Batting in career mode is a serious issue

[The_Pharoah]

The main issue people are having with this game is patience. Do we all want to be spanking 100s in our first innings? What would be the point of the 20 year career if we were already an International in the first year. You have to build up slowly..

Not exactly mate. Remember getting to the national team is just the start..you also have to prove you can stay there.

Keep in mind though that, just because you, me and a lot of others love a cricket game where it's difficult, not everyone else does. A lot of people would be put off by a game this difficult and that's not necessarily what you want to do ie make this the DCS of cricket games - you have to appeal to the masses. More sales = more profits = investment in future cricket games.

 

[Nihilism69]

What i noticed is that if you bowl good and force batsman to defend, especially when they need to attack, and with right field placements you can get wickets easily

your field place needs to suit your bowling style
for example im a spin bowler and i dont have a 3rd man or point fields as i bowl straight line, vary my pace and delivery type

somehow this makes a big difference as well especially if your fielding is set out right

 

[Spoobir]

The main problem with Career Mode batting for me is that there is a severe lack of smooth progression. You're stuck straight in at the 2nd highest level of cricket as a 16 year old to facing top class bowling with very few skill points. Also with the skill progression system the way it is, you need to have long innings to increase your skills, which is extremely difficult given the fact you have low skills. This all leads to a frustrating vicious cycle that makes you feel like you're not progressing at all.

A far better way to have implemented it in my mind would have been to have the first 2 years (ages 16/17) of Career Mode have been in a fictional "School" league against much more forgiving opposition, in order to give you a chance to build up some player skills (and improve at the game mechanics yourself). Then at age 18 you get your County/State level contract and end up in the 2nd XI where you can improve further against a higher quality opposition before finally perfoming well enough for a call-up to the Firsts. This would also have added in the extra threat of being dropped back to the 2nds if your performance wasn't up to snuff at First-Class level. Then obviously the final level of progression is to International, which is already incorporated quite well.

Another lack for me is the rigidity of the batting order. My "Batting All-Rounder" was played at number 6 all season despite averaging betweeen 10-15 in all formats. My bowling performance was probably worth keeping me in the side but it would have been a nice touch if I'd been moved down to 10-11 due to my appalling batting.

(On a side-note I also would have loved to have had the great net practice mode incorporated in the Career as a way to gain some extra skill points.)

I know a lot of this stuff probably isn't something that could be fixed in this edition of the game but just my ideas to maybe improve for next time.

Final thing is this is still the best and most engaging game of cricket I've ever played on a TV screen. So cheers Big-Ant!

 

[Jadel]

What i noticed is that if you bowl good and force batsman to defend, especially when they need to attack, and with right field placements you can get wickets easily

your field place needs to suit your bowling style
for example im a spin bowler and i dont have a 3rd man or point fields as i bowl straight line, vary my pace and delivery type

somehow this makes a big difference as well especially if your fielding is set out right

Did you put this in the wrong thread?

 

[The_Pharoah]

Agree with the comments here but we have to remind ourselves that this is the FIRST career mode of its kind for cricket so of course its going to have a few issues. I always assumed (once we heard about the career mode that got us all excited) that we'd have 2-3 divisions before selection for state...however that wasn't the case. I still think there needs to be atleast 1-2 divisions (or 'grade' cricket as they probably refer to it here in Aust I think) for you to get your experience before even thinking about state level.

So BA, we all look forward with bated breath as to what (if any) changes/corrections you guys will make to the career mode with patch #2 and beyond. I think you can probably tell its a bit of a hit (ie. the fans love it!).

 

[harishankar]

Made 47 runs in the second innings of a 4 day game. It was much easier facing the spinners and medium pace bowling and allows you to plant on the front foot and play strokes into the gaps.

But I stick to my original point that this game is very unforgiving in career mode batting, compared to bowling which is almost too easy.

 

[ElPrez]

My guy now seems to think its a good idea to hit every leg glance off a spinner in the air with as much power as possible. I only wanted a nudge for a single. And Clarke Kent at Deep Backward Square was always gonna cover those 30 yards to take the catch.

 

[Liampollard28]

It isn't that hard.

 

[gamer22]

Career Mode Baatting.. What's the fuss?

I had been avoiding career mode to get as much practice as possible before trying the career mode after reading all the posts here. Due to my job and other issues I couldn't get much practice.. played a couple of T20s and ODis.. My highest score was 20 something in those matches.. So I was like what the heck.. let's get rolling

So today I started my career as a number 4 batsman.

First Innings I expected to get out under 4 runs as many of you have mentioned here.. 2nd ball I clipped it off my legs for a boundary. In my first Innings I scored 21 runs and got run out. Me and AI both got stranded at the same end..

I had a 50 runs partnership with Steve Smith

2nd Innings I scored 26. Again got run out. This time I was standing at the non-strikers end, bowler fielded and threw the ball and I was short. I and Warner added 70+ runs which was highest partnership of the match..

Next match I scored 30 of 16 balls (No slogging) and again got runout lol..
Bowler fielded and threw the ball.. this time I was batting.. tried to get back but instead of putting his bat down, my batsman decided to take massive u-turn route and I fell short..

I am Inzi in making I guess lol..

My point is I got the game on Sat, played very little.. started the career mode and didn't find it as hard as people are saying.. In fact I found it lot of fun. AI has yet to dismiss me.. I haven't been beaten or anything. Bowler has dropped the caught and bowled once but that was almost imposable even by the current AI standards. I have hit only one six and that's the only intentional lofted shot I have played. I mainly score in ones and twos with the odd boundary.

