Simon Hughes
One of England's greatest post-war batsmen, the late Denis Compton, was once asked if he'd have gone down the pitch to the leg spin of Shane Warne. 'I don't think so,' he replied, 'he's got so many different tricks and he'd have seen me coming. I'd see how I got on sweeping him.'
This seems to be the primary response of many modern English batsmen. They're afraid to use their feet against spinners for fear of being left stranded down the pitch and they rely heavily on the sweep shot. Since the advent of one-day cricket, with its cross-batted improvisations, the sweep has really been in vogue, though some batsmen naturally play it better than others and a few can't play it at all.
 Fine sweep
Nasser Hussain can sweep the ball firmly or delicately (left) making sure he gets low down to the ball and rolls the wrists to keep the stroke down.
Beware the umpire
There is a degree of risk in sweeping: it is a largely premeditated shot and you're hitting across the line. There are strong possibilities of getting top edges, being bowled behind your legs or given out LBW. (It can look ugly if you miss the ball, and some umpires are notorious for judging a batsman LBW for 'the shot' - they don't seem to approve of the sweep for some reason.)
On the other hand, it can bring a lot of runs. A good sweeper can totally frustrate a bowler and confound their field settings. Former England wicketkeeper Alan Knott could sweep anything, even a high full toss, and could place the shot exactly. Graham Gooch destroyed the Indian attack with the sweep in the 1987 World Cup. He used a range of sweeping styles, from the paddle - a dinky little flick-shot that sends the ball wide of the keeper with the bat virtually on the floor - to the slog-sweep, a big muscular heave over mid-wicket.
Piercing the field
Executed well, the sweep pierces the normal left arm spinner's field, which is off side-biased. Because there are usually only three men on the leg-side, there's often a gap beside the square-leg umpire. A sweep should produce at least one run, although there will be a man stationed deeper on this line, to prevent the boundary.
Placement Hussain, however, can sweep from almost any line. This one (left), from the New Zealand left-arm spinner Daniel Vettori, is around off stump.
 Hussain's pad covers the wicket so, should he miss the ball, he has a second line of protection and is unlikely to get out. He has played it well here (left), by getting out to the ball and rolling his wrists to keep the shot down.
Spinners are happy to see batsmen doing this if there is any turn about, they know there is a lot that can go wrong with it. The ball can bounce up and flick the glove, slide off the inside edge onto the stumps or fly off the top edge into the batsman's face. For sweep-happy batsmen, wearing a helmet and visor is vital.
Copyright material reproduced under license from Macmillan Publishers Ltd. London, England
Copyright © Simon Hughes 2001
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