Krokenoster
Club Captain
Seriously enjoying batting lately, thinking of perhaps batting for both teams for a while, and letting the AI just bowl.
Match,Tour & Competition Experiences
- Thread starter Gamer Pradosh
- Start date
blockerdave
ICC Chairman
Amazing how the game is still throwing new things at me:
First time ever I got the AI out when they were playing across the line - planted the foot and tried to leg glance, out LBW. Never had it vs AI before!!
Same innings, had two genuine edges to backward point (one caught, one dropped). Only had catches there off square cuts - these were real edged drives!! Loved it.
West Indies 1984 beat the Rebels by 10 wickets, an amazing turnaround.
2nd innings reduced to 31 overs apiece (not 29 as thought). With the rebels 20 runs behind.
Restricted them to 156/4 off their 31 overs. Lynch not out 59 after Bacchus was trapped LBW 2nd ball without scoring.
Haynes and Greenidge knocked the runs off with no trouble. Greenidge even stopped trying to score at the end, allowing Haynes to score all of the last 40 runs to finish 102*
Haynes was bizzarely given the MOM, but we all know it was really Dujon for the first innings 112 that rescued a bleak situation. Could never have imagined a comfortable 10 wicket win at that point!
First time ever I got the AI out when they were playing across the line - planted the foot and tried to leg glance, out LBW. Never had it vs AI before!!
Same innings, had two genuine edges to backward point (one caught, one dropped). Only had catches there off square cuts - these were real edged drives!! Loved it.
West Indies 1984 beat the Rebels by 10 wickets, an amazing turnaround.
2nd innings reduced to 31 overs apiece (not 29 as thought). With the rebels 20 runs behind.
Restricted them to 156/4 off their 31 overs. Lynch not out 59 after Bacchus was trapped LBW 2nd ball without scoring.
Haynes and Greenidge knocked the runs off with no trouble. Greenidge even stopped trying to score at the end, allowing Haynes to score all of the last 40 runs to finish 102*
Haynes was bizzarely given the MOM, but we all know it was really Dujon for the first innings 112 that rescued a bleak situation. Could never have imagined a comfortable 10 wicket win at that point!
Krokenoster
Club Captain
Guys, are you still experiencing issues with the AI field placement?
I found a solution, well, for me it's a solution. lol
Since I'm doing batting for both teams now, I played around with the new features from the patch. I went in as the bowling team, set a field and picked "use for all bowlers and batsmen, saved and exited, and returned as the batting team.
It's been 20 overs, and the fielders have remained in the same positions. For all bowlers. I figure this is a work around, if you are not happy with the AI fielding positions.
Try it out!
I found a solution, well, for me it's a solution. lol
Since I'm doing batting for both teams now, I played around with the new features from the patch. I went in as the bowling team, set a field and picked "use for all bowlers and batsmen, saved and exited, and returned as the batting team.
It's been 20 overs, and the fielders have remained in the same positions. For all bowlers. I figure this is a work around, if you are not happy with the AI fielding positions.
Try it out!
blockerdave
ICC Chairman
It's the final of the 404 Cup - 1984 West Indies (AI) v England 30s (Me)
WI win the toss and Clive Lloyd has no hesitation in choosing to bat on what looks a very good batting pitch.
Sure enough, the opening pair of Greenidge and Haynes start briskly and put on a comfortable 50 partnership. England are getting some swing but never really looking threatening. However, the breakthrough comes almost immediately after the 50 comes up, Voce getting one a bit fuller and Greenidge, trying to hit out, can only pick out Hedley Verity at Deep Mid Off.
Larry Gomes joins Haynes, and the pattern of WI aggression and England containment continues and again England never really look like picking up a wicket. The partnership between Gomes and Haynes goes past 50, and even a hundred, with Haynes moving on past each of these landmarks himself - a quite brilliant 100. There have now been 5 Centuries in the competition, all of them to 1984 WI Batsmen - 2 each for Haynes and Greenidge, and one for Dujon. (This is the first AI 100.)
The partnership is 135 when Gomes, trying to bring up his own 50 with a hit over mid-wicket, finds Sutcliffe of the bowling of Larwood and goes for 49 with the score now 188/2.
This brings Viv Richards to the wicket with just under 3 overs left. Richards promptly smashes the ball around, hitting 16 out of only 17 more added before the innings closure, the score ending up 205/2.
