T20 struggles

[Jobi1K]

Just completed my second English T20 campaign – as noted in my last post about star players coming back from the IPL in abysmal form, things never really got going (not helped by losing a few of my English players to the national team as well), and after having surprised myself by making the QF in my first season, in this season with what on paper should have been a much stronger T20 squad, I finished rock bottom with 3 wins out of 14. The season was summed up in the penultimate game where I thought I'd done well to hold the opposition to 139, only to have their spinners completely tie me down in the middle of the innings and I limped to 109/6 off the full 20 overs. Oh well, as Chris_ says, maybe next year!

Frustratingly, in my first game in the one day cup, with my squad decimated by Hundred call-ups, my mainly reserve/youth team absolutely crushed Surrey by over 100 runs. Maybe I should have just thrown the kids in from the start of the T20 as well!

[Chris_]

Alas, the Hundred and Internationals strike again. After going 6 for 6 to open the campaign and then just getting through to the knockout stage with half my squad gone I fell at the first hurdle in the QF when T20 resumed after the Hundred.

I had the top performing bowler from the group stage. He returned injured. My top performing spinner? Also returned injured. Two of my top batsmen still away on international duty. Of my other regular players from those domination wins, 3 returned from the Hundred with 0 star form. 3 more on 1 star form. The only players with decent form were those who'd just wrapped up a narrow loss in the final of the Challenge Trophy, but they were mostly not strong T20 players and were all low fitness after not having anyone available for rotation during the One Day campaign. I went with what felt like the strongest mix and got annihilated, 172 - 127.



You can probably spot where absent players and injuries kicked in this year. Oh well, maybe next year Bloody Hundred.

[Chris_]

Jobi1K That's always a pain when your top players have their form destroyed when away for other competitions.

I'm having fun with Internationals in the middle of my new T20 campaign but blimey, what a difference a year can make. I made some room in my squad to sign a couple of very aggressive batsmen just for this competition, including an overseas keeper on a 20-Over contract and another overseas batsman who's only Average aggression but has great stats for both FC and T20 so I had high hopes for him leading my team in all formats.

I couldn't believe the start I made, winning all of my first 6 matches to top the table by a mile. I bowled them out in 5 of those for an average of only 100 runs conceded (Best being 66 all out, their highest at 114 all out). I changed approach slightly with the bowling, using 3 bars for the first 6 overs. Once the restrictions were lifted I used 3 bars on any new batsman but dropped to 1 as soon as they looked like getting runs (usually around 10 runs).

As for my batting, unfortunately my 20-Over player got a 5 week injury right before the first match and my overseas batsman got called up for Australia despite being 100% availability at contract time, so that took my top 2 signings away immediately! Luckily with such strong bowling performances my batsmen didn't need to perform miracles; 7 bars from the start got me the runs each time I was batting 2nd with wickets to spare, and when batting first it still proved to be enough when my bowlers took over after. I scored 126, 131 and 129 when batting first and only needed 67, 108 and 115 for wins when batting 2nd.

Unfortunately after being P6 W6 I lost 6 more of my players to internationals and another wicket keeper got injured. With half my team decimated I've gone on to W1, T1, L3 in the following 5 matches but thanks to the good start I'm still comfortably in the top few spots. I've got a couple of County Championship matches before the T20 group concludes so hopefully I get my top players back for those final 3 matches to secure a knockout spot. I just hope they return with reasonable form!

[Jobi1K]

Just started my second T20 campaign in my ENG save. Thought I'd put together a decent team this time to have a real crack at it, but the two big T20 stars who I'd brought into the squad – Moeen Ali and Jimmy Neesham – as well Dawid Malan who I already had from the previous season all came back from the IPL in 1-star form, and I've lost my first two matches in the final over. Now I'm going to have to punt all three of them down to the 2nd XI to try to get a bit of form back while I try to get my campaign back on track with second-choice players – so frustrating as I brought them all in more or less specifically with T20 in mind!

It's absolutely astonishing how often my players come back from their commitments to AI-controlled teams (IPL, Hundred, internationals) in absolutely abysmal form and so are then next to useless for me!

[cde]

You could be right about Ali and Leach just being in incredible form for that match. Half of my players on that scorecard are newgens so it's a bit hard to compare, but I've decided some just aren't cut out for T20.

As for the engine and batting, I've completed the current T20 season and the numbers do suggest that batting might've been enhanced. While in my previous two seasons I held the AI to averages of 144 and 146 when bowling first, this year their average was much higher at 162 - they had less complete batting collapses and I bowled them out less.

On my side I only averaged 137 when batting first with a high of 161, but I did smash a user record for my top batsman scoring 554 total runs. It was the rest of the batsmen who kept falling apart.

Looking at my notes the thing that stands out this year is better weather; of the 14 matches, 6 were in what I class as good weather, 6 with mixed sun/slight clouds and 2 really cloudy. I'm sure in previous years I've had more fully cloudy weather, which might explain the AI average being so much higher.

I think in terms of my performances I overestimated the ability of some aggressive batsmen I've been keeping around specifically for T20 matches. I might just need to be ruthless in the off season and rebuild the team a bit as they've been consistently mediocre. Still, at least I finished 6th in the group instead of 9th so I'll have a few more pennies to spend...

I've been having the same issues with my batsmen. I'm resonably sure my 1st choice 3-5 would be reliable but they play only a couple of games a year and are always in awful form thanks to internationals. I've given game time to really promising young players but so far the results are patchy.

As I have said previously, my tactic of bowling first hinders my assessment of my batsmen. It's just hard to know the ability of batsmen who regularly have to chase less than 130 because the bowlers are firing on all cylinders.

