Paddle scoop

ACT Women captain Katie Mack plays two paddle scoop shots against WA Women during a WNCL match at the WACA Ground in Perth ... and narrowly avoids being caught by wicket-keeper Beth Mooney off the second shot

A paddle scoop or Marillier shot is a modern cricketing shot. Players have used it more and more often in One Day International and Twenty20 cricket matches, since it appeared in the early 21st century. The player makes the shot by positioning the body square-on with the ball, both feet pointing towards the bowler. The player uses the bat to deflect the ball over the batter's leg side shoulder, thus guiding the ball towards the fine leg region.

The shot is considered unorthodox, and not usually included in coaching manuals and textbooks.^{[citation needed]} Many purists^[who?] suggest it is not a true, graceful cricketing shot. However, executed well, the paddle-scoop is useful—often because it can be used on a delivery that is usually considered a good "line and length" delivery, and otherwise difficult to score runs on.^{[citation needed]}

Also, the area where the shot sends the ball is often not patrolled by a fielder—and since the bowler's pace on the ball (faster than the pace imparted by a batsman's hit) sends it to the boundary, fielders may still find it difficult to cover more than a couple of yards on either side of themselves to stop the ball, because of its momentum.

This shot requires good hand-eye coordination and bravery, especially against faster bowlers, where a miss can not only result in the batsman being dismissed, but also injury if the ball hits the batsman. However, used occasionally as a calculated risk, the shot can frustrate the fielding side's captain, because positioning a fielder to stop a paddle scoop may present gaps and scoring opportunities in other areas.