The Glance: Cricket's Finest Touch Shot Explained
The glance is one of cricket's most elegant shots — a subtle deflection off the face of the bat toward fine leg or backward square leg, using the ball's pace against the bowler. This article explains how the glance works, when it is the right shot to play, and why it is riskier than it appears.
What the Glance Shot Is
The glance (also called the fine glance, tickle, or leg glance) is a deflection rather than a hit: the batsman angles the face of the bat at the moment of contact so that a ball aimed at the batsman's body or just outside leg stump is redirected — deflected rather than struck — toward fine leg or backward square leg. The key characteristic: the batsman is not swinging at the ball (which would produce a full swing arc and more power) but instead making minimal movement and allowing the ball to brush off an angled bat face. The pace on the ball does most of the work — the batsman's role is merely to angle the bat face correctly and allow contact at the right moment. This makes the glance one of the few cricket shots where the bowler's pace works in the batting team's favour rather than against them.
When to Play the Glance
The glance is appropriate for specific delivery types: a ball angled into the batsman's body (aimed at the batsman from over the wicket, angling toward the body — the natural movement of the ball plays into the deflection angle); a ball that is on or just outside leg stump and is not full enough to drive or short enough to pull (the 'in-between' delivery that doesn't have a clear attacking option — the glance converts it to a scoring shot rather than letting it hit the pad); and a delivery from a pace bowler at good length (the pace allows the glance to carry to fine leg for a boundary — against spin, the glance has less power because the ball arrives more slowly). The glance is not appropriate against very full deliveries (which should be driven) or very short deliveries (which should be pulled or ducked).
The Risk in the Glance
Despite its apparent simplicity, the glance carries significant risk: if the bat angle is slightly wrong (bat face too open — facing too far toward fine leg — instead of angling more toward square), the ball goes off the inside edge onto the stumps (bowled); if the batsman misjudges the trajectory and the ball swings further in than expected, the glance attempt produces a ball deflected off the pad toward the keeper or gully — potential catch; and the glance attempted against a ball that is not quite in the glance zone (too straight, or too wide) produces a mistimed shot that goes to unexpected positions, often to fielders placed specifically for the attempted glance. The glance is most safely played by batsmen with fine touch and precise bat face control — it is not a shot for batsmen who haven't fully calibrated to the specific bowler's pace and movement.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a glance and a flick?
The glance and the flick are both leg-side shots but with different mechanics: the glance is a deflection — minimal bat movement, the ball touches the bat face and is redirected by the angle; it uses the bowler's pace to carry the ball toward fine leg; it is most effective against pace bowling; the flick is an active wrist shot — the batsman brings the bat across the body with a wrist roll that drives the ball toward square leg or mid-wicket; the flick generates its own power through the wrist movement rather than just deflecting the ball's existing momentum; and the flick is more effective against balls on the pads at full length (the flick drives through the ball) while the glance is effective against balls at good or short-good length (where the ball is angling in rather than hitting the pads directly). Some batsmen (like Virat Kohli) use a combination — a 'flick-glance' that has elements of both shots.
Can the glance be played against spin bowling?
Yes, but with important modifications: against spin, the glance must be played with the bat face angled differently (spin bowling comes at lower pace and the bat's deflection angle must be adjusted to produce the same fine-leg direction from a slower-arriving ball); the glance against spin sometimes becomes the 'paddle sweep' — a shot played from a more crouched position specifically targeting the fine-leg area from a spinning delivery; and the glance against spin requires watching the ball's spinning trajectory more carefully (a ball that turns more sharply than expected will miss the angled bat face entirely). The reverse sweep and paddle sweep are spin-specific variations of the glance concept applied to the slower deliveries of spin bowling.
Is the leg glance more dangerous against left-arm pace bowlers?
Yes — the leg glance is higher risk against left-arm pace bowlers bowling from around the wicket to a right-handed batsman: the ball angles across the batsman's body from left-arm around the wicket and naturally moves toward the leg stump; this creates the appearance of an ideal glance opportunity — the ball is coming across toward leg; but the ball moving across the body toward leg stump is actually angling into the batsman's stumps rather than away, meaning a slightly mistimed glance finds the inside edge going onto the stumps (LBW or bowled) rather than going fine to leg; and many of the most dangerous LBW decisions in cricket history have come from right-handed batsmen attempting the leg glance against left-arm pace bowling around the wicket, with the ball nipping back to hit the stumps rather than going the direction the batsman anticipated.