What is a sweep?

What is a sweep?

A sweep is a batting stroke in which the ball is struck into the area between the square leg and long leg with a long sweeping movement of a horizontal bat. While executing this stroke, the batsman assumes a half-kneeling position by advancing the front foot down the wicket and bending the other leg.

But a ‘sweeper’ in cricket is never one who sweeps the ground! He is in fact, a deep fielder who covers a large area close to the boundary. This term is borrowed from soccer, in which the player ‘sweeps’ the whole area behind the backs for creating and extra line of defence