ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS: Who was the first batsman to use the reverse sweep?

QUESTION: Who was the first batsman to use the reverse sweep?

To play a reverse sweep, the batsman brings the bat out in front of them, shifts their grip, and swings the bat from the leg side to the off side. 

The shot has become an integral part of the short-form game and has even found its way into the Test arena. Joe Root is a master of the shot.

It’s not an easy shot to play. It requires a lot of wrist power, control and timing to execute, but it allows the batsman to circumvent fieldsettings and use gaps in the backward point and third man areas to score runs.

It’s possible that inventive batsmen tried it in the past. An historical curio from an 1896 Wisden report contains a description of what might be a reverse sweep: Yorkshire’s John Brown lost a wicket after scoring a century by ‘foolishly hitting back-handed at a lob’.

There is further evidence dating back to the 1920s, when K. S. Duleepsinhji played a wide off-side ball ‘Backwards towards the third-man with his bat turned around and facing the wicketkeeper.’

Englands Joe Root reverse sweep during the International Test Match 2024 match between England and Sri Lanka at Old Trafford, Manchester England v Sri Lanka, International Test Match 2024., Day Four - 24 Aug 2024

This contemporary account written by the non-striker L. P. Jai adds that there ‘was an appeal for unfair play but the umpire ruled it out. ’Nevertheless, Pakistan all-rounder Mushtaq Mohammad is usually credited with having invented the shot. 

In 1964, playing in a club match for Rotherham’s Cavaliers, Mushtaq faced up to off-spinner Fred Titmus. Out of scoring options, Mushtaq spotted a gap at third man. He later told The Indian Express: ‘We were chasing a rather large target and Freddie, a giant of an off-spinner, was bowling. I couldn’t get a run. I looked around and realised that the only gap was at third man. My shot was premeditated, but it connected and went for four.’

Fred was so bamboozled that he appealed. The umpire told him, ‘You got a ball in your hand, he has a bat. He can do whatever he wants with it’.

Andy Flower of Zimbabwe and Javed Miandad of Pakistan played the shot well, but it was treated with suspicion. Especially after England captain Mike Gatting bungled it catastrophically and was caught out following a ball from Australia’s Allan Border during the 1987 World Cup final, precipitating a frustrating loss.

Warwickshire coach Bob Woolmer and his captain Dermot Reeve brought the shot into the mainstream and had their side playing it for fun when they dominated in the 1990s.

Ian Challenor, Birmingham 

QUESTION: Is Trinidad the only place in the world to have natural pitch lakes? How are they formed?

Trinidad is not the only place in the world with natural pitch lakes but it is home to the most famous and largest one; the Pitch Lake in La Brea, southwest Trinidad (‘brea’ means tar in Spanish).

The lake is a remarkable phenomenon; it encompasses approximately 100 acres and is estimated to be 250 feet deep in the centre. It holds about ten million tons of pitch, an emulsion of water, gas, bitumen and mineral matter.

Sir Walter Raleigh admired it in 1595: ‘We made trial of it in trimming our ships to be most excellent good.’

The pitch is being replenished over time and moves with a natural slow ‘stirring’ action. About 180 tons of pitch is extracted from the lake per day for use on roads, but also to make anti-corrosive black paint.

The other major pitch lake is Guanoco Lake in Venezuela, which contains an estimated six million tons of asphalt. 

There are smaller examples such as La Brea Tar Pits and the McKittrick Tar Pits in California.

The formation of pitch lakes starts with deep underground oil deposits. As the oil is less dense than the rock around it, it slowly migrates upwards through cracks in the Earth’s crust.While the oil makes its way to the surface, its lighter components evaporate leaving behind only the heavier hydrocarbons, like asphalt and tar. 

Over time, these heavier components accumulate at the surface, forming a thick, sticky layer of pitch or asphalt.

Dr Ken Bristow, Glasgow

QUESTION: Do we know how Roger Bannister’s sub-four-minute mile was recorded?

Further to the earlier answer, there is no dispute about theaccuracy of Bannister’s time of three minutes, 59.4 seconds, but in the 1950s pacemakers were not allowed.

 Bannister overcame this problem by having two colleagues act as ‘unofficial’ pacemakers.

Chris Brasher made the pace for the first two laps and Chris Chataway on the third lap. 

Chataway finished second in four minutes, seven seconds with Brasher a distant fourth. If Brasher had dropped out, this famous world record would have been null and void.

Derek Britchford, London Colney, Herts