6 of the most innovative tactics used in cricket in 2016

#2 The psych-out tactics

The England Disabilities XI in action (Image Courtesy: Newcastle Cricket Club)

Let’s take a trip back in time to 24 October 2016, to the ICC Cricket Academy Ground, Dubai. What’s the occasion, you ask? It’s the final of the Physical Disability (T20) Tri-Series between England Physical Disability XI and the Pakistan Physical Disability XI.

England’s Liam Thomas stole the headlines for diving and stopping a boundary even though his prosthetic leg came off in the process. But for some reason, the tactic adopted by England wicketkeeper Hugo Hammond while batting didn’t get as much attention (even the few articles that mentioned it didn’t contain his name). So what did he do?

Using the bat like a heavy one-handed sword, the right-hander proceeded to slash the air with it like a warrior, as the bowler was in his run-up. He even had the time to change to a left-hander’s stance and back again before scooping the ball to the left of short fine leg for a boundary.

Great skill, no doubt. But as expected, questions were immediately raised about whether it is in the spirit of the game (it is undoubtedly legal) to move around so extravagantly and unnecessarily just to distract the bowler. Does swinging the bat like he did amount to intimidation?

In the last few years, and especially after the advent of the switch hit, we have seen batsmen moving in the crease on a constant basis. If that is fine, shouldn’t this be okay as well? And a good bowler wouldn’t really be put off by such antics, and would instead consider it an extra incentive to get the batsman out.

We probably have to accept that this kind of moving in the crease to put off the bowler is going to happen more and more, especially in the shorter formats, and give Hammond the benefit of the doubt for his psych-out tactic.