How are you going in Ashes Cricket 2009?

[Dutch]

I'm playing a 50 over game.
I'm batting for both teams as i hate the bowling because of AI slogging.
It's...
England V New Zealand [Auckland]

England Line-up: Strauss [C], Denly, Shah, Collingwood, Stokes, Prior [W/K], Wright, Broad, Swann, Onions, Anderson.

New Zealand Line-up: Ryder, McCullum, Guptill, Taylor, Broom, Oram, Franklin, Vettori, Patel, Mills, Butler.

England won the toss and decided to bat.

England 229/8 [41 overs]

Strauss [1]
Denly [68]
Shah [9]
Collingwood [32]
Stokes [54]
Prior [43]
Wright [6]
Broad [2]*
Swann [5]*
-------------
Onions
Anderson

Extras [9]

With 9 overs left England will hope to boost their score up to around 260 but Jeetan Patel took 3 quick wickets, those of Steven Stokes, Matt Prior and Luke Wright.

I have tried batting with both sides before but how do you deal with the abject fielding tactics of the AI? I find I have to try and ignore certain field placements and try and play proper cricket but it is very hard to ignore gaping gaps in the leg-side. There is nothing wrong with leaving gaps but why don't they then bowl to it!?

 

[cooks1st100]

There is probably a short ball tactic, which the AI will try for an over or two. Plus, to say that there are only two tactics employed by the AI is plain wrong.

There are only two clear tactics used by the AI for a fast bowler, prove me wrong mate, I say this because the AI only switches between two fields and the only difference in bowling is mainly full or mainly short and it certainly isn't just for an over or two!! I am talking about pre patch but i doubt anything has been tweaked in this department as there has been no mention of it by anyone.
You appear to have knowledge about the inner workings of this game and maybe are involved with it, but at the same time I get the feeling that you havn't played it regularly at all because if you have you would have picked up on this. Just because the features were there it doesnt mean they have been utilised at all by the dev's, just in the same way the stadiums have rain percentages but I've yet to see a single drop.Maybe I'm just plain wrong about this too!!

 

[Kev]

I'm batting for both teams as i hate the bowling because of AI slogging.

Personally I think bowling in this is more enjoyable than in any previous game. Not sure if that statement will stand the test of time though, they need to tweak edges a bit. Mind you, I have always quite enjoyed bowling in cricket games, with the exception of Cricket07.

 

[jonah]

Kev, are you playing on hard or normal level? If you're playing on hard that's a very impressive batting display.

I finished a test, on hard, SA v England (me). SA made 534, and I was skittled for 188 and 140odd. My top scoring batsman was Bell, 2nd inns, who made 75.

Thinking of reverting to normal mode to see if I can bat any better.

 

[Dutch]

Personally I think bowling in this is more enjoyable than in any previous game. Not sure if that statement will stand the test of time though, they need to tweak edges a bit. Mind you, I have always quite enjoyed bowling in cricket games, with the exception of Cricket07.

I must admit that I too enjoy bowling on this game and find that you can really
really restrict the AI to a good run-rate and that they will still get a decent score although I haven't had a test go to 5 days yet. Anybody managed that?

 

[SpitfiresKent]

Personally I think bowling in this is more enjoyable than in any previous game. Not sure if that statement will stand the test of time though, they need to tweak edges a bit. Mind you, I have always quite enjoyed bowling in cricket games, with the exception of Cricket07.

When i first played this game i thought the bowling was brilliant untill i started bowling out australia in a test match for about an average of 80. In my opinion the bowling is rubbish because the AI slogging makes it look so, I'm fed up with the AI not playing according to the match situation and just slog slog SLOG!!

SpitfiresKent added 3 Minutes and 55 Seconds later...

I have tried batting with both sides before but how do you deal with the abject fielding tactics of the AI? I find I have to try and ignore certain field placements and try and play proper cricket but it is very hard to ignore gaping gaps in the leg-side. There is nothing wrong with leaving gaps but why don't they then bowl to it!?

I only find bad field settings in test matches but i dont play tests anymore because they are very unrealistic. In the 50over game the fields in my opinion are more challenging and more enjoyable.

Now the thing about batting for both teams is that you get to set a total and then chase it down.

 

[Dutch]

When i first played this game i thought the bowling was brilliant untill i started bowling out australia in a test match for about an average of 80. In my opinion the bowling is rubbish because the AI slogging makes it look so, I'm fed up with the AI not playing according to the match situation and just slog slog SLOG!!

SpitfiresKent added 3 Minutes and 55 Seconds later...



I only find bad field settings in test matches but i dont play tests anymore because they are very unrealistic. In the 50over game the fields in my opinion are more challenging and more enjoyable.

Now the thing about batting for both teams is that you get to set a total and then chase it down.

Ah okay. I must admit that I have had some pretty enjoyable tests. I restrict myself to one attempted lofted shot maximum per over and try to play the ball on merit whatever the field settings are.I also use the Howsdat program which enables you to change your batters confidence whenever you like: after breaks etcetera meaning they have to build up there innings again.

 

[jonah]

When i first played this game i thought the bowling was brilliant untill i started bowling out australia in a test match for about an average of 80. In my opinion the bowling is rubbish because the AI slogging makes it look so, I'm fed up with the AI not playing according to the match situation and just slog slog SLOG!!

Try setting the batsmen to 'timid' using Shailesh's HowsDAT program. This has the effect of calming the batsmen down.

On a seperate note, does anyone have trouble getting edges in hard mode? I bowled 145 overs at SA and only got about 2 edges. Any tips?

Edit:
You beat me to it Dutchad!

