anomalies rather than the norms.

If a batter is known as a reverse sweeper then move the point behind square and hug the edge of the circle.

Pressure mounts on the new batter, also the batter who is set at the other end is not getting enough strike and of course, pressure makes the incoming batters have to force the pace early in their innings too.

So can we as coaches, encourage our spin bowlers to think "attack" when new batters come to the wicket and use the new ODI rules to kick-start a new, exciting way of playing the middle overs of the game?

I know I am going to!

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Cricket Show S4 Episode 4: Burners the Poet

The team get together from opposite ends of the world as David Hinchliffe is in Sydney, Burners is in London and Mark Garaway takes half an hour away from coaching at Millfield School in the West of England. Also, we are joined on the line from Podar Sports Academy in India in the interview. A global feel for a global cricket show.

Plus we answer your questions on playing good length balls from spinners and analysing bowling technique. And, as the title suggests, Burners considers writing a slim volume of cricket poetry.

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This is episode 197.

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Free PitchVision Academy Coach Session Planner

Planning is vital to coaching, especially if you are trying to cover a lot in a set number of sessions with the players you coach.

Many coaches do "in the head" planning, which is fine, but a lot of coaches prefer to get their ideas and thoughts on paper.

And a great tool for this is a simple session planner for group coaching: One sheet of paper that includes everything you need to cover during a session from saefty concerns, through the skills are are practicing to coach self-reflection.

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