Netherlands skipper Scott Edwards leads from front with help of his unconventional sweeping technique Wicketkeeper-batsman puts Keshav Maharaj off his length with the sweep shot, and employed it against the quick bowlers as well :-Indian Express Oct 17,2023

 

Netherlands opener Max O’Dowd terms his captain Scott Edwards as an “awkward, but great man”. “Whether it be golf at 7:00 AM or the World Cup, he’s always ready.”

Being born in the South Pacific island of Tonga and raised in Melbourne before making his international debut with the Netherlands in 2017 after their first-choice wicketkeeper got injured, Edwards has always been ready for whatever assignment has come his way since his early cricketing days. Even the captaincy would come out of the blue last summer after Pieter Seelaar was forced to retire owing to a long-term back injury.

It was only fitting that O’Dowd’s words resonated once again as the Dutch skipper bailed his team from five down for 82 to 245 against a red-hot Proteas pace attack, before their bowlers sealed a memorable deal.The result was no flash in the pan after the Dutch had knocked out the Proteas from last year’s T20 World Cup in Australia as well.While Edwards may have stood tall in the proverbial sense, it was the right-hander stooping low to repeatedly sweep Keshav Maharaj that was the highlight of his innings. It’s a shot he’s known for, atypical for most tall players but not for Edwards, who seems to take a cue out of his wicketkeeping technique.

Maharaj seemed clueless as the left-arm orthodox kept offering the Dutch skipper the length and line he needed – full and on the stumps. Edwards even bisected deep square-leg and deep backward square-leg fielder off a length ball pitched outside off-stump. He did so by moving across the stumps, crouching low and taking the ball from outside off with just the top hand on the bat.

While the quick adjustment of feet is the first trait one can applaud from Edwards’ four orthodox sweeps, the unorthodox that came later sheds light on how the skipper brings a quick roll of the wrists into play. The right-hander would display that skillset by stepping forward to guide a length ball all along the ground as it went between the narrow corridor between short third and backward point.