 

[lazy_chesnut]

There are only two clear tactics used by the AI for a fast bowler, prove me wrong mate, I say this because the AI only switches between two fields and the only difference in bowling is mainly full or mainly short and it certainly isn't just for an over or two!! I am talking about pre patch but i doubt anything has been tweaked in this department as there has been no mention of it by anyone.
You appear to have knowledge about the inner workings of this game and maybe are involved with it, but at the same time I get the feeling that you havn't played it regularly at all because if you have you would have picked up on this. Just because the features were there it doesnt mean they have been utilised at all by the dev's, just in the same way the stadiums have rain percentages but I've yet to see a single drop.Maybe I'm just plain wrong about this too!!

OK well I can tell you now of three tactics that get used.

1 - bowling a good length over and over
2 - bowling bouncers over and over
3 - bowling yorkers over and over

There were changes made to the bowling tactics in the patch, especially to do with yorkers, so maybe it's that that's preventing you from seeing what I'm seeing. I just assumed you were using b2.

 

[SpitfiresKent]

Try setting the batsmen to 'timid' using Shailesh's HowsDAT program. This has the effect of calming the batsmen down.

But i shouldn't have to do that to get a decent game.

 

[Dutch]

But i shouldn't have to do that to get a decent game.

I agree but it does help to make things more enjoyable! It would be great if a game were to come out where you had to really fight to bat and really had to think about bowling.

 

[barmyarmy]

But i shouldn't have to do that to get a decent game.

You're on Xbox aren't you so still playing the original release? I think this thread would be pretty much dead if everyone was still playing (or not) that.

 

[cooks1st100]

There were changes made to the bowling tactics in the patch, especially to do with yorkers, so maybe it's that that's preventing you from seeing what I'm seeing. I just assumed you were using b2.

Waiting patiently for the ps3 patch with baited breath, til then i have actually banned myself from playing it, its just too frustrating the way it is in it's original state

 

[Kev]

Kev, are you playing on hard or normal level? If you're playing on hard that's a very impressive batting display.

I finished a test, on hard, SA v England (me). SA made 534, and I was skittled for 188 and 140odd. My top scoring batsman was Bell, 2nd inns, who made 75.

Thinking of reverting to normal mode to see if I can bat any better.

It's on Hard. You've just got to play patiently when you start off, but its pretty easy to score off most balls. You can find gaps between the fielders too easily then and make 2 or 3 runs off most balls. Even poorly timed shots can bag you a couple.
It's pretty annoying that the AI just doesn't seem to move its field around unless you really start to smack it, you can score 2's and 3's in the same area for ages before it changes tact. Similarly if you smack a bowler around for an over, the next over the AI will set a really defensive field. If you then don't attack for that over, the next over the field opens up again and you can attack.

When i first played this game i thought the bowling was brilliant untill i started bowling out australia in a test match for about an average of 80. In my opinion the bowling is rubbish because the AI slogging makes it look so, I'm fed up with the AI not playing according to the match situation and just slog slog SLOG!!

SpitfiresKent added 3 Minutes and 55 Seconds later...



I only find bad field settings in test matches but i dont play tests anymore because they are very unrealistic. In the 50over game the fields in my opinion are more challenging and more enjoyable.

Now the thing about batting for both teams is that you get to set a total and then chase it down.

Certainly I have found it harder to bowl out sides since using the beta patches. Mind you they still follow a similar pattern. Openers seem to be patient, then you get the middle order who seem to panic, followed by the tail who just implode. I haven't played much limited over stuff since the patches, I'm going to stick to tests for the moment

On a seperate note, does anyone have trouble getting edges in hard mode? I bowled 145 overs at SA and only got about 2 edges. Any tips?

Yes I'm not getting many edges anymore, and usually if I do get one it's when I don't have any slips in place :doh

The commentary and sounds are really bugging me. Everytime I save during an innings, when I come back to it the batsmen don't call to each other anymore, only a little thing but it does take away the atmosphere. I'm getting very tired of being told what Warne's length is (oh er) and how it's important to be "cricket fit". Also finally made 463 in my Lord's innings - My tail destroyed by spinners yet again, in fact only 1 wicket from pace (3 runouts mind) - as Australia walk out I'm told small totals can be tricky to defend! Now I know 463 isn't a massive total, but its a bloody decent one. 10 runs into Australia's reply and I keep getting told "it's a really big lead developing"

 

[Punk_Sk8r]

England (me) vs Sri Lanka, 50 over Match, Melbourne

I'm having some damn amazing matches on this game, this is the best one I have had by far. I batted first and I love how everytime early on in the innings I use defensive shots to take quick singles and get the scoring going.

Anyway I had a really slow start (always do with England for some reason) I had to really buld my innings up usually I lose one wicket and then another one very quickly. This time both openers did well and I had a meassured approach. I don't get people complaining with AI field settings, I play the ball where it's meant to be played so if it's on off stump i'll play it on the off side same applies with leg-side and straight balls...anyway here's how my innings turned out.



Bowling I have to admit was the best part of this match by far. For once both AI openers went on strong and I thought my total won't be big enough I was desperate for a wicket. Then Onions got the break through, and soon after Swann got a beautiful wicket bowling around the wicket to bowl Jaysuriya. Then I dropped Sangakara but he was run out the same over anyway.

Anyway to cut a story short, with 3 wickets down Sri Lanka were doing well and rebuilding although the scorecard doesn't show it. I can't remember exactly how things unfolded but I had them down 5 wickets but they had caught up with the run rate. I remember them being 8 down with 14 runs to go, this is when I got Broad to bowl out Maharoof and I was right back in it...I also got some good varied dismissals, lbw's, bowleds (got a sweet one which Murali inside edged onto leg stump) and edges/inside edges was impressed.