The full toss is rated next to the rank half tracker when it comes to the top 5 worst balls a bowler can bowl.

But worryingly for batsmen the full-toss is often in line with the stumps. And that is why you should rank the full toss as the best bad ball a bowler can bowl.

So often you see a batman’s eye light up at the sight of a full toss. It makes sense because the ball hasn’t pitched so there cannot be any movement off the wicket, and oddly a full toss rarely swings, reducing the risk of late movement.

So the full toss is often met with a hard and fast bash across the line aiming over cow corner.

But if we think about the definition of a full toss, it is a ball which does not pitch; and as such, is the fastest ball the bowler will be able to bowl.

This extra pace can be enough to deceive the batsman into missing, especially if it is met with a horizontal bat in an attempt to smash the poor delivery for a maximum.

Instead, the full toss should be met with a straight bat.

This reduces the risk of missing it for two reasons. First the bat is straight, maximising the hitting area. Secondly, your eyes will pick up the line before the length; the straight reduces the margin of error for the line, but makes up for this factor in assisting you in judging length, or in this case the height of the full toss.

Although you may have more chance of hitting a six with a horizontal bat, you also carry the risk of getting caught.

A straight bat carries more potential to reach the boundary with a much lower risk of being caught.

So , next time the bowler sends you down a juicy full toss, use its speed to thump it with a straight bat rather than smashing it horizontally. The full toss may be deemed a bad ball, but the full toss you miss or miss-hit can very easily become a ‘good enough’ ball.