he common denominator between cricket and golf is probably the coordination of movement. And hence, I think cricketers might find it a little easier to pick up golf than most. But the dynamics of the two sports are fundamentally different, and that needs to be said upfront. In golf, you are hitting a stationary ball. In cricket, you are reacting to a ball coming at you. When you watch people play both sports, you might think the swing patterns are the same – but they are not. Different dynamics come into play entirely.
Golf is a sport cricketers have naturally gravitated towards, partly because it is outdoors, partly because it is deeply challenging, and partly because nothing is quite as humbling. Nothing can be as much of a leveller as golf. It demands far more precision than cricket does.
The connection people draw between the two, though, has a lot to do with how batting has evolved. The older generation batted with their shoulders moving vertically. The modern batter has far more horizontal movement of the shoulders and hips, which is exactly what you see in golf.
Once a golfer hits the ball, they are completely square on. The shoulders, the hips, everything is in line with the ball. That is what gives everyone the leeway to talk about the two being similar.
And that shift in batting has everything to do with the rise of T20. The way current batters play, especially in white-ball cricket, is completely different from before. Earlier, it was all traditional Test cricket, and you needed to be extraordinary in your technical skills.
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Now, T20 cricket is more about making an impact than proving your technique. The need is to play as aggressively as possible because you don’t have time to settle in and sort things out. You go out there, play, and hope it comes off on the day. Things can change suddenly, any which way.
What that has done to batting stances is significant. In the old days, you only opened up your left hip when playing on the on-side or defending a bouncer. Generally, batters stayed side-on because the idea was to stay in control of every shot. But the idea now is to hit long. And for that, you have to spread