I noticed something about Kane Williamson when he first came back to Australia, for the Brisbane Test match this summer, and all through the following tour.
His stance at the crease.
Williamson takes guard at, or outside, off stump. This is highly unusual for any batsman because it opens up lbws if the pitch is playing strangely, or staying low, or even if it’s just a bit two-paced.
It changes the entire placing of shots. What would normally be left as too wide can be played through cover and mid-off with aplomb. And, provided you are good enough, it allows you to hit straight balls – or what would normally be considered a straight ball – through the entire leg side, pretty much letting you choose which part of the field to target.
And, while I’m here, yes, Steven Smith does it too. The difference is, though, that his technique is rather scrutinised, where Williamson’s is not.
And Smith is, at least for the moment, so adept at putting the straight ball through the leg side that it would be dangerous to attempt to get him out lbw, because you’re risking him carting you for 100 before you get your man.
And this brings me back to Williamson. Sure, he’s not going out lbw, because he’s very, very good straight of the wicket. But I have a theory, one which I’ve held ever since that first Test I remember watching him bat.
You see, Williamson as a youngster had no idea where his off stump was.
Some batsman do, some don’t, but what it allows you to do is leave the ball, on width or height, when the bowler puts it around the right line and length.
When Williamson was having trouble with those balls, some enterprising coach took his game and moved it some inches to the right, until Williamson was taking guard on or outside off. The simple instruction was, ‘if it isn’t a length you like, and it’s outside your body, leave the bloody thing’.
And, by gosh, it works! But only so long as the ball isn’t moving.
If the ball is moving, then the rules have changed and the uncertainty about his game returns. He still doesn’t know where the stumps are, so he plays at more than he should, and goes out caught behind the wicket.
It is an immense pain to watch someone who has such a pure technique, who by rights should excel when the going is tough, fail when batting is harder than Adelaide on Day 2. And I’m sure that some enterprising coach is still working on fixing the problem.
Let’s hope that it isn’t so much of a Band-Aid fix next time.
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