Upper Cut
Also known as: upper-cut, over the slips
The upper cut is an attacking stroke played to a short, wide, high ball outside off stump, hitting it over the slips or gully area for four or six.
Rather than ducking or hooking a short-pitched delivery angled away from the body, the batter deliberately gets underneath the ball and cuts the blade upward, sending the ball high over the fielders in the slip cordon or gully. The stroke requires precise judgment of height and width — the ball must be wide enough to hit over the off-side field rather than straight to a catcher. It is a modern, aggressive counter-attacking weapon, popularised in T20 and one-day cricket, and its effectiveness depends on the batter getting into a strong back-foot position with the head steady.
Example
The fast bowler fires in a bouncer angled outside off stump and the batter swivels, playing the upper cut over gully for four.
Why it matters
The upper cut converts hostile short-pitched bowling into attacking runs. SwingVantage's cricket analysis (in development) will assess back-foot positioning and bat angle to help batters execute this modern stroke safely.
Related terms
- Hook ShotThe hook shot is an attacking batting stroke played to a short-pitched, rising ball aimed at the body or head — the batter pivots and whips the ball to the leg side, often in front of square.
- BouncerA bouncer is a fast, short-pitched delivery that rears up toward the batter’s head or chest, used to intimidate and to set up the fuller ball.
- Back-Foot PlayBack-foot play is batting in which the batter moves the weight back and onto the rear foot to play short-pitched or rising deliveries, creating time by moving away from the pitch of the ball.
Put this into your swing
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