The pattern of England's tournament has been strong opening partnerships, middle order collapses and lower order rescue jobs. Nobody between openers Sutcliffe & Wyatt and Verity at number 7 has scored a 50, the next highest score being a lusty 46 smashed from Voce at number 10 vs England 1993. None of the middle order has got past the 30s in the whole tournament.
This pattern looked to repeat itself. Sutcliffe and Wyatt went through a comfortable 50 partnership at a good pace (around 5 an over) and were looking completely untroubled. It was a shock when Sutcliffe edged Baptiste behind to Dujon and went for 46, leaving the score on 86/1.
It looked like another middle order collapse would be on the cards when Hammond came and went: having hit a delightful cover drive for four off his second ball, he perished on his thirs trying to repeat the feat but only offering Dujon his second catch, this time off Holding.
However, for once Wyatt found solid support, with the Nawab of Pataudi seeing him through his 50 and more. His Royal Highness was actually the aggressor in the partnership, scoring quickly as Wyatt kept the strike rotating in between the odd boundary.
Their partnership was worth 75 when Wyatt - on 73 and looking good for hundred - edged a ball from Baptiste on to his stumps to leave the score 167/3.
Paynter was struggling for fluency but Pataudi was still scoring well and went past his own 50 - his first in the competition.
There was an odd end to the innings as Lloyd, having bowled out his 4 seamers, was left with the part time spin of Gomes and Richards at each end to finish the 40 overs. However, it didn't seem to matter as Paynter was bowled around his legs by Richards to go for 6 and leave the score on 185/4 - 20 behind with 6 4-ball overs to go.
Like Paynter, Jardine was struggling for fluency and England were indebted to Pataudi's free-scoring at the other end. Even so, it was only when Pataudi cut the first ball of the 39th over for 4 that England edged a single run in front. Another 4 and 3 from Pataudi, and 2 from Jardine, meant that England actually ended the over 10 ahead.
Jardine was out for 10 off the very last ball of the innings trying to hit out, but not before Pataudi had added 7 earlier in the over for him to end up 80*. England finished 222/5 then, a lead of 17.
The match is very finely poised heading into the second innings.
WI win the toss and Clive Lloyd has no hesitation in choosing to bat on what looks a very good batting pitch.
Sure enough, the opening pair of Greenidge and Haynes start briskly and put on a comfortable 50 partnership. England are getting some swing but never really looking threatening. However, the breakthrough comes almost immediately after the 50 comes up, Voce getting one a bit fuller and Greenidge, trying to hit out, can only pick out Hedley Verity at Deep Mid Off.
Larry Gomes joins Haynes, and the pattern of WI aggression and England containment continues and again England never really look like picking up a wicket. The partnership between Gomes and Haynes goes past 50, and even a hundred, with Haynes moving on past each of these landmarks himself - a quite brilliant 100. There have now been 5 Centuries in the competition, all of them to 1984 WI Batsmen - 2 each for Haynes and Greenidge, and one for Dujon. (This is the first AI 100.)
The partnership is 135 when Gomes, trying to bring up his own 50 with a hit over mid-wicket, finds Sutcliffe of the bowling of Larwood and goes for 49 with the score now 188/2.
This brings Viv Richards to the wicket with just under 3 overs left. Richards promptly smashes the ball around, hitting 16 out of only 17 more added before the innings closure, the score ending up 205/2.
The pattern of England's tournament has been strong opening partnerships, middle order collapses and lower order rescue jobs. Nobody between openers Sutcliffe & Wyatt and Verity at number 7 has scored a 50, the next highest score being a lusty 46 smashed from Voce at number 10 vs England 1993. None of the middle order has got past the 30s in the whole tournament.
This pattern looked to repeat itself. Sutcliffe and Wyatt went through a comfortable 50 partnership at a good pace (around 5 an over) and were looking completely untroubled. It was a shock when Sutcliffe edged Baptiste behind to Dujon and went for 46, leaving the score on 86/1.
It looked like another middle order collapse would be on the cards when Hammond came and went: having hit a delightful cover drive for four off his second ball, he perished on his thirs trying to repeat the feat but only offering Dujon his second catch, this time off Holding.
However, for once Wyatt found solid support, with the Nawab of Pataudi seeing him through his 50 and more. His Royal Highness was actually the aggressor in the partnership, scoring quickly as Wyatt kept the strike rotating in between the odd boundary.
Their partnership was worth 75 when Wyatt - on 73 and looking good for hundred - edged a ball from Baptiste on to his stumps to leave the score 167/3.
Paynter was struggling for fluency but Pataudi was still scoring well and went past his own 50 - his first in the competition.
