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Cricket · Basic · b4

Catch and field

At home 8 min 2 to 3 players Yard or lane, park

Ready when: nothing needed.

Start a session

What you are learning

Catching a high ball with cupped hands, and stopping a rolling ball with a barrier (crouch low, one foot sideways behind the hands) so it cannot get past, then returning it underarm. Good fielding saves runs and gets batters out.

Words on this card Batter, Barrier
Batter
The player with the bat.
Barrier
Fielding a rolling ball with one foot turned sideways behind the hands, so it cannot get past.

Set up

A tennis ball, cones.

Weather: dry ground

The base setup for cricket

Show it first for the one teaching

  1. High ball: hands together, little fingers touching, cupped, elbows in. Watch the ball into the hands and let them give.
  2. Rolling ball: crouch low and turn one foot sideways behind your hands, so the foot is a barrier.
  3. Pick the ball up and return it underarm to the thrower.

Your part while they practise

Call "now" and throw gently; no hard throws.

Step by step

  1. 10 high catches with cupped hands, elbows in.
  2. 10 rolled balls stopped with a barrier.
  3. Return each one underarm to the thrower.
  4. Watch every ball into the hands.

How much: 20 balls a round, 4 rounds 8 min a session 4 days a week

Say one thing Pick one line from "What you will see" for today and say only that.

The game: Back it up

One player throws at a bucket and a partner behind it stops the misses.

Who plays: 2 or 3: a thrower and a backer-up; you call.

How to play, turn by turn
Turns
  1. The thrower stands 5 m from the bucket; the backer-up stands 5 m behind it
  2. On "now", the thrower throws underarm at the bucket
  3. The backer-up stops any miss with a barrier and returns it underarm
  4. 5 throws, then swap. 3 turns of each job
Fair play
A grown-up throws from 2 m farther back.
Points
The thrower scores 1 point for each hit; the backer-up scores 1 point for each miss stopped cleanly.
Fouls
No point
  • A hard or overarm throw
  • Throwing before "now"
  • The backer-up lets the ball through
Winning
The most points after 3 turns of each job.
Stars
  1. 5 points for 1 star
  2. 9 points for 2 stars
  3. 13 points for 3 stars

Easier or harder

Easier

Lower, slower throws.

Harder

Higher throws or one hand.

What you will see, and what to say

  • the ball bounces out Soft hands, give with the ballThe hands move back a little as it arrives.
  • the child shuts the eyes Watch it inEyes open all the way into the hands.

Self-check

7of 10

7 of 10 catches held.

Stop and get a coach when

The child flinches from every ball; use a softer ball.

Fitness for this

Warm up first: how to warm up, at workonfitness.com. For strength and stretching, its exercise library shows each exercise step by step, with an easier version.

This card trains catching, hand-eye.

awiseathlete.com/sports/cricket/cricket-b4