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T20 Tactics Tested at WC20

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  • #16
    Ireland


    Really the first big test. The biggest issue with a team like Ireland is that even your best players might only be decent enough at county level. There isn’t much opportunity to test them out and very little, if any depth to your team let alone your squad. A bad tournament for one player puts you in difficulty, two can finish you off. Selection is reasonably simple, simply because there are so few option.

    The first challenge is qualification and we kick off our qualifying group with a tidy win against Sri Lanka, possibly the strongest opposition in the group overhauling their total of 140. Next up I feel confident after we put 168 on the Netherlands only to see them knock it off in the last over a few tweaks are made to the bowling attack, instead of running with Tyrone Kane, Craig Young, Peter Chase, Mark Adair and Andy McBrine I switch to Kane, Young, Adair, Gareth Delany and McBrine. We edge Namibia by just three runs to make it through. Confidence drains away somewhat.

    Going into the Super 12 the goal is to beat the two lower ranked teams, Scotland and Afghanistan with major success defined as taking the scalp of one of New Zealand, India or Pakistan. We play Afghanistan first up, bowl them for just 105 and stroll home. Next up we get the daylights kicked out of us by India who put 182 on us and then bowl us for all of 58. We bounce back to beat Scotland by bowling them for 119. New Zealand turn the tables and we can manage just 79 in our 20 overs. The last match is against Pakistan and our last chance for a big scalp – this is our final. Asked to bat first we put on 170-5, our biggest total by far, and bowl them for just 130! A famous victory and a hugely satisfying feeling.

    Position – 4th in Group on net run rate.

    Player of the tournament – Mark Adair. Poor with the bat but a fantastically solid bowler once he was moved to first change, 19 wickets at an average of just 10.32 and economy of 6.12. In the whipping we were given by India he took 4-16 in his four overs.

    Comment


    • #17
      Originally posted by Raver View Post
      This is a wonderful series of posts cde. You have my vast gratitude for doing these. I had in fact been meaning to have a go at doing something similar myself, but more as an attempt to get better players to chip in and correct me. But this is excellent, and funnily enough I think you might have posted screenshots of your field settings a few years back, because my own custom fields look very similar to your older ones. They worked like magic for me back then, but lost their effectiveness last year and this.

      A few other questions I'd be interested in your take on:

      1. Do you vary your length at all for overcast conditions (pitching the ball up?) or uneven bounce (shorter bowling?)
      2. I find that a good RM or LM can be quite useful for containing runs even in unhelpful conditions, but the trick is knowing when to take them off. But it doesnt look like you really go there?
      3. How do you vary things for ODIs and 4 day games? You've touched a little on that, but I wondered if you would elaborate a bit more.
      4. Do you play ball by ball? And do you watch the replay of every ball?
      Thanks, I didn't know how useful it would actually be to anyone.

      To answer your questions:

      1. Not really. In the earlier versions I found that bowling full and outside off at the death was very effective but it seemed to shift a few years ago, now I find that I can concede more runs pitching it up than just sticking to a good length. Shorter bowling to an off-side heavy field is asking for a kicking. Do you find it helps? I find that any changes in conditions help the bowlers enough but any suggestion that helps would be welcome!

      2. If I had a dream bowling attack my four seamers would be a F, MF, FM and M. They can be unbelievably effecive in both overcast conditions and rather benin conditions and they used to be all over the county game, medium paced all-rounders everywhere you looked but they have all but disappeared. Ryan Higgins is one who can be brilliant and last year Luke Fitzgerald from Ireland (I think that was the player) was great. I find them particularly effective in the subcontinent when I would expect them to get a hiding.

      3. In OD games I use a different bowling pattern but exactly the same tactics. FC is by it's nature so much more varied and while I try to keep my tactics simple they would take up even more space than this! I do use these LO tactics in FC matches though. Big hitting players can get bogged down and give their wicket away using but it is most effective if you get the opposition to chase a 4th inning total that is just about doable, in which case I use them from the start and just look to force them into chasing harder. One big change this year is that teams will go for a total but back off earlier and look for the draw, where as previously they would just keep going for it no matter how many wickets they had lost. Now I have to finish off the last four wickets with more aggressive techniques as they try to block out the game.