I didn't practice much in nets too before because it didn't work perfectly on my laptop.. And I am not a hardcore gamer with great reflexes. So If I can do it so could most of you.

I take guard on the middle stump.. any ball which is around middle and leg I flick it on the legside and the ones which are outside the off I play it towards the midoff or covers. This guards really helps you with the short pitch stuff too. I hardly miss out on any shortpitch or balls on my pads.

 

[Frostyvegi]

Another lack for me is the rigidity of the batting order. My "Batting All-Rounder" was played at number 6 all season despite averaging betweeen 10-15 in all formats. My bowling performance was probably worth keeping me in the side but it would have been a nice touch if I'd been moved down to 10-11 due to my appalling batting.

On the other hand, being moved down would probably see you face very little time with the bat, either none at all in a short form version of the game, or with only one or two possible partners in a multi-day match. You won't get much better, either player stat wise or your own game play skill wise if you only face an average of a few overs every game.

 

[Telstar2001]

Batting in career mode is a serious issue

Yes I agree with this, I'm playing career mode bowling is great, when I come in to bat, I'm out so fast it and it makes me swear to be honest. this really needs sorting out. I understand some guy's on here seem to do ok at batting in career mode, I think the balance is a bit wrong, so maybe a different difficulty setting may help people like myself.

 

[CallyT]

I had been avoiding career mode to get as much practice as possible before trying the career mode after reading all the posts here. Due to my job and other issues I couldn't get much practice.. played a couple of T20s and ODis.. My highest score was 20 something in those matches.. So I was like what the heck.. let's get rolling

So today I started my career as a number 4 batsman.

First Innings I expected to get out under 4 runs as many of you have mentioned here.. 2nd ball I clipped it off my legs for a boundary. In my first Innings I scored 21 runs and got run out. Me and AI both got stranded at the same end..

I had a 50 runs partnership with Steve Smith

2nd Innings I scored 26. Again got run out. This time I was standing at the non-strikers end, bowler fielded and threw the ball and I was short. I and Warner added 70+ runs which was highest partnership of the match..

Next match I scored 30 of 16 balls (No slogging) and again got runout lol..
Bowler fielded and threw the ball.. this time I was batting.. tried to get back but instead of putting his bat down, my batsman decided to take massive u-turn route and I fell short..

I am Inzi in making I guess lol..

My point is I got the game on Sat, played very little.. started the career mode and didn't find it as hard as people are saying.. In fact I found it lot of fun. AI has yet to dismiss me.. I haven't been beaten or anything. Bowler has dropped the caught and bowled once but that was almost imposable even by the current AI standards. I have hit only one six and that's the only intentional lofted shot I have played. I mainly score in ones and twos with the odd boundary.

I didn't practice much in nets too before because it didn't work perfectly on my laptop.. And I am not a hardcore gamer with great reflexes. So If I can do it so could most of you.

I take guard on the middle stump.. any ball which is around middle and leg I flick it on the legside and the ones which are outside the off I play it towards the midoff or covers. This guards really helps you with the short pitch stuff too. I hardly miss out on any shortpitch or balls on my pads.

Tbh once your timing gets lots better your leg glances will be screaming to the boundary but in the air. If there are fielders anywhere near the boundary you will get caught off a shot that's about 1 foot in the air off the bat.

 

[Gamer Pradosh]

Tbh once your timing gets lots better your leg glances will be screaming to the boundary but in the air. If there are fielders anywhere near the boundary you will get caught off a shot that's about 1 foot in the air off the bat.

Yesterday I hit a six off leg glance...Was a very flat six..

 

[highwater]

Started my second season in career mode last night after averaging about 14 in my first season in first class games.

I had managed three 20-20 half-centuries in my my first season but that was as good as it got.

I decided to make a few changes to my batting style and it's worked a treat.

In my first 4-day game last night and I manged 51 in my first innings and 120 in my second!

Although it might be too early to know if my changes have made a direct impact it does seem strange to go from nearly always being out for under 20, to posting two good scores.

So my tips are:

1) Patience - I never used the aggressive shot button once. The amount of times I've been caught at mid-on trying to clear his head has too often been my downfall so I've taken it out of my game.

2) Play straight - After milking runs down to fine leg, I was often getting caught down there if I miss-timed a shot. After not playing anything down there for 10 overs it soon became a vacant area where I easily milked 10-15 runs before the fine-leg was re-introduced.

3) Use the aggressive ground shot - After rarely using this through my first season (not sure why) I found this an excellent way of scoring runs safely. Often I was hitting the ball that hard into the ground it was bouncing over the heads of mid-on and mid-off. I would guess 70% of my runs came in ones and twos playing this shot out to the cover, long-off and long-on fielders.

4) Block the first three balls of an over - nearly always ended up with the AI sticking in a short-leg or silly, and thus creating a gap in the outfield.

5) Lots of blocking here. Can be tough to score against. Wait for the slightly wide ball and play reverse sweeps if no point is in position. Probably the safest shot I've found (apart from block) for playing spin.

6) Patience - yes this again! So tempting when you get to 70odd and you feel you could cream the ball for 6. Don't try it. If anything, I found it harder to score the longer I was in bat because the bowlers pace dropped and you have fast bowlers bowling short at 68mph. Keep your eye on the speed gun and wait that extra second before executing a (ground) shot.

Good luck.

 

[Biggs]

I'll also add to your great list of tips hitting "save and exit" can be a real help when you're doing well and just need to take a break. I clocked up another 70 in an ODI by switching the damn thing off for a while when I was on around 43 at the time and came back to it and (this will sound stupid) was "seeing the ball" a lot better than when I struggled to get that 35. It was a slog to get to 70, but a happy slog splitting it up a bit...