After all the excitement of ODI cricket this year, let us get back to the game's traditional skills. True connoisseurs among us enjoy good strokemaking by good batsmen and so let us see which strokes are more popular than others.

Nothing beats a well-timed cover drive.

Of all the variations on the drive... the cover drive strikes me as the front-foot shot of choice when the bowling is seam-up. That said... no drive played off a seamer can surely come close to dancing down the track and working a first rate delivery (accurately, and in a controlled manner) against prodigous spin.

Of the rest... one would hope that no-one would choose the pull, hook or square cut (as they are all a bit too agricultural)... and I trust that any mention of the sweep (and especially of the reverse sweep) is basically a wind-up... leaving the late cut (surely the most exquisite of back foot shots) and the leg glance (far less satisfactory as it cannot, as a rule, be played off a great delivery).

My favourite shot is the pull.

But that's apparently "agricultural" and there must be something wrong in me picking it.

I believe a well executed cover drive of a pace bowler is the most pleasing to watch, Vaughan at his best was one of the best at playing a cover drive, Flintoff also used to play some pleasing powerfull cover drives of which we see little these day from either player.

I would not say a square cut was agricultural at all - played of a bowler like McGrath with his bounce, and players like Lee Flintoff and other 90mph bowlers needs more than just a little skill, both length and line have to be judged to perfection, and timing has to be at it's best - or there's an easy catch to gulley or even the slips.

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Ern

I've no problem with high regard for swivelling on one's heel and flicking a ball infront of square... and Gower's deft flicks forward of square leg were, indeed, worthy of applause.... but most first-class players (and even more club players) merely swat the ball in their pull shots - and the "swat" should surely not merit comaprison with a late cut!

For what it'sworth... I'd agree that rolling the hands to keep a pull down should be considered far more meritworthy than merely hitting through the line on the hook... but in essense... I rate the shot that is adjusted due to the ball not doing as expected far, FAR more highly than a shot that merely comes off because the ball WAS where expected - and the scope for adjusting to the vagaries of movement in the air and off the pitch is surely never greater than when playing the late cut.

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

I voted for the traditional sweep myself. As a 10-year old in 1965, I saw New Zealand's then captain John Reid excecute as perfect an example of a sweep to long leg that I have ever seen. For some reason, I fell in love with that stroke and the passion has remained to this day. The fact that it is a relatively uncommonly exceuted stroke has only made it more fascinating for me. I think modern batsmen as far less elegant sweepers because the play the ball way too early. It may have something to do with the helmet getting in the way of the peripheral vision nowadays, but in the past most good sweepers used to wait until the ball was almost past them before making the stroke.

Incidentally, my favourite sweeper is Rohan Kanhai. Apparently, Hanif Mohammed of Pakistan used to be equally good, but I have never seen him in action.

In terms of aesthetics, my favourite shot is the cover drive, for all of the reasons listed above. That shot is the one that all connoisseurs could watch all day, all night.

However, that said, the favourite in terms of playing a shot is a self taught kind of "paddle" pull that dissects fine leg and square leg. It does look an authentic shot, I've been told. Also, the Chinese cut along the ground through the slips...

I do apologise, they're just personal favourites.

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"Being second is to be the first of the ones who lose."
- Ayrton Senna

Personally nothing beats the back foot drive off genuine quick bowling. Anyone can cut or simply throw the bat at the short wide ball but batsmen who can effortlessly rock onto the back foot and hit the ball at the top of the bounce in front of square with a vertical blade just seem that bit more special. Be it the technical perfection of a Tendulkar, the quick hands of a Steve Waugh, the more brutal punch of a Robin Smith or my personal favourite the sublime minimalistic timing of a Damien Martyn (looks good even when he nicks it ) for me it's the shot that seperates the men from the boys. The frontfoot bullies from the complete all round batsmen.

And when said batsmen can replicate the same shot off the spinners against the turn through the midwicket region (whilst keeping the same vertical blade) you know they are the real deal. For me it's Vaughan's signature shot and not the cover drive or the swivel pull and the one that sets him a class apart from the rest of the England batsmen when in full flow.