Swept off their feet

Trescothick plays a sweep shot in Ahmedabad

By BBC Sport Online's Thrasy Petropoulos

To sweep or not to sweep? That is the question.

If you had asked Marcus Trescothick as he was watching a sweep stroke off Harbhajan Singh sail over the mid-wicket boundary in Ahmedabad, the answer would undoubtedly have been yes.

But what of Trescothick's attempted sweep off Anil Kumble when he had reached 99?

It was only good fortune that allowed the ball, which had bounced and cannoned off glove and chest, to elude the close fielders.

Clearly unsettled, Trescothick followed a top-spinner from Kumble two balls later and edged to the wicket-keeper

On balance, however, Trescothick was well-served by the sweep, just like Australian opener Matthew Hayden, who made as he made 509 runs against India in the three-match series earlier this year.

The sweep worked for Matthew Hayden

Similarly successful at playing the shot in Ahmedabad was Mark Ramprakash, who planted his front foot outside off-stump and lapped Singh to his heart's content before falling to a misread a googly from Sachin Tendulkar.

So is the sweep shot the way to success against India's spinners?

Who better to answer that question than Graham Gooch, who once swept India to distraction during his 115 in the semi-final of the 1986 World Cup.

Choose the right ball

"I read something written by Sunil Gavaskar recently that summed it up for me," said Gooch.

"He said that the sweep was a shot that should mix caution with aggression.

"If it suits a batsman's way of playing and he chooses the right ball then it can be an excellent shot. If, on the other hand, he looks to sweep every ball then sooner or later he's bound to pick the wrong one."

  Sanjay Manjrekar's batting tips

Front foot stretches outside the line of the ball

Back foot goes down parallel to the ground

High back lift with the bat coming horizontally and over the bounce of the ball

Follow through finishing over the leading shoulder

Why then did he set out to sweep anything within range during that famous innings in Bombay?

"The thing about the sweep is that on percentage it is a predetermined shot in that you will have it in the back of your mind.

"If so inclined you will be looking at each ball to see if it fulfils the criteria needed in order to play the shot properly. Basically, you should be looking for the bowler's well-flighted length ball.

"As a rule of thumb, on a flat pitch which offers little help to the spinners there is no point in playing it. You might as well be hitting down the ground.

Good tactics

"But on turning pitches, it is a useful way to put the spinners off their line and cancelling the effects of the spin."

So what were conditions during that semi-final in Bombay - and why don't all England's batsmen follow that example?

"It was at the Wankhede stadium and we were batting on a pitch that had been used before so we knew that it was going to hold up, offering turn for both their left-arm spinners, Maninder Singh and Ravi Shatri," said Gooch.

"Also, India had been using a heavily-packed off-side field throughout the tournament, with only four on the leg-side. Fortunately for us, they didn't change their field and the tactic continued to work through the innings."

The right-handed version as used by Gooch

Gooch added: "It has to suit a batsman's way of playing as well as being a shot that can be played against that particular bowler.

"Against Kumble it is not a good shot. He's too quick and he bowls wicket to wicket which brings lbw into play.

"And there is not just one type of sweep shot. There's the full-blooded swing aimed to go for four or six, which Marcus Trescothick favours, the gentle sweep for a single and the paddle which usually brings a couple of runs.

"The difference between the three is that with the first one the batsman is hitting from underneath the ball whereas with the other two you should be attempting to roll your wrists and hit the ball into the ground.

"I suppose it's like every other shot that's played in cricket - if used selectively it can be a very effective shot."