Getting out cheaply

[Finny]

Haven't played CC since 2019, but I am really enjoying the new version, so congratulations to the developers. One thing I am struggling with, however, is my batsmen getting out incredibly cheaply.

In test matches I do the following for aggression:

Start on 1 for 15/20 balls
Move to 2 until they are 75/80% settled
Move to 3 when 100% settled
Move to 4/5 if need to increase strike/run rate

Despite starting low and slowly increasing aggression I constantly find myself facing a recovery after losing 4/5 early wickets. As an example here are my scores from a recent test match Vs Australia

Davies - 21 from 58
Crawley - 5 from 7
Pope - 2 from 17
Root - 5 from 15
Brook - 5 from 18

If this was a one off or rare occurrence then I would accept it as being cricket, but this is happening in pretty much every innings. Anyone got any tips/advice on how to stop it?

[Wilted]

Especially in this version, being more aggressive will help. I typically start at three bars and increase aggression as they become settled in this version and consistently score 350+ in the first innings. Sometimes I can get a couple of batsmen to go on and score big and bump them up to five or six bars and they'll score 450 runs in a day. On the other hand, I've been rolled for under 150 a few times. It balances out but I've won almost every test series in my international career using this strategy so far.

Same as always, choose your squad based on form. There's nothing worse than having a player need to be dropped and only having one or two-star players in the squad because they are the 'usual team'. My squad is the XI I am going to use in the first game and then the rest of the squad will be the players with the best recent performances who have four or five stars.

[giallo]

Wilted hey what kind of bowling preference do you approach ?
I’m currently Notts in county championship,really struggling to keep openings under 400.
I tend to stick around 4 bars but really finding it tough.

[Wilted]

I haven't played a domestic career yet, just an international save and ATG matches. I've been playing with the best bowlers available, rather than trying to balance a domestic squad so these strategies may differ. If you read through my ATG story thread, you'll also find that there are a couple of games where I get carted around.

Typically, I start with five bars against a new batsman until they a hit boundary or two, then drop down to four. I also check to see what preferences the batsman has and make sure not to bowl in those areas. So batsmen with back foot and leg side preferences will get a full length, outside off. If a batsman seems settled, isn't giving chances and scoring plenty of boundaries, I go to three bars and change my line and length to try something different.

I'm not sure if this is something that makes a difference or is just a bit of confirmation bias, but keeping bowlers fresh seems to help and they take more wickets early in their spell. Usually, I select a new bowler if a bowler didn't take a wicket in four or five overs. And just like picking batsmen, if a bowler is running low on form, replace them with someone with good 2nd XI form.