Simon Hughes
You can't just block a high-class Test spinner all day, of course. The bowler gets into an unshakeable rhythm and, with close-fielders hovering around the bat like vultures, it's only a matter of time before a ball pops or spins sharply and loops up off bat or glove into one of their hands.
There are a number of ways to disrupt the spinner's rhythm, one of which is for the batsman to 'use his feet'. As Michael Atherton says: 'You must have a game plan before going to the crease. The key is in trying to play with quick precise footwork, and getting into a good position early, back or forward, but to be instinctive too.'
Generally, using your feet is a premeditated thing. The batsman will decide as the bowler turns at the end of his short run that this will be the ball he is going to come down the wicket to. The vital thing is that he doesn't telegraph his intentions and come too early. If the bowler has any suspicion that the batsman is going to give him the charge, he'll bowl it faster, or shorter or wider to foil the attempt. The batsman has to be very quick on his feet.
Getting to the pitch
In using his feet, the batsman is not only attempting to disturb the
spinner's web, but also trying to get to the pitch. His aim is not necessarily to heave the ball out of the ground, but perhaps to drive it, or just to nudge it, into a gap.
Mark Ramprakash gets into a good position here (left) to do what he wants with the ball, which has pitched just in front of him, and is able to keep the shot down.
 The effect it has is to make the bowler wonder when he's going to do it again, and whether to therefore adjust his length. It gives him
something to think about.
Charging the bowling
Often, you'll find a really good destroyer of spin, such as Mike Gatting, or Pakistan's Inzamam-ul-Haq, who charge the bowler one ball, and then, predicting that the bowler will drop the next one shorter, take a deliberate step back for the next one. Gatting used to 'mock charge',
making a big initial movement as the bowler was about to release,
pretending that he was going to use his feet, and then laying back on the stumps as the ball was delivered. There's a lot of cat and mouse going on when a spinner's operating.
Getting in position
There is, of course, a degree of risk in using your feet to a spinner,
especially if you fail to get to the pitch. There is a real danger that the ball will spin past the outside edge leaving the batsman stranded. If
he has gone down the wicket and realises he's in trouble, he then has two options: get everything in the way of the ball and scramble back into his crease, or go through with an attempted big hit.
 Charge
Brian Lara (left) chose the second option against this Robert Croft delivery. Shimmying down the wicket when the ball was already in the air, he quickly realised he wouldn't be able to get down far enough to be on top of the ball, so leant back and let fly.
 He was secure in the knowledge that Croft had no protection (i.e. deep fielders) behind him so that even a reasonable mis-hit would land safely. In fact he middled it perfectly, and the ball landed in the 10th row.
This majestic shot had a number of side effects. It made the batsman feel ecstatic, the bowler downcast and the silly-point fielder retreated to a safe distance. Two boundary patrollers were posted straight, leaving gaps either side of the bowler. Lara could now pick off easy singles by stroking the ball down the ground.
Copyright material reproduced under license from Macmillan Publishers Ltd. London, England
Copyright © Simon Hughes 2001
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