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

Was thinking about Inzi's "power" late cut the other day, awesome, totally unique shot.

Clever. This is Tendulkar's genius for mine. I consider his technique below average and his traditional strokerange nothing special, but his ability to improvise and shot selection is quite literally the best I've ever seen. I remember he combined the leg glance, sweep and straight drive in a shot to combat Warne in the early 2000's. A remarkable stroke.

I would agree that Vaughan plays the cover drive well, but I would not go beyond that. He plays a bit too delibrately and his posture as he plays it - leaning too far forwards with the leading (left) knee bent a bit too much. Also, Vaughan tends to arrest his bat at the moment of impact and the follow-through, if any, is almost like an afterthought. That part spoils the flency of the stroke for me.

But on the positive side, Vaughan strikes the ball with a fuller bat than most other modern players during the cover drive...ie with very little opening of the bat face. That gives the stroke better power and control, sending the ball where it ought go with the traditional cover drive...to the right of the cover position (for a right hander).

Whilst I can see the aesthetic appeal of a totally committed cover drive in which the follow through is, if anything, extended.... Vaughan might quite reasonably retort that the key to Test match batting is keeping open the option to check the stroke and absorb the impact of the better-than-expected ball - if not to drop the ball safely by your feet, then at least to ensure that the inevitable edge doesn't carry.

I'm afraid I have little time for strokes that rely on the ball being exactly where the batsman anticpates... and whilst it's all very well saying the batsman can minimise the risk by waiting for the fuller delivery... over-commitment to any stroke strikes me as a flaw.

I guess that's why I prefer the late cut to the square cut, the back foot drive to the front foot drive and the back-foot swivel pull / hook to the (admittedly impressive when it works) front foot, cross-bat swat that seems to be increasingly commonplace in the game.

You might have a point there and that's probably why a lot of great traditional cover drivers in the past were patient batsmen who would wait for the right ball to play that stroke. Len Hutton is a good example. Having said that, then man who many consider as the best cover driver of them all - Wally Hammond - was an attacking batsman. Observers have written that one particular cover drive that Hammond played off Fleetwood-Smith at Lords in the 1938 Ashes series on his way to 240 was probably the best ever.

I would tend to agree with all of this Ern, but that's why I rather cheekily split my favourite shots into the one I enjoy watching in Test Cricket (off drive) and the one I personally like playing at the somewhat low level (square cut) I occassionally play at!

At that level, a square cut can be very productive for me, but I agree at Test level, fielding sides are somewhat wise to the square cut and tend to either cut that area off with fielders or make sure the bowler doesn't bowl too wide. But then, that's testament to the ease in which someone can accumulate runs in that area isn't it? At the level I play at, sides tend to be more concerned about cow corner than the gully region!

Can't say I agree at all, it's almost as if we're talking about two different people here!

The Vaughan I remember playing the cover drive was absolutely text book - left knee bent forward, foot at the pitch of the ball, bat absolutely staight to the ball, weight moving forward into the shot and from the side view, eyes and nose right over the top of the ball at bat impact. As far as I'm concerned that's right out of the text book and it's no surprise that the Sky commentators show replays of Vaughan playing the cover drive as an example to anyone who want's to know how to play it correctly!

I'd certainly accept there's some variation in anyones particular shot execution and that it is certainly not always played in the same way, (Strauss's pull shot anyone? Very productive stroke for him, but he still gets out playing it a lot!) but even still, Vaughans execution of that shot is still some way ahead of most players in my opinion.

I also agree that people percieve and view things in different ways and what may appear attractive to me may well appear abhorrent to you, so we'll simply have to agree to differ!

He often used to give Garner an uppercut to third man, which often included a bit of a swirl of the bat with Border.

Having effective back foot shots in his repertoire that could score consistantly against quality short fast bowling were probably what defined him as the great Australian batsman of that era, where Hughes and Hookes had been undone by it previously and even Greg Chappell late in his career was troubled by it.

Interesting it was Steve Waugh who ended partnering Border in the middle order solidifying the Australian batting against the Windies. And he had developed Borders backfoot repertoire plus a broader off side repertoire.

I have agreed that Vaughan plays the cover drive very well, perhaps among the best among modern players but it is not strictly "text book" - not that it matters Yes, but IMO left knee bent shade too forward but the stride a touch short, which gives the impression that he is leaning a bit too much into the shot. Perhaps that's why the follow-through is very limited.

But I agree that he strikes the ball cleanly with the full face of the bat, something a lot of modern players fail to do.