NZ under GrahamB (story)

[GrahamB]

SOUTH AFRICA v NZ (1st Test 2012-13)

The home side made maximum use of the best batting conditions, led by a magnificent Kallis double century.
Our pacemen had little joy, but Todd Astle returned good figures of 3/57.

By the time we got a bat, the pitch was already providing uneven bounce, and against the lethal South African pace attack this made things doubly difficult.
Philander, Tsotsobe and Steyn were the most successful of the bunch, as only Ryder and Williamson were able to provide resistance.

We were asked to follow on and got off to a disastrous start. Murdoch received a real beauty with the first ball of the innings and MacCullum followed soon after. Both openers back in the dressing room with ducks and at 5/2, we were in danger of total humiliation.
However, with the bounce now erratic, Brownlie, Williamson, Taylor and Ryder all showed that renowned Kiwi fighting spirit as we took the game into the final day.
Unfortunately, none of the lower order batsmen could cope with the fierce bowling and awkward conditions though, and the South Africans mopped up the tail very quickly to record an emphatic win.

Main positive for us was the two unbeaten half centuries from Ryder.
Main concern for us was that Philander was just devastating, taking five wicket hauls in each innings. Perhaps our pacemen need to soften him up.

[GrahamB]

SOUTH AFRICA v NZ (2nd Test 2013)

No changes to our side, but the South Africans brought in Van Wyk to replace Boucher in the keeping role.

The home side again won the toss to make use of the best batting conditions.
Incredibly, five of their batsmen scored half centuries, but none could go on to reach a ton, while two others fell just short of 50.
Restricting the strong South African batting line up to 442 under these conditions was a definite improvement on the 1st Test though.
Matt Henry has not been at his best in recent tests, so it was good to see him grab three wickets and generally posed a threat.
However, the big story was our leg spinner, Todd Astle, picking up his second five-fer in just his second test.

We lost both openers cheaply again, before Brownlie and Williamson combined a third wicket stand of 122.
Unfortunately, after that none of our other batsmen were able to contribute in similar fashion and it was disappointing that we were dismissed for 282.
What was even worse was the loss of captain, Ross Taylor, for the rest of the match, after he was felled by a Morkel bouncer.

With a lead of 180, the South Africans would be looking to build up enough runs to declare and bowl us out.
Their innings hung in the balance at 112/3, but a scorching 100 from 124 balls from De Villiers put an end to any slim hopes we had of ripping them out cheaply.
The South Africans pulled the plug at 335/9 declared, meaning that we would need to score 516 to win on a pitch that was breaking up quickly.
Henry and Astle were again our best bowlers, with the leggie taking another five wickets to make it ten for the match.

At 116/5 and a batsman short, we were looking dead and buried, but stoically resilient innings from Williamson, De Grandhomme and finally Astle took us within sight of surviving for a draw.
There were a few butterflies firstly when De Grandhomme went with still 30 minutes left, but Astle then got good support from Southee.
Southee fell in the penultimate over, meaning that our number eleven, Adam Milne, would need to hold out for the final two overs. Thankfully he managed to do so and we'd held on for a very creditable draw.
With Astle finishing on 50no to go with his ten wickets, he predictably picked up the man of the match award.

[GrahamB]

A lot of thought and planning went into selecting the following 15 man OD squad.
With Ross Taylor out injured, the captaincy has been given to Dean Brownlie.

NZ
M.Guptill
M.Sinclair
M.Pollard
C.Munro
K.Williamson
T.Latham
D.Brownlie (capt)
D.de Boorder (wk)
J.Franklin
G.Elliott
I.Robertson
M.Henry
J.Boult
A.Milne
D.Tuffey

[cricfan1]

Sack the whole One Day And T-20 Team

[GrahamB]

DOLPHINS v NZ (One Day Match)

Our warm up match was against a very strong Dolphins side.
They put up a challenging score and we were never in the hunt.
Boy - winning the occasional OD game shouldn't have to be as hard as it is.

[GrahamB]

Sack the whole One Day And T-20 Team

Very, very frustrating. Pisses me off quite frankly.

[cricfan1]

Very, very frustrating. Pisses me off quite frankly.

Hope some day Chris Understand Gameplay issue for One day and T-20

Can You make 6 runs for FULL Aggression when Chasing I can't my settled batsman
always got Out and New batsman is Blind and always misses ball

[KGKOOLKAT777]

Sack the whole One Day And T-20 Team

I can see that cricket captain 2012 is considerably harder than previous versions. But what I find is that in test matches you should go at 2 agg. bars until they are 30% settled and then move them up to 3. In a 5 day match this works very well as in my most recent game playing as India against Australia I scored 750-6dec with Mandeep Singh scoring a magnifient 350 n.o. on 3 aggression bars against a formidable attack that included Jackson Bird, test bowling average 21, Alistair McDermott, test bowling average 26, Peter Siddle, test bowling average 30, Nathan Lyon, test bowling average 18 and Shane Watson, test bowling average 28. I ended up also sending in my number 11, Umesh Yadav in at number 4 and put him on full aggression and he ended up scoring a hundred very quickly. I then had great bowling conditions (very cloudy and some help for bowlers) so I opened up with my specialist medium pace bowler, Rituaj Singh and my FM bowler, Praveen Kumar. We skittled the Aussies out for 100 and asked them to follow-on and then bowled them for 200 on the 4th day.