      4. No, I usually play with low highlights when bowling, mostly so I can see who the poor fielders are, and often only wickets if chasing an easy total. I tend to play over-by-over but autoplay for OD games if I am getting bored of them. I still quite firmly believe that I lose less wickets and when using medium highlights and so use that during semis and finals despite my own stats disabusing me of such daft superstitions! I do get slightly better results on medium highlights but that is because it slows my gameplay down and si I react earlier rather than there being any inherent difference.
      Last edited by cde; 09-05-2021, 09:53 PM.

      Comment


      • #18
        I think its helping me already - switching to using your fields I won my first T20 in about 6 games No changes to the team or anything else I do either.

        1. TBH I dont think it makes much difference either. I used to routinely bowl full and outside off stump, but then 2 iterations of the game ago that really stopped working for me. I try bowling short a little, but generally get smashed, so nowdays its mainly a good length but occassionally i pitch it up against a batsman with strong backfoot preference.

        2. I've been looking for a good medium pacer, but they seem to be hard to come by. Grant Elliot was the last one I could genuinely rely on, but he retired a while back now.

        3. One of my biggest issues in FC is not knowing how/when to declare. Usually I declare too soon and get knocked off quite quickly, but then I've occasionally gone the other way and got equally stung.

        4. I'm pretty convinced that saving and restarting my computer makes me do better, especially if the opposition have an established partnership

        Comment


        • #19
          No 3. Raver.
          Declarations can be quite tricky, as least through the early days when I started playing too.
          Its not a ‘cheat’ And don’t use it as a ‘cheat’ but what I used to do was “save” the game just before declaring, then continue to find out the outcome. After a while you’ll soon find out what a ‘safe declaration’ is plus how the AI scores runs, when it try’s to close off for a draw and at what speed in all match situations/conditions. It just gave me a sense as to what was safe, and what definitely wasn’t safe (true life cricket follows the same sort of pattern of course).
          If I was terribly wrong, I could restart the save, put on another 30 runs or so, save and try again.
          I still make the odd boob, but mostly now can time it to perfection?
          Like I said..please don’t use it as a cheat, but instead a kind of on the job tutorial, see if that helps gain a better understanding?

          Comment


          • #20
            Namibia


            If Ireland was a challenge then Namibia is another step up. To get out of the qualifying group would be an achievement, to beat the other qualifier would be a success, to win two would be a big success. Choosing players is hard in that I don’t really fancy any of them.

            We kick of qualification with a win over the Netherlands, restricting them to 139 and then chasing it down with an over to spare. It was really hard to get the batsmen to score at that rate, I only lost five wickets but they we getting pushed up to 9 bars to do it. We back this up with a commanding and famous victory over Sri Lanka, bowling them for a pathetic 90 runs. Confidence builds but Ireland put us in to bat and we can only manage 132-6 despite being on 9 bars throughout and they glide to an easy win. We have qualified!

            The matches I will target are Afghanistan (unlikely) and Scotland (possible). We kick off against Afghanistan but they are too good for us, as are India. Third match in is our target match – Scotland. We at least get them to bat first but they start well to post 154-7, a total we have yet to get anywhere near. The top and middle order fold and at 50-6 all looks lost and I go all out. The tail wags and we scrape home with a wicket to spare. New Zealand and Pakistan biff us up but that’s ok and the tournament ends with some satisfaction.

            Position – Group 5 on nett run rate

            Player of the tournament – Jan Frylinck led the bowlers with 15 wickets at 13.27 runs apiece and an economy of 6.56 despite the numerous beatings the bowlers took.

            Comment


            • #21
              Netherlands


              There is some hope in the squad, though that might be because of van der Gugten’s friendly face. There are some good county stars available but the batting looks weak. By far the best batsman, Ryan ten Doeschate, is now 41 and I have the feeling that if he fails to click there will be trouble chasing targets down. Same goals as for Namibia.

