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Tips received The December issue of PC Gamer contains 3 pages of tips for ICC. The tips from ICC-Online are now available on CricketGames.com ICC.
Quick Tips Batting Tip from Ben Sneddon - For the one day game when a batsman comes in keep his aggression at 2 for the first 4-5 overs then put it up to 6. This usually works really well.
Tip from William James - If you get stuck with two tailenders who you can't get out try bowling with no aggression outside their off stump, it seems to fustrate them into giving away their wicket - usually to edges etc.
Tips from E. Harradine - When batting in Sunday League matches, open one aggressive opener (like Alec Stewart). Go through the over ball-by-ball, make his aggression full for the first ball, I've never had someone go out first ball in a 40 over match. If he scores a boundary, drop his aggression to 4. Keep raising and lowering the aggression of the batsmen, they will score at a good rate and won't put too great a risk on their wicket. If you going along at 7 an over after the fielding restrictions are over and you have wickets in hand, don't bat so aggressively, just pick off the one's and two until you are ready to slog. You should have two set batsmen ready to cart the bowlers around! I've scored over 300 in a Sunday League match once doing this (I tend to get at least 220).
Tips from Denny Mathew. Try putting the aggression level of your openers 6 and 4. You run rate is going to be 5.3 or 5.5 an over depends on what kind of batsmen you have. If you have a batsmen whose average is around 40 - 45 then you could get near 6 an over even during Country Championship. If a batsman with the highest aggression gets out then try the same aggression level on the most settled player. For example if player 1 has 6 and 2 has 4 and player 1 gets out the put the 6 on player 2 and 4 on the new batsmen. So keep on going like this with both the hints. During One Day Matches In the last 10 oversee try putting the aggression 7 - 6. If you have at least 5 wickets and you are chasing a huge score try 8 - 7. But you have the chances of losing wickets. Recommended team : Try Warwickshire they are really good. Believe Me.
Tip from Daren Goldfy - If you want one of your batsmen to top score then what you do is whenever he is batting make sure the other batsmen goes more aggressive. this does not always work but it does a lot of the time.
Tip from Brent - When chasing in the one day game, I always set my aggression to 2 short of max.....this way I will usually get about 10 runs per over in the first 10 overs, and easily win the game within 25 overs. It has a really good success ratio, but sometimes I have had disasters with it....but usually I win....90% of the time. Bowling Tips from Robert Buxton - When bowling in a one day county league match use this set of combinations for your bowlers. 1. Bowler 1 & Bowler 2 (5 overs) - Aggression 5, field setting 1 (from left), leg stump 2. Bowler 3 & Bowler 4 (4 overs) - Aggression 3, field setting 4, off stump 3. Bowler 3 & Bowler 5 (4 overs) - Aggression 2, field setting 4, off stump 4. Bowler 4 & Bowler 5 (4 overs) - Aggression 2, field setting 4, off stump 5. Bowler 1 & Bowler 2 (3 overs) - Aggression 4, field setting 5, centre stump It can often get the opposition out for a relatively low score (under 200, 5.0/over) It is the only combination of bowlers I use when playing one day cricket, it can be adapted to league cup cricket and for the Nat West trophy. For numbers 2, 3 and 4, just bowl half of the bowlers' allocated overs, and for number 1, use one over half the allocated overs. And of course, for 5, bowl the remaining overs out. I do keep the aggression, field settings and aimed stumps the same for no matter which competition you are playing in.
Tips from Matthew McInerney - If you want to win the Sunday League 7 years running, as I have, then put your batsmen on 4 for aggression (10 overs) then 6 (up to 20 overs) then 1 short of max for the remainder of the game! Also try to get Ally Brown, and BAT FIRST you will be surprised.
Tip from Ax Murdah - When bowling in one day games, set highlights level to every ball and bowl every ball, especially near the end of the innings with the computer chasing your total. With this strategy you can set your field more exactly and you'll also find that the computer batsmen are not as good at smashing you around as when you have no highlights and bowl over set. I also find this way of playing more realistic as you have more control over your players. Also, whatever you do don't play with highlights set to none, you will lose just about every time.
Tip from Nishant Kumar - If the batsmen is a frontfoot player, bowl at the line he is strong at with full aggression. If the batsmen is a backfoot player, then I suggest you bowl in the line opposite of his strength. It must also be at full aggression. This works well for me sometimes. But it can go badly wrong sometimes! Anyone got a superb tip in which I can get the opposition all out in 4-Day batting Easily???
