Throughout your cricket career, there are a plethora of technical factors that batsmen may wish to refine. There are several techniques to improve your batting stance, trigger movements, grip, and head posture; I’ve gone over the basics of most of them on this page! Scroll down to read What is a backlift in cricket?
You might hear coaches or analysts refer to anything as a “backlift” whether you’re working on your game or analyzing players. As they have more experience, many players want to experiment and tweak this and other aspects of their hitting technique. This post is for you if you’re unsure about what a backlift is or why it’s significant. Let’s start by addressing the primary query.
What is a backlift in cricket?
In cricket, the height at which a batsman raises their bat behind them before swinging it downward to smash the ball is referred to as a “backlift.” There are batsmen who backlift high, with the bat’s toe reaching well above head height, and batsmen who backlift low, with the bat’s toe barely reaching shoulder height.
It is noteworthy that the term “backswing” is frequently used to describe a batsman’s backlift. Thus, be aware that when commentators or coaches use both of these expressions, they are most likely talking about the same thing!
I felt it would be helpful to give a few examples to better define the phrase “backlift,” which you can see below.
Although Joe Root has a very rhythmic technique and makes a lot of small movements before he plays the ball, his backlift is not particularly high, as you can see in the pictures. Joe’s backlift height is, in my opinion, typical for most professional batters. After he completes his backlift, he enters the shot’s “downswing” phase, which is essentially the time when the bat swings downward to make contact with the ball.
Why Is The Backlift Important?
Some of you may be wondering how the backlift affects a batter’s technique now that you know what it is and why they would ever decide to alter it. Don’t worry, though; I have the solutions you need. I think there are three key reasons why batsmen value the backlift so much. They are listed in the following order:
- It helps them generate power
- It helps a batsman to generate rhythm
- Different backlifts can help a batsman cope with different conditions and bowlers
Let’s take a closer look at each of these justifications and determine how the backlift contributes to each.
Why Can A Backlift Help A Batsman Generate Power?
This, in my opinion, is the main reason why a batsman’s backlift is so important. It is one of the elements that enable us to load our shots with as much power as possible. A player can usually exert greater force on a shot with a higher backlift. Of course, there are other factors in play when determining a batsman’s ability to hit a cricket ball with force, but this one certainly contributes!
Imagine playing a shot without raising your bat at all behind you to illustrate why this is the case. If you have access to a bat and a ball, you can even give this a try!
As you can undoubtedly imagine, if you were not permitted to utilize any sort of backswing at all, it would be impossible for you to hit the ball with the customary level of force. To give an alternative example, consider attempting to hit a golf ball as far as you can. To accomplish this, you would have to backlift—lift the club far behind you—and then accelerate on the downswing to make contact with the golf ball. Once more, if you did not raise the golf club behind your head, you would not be able to hit the ball as far.
A batsman can therefore swing the bat downward to make contact with the ball over a wide range when they have a large backlift. They will typically be able to get greater force on their strokes the faster they downswing and the more they speed their hands through the ball.
Why Does a Backlift Help With Batting Rhythm?
Batting is, for many players, all about finding a comfortable rhythm at the crease. Success depends on your ability to time your trigger movements correctly and get your front foot toward the ball early enough. This procedure also includes the backlift!
Consider this: if you backlift too soon, you will find yourself holding the bat in the air and needing to wait an abnormally long period to bring it down. When they are at the peak of their backlift, no batsman wants to stop too long. Imagine the reverse now. You won’t have enough time to swing your bat downward and make contact with the ball if your backlift occurs too late.
If this does happen, you can find yourself in a terrible mess and have to move quickly through everything—not the best situation!
The greatest backlifts are those that are very repeatable; that is, they don’t drastically vary from ball to ball, and they flow naturally with your foot movements. You will need to choose a backlift and a series of motions that feel right for you to develop a pre-delivery batting routine that you can repeat. After you’ve found a procedure that works for you, stick with it and practice it for a long time to make it second nature!
How Does A Backlift Help A Player Cope In Different Conditions?
Different sorts of backlifts work better in different situations, and over the years, a lot of professional players have sought to subtly alter the height of their backlifts to improve their chances of success in challenging batting situations.
Hard, bouncy pitches, such as those seen in Australia and South Africa, are ideal for high backlifts. You will frequently find yourself playing more on the defensive in these countries than in other countries. Playing hook, cut, and pull shots on these types of surfaces therefore benefits from a backlift that helps you get your hands and bat up high before you contact the ball.
In nations where the ball bounces slightly lower than usual, like Pakistan or Sri Lanka, lower backlifts are frequently appropriate because they enable a batsman to get their hands closer to the ball and bat a bit closer than usual. I also recall reading about Michael Atherton adopting a low backlift while facing really good bowlers like Waqar Younis and Wasim Akram, who bowled a lot of yorkers and were outstanding reverse swingers of the ball. Excessively high backlifts are not recommended against bowlers who frequently bowl yorkers because the bat must travel a considerable distance to jam down onto the ball.
Does The Direction Of A Backlift Matter?
You probably already know that there are a variety of batting strategies if you watch cricket. If not, reading this post should have taught you that there are also a variety of backlift heights. But batsmen’s backlifts might point in different directions in addition to their varied heights! Is this relevant? Is there a proper way to go about things? Let’s take a brief peek down below.
In cricket, a traditional backlift is commonly defined as one where the bat’s toe points between the wicketkeeper and the first or second slip. Many instructors and pros believe that this is “technically correct” since it makes it possible to bring the bat through the downswing pretty straight. This is beneficial for hitting balls straight.
Still, a lot of batsmen have backlifts that aim in very divergent directions. Consider Steve Smith as an illustration. His technique is highly unconventional, and his backlift leans more toward the gully fielder than the previously described “conventional” orientation. One of the most successful test batsmen of our time, Steve Smith, is a living example that you don’t need to have an “orthodox” method to be successful at the highest level. You can see Marnus Labuschagne’s backlift pointing in the same direction below.
To summarize this part, the answer is no, it doesn’t always matter which way you backlift. A straighter backlift has several benefits and drawbacks in comparison to ones that are slanted toward the point region or gully. You will need to put in a lot of work and learn what kind of shots and habits you should avoid when batting if you have a slightly more unconventional backlift.
Which Players Have Had Very High Backlifts?
Brian Lara is a player that I have to bring up whenever I discuss players with strong backlifts. Unquestionably one of the greatest batsmen to have ever played the game, Lara was renowned as much for his flashy strokeplay as for his ability to score world records.
The photo below shows how much above-head height Lara’s backlift extended. Because of his exceptionally high backlift, bowlers like Andrew Flintoff would often target him early in his innings with quick, full deliveries, hoping he wouldn’t have time to lower his bat in time to stop the ball.
When Lara was performing at his peak, his high backlift gave his impressive range of strokes an extra touch of flair.
Which Players Have Had Very Low Backlifts?
Some athletes, including former Australia captain Mark Taylor and Allan Border, have employed lower backlifts. Though it may have denied them some opportunities during their careers, these two players felt that having lower backlifts allowed them to counter traditional swing bowling, and especially reverse swing bowling, with greater effectiveness.
Conclusion
There are plenty of aspects to critique when examining a batsman’s technique, and the backlift is unquestionably a significant component.
Also read: Do You Know Why Batsmen Bat Outside Of Their Crease?
