The Ideal Stance:
Both feet comfortably apart. Neither too close nor too wide. Do keep the weight on the balls of your feet not on the heels. Weight equally divided on both feet. Front shoulder pointing straight down the pitch, in line with the stumps at the opposite end. Knees slightly bent, head still, eyes steady and leveled. Bat grounded just around the toes of your back foot.
Its Simple:
A good stance is a well balanced stance ! You may not fulfill all the requirements of the ideal stance mentioned above, but if you feel nicely balanced and relaxed in your position to face the ball, that’s your stance! Greg Chappell, great batsman with a great balance once told me about a gentleman who taught him a few new things on balance but after he had retired! "Oh! I could have easily got a lot more runs in my career if I had met this man earlier." Thank god for that I can hear the bowlers saying. That’s how important balance in this sport is. Do not complicate things by worrying about each aspect of the stance.
The idea is to be just well balanced. If you feel even slightly off balance, it’s not the stance for you. Before the ball is delivered many young batsman commit the mistake of lifting the bat straight, in stance. This is in an effort to keep the bat straight but this will unbalance you. Allow yourself to lift the bat, in stance, from the direction of 3rd slip or gully as the bowler runs in. It helps exceedingly in the balance. But remember, when the bat comes down to meet the ball it must come down as straight as possible as shown in Pic. This is vitally important to survive at the highest level. So remember good balance, Bat feeling a part of yourself, weight on the balls of the feet so you are quick to react. These are the things you concentrate on with your stance.
