By IANS,
Sydney : Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds has a shot up his sleeve that could match England batsman Kevin Pietersen’s switch-hit slog.
Australian skipper Ricky Ponting revealed that Symonds had begun practicing reverse sweeping using the back of his bat, although the enterprising Queenslander has as yet restricted the innovation to the nets.
“A few of us muck around with doing it (reverse sweeping) in the nets, and Symo (Symonds) sort of uses the back of the bat when he plays his,” Ponting was quoted as saying in the Daily Telegraph.
Pietersen had hammered a pair of incredible switch-hit sixes off New Zealand medium-pacer Scott Styris last week, sparking calls for shot to be outlawed amid claims it gave batsmen an unfair advantage over bowlers.
Ponting said the shot would make the game more difficult for umpires.
“I don’t know how they are going to judge on wides. And if you’ve got three fielders behind square on the (off) side, is it a no-ball. I’m not sure how they’re really going to govern that. It’s put the umpires under a bit more pressure,” Ponting said.