Tip from Geoff Willetts - If you've got 2 opposition batsmen in a big partnership, and you can't dismiss them, then choose a weaker bowler (e.g. Fairbrother - who worked really well for me) and bowl him with zero aggression outside off stump. This seems to work 80% of the time.
Quick tip from Rob MacGregor vary your bowlers aggression from most to least after about 5 overs and they'll take tonnes of wickets!
Tips from E. Harradine - When bowling in One Day matches, it is important to set a field to frustrate the batsman. If he is an onside player, us a wide first slip, a third slip, a square third man, a long on, a mid off, a point, a backward square leg, a square leg, and a midwicket for a fast bowler. For a strong off-side batsman, use a wide first slip, a third slip, a square third man, a point, a long off, a cover point, a mid on, a backward square leg and a square leg. These apply during fielding restrictions. These are designed to cut off easy runs for the strong points of the batsman (i.e. if an on-side player wants to keep the scoreboard ticking over early, he has to play off-side shots and risk edging to slip). I like to keep the long-on/long-off very straight for right handers and a little more orthodox for left handers.
Tip from Gareth Hughes - Get Martin Bicknell from Surrey and bowl him with aggression at 2 at the leg stump. Should get at least 50 First Class and quite a few one day wickets.
General Tips from Wade Pearce When playing a county match, and you have managed to obtain them through end of season trades, etc. play two leg spinners (a leg spinner and an off spinner doesn't work so well). Bat first and occupy the crease for the first two days, thus making a high score (500 is a good one) and letting the wicket deteriorate. Not only does the averages and form of your batsmen improve, it sets the scene for your bowlers to conquer. I've found I only need two other bowlers to support my spinners with this method. Bowl your two openers for five overs each (if they're having success, you can extend their stint a little bit more) then bring your two leggies on for ten overs each, then back to the openers for five each and so on. Set the field to setting two, and aggression to full. For both pairs, have the first bowler bowl on middle to batsman 1 and on leg to batsman 2 and vice-versa for the second bowler. If you don't get an early wicket, don't panic, because when a wicket falls, a collapse is triggered by the aggressive bowling. I won 11 County matches in a row by and an innings and XXX runs each match using this method.
Tips from Guido Hatzis 1) Have you ever had the problem of your opening batsmen getting out cheaply?? this isn't because of bad form but because u put them in the wrong place. this may sound weird but it works like a charm. put the 2 worst batters in your squad into 1 and 2 and then bat your real openers at about 5 and 6 thus the 'temporary' openers make descents scores (around 30 for one day and 40-50 county) and your 'old' openers make big scores almost every game. 2) When you haven't got a wicket for a while and you need one bad get your opening batsman or one of your worst bowlers and give them a decent spell and they will pick up quite a few wickets e.g. this works very well with slow left arm bowlers.
Tips from Matthew Baker I just wanted to add some players who I think are really worth signing or using. As a good strike bowler Glen McGrath As a good COUNTY leg spin bowler Mushtaq Ahmed (he can get slaughtered in one dayers) As a fantastic opening batsman Anthony Rollins (especially in one-dayers)
Tips from Ben Aston In one day games, I find it is possible to win a lot of games, by picking a team consisting of only batters and all rounders. When you bowl, open with full aggression with the all rounders, then later, bowl the batsmen with nil aggression on the off stump. When it is your turn to bat, stick the aggression up to 6, and after a few overs (when the batsmen are settled to around 5 or 6) max the aggression. even if you loose some wickets, you have enough batting strength to easily win the match. I have won the Sunday league three times in a row using this method. In County Championship games, start one bowler with maximum aggression, one with a level of 2. Both should aim at the leg stump. Bowl them, without change for three overs, then drop the aggression of one bowler down to two, and raise the other to max. This is almost certain to take a wicket, often one for each bowler.
Anonymous Tips - Play as Warwickshire or Lancashire as they have lots of good players who won't be picked by England.
Tips from William Bucksmith RECOMMENDED PLAYERS E. Smith, N. Hussain, L. Klusener (Made 159 opening and was my top wicket taker), S. Tendulkar, S. Willis (brilliant keeper) & M. McCague. G. Hick was extremely disappointing as was W. Younis.
Tip from Ben - Pick counties with a high cash base. Fire or just don't re-sign any player who is not a match winner if they're over 26 years. Only sign young players that are excellent and ignore internationals, pay an English player 65,000 and keep him for three years not one.
