To practice a couple of things (trying to react against quicks rather than just pre-meditating and practice against spin, and in general try and hit square on the off side) I went back into the nets for pretty much the first time since the game came out. Legend bowling, rookie batter, the ball seemed to come on alot quicker than a) I'm experiencing in my career game (probably because not every fast bowler I face in the domestic league are not top of the top) and b) that I remember it from the CA Nets (maybe ramped up speed in full version based on feedback or just slower performance on the my PC with nets (doubt)).
That being said, I felt that I did not need to pre-meditate any of the shots.. I found I had ample time to select where I'd put my feet and where I'd play the shot based on the actual delivery being made. This was even when I was making sure not to watch the position of the bowling machine's head to tell me where the ball would pitch. It actually felt quite sureal that I felt confident that I could react to every delivery.
Going back into the career mode, I, once again, could not play without pre-meditation. It totally comes down to the fact that I've surveyed the field, I know where the best gaps are, and regardless of where the ball is going to be delivered, I'm going to be targetting that gap.. mentally I've blocked off all the other options that is forcing me to pre-meditate. Such a mind game and hard to get out of that premeditation mindset to allow batting to open up more freely, just something I'm going to have to practice.. (probably need time in the practice match where I can think about fielders and the gaps and just practice practice practice playing the ball on it's merits with the fear of getting out but without the fear of stuffing up my career).
----------
One of the best innings I've had so far was a 50 over game with my batting allrounder coming in
#4 for QLD. Got 50 off about 56, one premeditated agressive six over square leg, one four through a big gap they had yet to fill, the rest were just putting it around the ground in the best gap's available, but with alot less boundaries than I'd normally get. They had set the field up pretty defensively, giving me the chance to play freely without worry of being caught (no agressive shot apart from the 1 six). I think it's my first 50 with any career player, batter or all-rounder on legend difficulty, was very rewarding.. (however, not rewarding was getting out on 50 after trying to drive too close to a fielder in close, going against my mindset that had got me to 50 in the first place).