Training and development

[b315]

Hi All,

i never really utilise anything to do with coaching, is there certain basics i should be doing?

also how easy is it to develop a batsman that can bowl into being an all rounder with the symbol?

any tips appreciated

thanks

[Jamesy1984]

Hi All,

i never really utilise anything to do with coaching, is there certain basics i should be doing?

also how easy is it to develop a batsman that can bowl into being an all rounder with the symbol?

any tips appreciated

thanks

I don’t think you can ever change any played symbol but general technique training will for sure make them better in the areas you wan especially players under 25

i often use aggressive shot training on my batters as I like to bump them up a level to be more useful in limited over games

[Chris_]

I've never changed a symbol to alter the recognised player type.

I focus most of my coaching sessions on adapting the batting preferences of my younger players. I like most of my batsmen to have a slight pace preference (especially openers), or no bowling type preference for middle/lower batsmen. This is due to mostly facing seamers in England and my own wicket being set to favour pace bowling, so I try to build a team to play to my strengths. I've always found Spin Specialists to be unreliable in county matches - though I have some good white ball players with a slight spin preference, they also tend to be weaker in first class matches unless they can settle quickly.

Similarly I'm not keen on any batsman having a strong preference for either foot or side. If it's only a slight preference I usually leave it, but any strong preference I try to coach down to slight.

That may or may not be an effective way to use technique coaching but it's what I go with. Others probably have different things they like to aim for.

If I don't need to alter too many batting preferences I'll use some general technique training on younger batsmen, or if I have players on low form I'll give them some extra practice to try and help get their form back up quicker.

Early in a save I end up using most coaching on adjusting the preferences of newgens I sign and then giving them general technique to improve their overall ability. Once I have a squad of settled players with a few years experience that shifts to be mostly extra practice for form.

The only thing I'm not sure of is if technique training is purely a benefit (ie. a successful message is an increase to that area without any negatives) or if it's a plus/minus thing, where for example increasing general bowling ability makes their bowling stronger at the cost of weaker batting. In the past I've had some batsmen I gave general batting coaching to and after succeeding with that they suddenly stopped being able to catch. Giving them catching training reversed that and they could catch again. That was a few versions ago and may be purely anecdotal, but it's something I try to keep an eye on, as it gave me the feeling that making them better batsmen took 'ability' away from their catching.

[Isura]

I've always found batsmen with offside preference are better. Avoid batsmen with strong legside preference since they tend to score more slowly and are much less useful in OD cricket since the CPU bowls outside the off stump. Front or back foot I don't think that matters much in this game since CPU rarely bowls full or short balls consistently. Spin specialists can be really useful to win in the subcontinent (tests only) but otherwise I agree with Chris_ that pace bowling preference is better.

For bowlers I usually use technique training when they're young. I use accuracy for bowlers with high SR who leak a lot of runs. Rarely use the aggressive or defensive bowler training unless they are Test/OD specialists respectively.

[cde]

I would agree with Chris_ about training out the extremes in batsmen. I find that it takes away a weakness in that area. If there is a preference for something it seems to make much less impact on their ability. Very very occasionally do get some hopeless regen opener with heavy preferences towards the back foot, leg side and spin who is a walking wicket in English conditions!

In general I find it easier to see progress in batsmen but that may be because I have had a few big conversions! Mostly with those batsmen who regularly make 50s but can't convert them to 100s. A spot of general training and they slip into being able to convert them. It can happen with bowlers but more often then not you just notice a slight shift in the averages.

The biggest thing I would say is that whether a player improves or not is completely random. This always felt like the case but on a few occasions I have had the message to say a player has improved between matches and so I shut down the program without saving. I reloaded the program and carried on with the season to see no improvement in the player three months down the line.

Next I would say is that if a player is in really good form the training seems to take longer to take effect but this seldom comes into the equation since form almost always dipped while you mess with their technique. Not always, I've put bowlers on aggressive training, seen them take two 10i in a row and get the message to say they have improved but more often than not it takes time.

I have always used 4 training slots to improve the form of my batsmen, 4 for my bowlers and a slot each for technique training in each discipline.

[Chris_]

Sureshot I have a couple of questions I hope you can answer.

1. First, regarding when you have successful technique coaching for a player that changes their preference. Using the example of batting preference for Pace vs Spin, if you have a player with a Strong Pace preference and you give them technical spin coaching that changes them to Slight Pace preference when it succeeds, does that result in them becoming a bit weaker against fast bowling or is it purely an increase to their ability to face spin bowlers without a negative impact on their ability against pace bowlers?



With this quick image I've always assumed it follows path A, where successful spin technique would increase their ability against spin bowling at the cost of reducing their ability against fast bowling. But is it more like path B, where it's only the ability against spin that increases and the ability against pace remains unchanged?

2. On multiple occasions now I've had the new message that was introduced for CC21 to say that a player has successfully improved in an area to their limit, which is a great addition to know when to stop trying to work on that. The thing is, their preferences have remained unchanged every single time despite the message saying they've improved. Is that an error in the message, and it actually means they've tried to improve but couldn't because they're already at their limit (hence the unchanged preference) or have they improved a slight amount but not enough to actually change the preference?

Thanks in advance.

[galvatron]

Also wonder whether bowlers can be improved at both attacking and defensive bowling.

[cde]

The bowlers' improvements seem to improve both, so if you increase the aggression the economy stays the same but the economy improves. I've always assumed that the batsmen and bowler's improvements work diffently from each other but that is based on a hunch rather than any great thought.