One day internationals I can't seem to work out so I just press skip match hoping that the forum will find some good tactics.

T20s I always put my top 6-9 (depending on batting order strength) on full aggression no matter what the situation. In one game I had lost my top 4 for just 1 run after 3 overs and I had 2 very agg. batsmen in and I put them on 8 bars and I ended up making 220. For bowling in T20 if opponent chasing over 200 then for the first 6 overs use FM/M bowlers on balanced field setting bowling on off-stump and where the batsman doesn't like it pitched and then I move to very defensive full outside off-stump. If chasing under 120 always keep the ball full on leg-stump and always very agg.. Between 120-200 vary tactics depending on conditions and how well the batsmen are going.

Use the conditions well in T20, if the conditions are cloudy use your FM/M bowlers full and on very agg. on off-stump or leg-stump depending on how confortable you are with your bowlers. If they are very sunny vary your bowlers and keep a balanced field until the batsmen are going well then switching to very def.. If the batsmen are constantly playing and missing attack more.

These are my tactics and may or not work for you but if you are struggling give them a try and see if they help you. Hope this helps!

[Alrounder80]

I think maybe I'm finding it easier as I've only played International mode with England and India? Cause I think I'm playing a different game to you if you're struggling to win against domestic teams.

[Alrounder80]

Just to prove I'm not lying I've attached an image of me being number 1 with India in 2015.

[GrahamB]

SOUTH AFRICA v NZ (1st ODI 2013)

A great innings from De Villiers guided the South Africans through to the victory target.
No other comment really.

[GrahamB]

I can see that cricket captain 2012 is considerably harder than previous versions. But what I find is that in test matches you should go at 2 agg. bars until they are 30% settled and then move them up to 3. In a 5 day match this works very well as in my most recent game playing as India against Australia I scored 750-6dec with Mandeep Singh scoring a magnifient 350 n.o. on 3 aggression bars against a formidable attack that included Jackson Bird, test bowling average 21, Alistair McDermott, test bowling average 26, Peter Siddle, test bowling average 30, Nathan Lyon, test bowling average 18 and Shane Watson, test bowling average 28. I ended up also sending in my number 11, Umesh Yadav in at number 4 and put him on full aggression and he ended up scoring a hundred very quickly. I then had great bowling conditions (very cloudy and some help for bowlers) so I opened up with my specialist medium pace bowler, Rituaj Singh and my FM bowler, Praveen Kumar. We skittled the Aussies out for 100 and asked them to follow-on and then bowled them for 200 on the 4th day.

One day internationals I can't seem to work out so I just press skip match hoping that the forum will find some good tactics.

T20s I always put my top 6-9 (depending on batting order strength) on full aggression no matter what the situation. In one game I had lost my top 4 for just 1 run after 3 overs and I had 2 very agg. batsmen in and I put them on 8 bars and I ended up making 220. For bowling in T20 if opponent chasing over 200 then for the first 6 overs use FM/M bowlers on balanced field setting bowling on off-stump and where the batsman doesn't like it pitched and then I move to very defensive full outside off-stump. If chasing under 120 always keep the ball full on leg-stump and always very agg.. Between 120-200 vary tactics depending on conditions and how well the batsmen are going.

Use the conditions well in T20, if the conditions are cloudy use your FM/M bowlers full and on very agg. on off-stump or leg-stump depending on how confortable you are with your bowlers. If they are very sunny vary your bowlers and keep a balanced field until the batsmen are going well then switching to very def.. If the batsmen are constantly playing and missing attack more.

These are my tactics and may or not work for you but if you are struggling give them a try and see if they help you. Hope this helps!

Thanks.
I'll take a look at your 20/20 tactics.
I'm mainly okay with the longer game at present.

[UTBash]

Just to prove I'm not lying I've attached an image of me being number 1 with India in 2015.

hey mate, i've found it easier in the 50 over games at international level.

what i really struggle in is any t20 and the 40 over domestic games, however i'm getting better with the 40 over games

[cricfan1]

SOUTH AFRICA v NZ (1st ODI 2013)

A great innings from De Villiers guided the South Africans through to the victory target.
No other comment really.

You give target 240
SA easily chase in 42 Overs They don't even wait for last overs to complete (On contrary of 2011)
this is also a case ..

If you are batting first , Chances of win is good , Work on your bowling side
Might you will get Good Youth after 2-3 Session
Have a Patience Buddy

[Alrounder80]

hey mate, i've found it easier in the 50 over games at international level.

what i really struggle in is any t20 and the 40 over domestic games, however i'm getting better with the 40 over games

See, after trying for a while you're getting better. You'll soon get the hang of t20s as well!