Useful backyard cricket aids
Download and take away: Useful backyard cricket aids
Crazy Catch Rebounder
Crazy Catch is a rebound net developed in New Zealand that is excellent for having great fun throwing and catching in the backyard and the playground. It is robust, is easy to erect and store, can be used on hard surfaces or grass, and can be tilted to give catches of different heights. An additional feature is that by reversing the rebound net players can opt to receive either predictable catches from the ‘sane’ side of the net, or unpredictable catches from the ‘insane’ side. For more information on the Crazy Catch, together with a range of activities and challenges refer to the website: www.crazycatch.com
Batting Mat
The BatMat is great for the backyard and can be used by right or left hand batters to learn the correct foot and bat positioning when playing a number of different strokes. The mat is marked with the position of the stumps, along with lines indicating the different stroke directions. The latter, when used with a mobile foot attachment, act as a guide for correct foot placement. The BatMat has a tennis ball attached with an elastic cord which can be placed on a low or high batting tee so the different strokes can be played. For more information on this cricket aid go to the website: www.batmat.com.au
MILO Kiwi Cricket Equipment
MILO Kiwi Cricket gear is made of hard wearing plastic and is ideal for use in the backyard and the playground. It comprises - bats [four different sizes - kindy, size 3, size 4, adult], stumps and stump base, batting tees [two sizes - small and large], and balls [two sizes - small and standard].
The smaller ‘kindy’ or ‘size 3’ bats are very useful for young players to learn to dip their front shoulder and get their head down over the ball. This can be combined with a small batting tee to encourage players to use this sequence to block or drive the ball.
Several small batting tees can be utilised to place balls on in front of the batter to allow them to practice - on, off and straight drives. When they become competent at this, move the batting tees 1–2 metres forward of the batter so they can use their feet to get into position to drive the ball.
Batting tees can be placed on top of a stump to enable batters to learn and practice horizontal strokes such as pull shots and cut shots. The stumps can also be used with the middle stump being removed and placed behind a batter to check his/her backlift/backswing.
The freestanding stumps can be used on any surface and are ideal for target bowling and throwing activities. Two sets of stumps beside each other can also be used to allow batters to develop an awareness of where their offstump is and which deliveries they should leave.
Single stumps are useful for spin bowlers to try and learn to spin the ball across and can be used with softer balls in place of a bat to improve eye hand coordination. The yellow balls are also very good in decision-making fielding games, especially if used in conjunction with balls of different type or colour.
MILO Kiwi Cricket equipment is New Zealand made and easy to access in most sports shops and retail stores.