Advice sought with bowling mechanic

[Bahger]

I'm loving this game, it really feels like cricket; that's why I am putting some time into mastering the mechanics as best I can. I would appreciate some clarification on a couple of issues.

- Pace bowling: before bowl

Using the left stick to "select angle of delivery": I understand that this influences the position of the bowler between the wicket and the edge of the crease when he delivers the ball but I am not sure how to make it work. Am I supposed to just flick it once to the right or left without holding it before starting the bowler's run with the length selection buttons, and is this the right sequence?

- Pace bowling: during bowl

Left stick determines type of delivery (swing/seam) during run-up. Again, I assume the stick is not held, just pushed or pulled to the stops at the desired position and let go. There's no kind of confirmation that a particular type of delivery has been selected, is there?

Using bumpers to select faster and slower deliveries:the manual specifies that the appropriate bumper must be held to activate a faster or slower delivery but held for how long? All through the run-up until the bowler's front foot is planted and the ball is released? The gamepad control layouts in the manual feature these bumper commands for faster/slower deliveries in both the "Before bowl" and "During bowl" diagrams so I am doubly confused re. when to press these bumpers during the bowling process and for how long.

Sorry that these are novice questions and thanks for your help. First post; thanks for your hospitality.

 

[CricketPlayer55]

- Pace bowling: before bowl

Using the left stick to "select angle of delivery": I understand that this influences the position of the bowler between the wicket and the edge of the crease when he delivers the ball but I am not sure how to make it work. Am I supposed to just flick it once to the right or left without holding it before starting the bowler's run with the length selection buttons, and is this the right sequence?

Based on my experience anyway, you have to hold the stick towards the start angle which you want your bowler to run up with and then selecting your length. So pushing it to the right and holding it there would bring the bowler closer to the umpire and pushing it left would make him come in from a wider angle.

- Pace bowling: during bowl

Left stick determines type of delivery (swing/seam) during run-up. Again, I assume the stick is not held, just pushed or pulled to the stops at the desired position and let go. There's no kind of confirmation that a particular type of delivery has been selected, is there?

Correct!

Using bumpers to select faster and slower deliveries:the manual specifies that the appropriate bumper must be held to activate a faster or slower delivery but held for how long? All through the run-up until the bowler's front foot is planted and the ball is released? The gamepad control layouts in the manual feature these bumper commands for faster/slower deliveries in both the "Before bowl" and "During bowl" diagrams so I am doubly confused re. when to press these bumpers during the bowling process and for how long.

I'm not confident about this one, but what I usually do is hold the bumper until I select my length, just like selecting the angle of delivery.

Sorry that these are novice questions and thanks for your help. First post; thanks for your hospitality.

No problem!

 

[Scrogs]

Some good questions/queries there Bahger. I don't know if a type of delivery or speed has been acknowledged by the game either after being inputted. Well, I say that but there are signs of ball movement if you look....and you can gague speed as speed of delivery is given on screen following delivery.

 

[MasterBlaster76]

I would say that there should be an option to have the different deliveries displayed on screen so you know exactly what you're bowling - in the tutorial there's a button you can press to display the graphic; why not have an option in the actual game? After all in real cricket, if you want to bowl an inswinger, you'll hold the ball in a way necessary to bowl an inswinger - you won't accidentally bowl a cutter or something. At the very least, you should be able to pull up the different deliveries by going into the controller settings, but you can't - it just tells you which stick to move, but not where to move it to get the desired delivery.

Also, to continue the theme of this thread, spin bowling is a sweet mystery to me - I just
cannot get the hang of it at all!

 

[ellgieff]

I would say that there should be an option to have the different deliveries displayed on screen so you know exactly what you're bowling - in the tutorial there's a button you can press to display the graphic; why not have an option in the actual game? After all in real cricket, if you want to bowl an inswinger, you'll hold the ball in a way necessary to bowl an inswinger - you won't accidentally bowl a cutter or something. At the very least, you should be able to pull up the different deliveries by going into the controller settings, but you can't - it just tells you which stick to move, but not where to move it to get the desired delivery.

Also, to continue the theme of this thread, spin bowling is a sweet mystery to me - I just
cannot get the hang of it at all!

Select brings up the graphic of the controls on the PS3, IIRC.

 

[MasterBlaster76]

Select brings up the graphic of the controls on the PS3, IIRC.

Then there must be a way to do it on PC - any ideas PC gamers?

 

[grkrama]

memorize it, its not that hard as its pretty much intuitive, anything upwards is fast and the direction gives you swing/spin, anything downwards is slow and the direction gives you cutters/drift deliveries.

with spin the key is to perform 3 smooth rotations and the starting and ending point of rotation must be the same when you press RS upwards.

 

[Deleted member 9102]

Yeah just keep practicing... If you struggle to remember the deliveries then print out the page in the manual or draw it with pen & paper and refer to it during play. It will stick eventually.[DOUBLEPOST=1408020600][/DOUBLEPOST]This video by @inertSpark may be helpful for anyone having trouble with spin

 

[Bahger]

Thanks very much for all your help. I will need to spend some more time practicing my pace bowling so as to integrate the necessary inputs for ball speed and approach angle smoothly.

