The short ball is a suprise ball, i have not been saying that you should just run in and bowl short because the batsman can leave it with ease. But the hook shot is a risky shot but it can also be a good run making shot. just one question have you played cricket, im not having a go at you its just what you have been saying sounds like it is almosy out of a book.

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Bill Ponsford - The only one who could play in Bradman’s company and make it a duet.

Played.. yes.. to a respectable level... no... or at least not yet (sadly, with a two year old daughter and a demanding border collie to contend with the odds on me getting the time to do more than net are not great, but I'm keen to find a club with a coach and decent net sessions).

I don't deny a longstanding interest in the technical side of things though: like most kids I learnt games like badminton, squash, tennis, golfand cricket the hard way... through trial, error and (often bad) advice from players... but I re-discoved tennis a few years ago... then got into being coached.. and then into coaching... and I hope I'm getting at least a basic grasp of the technical side of cricket now.

Of course... my limitation in sport has always been psychological: my tennis is almost county standard in practise.. but barely good enough for a 3rd team in competition... and I go from imitating Seve Ballesteros (badly) to shanking golf balls like a complete novice the moment anyone competent watches, even in the back garden