              We start off against Namibia and while we bowl them for just 102 we make a bit of a meal chasing it down. Next up we have Ireland who we hold to a respectable but potentially tricky 147-8. The top five fold for just 31 and despite Rippon’s fightback we fall 4 runs short. The best team in the group are last and Sri Lanka make no mistakes as we again fail to chase them down.

              Failure, all be it by four runs. ten Doeschate scored just 5 runs while opener O’Dowd managed 22 and two ducks. The batting was just really poor.

              Position – DNQ – 3rd in Group

              Player of the tournament – A toss up between Michael Rippon for his batting against Ireland and Roelof van der Merwe for being head and shoulders above every other bowler. I think maybe van der Merwe.

              Comment


              • #22
                This is a brilliant thread cde, thanks for posting!

                The discussions on field settings and bowling lines/lengths is really interesting. The one real difference in those settings from my own standard ones is having the mid-on and backward point back on the edge of the circle. I imagine that results in conceding more singles - do the stopped boundaries and number of catches taken compensate for that though? I still find my backward point takes at least one catch per game if I have him about halfway in from the circle. I'm definitely going to try having them further back for a couple of games now anyway.

                In terms of line and length, I still find myself generally favouring full outside off but have noticed myself increasingly sticking with good and outside off for longer. Could just be that I'm stuck with received wisdom from the real-life game, but I do still tend to go fuller later in the innings. If you've got a good SLA, having them going round the wicket bowling full on middle stump can work quite well I find, particularly in the death overs.

                In terms of bowling aggression, I tend to start with 2 bars (sometimes even 3 for a few balls against new batters when the conditions are favourable for bowling), then drop to 1 after a couple of overs if I haven't taken a wicket. Does sticking on 2 bars throughout work well? I'll give that a go too.

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                • #23
                  Raver glad to hear it has helped! As I set forward at the top of the thread I've had long term success but been unsure if that is because in a multi-season save I find the players for whom my tactics work rather than the tactics being sound. I'm only half-way through this and the statistical base is low but the win rate is 75% compared to my usual win rate of 78% so they seem to just work.

                  Comment


                  • #24
                    Jobi1K the field settings can probably be improved upon, they get the results I'm looking for but that doesn't mean they can't be improved! I don't want to give away tons of singles and while it is frustrating I don't mind a batsman taking six balls to score six runs because it eats up their opportunities. Catches are the main driver in most of those positions and I feel huge frustration every time a mis-hit lands in space!

                    I find the good ball outside off produces results the majority of the time and have found changes don't make as much difference as using top class bowlers. I always pitch it up in overcast conditions for FC matches but I think that the field settings I use for LO matches don't work so well for pitching it up. Changes to the line and length mostly work best to a field setting that suits the new line and length and one of the criteria for my tactics is minimising changes to the way I play. This is through laziness but also because I can get bored of LO matches and sometimes want to get through the endless group matches quickly whilst still winning as many as possible!

                    I find the aggression on 2 bars works fine throughout, it is also the lowest I go in FC matches. I find that it offers enough of an attacking threat without leaking too many runs, also that changes to the field settings can change the number of runs conceded as effective as dropping the aggression.

                    Glad you are enjoying it, hope it helps too!

                    Comment


                    • #25
                      New Zealand

                      Another team I think I should be able to win the tournament with, though it might get close. The only punt I take is on wicketkeeper tom Seifert. I like a dedicated wicketkeeper and he seems the best.

                      We face a rather sub-continental group – India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Unfortunately we start against India – I would prefer to build up to the strongest team in the group but there we go. We stutter slightly but put 174-7 on them before bowling them for 158 with three balls to spare. We brush aside Pakistan but Afghanistan put 203 on us! As a show of how flat the pitch is we knock it off with 10 balls to spare. We comfortably beat Sri Lanka and the Bangladesh game is rained off.

                      We go on to Australia in the semi-final. The reach 168-8, a comfortable total to chase down, but the top four fold like an envelope. Glenn Phillips saves the day with a brilliant 93 off 48 balls just when it feels like we are going home. The final is against India and while the rest of the batsmen struggle Phillips’ 106 off 56 takes us to a decent total of 180. Kohli leads the charge with his own 54 ball century and it comes down to the last over – 6 runs needed with five wickets remaining. In comes Ferguson. Dot. One. Wicket! Dot. Wicket! Four needed to take it to a super over…they get a single! We scrape home to win by three.