Tips from James Hollands Batting In one day games, open the batting with two left handers and set the aggression to 4. You will usually find that they have 50 runs within the first 10 overs (at least) - Then put their aggression up to 8. When the openers get out, set the aggression settings as 3 until you have:- overs left > (no / 10) x (11 - wih) (no= number of overs in innings, wih= wickets in hand) When this is the case, set the aggression to 8. By doing this you should get at least 200-240 in a 40 over game and at least 250-300 in a 50 over game. If you are playing weak opposition you can get 350+ and if you bat first against a minor county in the Natwest trophy - I constantly score over 400 against them in 60 overs. Bowling During Fielding Restrictions - If using fast/fast-medium, bowl middle stump with aggression 3. If using medium/spin bowling, bowl outside off stump with maximum aggression. After Fielding Restrictions - Bowl with a 7-2 offside field and bowl at maximum aggression outside off stump no matter who is bowling. ALWAYS HAVE ONE SLIP IN ONE DAY MATCHES - EVEN AT THE DEATH. You would be amazed how many people get out caught at slip trying to run the ball to third man. With these bowling tactics, you can usually restrict the opposition to a scoring rate of 4-5/over and sometimes 3. Use spinners a lot as well, especially on slow outfields. They bowl at about 3-4 an over and take wickets as well. In one day cricket I tend to worry more about slowing down scoring rather than taking wickets and spinners do this well.
Tips from E. Harradine If you are batting first on a pitch that looks bad, and will deteriorate very quickly, blaze away during the first session. You may be 8/150 at the end of it, but it's still better than being 4/45. You will usually bowl the opposition out cheaply as well. Try to imitate the actions of good computer captains. From my experience the game is not biased towards the computer so if the PC wins lots of games with a certain tactic, it's often worth trying. When bowling in county games, keep changing the line, using the batsman's strength least often. When you finally bowl to their strengths, you often get a wicket from their frustration. In general, bowling leg-spinners outside off stump is useless, as is bowling an offie at leg stump. To have a really successful batting outfit, the key is in the top order. If they succeed, they not only tire and frustrate the bowler, but also give the other batsmen more confidence. Try to have an opener and the first drop at a form over 70, and the other opener's form over 40. For the county championship, the line-up I found to work best was a solid opener partnered with a free stroke-playing opener, a dominant opener at number 3. A stalwart batsman is needed at 5 (even if a little out of form, if they still tend to do their job). The 4 and 6 positions can be filled by anyone. Just remember that the number 6 is often left with the table and so has to be able to score quick runs. I find that bowling all-rounders are incredibly useful at 8 and 9. When signing youngsters, occasionally an all-rounder appears who has excellent prospects with both the bat and the ball. If he is a leg-spinner, fast-medium or fast bowler, sign him and develop him as a bowler. They will develop as a wicket taker but will often dig you out of trouble late in the innings a few years down the track.
From Leo Draper - At the end of a season, when you have to sign contracts, try and finish with your re-signing of your current players quickly, and only sign the players you want to keep, this way, you have a lot of money for the new players you want to sign. I do not know if this was a fluke or not, but one season (playing as Surrey) I had over 200,000 left after finishing with my current players. If the money is relevant or not, I don't know, but with this money I was able to buy two overseas players! If it's just Surrey, or having loads of money left I don't know, but it certainly helped me with my next season. Why would you want 2 overseas players? Should only be able to play one at a time.
From Leo Draper - Try and establish a good team that you enjoy playing with, (for me, Middlesex were brilliant) and really go for your first season with them. This is important because you can gain a good reputation, and be called up for the England job. Being at England is wicked, and it's so much fun choosing the best players, and winning the ashes! Being at the top of the Wisden rankings ahead of teams like South Africa and Pakistan makes you feel very proud! If you stay with both club and country, the seasons do drag on, but there great fun.
From Mark Brecht - Not really a tip but one of the 'new' wicketkeepers available at the start of season 2 will be a superplayer. He will never get out. EVER! It gets quite boring in the end acutally. However, you can never predict which of the WK's it will be.
From David Zotov - In closing overs (say last 5) set 'bowl over' to 'bowl ball', this will enable you to alter the settings sooner. If bowling, this is good because it helps reduce the risk of a really big over. In batting, it can be useful because if you have a good start to the over and have the run-rate in hand you can reduce the batters agression and lessen his chances of getting out.
From Damian Gleeson When taking on the England job remember 2 things. 1. Computer picks a different side to you so prior to internationals train the computer 'favourites'. 2. Always check up coming matches prior to international engagements. When playing One dayers you really only need a squad of 13-14 players, so fill the numbers with players from opposition teams while away. Same for Test matches, if the best player for the opposition county side doesn't make the first XI select him as the 12th man. Detailed Tips Cheats Warehouse has lots of detailed hints and cheats for ICC.
