Shepherd the strike, refers to the act of a batsman willing to receive most of the balls bowled by the pitcher to protect a weaker batting partner. This is done by avoiding batting singles during early in overs, but would take as many singes late in overs. This term is also known as farm the strike or farm the bowling.
Reasons for Shepherd the Strike
Having a skilled batsman in the team is very advantageous, particularly if he has the confidence and ability to face the various bowling style of the bowler. One of the greatest achievements of a batsman is to be able to face off a good bowler and manage to hit the ball that can give him a good number of runs. It not only increases their score, but it will give the team good performance ratings. However, there are cases when the partner of a batsman is considerably weaker. As a result, he would contrive to face the majority of the balls bowled by making even a number of runs in order for him to face the bowler again. When a batsman hits the ball, instead of making three (3) runs, he would be running only two (2). On the other hand, a weaker batsman would often avoid making a score from it.
Taking Advantage of Shepherd the Strike
A bowler can take advantage of shepherd the strike during matches. If he notices that the batsman does not attempt to score, it would often mean that the batsman is not that familiar with the bowling style of the bowler. Often times, the technique of the weaker batsman is to avoid making scores. The batsman might even hit the ball but does not attempt to make a run. This usually happens if the batsman wants to avoid getting dismissed. However, if the bowler is good enough to deliver a perfume ball, the batsman might get rattled and be forced to hit the ball so that he will not get hit. As a result, the wild swing of the batman might lead him to hit the wicket, thus he will be dismissed from the game for hit wicket.