                      Position – Winners, though very close!

                      Player of the tournament – Conway and Williams both averaged in the 40s, Ferguson bowled that vital over and took 13 at 12.31 runs apiece but it was Glenn Phillips who batted us to two famous victories, his 4 not-outs in the five innings he batted giving him an average of just 258.

                      Comment


                      • #26
                        Oman


                        The squad picks itself with few options. I would like to qualify but I won’t hold my breath.

                        We kick off qualification against Papa New Guinea, putting a record 180 runs on them and bowling them for an easy win. Next up it’s Bangladesh, the toughest team in the group. We bowl well, keeping them to 127 and manage to squeak a win with two wickets and a ball remaining! A tight and exciting match and a great result to all but ensure qualification. Lastly we give Scotland a bit of a kicking to make it through! Hooray!

                        Our group consists of Pakistan, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, India and New Zealand. A win against Afghanistan or Sri Lanka would be brilliant, Afghanistan the more likely but still difficult. We start off with a quick thrashing from Pakistan then into our target match, Afghanistan. I feel despair as they put on 181 and I’m fairly sure it is beyond our reach. We start quite badly despite a stonking 65 from Jatinder Singh but Butt, Khan and Nadeem swing the bat and we scrape home with a whole three balls and two wickets remaining!!!!!! We get the stuffing kicked out of us in the remaining matches but we do not finish last.

                        Position – Group 5

                        Player of the tournament – Mehran Khan – 19 wickets at 10.37 apiece

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                        • #27

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                          • #28
                            Another thing I've been playing around is whether to bowl my best bowlers from the outset in ODIs. It probably sounds counter intuitive but bowling your lesser bowlers at the start (all rounders and the likes) tends to mean that they go for fewer runs, and seem to pick up the odd wicket anyway while the batters arent settled. I've been doing that for a while now, but starting to wonder how wise it is because one result seems to be that I take fewer early wickets resulting maybe in bigger scores in the long run.

                            Comment


                            • #29
                              Originally posted by Raver View Post
                              Another thing I've been playing around is whether to bowl my best bowlers from the outset in ODIs. It probably sounds counter intuitive but bowling your lesser bowlers at the start (all rounders and the likes) tends to mean that they go for fewer runs, and seem to pick up the odd wicket anyway while the batters arent settled. I've been doing that for a while now, but starting to wonder how wise it is because one result seems to be that I take fewer early wickets resulting maybe in bigger scores in the long run.
                              I've never tried that but I see where you're coming from. I've found that there are bowlers who seem to do better opening than bowling in the middle overs and vice-versa so it is always worth moving people around.

                              In OD matches I want as many wickets as quickly as possible, if I get those wickets then the run rate can usually take care of itself. I always bowl my two quickest bowlers up front to make use of the new ball then, as in T20s finish with a spinner and my quickest bowler.

                              The AI changes tactics for OD matches and if you really get into a side they can take their foot off the pedal to rebuild the innings, one of the reasons bowlers can take less wickets during those overs. In some ways this comes down to selection. I don't always want those bowlers to have a sky-high strike rate because of how the game seems to rate players for form. If you have a bowler with a high strike rate who happens to be bowling at times when the opposition are playing more defensively their form seems to drop because they aren't taking wickets, even if they finish with 1-35 off their ten overs. I keep that average as low as possible bit prioritise average over strike rate, unlike my opening pair.

                              If you are playing in England and all your players have just disappeared to the 100 then your options will be very limited but you can tweak players with training over a few years.

                              Comment


                              • #30
                                On the subject of T20 tactics:

                                1) I think I have fields fairly close to these and tend to bowl good length, zero aggression and outside off. Majority of games I keep the opposition runs down but do you find you just get some games where the opposition just score big and your bowlers bowl like drains?

                                2) I often find that once an opposition batsman gets in and goes big they are difficult to get out. I had a game where Kohli just destroyed despite the rest of the team being rubbish. Any tips for getting rid of a set bastman?

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