The sweep shot

The sweep is a cross-bat shot played from a kneeling front leg, used almost entirely against spin. Its real job is not the boundary — it's changing the length the bowler is allowed to bowl. A spinner who knows you will sweep cannot land it on a good length all day. The engine is getting the front foot far enough forward that you are hitting the ball close to where it pitches, before the spin has had room to work.

Sweep scoring zone — square and behind — right-hand batter; the gold sector is where this scores.

When to sweep

Against spin, to a ball pitching on or outside leg, or on the stumps when the pitch is turning enough that defending is no longer safe. The sweep is a plan, not a reaction — you decide before the ball is bowled that this length is going.

Full or good length from a spinner. Too short and you're cramped; the ball climbs the bat face and goes up.
Pitching leg or middle-and-leg. Sweeping from well outside off is how you get bowled behind your legs — the ball misses everything and hits leg stump.
When the field is up. A sweep beats an in-field a defensive push never will, which is the whole point of playing it.

The shot, front to back

Everything depends on the front leg getting far enough down the pitch.

Big front stride, knee down. The front leg goes at the pitch of the ball and the back knee folds to the ground. A short stride is the single biggest cause of a bad sweep.
Head forward and still, over the ball. Your eyes should finish roughly above the line of the ball, not leaning back away from it.
Bat comes across horizontally, arms extended. Hit it in front of the pad, not level with it — contact under your own body is how you glove it.
Roll the wrists to keep it down. Hands finishing high send it up to deep square; hands rolling over pin it to the turf.
Front pad behind the bat. If you miss, the pad is a second line of defence — which is why sweeping a ball pitching outside off is dangerous and sweeping one pitching leg is not.

The faults that get you out

Sweeping from the crease. No stride means you're hitting the ball after it has turned, which is exactly the ball you cannot predict. Get to the pitch.

Sweeping the wrong line. Anything pitching outside off leaves the stumps exposed if you miss. That's a bowled or an lbw with no bat involved.

Falling away as you swing. If the head drops toward the leg side the bat swings up, and a top edge to backward square is the usual result.

Sweeping the short ball. A ball that bounces is not a sweep — it's a cut or a pull. Sweeping it means gloves, helmet, or a catch to leg slip.

Questions

Sweep or reverse sweep — which should I learn first?

The conventional sweep, and it isn't close. It is the shot that changes what a spinner can bowl at you, and its geometry is far more forgiving: front pad behind the bat, ball going where the bat is already travelling. The reverse sweep is worth adding only once the conventional one is reliable under pressure.

Why do I keep getting hit on the glove sweeping?

Almost always contact too close to your body. If the ball reaches you before the bat has extended, the handle and gloves are in the firing line. Stride further, and hit the ball out in front of your front pad rather than beside it.

Can you sweep fast bowling?

Not the conventional sweep — the ball is on you too quickly to get a knee down safely, and the bounce is wrong. Against pace the equivalent shots are the pull and the cut. The sweep is a spin-specific answer.

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