I am nine years in and still searching for a great T20 line-up despite consistently winning the tournament.

[cde]

Up until this last season of my Glamorgan save I have been conceding on average 127 runs and a completed innings (batting for at least 19 overs or to within nine wickets) averaged out at 149. This last season those averages are 139 and 154. The biggest shift has been that I have not been bowling teams out for next to nothing. I was conceding less than 120 39% of the time but this year I conceded less than 140 just twice.

Nowhere near a big enough sample to prove anything but it feels like there has been a shift.

[Chris_]

On the subject of weather I'll also add that every single match this year with varying weather was decided by the toss. Typically when one session was mostly sunny and the other session cloudy, regardless of which way round.

If I won the toss I won the match, being able to choose to bat first if the second session was cloudier or bowl first if the first session looked worse.
If I lost the toss the AI obviously gave me the worst session and I lost each time.

[Chris_]

You could be right about Ali and Leach just being in incredible form for that match. Half of my players on that scorecard are newgens so it's a bit hard to compare, but I've decided some just aren't cut out for T20.

As for the engine and batting, I've completed the current T20 season and the numbers do suggest that batting might've been enhanced. While in my previous two seasons I held the AI to averages of 144 and 146 when bowling first, this year their average was much higher at 162 - they had less complete batting collapses and I bowled them out less.

On my side I only averaged 137 when batting first with a high of 161, but I did smash a user record for my top batsman scoring 554 total runs. It was the rest of the batsmen who kept falling apart.

Looking at my notes the thing that stands out this year is better weather; of the 14 matches, 6 were in what I class as good weather, 6 with mixed sun/slight clouds and 2 really cloudy. I'm sure in previous years I've had more fully cloudy weather, which might explain the AI average being so much higher.

I think in terms of my performances I overestimated the ability of some aggressive batsmen I've been keeping around specifically for T20 matches. I might just need to be ruthless in the off season and rebuild the team a bit as they've been consistently mediocre. Still, at least I finished 6th in the group instead of 9th so I'll have a few more pennies to spend...

[galvatron]

The engine has 100% been changed in my opinion. I chased down 208 in 20 overs last night Vs Bumrah and R Khan and only lost 1 wicket. Batting has became a little easier IMO.

[cde]

That scorecard just looks like Ali and Leach had a great match. It would be interesting to know which teams and players they were against, that makes a very big difference in some leagues.

[Chris_]

And just to show that the game clearly monitors my forum posts, the very next match with the same team I chase down 194 to score 195-3 and achieve a new user record as my best T20 batting innings so far. This with everyone being on 8 bars from the start and 9 for the last 2 overs as I thought it was hopeless after losing control while bowling.

Crazy how different the two games went. Conditions weren't much different either, just 1 'bar' better weather for the second match.

[Chris_]

This is the the most frustrating format.

After holding a team to 145 and my two openers starting well I then lost 5 wickets for the gain of 1 run in just over 1 over.


1-100, 2-101, 3-101, 4-101, 5-101, 6-111... that 10 run stretch between the 5th and 6th wickets was almost a minor victory by that stage.

They entered on 6 bars of aggression too. I'm starting to think I should just simulate the T20 matches and not bother playing them. The same batsmen put up 161 runs previously to win comfortably, and then forgot how to play half way through this innings.

Argh!

[cde]

I have found that in the English domestic T20s that if I keep a team below 150 I'll win the match 95% of the time. Between 150-160 it's more like 60% and it tails off from there.

If I bat first then anything over 130 is defendable but it is only once I get over 180 that it is 100%

So when I'm struggling below 150 I know there are issues with my squad. I always seem to have more variation with the batsmen and it's only with really top class players that I seem to find it easy to bat consistently.

[Chris_]

Interesting that you conceded an average of 144 runs when bowling first; that's right in line with my last 2 seasons at 146 and 144. The bowling side does feel more consistent as my good T20 bowlers put up similar numbers year after year while my weak T20 bowlers also give up similarly higher numbers each year if I give them another go. My star T20 bowler has economy of 6.09, 6.41 and 4.98 over the past 3 years while one of my core FC bowlers has seen 8.60, 9.13 and 8.17 when I've tried to use him.

The batting side has much more variance for me as someone can be my star batsman in the format one year and one of the worst the next. My bowlers are definitely more set as long as I keep hold of the same players while I've found it difficult to nail down a batting lineup. My batsman who on paper should be my strongest in the format has had a great year where he averaged 73.4 at 136% SR, often winning matches while staying NO as an opener, and then a year averaging 14.4 where he repeatedly got out extremely early. Another one topped my batting charts (and was 2nd in the competition) scoring 441 runs at a 63.0 average one year. The next year, despite being in good form, he managed 49 runs at 24 average and a terribly 79% SR before I had to drop him. Some years my aggressive T20 'specialists' can't hit a damn thing and then after losing a few and rotating in some less aggressive FC players they start getting wins. Another year I might try those FC players from the start as they did well before only to see them do nothing.

I think it's definitely a format I need to spend more time thinking about on the batting side, as I feel my bowling is consistent enough that I should be winning more matches.

[cde]

Yes. There has been some kind of shift which has happened. I wouldn't say 200+ scores most of the times <for me> but yes BIG scores. Much easier to play, hit your shots.
On the flip side the Legends game seems to have changed as well, not sure if its against certain opposition or in general - its far more harder to score.

I've noticed these changes.

I've wondered that. I've been playing international T20s for a bit but just switched to my English domestic save. Over the previous eight seasons I was conceding on average 127 runs a match, this last season it was 144. On the other hand if I batted through an innings (rather than chased down a low total) I was averaging 148, this season it is 152 which is a negligible difference.

Higher scores overall would fit real life a bit more