Batters in cricket have today devised a plethora of shots that can be employed in every area of the cricket field. The 360-degree era of modern cricket has seen batters play shots that are answers to almost every bowling tactic in the cricket dictionary. A battle of the bat and ball, one rare but prevalent cricketing shot is the agriculture shot.
A scythe is a tool used by farmers to cut crops or grass. It has a curved and a long blade which makes the motion for its use very typical. The tool is moved sideways to cover a significant arc of the area ahead. Batters in cricket have tend to frenzily move their bat, much like the scythe, to put on some runs.
An agriculture shot is one where the motion of the bat resembles the scythe. It does not involve much footwork from the batter’s side. As a result, in their quest for scoring runs frantically, the shot chips out a chunk of area from the pitch, giving the shot it’s unique name.
An agriculture shot is played more often by tail-enders of the batting order who specialise in bowling. They hit this shot between the square leg and mid-wicket region when the ball is overpitched outside the line of the off stump. The scything motion results in the bat hitting and uprooting a portion of the pitch.
The agriculture shot is rare in international cricket and has a higher chance of being seen at domestic tournaments.
