Dawid Malan made his Test debut back in 2017 against South Africa at The Oval and his batting stance had caught my eye from the get-go. But since his technical adjustment, he has become one of the most eye-pleasing batters to watch in world cricket.
Similarly, in 2019, during the Scotland tri-nation series, which forms a part of the ICC Cricket World Cup Challenge League 2, I observed a similar flaw with Charles Amini of Papua New Guinea.
The stance of both these players was rather unusual for a left-hander, especially against a right-arm fast bowler coming over the wicket, and quite understandably, they were found out.
DAWID MALAN
The pictures above are from Malan’s debut Test match and one can clearly see his stance which made him very vulnerable to the fast bowlers who could swing the ball back into him. South Africa did exactly as I thought.
In the 1st innings, Rabada pitched the ball up and it straightened off the pitch. It resulted in Malan going off-balance and falling across with his stumps getting shattered. His head also fell over to the on-side and hence was not correctly aligned.
This stance was evidently flawed and the frailty was exposed yet again in the 2nd innings by Chris Morris who did the same as Rabada.
Later that year during the Ashes Down Under, he had a correct stance and it immediately reaped dividends. He scored a scintillating maiden Test hundred flaying the Aussie pace attack all over and also amassed 3 half-centuries to end as England’s top run-scorer in the series. This is clearly a stance that can work better on pitches which offer no or minimal movement.
CHARLES AMINI
Charles Amini started with a stance very similar to Dawid Malan back in 2014-15. But over the years, it has changed and now his front foot slants across even further than his back foot and the trigger movement after the ball is released makes him even more vulnerable than before to in-coming deliveries.
His style of play was quite similar to Dawid Malan when he started. While Malan corrected his technique, Amini’s stance has become even more questionable. This kind of stance can work well against left-arm bowlers who bowl over the wicket or when the ball doesn’t swing much.
But the susceptibility ratio of getting dismissed is higher when the ball darts back in/when a cutter is bowled outside off/bodyline bouncer.
MICHAEL HUSSEY
Now let’s have a look at Michael Hussey, who had a wide array of shots courtesy his set-up in the crease and his approach.
To begin with, he had an open stance, the front-foot doesn’t move across at an angle, head still and eyes on the ball. This allowed him to access all the parts of the ground. Such sort of an approach quite easily allowed him to come forward or move back depending upon the length at which the ball pitched and hence it made him as one of the technically best left-handers in the history of cricket.
Cricket Strategist 