But sometimes a batsman will decide to leave a delivery,with the hope of not losing his wicket.

That's the theory anyway. But it doesn't always go according to plan, as those who tuned into the Big Bash League on Sunday night would know.

Viewers watching the Melbourne Stars play the Brisbane Heat were treated to one of the worst leaves of all time from Stars batsman Glenn Maxwell.

Maxwell, nicknamed "The Big Show", became the "no show" when he shouldered arms  at his first delivery from fast bowler Ryan Duffield, even though the ball was aimed directly at his stumps.

After dancing down the wicket, Maxwell inexplicably left the ball only to watch on helplessly as it cannoned in to middle stump.

 

Maxwell isn't the first batsman to be embarrassed for shouldering arms to a ball aimed at his stumps.

There's this pearler from NSW's Grant Lambert who nearly trod on the square leg umpire's toes to get away from a yorker bowled by South Australian firebrand Shaun Tait.

 

Even the imperious Michael Clarke had his own brain fade, with this effort in a one-dayer against New Zealand:

 

A classic of the genre is Australian fast bowler (and tailender) Rodney Hogg facing up to West Indian paceman Michael Holding.

Hogg, expecting a vicious bouncer, instead got a straight full toss. He still gets asked about it on radio today:

 

Sometimes, the batsman is made to look silly by really good bowling. How about this belter from Shane Warne in the Ashes to bowl ex-England captain Andrew Strauss:

 

There are a few efforts in this compilation where the bowler was just too good, including a couple of unplayable balls from England's Andrew Flintoff.