The sweep
The stroke that turns a good-length spinning delivery into a scoring opportunity — the conventional sweep, the slog sweep and the reverse sweep, and the LBW risk each one accepts.
Overview
The sweep is played from a kneeling position, with a horizontal bat, to a ball pitched up by a spinner. It works by taking the ball early — before spin has had much distance to act — and by hitting it into an area behind square where a spin field is usually thin.
It is the main answer a batter has to a spinner bowling a good length into the rough, because it removes the bowler's ability to set a length. A bowler who cannot bowl a length unchallenged loses most of their control.
The conventional sweep
The front leg goes down the pitch and the back knee drops towards the ground, bringing the head low and level. The bat sweeps horizontally across the line of the ball, meeting it just after the bounce and directing it fine on the leg side.
Getting the head over or beyond the line of the ball is what makes the stroke safe: it is what allows the batter to see the ball onto the bat and to control the contact rather than swinging hopefully at where the ball should be.
Slog sweep and reverse sweep
The slog sweep is the same movement played with a longer swing and more bat speed, aiming square or over midwicket rather than fine. It trades control for distance and is a boundary option rather than a rotation option.
The reverse sweep turns the bat over and plays the same stroke into the off side, usually towards third man or backward point. It is not a novelty: against a bowler with a packed leg-side field it attacks the side of the ground the captain has emptied.
The LBW the stroke accepts
Sweeping means playing across the line with the pads behind the bat, and a missed sweep frequently hits the pad in front of the stumps. Whether that is out depends on where the ball pitched and where it struck — the same five conditions that govern every LBW.
A sweep to a ball pitching outside leg stump can never be given out LBW, which is why batters sweep most freely at deliveries angled into the pads. A sweep at a ball pitching in line is a genuine risk, and a good spinner will attack that line precisely because the stroke is on offer.
How to do it
- 1Choose a ball pitched up by a spinner rather than one short enough to cut or pull.
- 2Stride the front leg down the pitch and drop the back knee towards the ground.
- 3Get the head over or outside the line of the ball so you can watch it onto the bat.
- 4Sweep the bat horizontally, meeting the ball just after it bounces.
- 5Keep the bat face controlled to direct the ball fine, or open the swing to go squarer.
- 6Keep the bat in front of the pad, so a miss is less likely to strike the pad in line.
Key points
- Sweeping takes the ball early, before spin has much distance to act.
- The head goes over or beyond the line so the ball can be watched onto the bat.
- The slog sweep trades control for distance; the reverse sweep attacks the empty side.
- A sweep at a ball pitching outside leg stump carries no LBW risk.
- A sweep at a ball pitching in line is a real LBW risk, and good spinners bowl that line.
Where it’s used
Sports that use the sweep:
Related techniques
Cricket batting grip and stance
The starting position every cricket stroke is built from — how the hands sit on the handle, how the feet and head are set, and what the setup decides before the ball is even bowled.
Forward and back defence
The two strokes a batter survives with — the forward defensive and the back defensive — when each is the right choice, and why a defensive stroke is a decision about length rather than intent.
The cricket drive
Cricket's foundational attacking stroke, played straight down the ground or through the off side — the cover, straight and on drive, and the length that makes each one available.
How it connects
The meaning-bearing relationships that place The sweep in the wider knowledge graph — each one with the reason it exists.
Prerequisite of
These need this one first.
Alternative to
Comparable enough that people choose between them.
Frequently learned together
Taught side by side in the same stage of a learning path.
- Cricket batting grip and stanceBoth are taught in the “Build your technique” stage of the Cricket learning path.
- Forward and back defenceBoth are taught in the “Build your technique” stage of the Cricket learning path.
- The cricket driveBoth are taught in the “Build your technique” stage of the Cricket learning path.
- The pull and the hookBoth are taught in the “Build your technique” stage of the Cricket learning path.
- Swing bowlingBoth are taught in the “Build your technique” stage of the Cricket learning path.
Supports
Helps the training or recovery side of these.
Explore across the knowledge base
Follow the threads that connect The sweep to the rest of SocialSportHub.
Tactics
- Playing spin bowlingWhat a batter actually does against a spinner — using the crease and the feet to change the length, picking the ball from the hand, and the options when the pitch is turning sharply.
- Rugby union defensive systemsHow a rugby union defence organises fifteen players across the width of the field — the drift, the blitz and the umbrella — and the specific weakness each system accepts.
- Setting a cricket fieldHow a captain turns nine fielders into a plan — attacking and defensive settings, the trade between catchers and boundary riders, and the fielding restrictions competitions add.
Rules
- Leg before wicket (LBW)Cricket's most argued-about dismissal, set out as the Laws set it out: five conditions that must all be satisfied, and the one clause that changes everything if the batter played a shot.
- Cricket creasesThe white lines marked at each end of a cricket pitch — bowling, popping and return creases — what each one is for, and the exact measurements that decide no-balls, run-outs and stumpings.
- No-ballThe illegal delivery in cricket — where the bowler's feet must land, what the Laws say about straightening the arm, and why a no-ball costs a run and has to be bowled again.
- How a batter is out in cricketThe lawful ways to dismiss a batter — bowled, caught, LBW, run out, stumped and the rarer modes — what separates them, and which ones a bowler is credited with.
- Wide ballThe delivery ruled too far from the batter to be hit — the exact test the umpire applies, the two situations that cancel a wide, and why a wide costs a run and must be bowled again.
Learning paths
Facilities
- The cricket pitchThe 22-yard strip at the centre of a cricket field where the bowling and batting happen — its exact dimensions, how it is bounded, and who decides whether it is fit to play on.
- VelodromeA steeply banked oval track for track cycling, with sloped bends that let riders hold high speeds through the turns.
Skills
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Everywhere else on the platform that covers The sweep — assembled from what actually references it, so nothing here is a dead end.
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How this page is maintained
- Content type
- Technique
- Provenance
- Tier A — evergreen educational
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- Content updated
- 2026-09-01
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