Tips from Denny Mathew Bowling: Always set bowlers to full aggression towards new batsmen. Once it appears they have gained focus, then set the aggression to none. If it's a later batsman (7-11 spots) always bowl at them with full aggression, unless there are very few overs left. Bowl half of each bowlers allocated overs. When the fifth bowler comes on, one of the openers should return. 1-Day Batting: Start conservatively -- your aggression should be based on your target. I like to keep the average of my batsmen's aggression at the required run rate. Start to slog in the last 10 overs if the required run rate is over 6. I win 80% of my Sunday League games (with Surrey even !) One Day Bowling: 40 over Game Spell 1 (two fast Bowlers) - Allotment - Five of their allotted overs each. Aggression 5, aim for leg stump, field setting 1. (Change if they start whacking you around the park to field setting 3) Spell 2 (medium fast bowler and Spinner) - Allotment 4 overs each, aggression 3, off stump, field 4. Spell 3 (spinner and all rounder) - Allotment 4 overs each, aggression 2, off stump, field 4. Spell 4 (Imedium fast bowler + all rounder) - Allotment 4 overs each, aggression 2, off stump, field 4. Spell 5 (two fast bowlers) - 3 overs each. How brave are you? : Aggression 4, middle stump, field 5 or Aggression 1, off stump, field 5. Both work, but the first can go badly wrong. 4-Day Batting: For a batman whose settled rating = 0-2 , set his aggression at 1. For a batman whose settled rating = 3-4 , set his aggression at 2. For a batman whose settled rating = 5-8 , set his aggression at 3. For a batman whose settled rating = 9-10 , set his aggression at 4. 4-Day Bowling: First spell - Two fast bowlers set 4 aggression, aim for leg stump, use field setting 2 (from right) for the first 8/9 overs. Next use a spinner + an all-rounder. If new batsmen are in then use the above settings. Otherwise aim at off-stump, aggression 2/3, field setting 3/4. When players get to 40-100+ then bowl defensively to them, you can often get them out by strangling them.
ICC Strategies by David Austin These tips also appear on Premium ICC, Stumped ICC and Dave's own site The 12th Man. Dave has given his permission for them to be included here as well. OK, I don’t profess to being good at this game, but over the course of a few season I’ve been able to develop a couple of techniques which have been handy. And what was harder for me was that I’m an Aussie, and knew nothing about the County set-up or who are the good teams and players. Batting: In a County Championship game I pretty much keep batsmen on 1 aggression until both batsmen are fully settled, then once they have settled I will take them up to either 2 or 3 aggression. If they have been knocked up say a century then I’ll increase their aggression at about 1 level per 5 overs until they reach level 6. Unless time is running out on the final day and I am close to reaching the winning runs, and have wickets in hand, I don’t go above aggression 6. Unfortunately, this type of playing is slow scoring, especially compared to the computer. Anytime a batsman get’s out I take both batsmen down to 1 aggression again. In a one day game, I start my openers one 2 aggression then every 4 overs I take them up 1 aggression until the reach level 6. If by this time they aren’t fully settled, I leave them on level 6 until they are fully settled. Once fully settled I like to push them up to level 7 aggression. In the last 10 overs, if I have wickets in hand, I’ll push any batsman who is fully settled, or nearly fully settled to max aggression. If a new batsman comes out in the last 10 overs, and I have wickets in hand, I will start them at level 4 or 5 aggression, then quickly increase this so that in the last few overs they are cracking it around at full aggression. If I’m down to the last 1 or 2 overs, and I need say 10 an over, I’ll play it ball-by-ball and try and aggressively hit a few shots (hopefully some boundaries), but also during the over I’ll drop him back down to about 5 aggression just so he doesn’t get too much of a rush of blood and a big swing and a miss. Bowling: In a County Championship game, I firstly check where the each new batsmans strengths are, on the leg side or off-side, and I bowl to the opposite. I don’t really mix up the aggression much and for most of the game it sits on 2 aggression. Sometimes when I am struggling to take a wicket, I will perhaps go full aggression to the batsmans off side, then after perhaps a few overs of this, I’ll drop the aggression to zero and bowl at the leg stump, which often gets an lbw. If you have the time to bowl ball-by-ball then it works really well and you can really mix it up in the over not letting the batsman get settled to quickly. Also, usually in your second bowling spell, try and have a medium-fast or fast/medium and a spinner or slow bowler. This stops the batsmen getting too settled. In a one day game, the tactics are pretty much the same, but of course the object is to keep their run-rate down. I usually like to start by having both openers bowl half their maximum overs each, then bringing on perhaps a medium pacer in the spot of the opening bowler who had been the most expensive and will bowl this medium pacer to his limit of overs, same with the other opener, so that in the last few overs you can bring back the opener who you took off to hopefully clean up the tail. Field