It may not be a case of shut your eyes and hope but new research from the University of Sussex suggests top batsmen don't keep their eyes on the ball continuously.

In a report just published studying a professional batsman, a good amateur and a "Sunday enthusiast", neuroscientist Mike Land, at the University of Sussex, and experimental psychologist Peter McLeod of Oxford University have discovered that top batsmen take their eyes off the ball quickest after estimating where the ball will bounce using their experience and in preparation for playing their shot.

The good amateur and enthusiast watch the ball for longer before they make their judgement and get into position to play a shot.

It is commonly held in coaching that a batsman should watch the ball at all times and onto the bat.

Professor Land said: "I think batsmen will be horrified to hear they take their eyes off the ball."

The news does not come as a surprise to Neil Lenham, the former Sussex batsman, but he warned: "Cricket is not a guessing game, it is a game of precision."

He added: "On a pitch which is not doing anything, and when a batsman has played himself in, maybe it is not so crucial for a batsman to be glued to the ball.

"But if there is lateral movement off the pitch, or if a bowler is swinging, turning or seaming you have to watch the ball all the way.

"The better a bowler the more he will make the ball move and the closer a batsman will have to watch it."