I feel my bowling has improved a lot the last couple of seasons I've played and I've changed a few things.
The main thing for me has been squad building. In particular I look at 2nd XI 3 Day averages, and I find that a First Class bowler really needs to have 2nd XI averages of under 20 bowl and under 40 strike rate to be a reliable wicket taker. The sub-20 Bowl average is really the key - 17 Bowl and 34 SR will usually take wickets fast while 17 Bowl and 42 SR will take them a little slower but more economically.
A bowler who has 2nd XI averages of ~25 bowl and ~48 SR might have occasional days where they do well if conditions really suit but they'll usually be smacked all over the place.
Making sure I had plenty of genuinely good bowlers in the squad really helps when 2-3 get called up for internationals, as I'm not then left having to use mediocre backups. If I do play a bowler with ~25 2nd XI Bowl average it's likely to be my all-rounder, and he's mainly there as he's on form with the bat this year. Before I had a few too many around 22-25 2nd XI averages who I kept trying out in First Class matches without much success. They'd done ok in white ball games (their 2nd XI one day/20 over economy averages were decent) so I'd stuck with them but I had to be ruthless and let some go if I wasn't keeping them specifically for the Challenge Trophy.
Besides ensuring I have real quality to bowl with I vary my setup depending on conditions.
If conditions are reasonable for batting I'll open on 4 aggression but will drop to 3 as soon as I see the batsmen are going to hit that too easily. Once they're getting settled (around 20+ runs) I tend to drop to 2 bars if the bowler matches the batter's preference, or stay on 3 up to 30+ runs if they're the opposite type. As cdm said, I find 2 bars rather than 1 still gives decent wicket taking chances but I will drop to 1 if a batsman is above 50 runs, looking really good and conditions are in their favour - unless the batsman prefers off side shots, in which case I'll tend to stick to 2 bars for central bowling.
If conditions are really poor (a combination of clouds / lower visibility / bad wicket) I'll open on 5 bars, drop to 4 if they start hitting it and get above 10 runs and then 3 at 20+ runs. Then as before I drop to 2 bars somewhere around 25-35 runs depending on the bowler type and the batsman's preference, and how comfortable they appear. If they're playing and missing quite a bit still I'll stay on 3 bars longer. I generally don't go down to 1 bar in poor batting conditions.
If conditions are ideal for batting (sunny, no degrading wicket yet) I'll often start on 3 bars as I find starting on 4 can give their openers easy early runs and set them going. As the innings go on I might then go up to 4 when a new batsman comes in if I feel they're weak, the innings starting to look shaky or the wicket starting to get bouncy/turn.
At the moment I keep all my bowling set to a good length, but I might try mixing some short/full balls in next time I face a stubborn batsman.
The main thing for me has been squad building. In particular I look at 2nd XI 3 Day averages, and I find that a First Class bowler really needs to have 2nd XI averages of under 20 bowl and under 40 strike rate to be a reliable wicket taker. The sub-20 Bowl average is really the key - 17 Bowl and 34 SR will usually take wickets fast while 17 Bowl and 42 SR will take them a little slower but more economically.
A bowler who has 2nd XI averages of ~25 bowl and ~48 SR might have occasional days where they do well if conditions really suit but they'll usually be smacked all over the place.
Making sure I had plenty of genuinely good bowlers in the squad really helps when 2-3 get called up for internationals, as I'm not then left having to use mediocre backups. If I do play a bowler with ~25 2nd XI Bowl average it's likely to be my all-rounder, and he's mainly there as he's on form with the bat this year. Before I had a few too many around 22-25 2nd XI averages who I kept trying out in First Class matches without much success. They'd done ok in white ball games (their 2nd XI one day/20 over economy averages were decent) so I'd stuck with them but I had to be ruthless and let some go if I wasn't keeping them specifically for the Challenge Trophy.
Besides ensuring I have real quality to bowl with I vary my setup depending on conditions.
- If conditions look sunny and good for batting with no seam/spin weakness I'll typically take 3 Fast / Medium-Fast bowlers and 2 Spinners in a 5 bowler setup, trusting 6 batsmen to get the job done in my innings. The first 20 overs will be rotating the faster bowlers and after that I switch between pace or spin depending on opposing batting preferences. Having the multiple options helps while seeing which way the pitch is going to go.
- If conditions look really cloudy throughout I'll likely use 1 Fast / Medium-Fast, 2 Fast-Mediums and 1 Spinner in a 4 bowler set up, sometimes with an all-rounder as a 5th option. In these conditions I often find the spinner isn't needed much as the Fast-Mediums take most of the wickets, but he's there in case a batsman with a pace preference gets really settled and digs in.
- If conditions are a mix of sunny and cloudy with a wicket favouring seamers I'll likely take 2 Fast / Medium-Fast, 2 Fast-Medium and 1 Spinner in a 5 bowler setup. I can focus on the seamers more suited to sun vs clouds and have the spinner to send against stubborn pace preference batters.
- If the pitch looks to really favour spinners I'll take 2 of them, and then 2 of Fast / Medium-Fast / Fast-Medium depending on cloud levels. If my all-rounder is playing (he's a RFM) he'll rotate in during the first 20 overs before the ball gets old enough for the spinners to come in, otherwise I take a 3rd dedicated seam bowler for that.
If conditions are reasonable for batting I'll open on 4 aggression but will drop to 3 as soon as I see the batsmen are going to hit that too easily. Once they're getting settled (around 20+ runs) I tend to drop to 2 bars if the bowler matches the batter's preference, or stay on 3 up to 30+ runs if they're the opposite type. As cdm said, I find 2 bars rather than 1 still gives decent wicket taking chances but I will drop to 1 if a batsman is above 50 runs, looking really good and conditions are in their favour - unless the batsman prefers off side shots, in which case I'll tend to stick to 2 bars for central bowling.
If conditions are really poor (a combination of clouds / lower visibility / bad wicket) I'll open on 5 bars, drop to 4 if they start hitting it and get above 10 runs and then 3 at 20+ runs. Then as before I drop to 2 bars somewhere around 25-35 runs depending on the bowler type and the batsman's preference, and how comfortable they appear. If they're playing and missing quite a bit still I'll stay on 3 bars longer. I generally don't go down to 1 bar in poor batting conditions.
If conditions are ideal for batting (sunny, no degrading wicket yet) I'll often start on 3 bars as I find starting on 4 can give their openers easy early runs and set them going. As the innings go on I might then go up to 4 when a new batsman comes in if I feel they're weak, the innings starting to look shaky or the wicket starting to get bouncy/turn.
At the moment I keep all my bowling set to a good length, but I might try mixing some short/full balls in next time I face a stubborn batsman.
Comment