Bowlers can bite back.

Most batsmen think a fast bowler in twenty20 is there to serve up balls to be hit. But you can to spoil the fun by keeping that run rate down, drying up the boundaries and putting your team in a winning position.

The problem is focus.

Your consistent, nagging line and length from longer cricket becomes predictable. The batsman sets up to swing across it and puts you in the trees. That subtle away swinger drifting late outside the off stump allows the slogger to free their arms, swing hard and get a thick edge high over slip for a streaky four.

All you can do is pull a double teapot with your hands on your hips while the cheeky batter has a quiet grin.

You may have won the moral battle, but your run rate doesn’t care about morals.

Time to adapt

Swing still wins

Traditional bowling methods might be limited in T20, but they are not dead. The trick is getting really good at them.

Really good.

A new ball will still swing late if you know how to make it swing late, even in T20. And late swing is dangerous. Sure the batsman will have a go at it, but it’s difficult to hit and opens up bowled or LBW.

The trick is to be able to make it swing at pace.

Any bowler is capable of both making the ball swing and increasing pace. You included. It just takes practice and experimentation.

Adjust your length

We all know predictability in T20 means serious damage to your bowling figures. Most bowlers at club and school level don’t have any variety, meaning happy time for the batsmen.

Really good T20 bowlers are more about length variations.

Not a million different slower balls.

Adjusting length is very effective because the batsman can’t set up to play a shot. it could be at the toes, at the ribcage or do something in-between. That means more risk taking and a greater chance of bowling success.

This tactic gets even more effective when you learn to adapt it to the batsman. The more you bowl in T20 the better you get at predicting what a batter is going to do and bowling to overcome it. It’s often just a subtle feeling but you get to know a big shot is coming and whip in the yorker.

But it’s also very difficult. Not many bowlers’ have the skill to do it accurately because they don’t practice making length adjustments; they are always looking to hit a good length. It’s something you need to practice.

Something you can track with PitchVision both in training and games.

What you measure, you improve.

Don't let those show-pony batters win the day. Nail those skills.