Category:Cricket defensive shots

A cricket defensive shot (aka block stroke) is a batter's tactic usually to defend his wicket from being hit (bowled) rather than striking the ball to gain runs.
The defensive strike takes two forms: forward defensive and backward defensive. In forward defensive (front foot shot), a right-handed batter typically presents a bent left leg forward, tending to leave his right foot behind his stance line if possible; if the bowled ball is appearing to about to bounce close to the batter's feet, the batter might elect backward defensive (back foot shot), typically moving his right foot back towards the wicket (stumps), and raising the bat higher to defend the wicket and his upper body... all vice versa for a left hand batter.
The position of the bat is usually perpendicular to the ground and as close to the forward leg as possible, with a backward slant to force the ball downwards to avoid the possibility of it being caught before reaching the ground.
Variations include a push shot, and a leave (often considered a shot):
a push shot will use a forward or backward defensive strike to take the opportunity to augment the backward slant with an angle of the bat on the vertical to send the ball, by deflection with slight push, through the inner fielders, potentially offering runs;
in a leave, the batter will not offer any kind of strike, stepping aside and not attacking the delivery as a better option if he judges that the ball will not hit him or the wicket, with the possibility the ball might be judged 'wide', giving the batter a free run while the delivery doesn't count.