The Leg Glance in Cricket Explained
The leg glance redirects a ball aimed at or outside leg stump fine down the leg side. It requires soft hands, precise wrist work, and excellent timing. Here is how it works.
The leg glance is a deflection stroke — rather than driving through the line, the batter uses the pace of the ball to redirect it fine down the leg side. Played to deliveries on or outside leg stump, it scores runs toward fine leg and backward square leg without requiring a hard hit. It is a staple of classical technique and one of the first shots batters learn to play to balls aimed at the body.
How is the leg glance played?
On the front foot (to a fuller ball), the batter strides across and presents the face of the bat toward fine leg, letting the ball's momentum carry it there. The wrists rotate slightly through impact to angle the face. On the back foot (to a shorter ball at the body), the batter rocks back and flicks the wrists to deflect the ball fine. In both cases, the bat does not swing aggressively — the shot is about angling, not hitting.
Leg glance vs flick
The flick is more aggressive — bat speed and wrist rotation are used to hit the ball toward mid-wicket. The leg glance is finer, targeting the region between fine leg and backward square leg. The difference is the angle of the bat face: square for a flick, angled finely for a glance. Against pace bowling at high speed, the glance can be particularly effective because the ball does most of the work.
When is a leg glance risky?
The leg glance becomes dangerous when the ball is swinging into the batter — a late in-swinger aimed at leg stump can hit the pad before the bat, resulting in an lbw dismissal. It is also risky against reverse swing or a ball that seams toward the batter unexpectedly. Many dismissals labelled 'playing across the line' are failed leg glance attempts where the bat angle was wrong and the ball hit pad or off edge instead.