Glenn Maxwell’s ability to reverse sweep and switch-hit began when he was nine years old
Glenn Maxwell is the master of the reverse sweep and switch-hit but its a skill that’s been 20 years in the making. Watch how you can bat like the Melbourne Stars skipper.
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Glenn Maxwell had to obey one rule if he wanted to play lunchtime cricket at Belgrave South Primary School in 1998.
“I wasn’t allowed to play unless I batted opposite-handed,” Maxwell told the Sunday Herald Sun.
“So I developed a decent left-handed pull shot from a pretty young age.”
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Maxwell the nine-year-old didn’t realise how beneficial his classmates’ schoolyard law — designed to prevent him batting all week — would be.
As a junior, he only needed to play off the back foot to punish attacks.
“On hard wickets it always seems to bounce up and, as a short little fella, you could pull and cut your way to runs,” Maxwell said.
“I didn’t think I’d require too many other shots until I got to the top level (where) guys are a lot more consistent at bashing a line and length against you.”
**Watch Glenn Maxwell give a batting lesson on how to play the reverse sweep and switch-hit in the video player above and scroll down for more tips**
Now it is Maxwell doing the bashing, with those lunchtime lessons putting him in the fast lane towards one of world cricket’s most explosive batters.
Most notably, it is Maxwell’s reverse sweep shot which bamboozles bowlers.
“It’s more enjoyable than other shots when it comes off, that’s for sure,” Maxwell said.
“The look on the bowler’s face and the look on the fielder’s face is like, ‘What are we supposed to do here?’ ”
You won’t find the reverse sweep in the textbook.
But it was at the Cricket Australia academy where 19-year-old Maxwell finetuned what has become one of his trademark shots.
An intake headlined by Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Nathan Coulter-Nile, James Faulkner and Maxwell were encouraged to stretch their imaginations.
“We had some expression sessions where we could actually practise whatever we’d like and try some things,” Maxwell said.
“I went through a few net sessions where I was facing guys like Nic Maddinson, who was practising his bowling, and I was batting left-handed against him.
“We were just seeing how it was and if that could one day potentially be a tactic down the road — that batters would bat opposite hand against certain bowlers as a way to negate certain conditions.”
The emerging young Australians played a handful of practice matches against IPL team the Mumbai Indians in Brisbane, where Maxwell let the reverse sweep rip for the first time in a game.
“In a run of three games I got a hundred, a 90 and an 80,” Maxwell said.
“I felt really confident in the way I was going and I was hitting the ball well, so it actually made it easier to play it.
“It wasn’t like I was searching for that as my escape, I was able to get into my innings and then play it as a way to upset the field.”
**Don’t miss the Big Bash Derby between the Stars and Renegades from the MCG on Tuesday 7.15pm LIVE on Fox Cricket**
Maxwell uses his unconventional genius to manipulate opposing fields. Imagine having control of the opposition? It is a skill few in world cricket possess.
“I know he’s captain of the Stars, but he can nearly captain the opposition at the same time because he’s so good,” Brisbane Heat captain Chris Lynn said during commentary for Fox Cricket on Thursday.
Maxwell, 30, looks to reverse sweep bowlers he knows inside out.
That’s why the Hurricanes’ Clive Rose — who Maxwell played junior cricket against and has trained extensively with — was a prime target last week in Hobart.
“That familiarity helps,” Maxwell said.
“At international level it’s a little bit different, because you’ve got to gather information a lot quicker to play it.
“I’ve played a fair bit against India and guys like (Ravi) Ashwin, and (Ravindra) Jadeja I’ve played against a lot in the IPL.
“So I’m probably able to play it easier against guys like that.”
In 2015, Maxwell crunched Lancashire off-spinner Steven Croft’s first ball of a T20 match for six with a reverse sweep which left his teammates giggling in disbelief.
Maxwell was fresh from belting 140 (144) for Yorkshire in a one-dayer, and plenty of those runs were scored against Croft.
“I noticed as he was running in he bowls this fork ball, where it’s basically a split-finger ball which comes out like a knuckle ball and wobbles,” Maxwell said.
“As soon as I saw him running in like that with the whole off-side field up I thought it’s not going to spin and bounce too much and I can get under a reverse sweep here.
“He bowled it exactly where I thought he was going to bowl it and I hit it a lot better than I thought I was going to.
“I was just trying to chip it over the infield but I absolutely crunched it for six.”
But is there a risk?
“I don’t think there’s a whole lot of risk if you play it and if you’re confident in it,” Maxwell said.
“The work that’s gone into perfecting it — practising in the nets — and against different types of bowling.
“It does take a fair amount of courage because you’ve got to obviously premeditate the movement of getting into that position.
“I don’t have a specific area I want to hit it until I actually know where the ball is, but I’m able to adjust to the line when it comes down.
“When bowlers run in I have an idea that I’m going to reverse, but once I pick up the line and the length I can decide how I’m going to hit and where I’m going to hit it.”
GLENN MAXWELL’S GUIDE TO REVERSE SWEEPING
“In my mind there’s three different types of reverse sweep.”
1. “The first one is a REVERSE LAP. In our original stance we’re trying to get it really fine and looking to get a full ball,or anything outside off-stump, to take control of it and keep it nice and fine.”
Which bowlers would you play it against?
“Against a bit more pace. Someone bowling faster and a little bit fuller makes it a lot easier to control and to keep it fine.”
2. “The second REVERSE SWEEP is a powerful one where we actually take the sweep shot approach to it and try to hit it backwardof point and keep it along the ground.”
Which bowler would you play it against?
“Off-spinners who are consistently pitching it outside off. Nathan Lyon is someone who I’ve played it a little bit againstin Sheffield Shield. If I can get my pad outside the line of off-stump and play a reverse sweep I feel like he’s not goingto get me out lbw, and I feel like I have enough control to keep it along the ground through backward point.”
3. “The third one is the SWITCH-HIT where we actually change our hands around and our legs to try to clear cover or point.”
Which bowler would you play it against?
“When the ball is turning with you. You’re turning yourself into a left-handed batsman. Get into left-handed position andgo with the spin. Fuller balls make it easier to control.”
STEP BY STEP
1. Don’t give yourself away. As the bowler runs in don’t show him what you’re going to do. I might fake sometimes to see whathe does and then make my mind up.
2. For the reverse sweep, try to get your hands to a point where you feel like the bat is in a flat line where you can actuallykeep control of it.
3. Change your grip as the bowler is coming in.
4. Cover the line of off-stump, where the ball is generally going to pitch for a right-hander.
5. Get a nice, full swing. If you’re going over the top, lean back and get your body out of the way. Or get your head moreover the ball to hit it along the ground.
SWITCH-HIT TIPS
“The bowler has time to adjust, but you’re 100 per cent committed to the shot. You’re trying to hit it over the infield orover the fence to the shorter boundary.
“Get in a position where you can load up on the back foot and transfer your weight into the shot. You’re hoping for anythingpitched around the stumps.”
CUES TO LOOK FOR
— The field a bowler has set.
— How the bowler is trying to get you out.
WHEN TO REVERSE?
— If a bowler is trying to jam you up on the legside it is a good option to reverse sweep. It becomes a pretty safe shot withpower.
WHEN TO AVOID
— When the ball is wide of a right-hander’s off-stump. A ball wide of off-stump is harder to control and catch up on. A ballon the stumps is easier to control and place.”
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