settings are really important in the one-dayers cause you want to stop those fours. If you’ve tried a few of the pre-set fields and had no luck in stemming the flow, try you’re own. Look at where the batsmen are hitting the runs, and adjust the field accordingly. Line-ups: Lots of advice has been given like above, but not much on line-ups. Of course it all depends on what’s available in your side. My preferred line-up is to have a deep batting line-up. Usually in a one-day game, I like to have a batsman who can also keep instead of a full-time keeper. Naturally all-rounders are good value in the one-dayers, but for those County Championship games it is usually better to restrict it to one really god all-rounder, and then either a specialist bowler who bat’s reasonably well or a batsman who can bowl. In fact, always try and have a sixth bowler who is basically a batsman that can bowl (e.g. Mark Butcher). If you are only going into the game with one spinner, then make sure one of your batsman can also bowl good spin just in case the wicket tuns a lot. Signing players: I’ve had very little luck with the overseas contingency. It’s always a concern that he’s going to leave after one year. I usually sign batsmen who are aggressive scorers (e.g. Michael Bevan), or a West Indian fast bowler. Leg spinners are great, but it’s much more satisfying when you sign one as a youngster and work him up. Michael Bevan was probably my best pick-up one season (highest score 230, ave approx. 40), and also Jimmy Adams playing as my keeper at no. 6. Players I have had who didn’t play well for me (but may be different for you) were Darren Lehmann, Greg Blewett, S Jayasuriya (although his bowling was good), Sachin Tendulker (actually not too bad, but I expected more from him), and in my current game I have just signed Shane Warne, but he’s 34, and after a few games has fallen down to be my third choice spinner. When it’s time for contracts, use it well. Try and bargain players down a thousand or so from what they ask (but remember you only get three shots at them before they refuse to consider you again). If you’ve signed the players you want, but still have some money in the budget (usually because players you really want just weren’t there), then use up as much of the remaining budget as possible signing players to one year contracts because injuries can hurt, and you just never know when you may stumble across a good consistent performer. Be wary of always trying to sign players who play for England on a regular basis, and try not to build your team around their presence too much, cause when they get called up you have to have sufficient cover for them. Although it seems an uphill battle, try and establish a good opening partnership that lasts several seasons. If you have an opener who is just playing poorly, yet you know (from his averages) he can play better, try batting him at say number 6, I have done this with mark Butcher and he’s saved me in a few games. When looking at the youth players, look for an all-rounder with excellent in both batting and bowling (but when batting him, still play him down the order). I picked up two leg spinners like this one year, and although both played well, I ended up letting one go as the other was awesome, taking about 80 wickets in the CC each season, and around 40 or 50 in the one day comp, and averaged probably just over 20 with the bat. Check how much they want for a salary, usually the really expensive ones are good, and strangely enough without even playing a game at the senior level, go on tour with the English team in the off-season. Recommended Teams: If you want to be able to do quite a bit of team re-modelling after one season, go for Northamptonshire, they have lots of overpaid players it seems fall out of contract after the first season. Lancashire is quite good too, as is Surrey (but the loss of players on International duty can be frustrating), and I also found Middlesex quite good. Some recommended players: D Sales, M Butcher (although he’s very frustratingly bad at times), P Tufnell, G Thorpe (Mr Dependable at times), M Loye, J Hewitt (great with bat and ball especially), A Tudor (seems a bit raw at first, but can produce some magnificent games), S Udal (good cheap second spinner), M Ramprakash, R Turner (decent keeper, can produce some Ian Healy like batting performances) and P Hutchison. These are just players that I have had and got good results with them, but there are lots of others about. Warren Hegg was probably my only major disappointment after he had been so thoroughly recommended by numerous other people. He was fairly good as a keeper, but with the bat over the course of his one and only season with me (I signed him for one year as a trial), he averaged 9 with the bat, and his highest score was about 28, and even when I batted him in the very low order, he almost never had a not out. These are my thoughts on some tactics. The best thing I think to do, is incorporate bits and pieces, perhaps the areas where you really struggle now (if you do at all).
Got a great hint or tip for International Cricket Captain. Developed a brilliant winning strategy for either one day games or county championship/test matches? Send me details so everyone can share. All hints will be credited and you could win a prize. Submit a tip
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Revised:
Saturday, 16 March 2013. |