There was an odd end to the innings as Lloyd, having bowled out his 4 seamers, was left with the part time spin of Gomes and Richards at each end to finish the 40 overs. However, it didn't seem to matter as Paynter was bowled around his legs by Richards to go for 6 and leave the score on 185/4 - 20 behind with 6 4-ball overs to go.
Like Paynter, Jardine was struggling for fluency and England were indebted to Pataudi's free-scoring at the other end. Even so, it was only when Pataudi cut the first ball of the 39th over for 4 that England edged a single run in front. Another 4 and 3 from Pataudi, and 2 from Jardine, meant that England actually ended the over 10 ahead.
Jardine was out for 10 off the very last ball of the innings trying to hit out, but not before Pataudi had added 7 earlier in the over for him to end up 80*. England finished 222/5 then, a lead of 17.
The match is very finely poised heading into the second innings.
blockerdave
ICC Chairman
The final resumes with West Indies 17 runs behind.
Voce joins Larwood with the new ball as reward for his consistency throughout the competition and excellent first innings.
A tight opening spell means that it takes 8 overs and 2 wickets to wipe out the deficit. Greenidge is caught behind by Ames off a great seaming delivery from Voce, and Gomes is run-out brilliantly by Verity trying to steal a single.
Haynes and Greenidge start to build a lead but find it tough going. Verity and Allen come into the attack and continue the tight bowling, Allen especially. The pressure tells and both players fall trying to hit out to boost the score - Haynes hits Verity over the top but only finds Allen at Deep mid-off and Richards picks out Wyatt trying to swipe Allen into the leg side.
Lloyd and Richardson find no more fluency than the others, really struggling to score fluently and the half-way stage is reached at only 60/4 - a mere 43 ahead.
Even the part time medium pace of Wally Hammond was a struggle for the West Indies to put away, and this led to Lloyd falling as he could only pick out Wyatt trying to hit Hammond to leg-side: the left-hander going in almost mirror-image dismissal to right-handed Richards.
Hammond was really getting movement in the air and off the pitch, and as well as being economical he managed to remove Dujon hitting out and finding only Voce. At the other end, Though Richardson could never dominate the attack he looked more comfortable and went through to a vital 50.
Marshall fell caught behind to Hammond in the next over, and the return of Voce dried up Richardson too. An absolute pearler from Voce, slanted across Richardson from left-arm over before nipping back off the seam to knock off-stump out of the ground set Richardson on his away without adding to his score in the 6 balls he'd faced since bringing up his 50.
Baptiste and Holding got through to the end of the innings without further loss but could only add 10 runs. The West Indies finishing 137/8 - a lead of 120.
A target of 121 was very gettable, although if you wanted an attack to defend it one containing Marshall, Garner and Holding would certainly be a start.
England were grateful then for a solid start from Sutcliffe and Wyatt, although they were unable to complete another 50 partnership when Wyatt fell edging Garner behind for 22 with the score on 48/1. It ended a sequence of 5 consecutive 50 opening partnerships for Sutcliffe & Wyatt, and indeed 5 consecutive individual 50s from Wyatt.
Sutcliffe and Hammond pushed England closer to the target but Sutcliffe also edged behind this time off Baptiste to leave England 73/2, still 48 short. With the England middle order having been brittle at times did the West Indies sense an opening?
If they did, tit was quickly slammed shut as The Nawab of Pataudi scored half of those runs himself in an astonishing assault on Baptitste's next over, all 4 deliveries flying into the stands for 6 and taking England to within touching distance.
Hammond and Pataudi finished the job off easily, with a 4 from Hammond bringing up both their 50 partnership (off just 15 balls) and the winning runs.
Hammond finished unbeaten on 39 from 17, and the Nawab of Pataudi an amazing 28 off just 7 balls. Together with his momentum-shifting 80* in the first innings this gave hime the Man of the Match award, a fair call despite Haynes first innings century.
So a comprehensive 8-wicket win sees England 1930s crowned as the inaugural 404 Cup champions!
Voce joins Larwood with the new ball as reward for his consistency throughout the competition and excellent first innings.
A tight opening spell means that it takes 8 overs and 2 wickets to wipe out the deficit. Greenidge is caught behind by Ames off a great seaming delivery from Voce, and Gomes is run-out brilliantly by Verity trying to steal a single.
Haynes and Greenidge start to build a lead but find it tough going. Verity and Allen come into the attack and continue the tight bowling, Allen especially. The pressure tells and both players fall trying to hit out to boost the score - Haynes hits Verity over the top but only finds Allen at Deep mid-off and Richards picks out Wyatt trying to swipe Allen into the leg side.
