Batting Stance Part 1

• Feet shoulder width apart
• Side on
• Knees relaxed, slightly bent
• Eyes level
• Weight on balls of feet.
• Knees and toes line up straight back down the wicket to the
  bowler.

• Limited ability to move quickly either onto front foot or back foot.
• Chest too open to bowler.
• Batter unable to watch ball carefully, and loses focus.

• Check weight is on balls of the feet, and knees flexed.
• Toes not on guard line, pointing down the wicket to bowler.
• Head is not level, head is on an angle. Check alignment of head
  over toes from front on position.

Head is directly over the middle distance between the feet.

Once you have taken your guard, stand with your feet shoulder width
apart, on either side of the popping crease. The popping crease
should split the distance between your feet. That is, there should
be the same distance between each foot and the popping crease. Once
you have this distance worked out, stand with your toes on the line
that you marked when you took your guard from the umpire.

Step Two – Flex Your Knees

Having your knees flexed means having them slightly bent, and ready
to move into action like a coiled spring — allowing your legs
to move whichever way you need to go to get to the ball. The other
thing that will help you get your knees flexed and ready to move
is to ensure that your weight is predominantly on the balls of your
feet. This is why people say that Don Bradman was such a great batter.
Bradman was a ballroom dancer, so being on the balls of his feet
from dancing was almost second nature to him. Being on the balls
of your feet gives you a greater chance of being able to move when
you need to — boxers also do this.

Step Three — Head Level and Eyes Straight

Chin is directly over the toes

Your eyes need to be level, so make sure that your head is not
on a tilt or a lean. This will ensure that you have the best possible
view of the ball as it is being bowled to you, and help you judge
the line and length, which we’ll talk about later.

Your chin should be above the toes from front on and, and midway
between the feet from side on in order to keep the centre of gravity
over the base of support, which is the feet. This will ultimately
assist in maintaining your balance.

If the head is over too far toward the offside, the body will tend
to fall that way when playing offside shots, and it will be difficult
to maintain balance for leg side shots.

Step Four — Check the Symmetry

Your toes and hips should line up straight down the wicket towards
the bowler. This puts your body into a side on position, which should
be maintained for nearly every shot.

Keeping your front shoulder slightly open enables a more comfortable
stance and helps to eliminate the blind spots on the leg side.

The bottom of the bat should rest against the little toe of the
back foot, and the top hand should lightly rest on the inside of
the front thigh.