That's an impressive over of spin bowling in the video. Was he playing against a human or the AI? I have never seen the AI batsmen play so many defensive shots but that might be because I haven't yet played any test or county length matches. I really like spin bowling but it can be frustrating if the coordination between the "wind up" of the spin and the release point of the ball is off. Interestingly, sometimes a delivery assessed by the game as Perfect/Perfect can produce a boundary while an unorthodox delivery assessed as, say, Average/Perfect can flummox an AI batsman and you hear your AI teammates say "nice bowling!" This is just another way in which the game is impressively true to life. I think the trick with spin bowling is to find a rhythm for your thumbs, as it were, so that you can put lots of RPM on the ball and release it at the right point in the bowler's approach. The AI tends to punish slow deliveries of excessive length. Once you find this rhythm it is very satisfying to put the batsmen on the defensive with disciplined spin bowling. I need to learn more about some of the more esoteric forms of delivery for both wrist and (particularly) the mysterious art of finger spin. Once I have done that and nailed the mechanics to my satisfaction I might create a player who is a dedicated spin bowler because, as frustrating as it can be to get hammered, it is very satisfying to stalemate a batting attack with spin in this game.

 

[inertSpark]

Thanks very much for all your help. I will need to spend some more time practicing my pace bowling so as to integrate the necessary inputs for ball speed and approach angle smoothly.

That's an impressive over of spin bowling in the video. Was he playing against a human or the AI? I have never seen the AI batsmen play so many defensive shots but that might be because I haven't yet played any test or county length matches. I really like spin bowling but it can be frustrating if the coordination between the "wind up" of the spin and the release point of the ball is off. Interestingly, sometimes a delivery assessed by the game as Perfect/Perfect can produce a boundary while an unorthodox delivery assessed as, say, Average/Perfect can flummox an AI batsman and you hear your AI teammates say "nice bowling!" This is just another way in which the game is impressively true to life. I think the trick with spin bowling is to find a rhythm for your thumbs, as it were, so that you can put lots of RPM on the ball and release it at the right point in the bowler's approach. The AI tends to punish slow deliveries of excessive length. Once you find this rhythm it is very satisfying to put the batsmen on the defensive with disciplined spin bowling. I need to learn more about some of the more esoteric forms of delivery for both wrist and (particularly) the mysterious art of finger spin. Once I have done that and nailed the mechanics to my satisfaction I might create a player who is a dedicated spin bowler because, as frustrating as it can be to get hammered, it is very satisfying to stalemate a batting attack with spin in this game.

It was against the AI on Pro difficulty. Length of time into your career doesn't really matter as this was only my 2nd first class match - its all about getting the mechanics right and knowing what each delivery does. By knowing how much a delivery can drift and turn on a perfect release, you will know where you need to aim the delivery. Also the rough patches and cracks do have a measurable effect but in honesty, it's not as much as you'd think (or hope). Varying the amount of spin you apply can help to deceive the batsman too, especially if the ball is drifting. I don't think its viable to try and set the batsman up through a series of deliveries, but you can certainly deceive them on a ball-by-ball basis. To vary the spin, I recommend you still complete the third rotation when you push up the right stick, but the point at which you begin the rotation is what you need to vary.

Hope this helps.

 

[inertSpark]

Just remember too, that you want them to play shots. Nobody likes giving up runs, but by trying to score runs, the batsman is taking risks. It means you might be a little expensive at times, but it means you are asking questions of the batsman from the outset - you're saying to them that if they want their runs, they are going to have to earn them. I don't personally worry too much about giving away a few boundaries, since as long as I get his scalp, its worth it. It's better to bowl aggressively and concede 20 but get the wicket quickly, than bowl defensively and concede many more runs over many more overs.

 

[MattW]

Then there must be a way to do it on PC - any ideas PC gamers?

The select/back button control graphic doesn't show that convenient little chart of which direction does what.

Take a screenshot and print it out?

 

[Bahger]

Enjoying your videos, Sparky. I am about to launch my first career as a batting all-rounder and, like you, a wrist spinner. If I concentrate very hard on each delivery, I can make the ball do the right thing, sometimes at the batsman's expense.

Thanks for your good advice.

I was sorry to see you run Cole out, happens to the best of us. How does the game handle run/no run decisions when you are the non-striking batsman? I had better get that straight before I get to the crease for my maiden innings.

 

[ellgieff]

Enjoying your videos, Sparky. I am about to launch my first career as a batting all-rounder and, like you, a wrist spinner. If I concentrate very hard on each delivery, I can make the ball do the right thing, sometimes at the batsman's expense.

Thanks for your good advice.

I was sorry to see you run Cole out, happens to the best of us. How does the game handle run/no run decisions when you are the non-striking batsman? I had better get that straight before I get to the crease for my maiden innings.

The player controls the decision to run, irrespective of whether she's striker or non-striker (and irrespective of whether the ball is forward or behind square). I'm pleased they made this decision, I think I'd have utterly lost my mind the first time I got run out by the AI calling a short single ...

 

[Bahger]

The player controls the decision to run, irrespective of whether she's striker or non-striker (and irrespective of whether the ball is forward or behind square). I'm pleased they made this decision, I think I'd have utterly lost my mind the first time I got run out by the AI calling a short single ...

Yup, relieved they went this way, too.

Would you mind explaining how fielding works in career, i.e. How you field as yourself and how you switch to simulation mode? I am not sure I understand the logic; your player is always going to be on the field so how does the mechanic change?