Lloyd and Richardson find no more fluency than the others, really struggling to score fluently and the half-way stage is reached at only 60/4 - a mere 43 ahead.
Even the part time medium pace of Wally Hammond was a struggle for the West Indies to put away, and this led to Lloyd falling as he could only pick out Wyatt trying to hit Hammond to leg-side: the left-hander going in almost mirror-image dismissal to right-handed Richards.
Hammond was really getting movement in the air and off the pitch, and as well as being economical he managed to remove Dujon hitting out and finding only Voce. At the other end, Though Richardson could never dominate the attack he looked more comfortable and went through to a vital 50.
Marshall fell caught behind to Hammond in the next over, and the return of Voce dried up Richardson too. An absolute pearler from Voce, slanted across Richardson from left-arm over before nipping back off the seam to knock off-stump out of the ground set Richardson on his away without adding to his score in the 6 balls he'd faced since bringing up his 50.
Baptiste and Holding got through to the end of the innings without further loss but could only add 10 runs. The West Indies finishing 137/8 - a lead of 120.
A target of 121 was very gettable, although if you wanted an attack to defend it one containing Marshall, Garner and Holding would certainly be a start.
England were grateful then for a solid start from Sutcliffe and Wyatt, although they were unable to complete another 50 partnership when Wyatt fell edging Garner behind for 22 with the score on 48/1. It ended a sequence of 5 consecutive 50 opening partnerships for Sutcliffe & Wyatt, and indeed 5 consecutive individual 50s from Wyatt.
Sutcliffe and Hammond pushed England closer to the target but Sutcliffe also edged behind this time off Baptiste to leave England 73/2, still 48 short. With the England middle order having been brittle at times did the West Indies sense an opening?
If they did, tit was quickly slammed shut as The Nawab of Pataudi scored half of those runs himself in an astonishing assault on Baptitste's next over, all 4 deliveries flying into the stands for 6 and taking England to within touching distance.
Hammond and Pataudi finished the job off easily, with a 4 from Hammond bringing up both their 50 partnership (off just 15 balls) and the winning runs.
Hammond finished unbeaten on 39 from 17, and the Nawab of Pataudi an amazing 28 off just 7 balls. Together with his momentum-shifting 80* in the first innings this gave hime the Man of the Match award, a fair call despite Haynes first innings century.
So a comprehensive 8-wicket win sees England 1930s crowned as the inaugural 404 Cup champions!
D
Dutch
Guest
Great read Dave!
chaman82
County Cricketer
- Joined
- Apr 3, 2011
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- Don Bradman Cricket 14 - PS3
Amazing...it works..gr8 ..game changing experience.
blockerdave
ICC Chairman
Cheers Dutch - really really fun format and competition.
Only realised after that I played it on veteran not pro as I thought, so even more delighted to have won!
Have set up some amended 4-ball formats and going to have an England Worst XI tour of Aus to win the Ashes!!
Been setting up some per-team mods ready for it. Just played a quick bit to check them out and had an amazing top-edged hook go over the keeper's jump for 2.
D
Dutch
Guest
Mmm average bowling display at best: the talking point is the one that got away. Nice thick edge to second slip and it flew into the hands and out again...Vanuatu all to do!
blockerdave
ICC Chairman
was that the only edge?
D
Dutch
Guest
Yeah but my bowling was all over the place: I am so used to trying hit towards the 4m mark that I havent found the range yet, when to release the ball....
blockerdave
ICC Chairman
I think the best results are with 60-70% on the 4m or just shorter, and the rest (including lots of effort balls) around the 6m or very full. My pitch map I posted yesterday I bowled too short and only got one edge although the 2 bowleds were spectacular dismissals through a narrow gate.
D
Dutch
Guest
Ah okay so you are still bowling towards the 4m and backing off a little in length every now and then? What line are you usually pursuing? I find that coming around the wicket and slanting across on off stump gives me good control.....
blockerdave
ICC Chairman
Yeah length wise that's the approach. Anecdotal evidence only but I think it works better when its a "surprise" bouncing ball rather than landing where the majority do. Movement seems a key too - scrambled seam & cutters seem to be the way forward when going back of a length.
I generally stay over the wicket and try not to bowl too straight as I find the AI brutal on leg side bowling. I also try to mix up crease position randomly and shine regularly.
Between middle&off and 5th stump is where I aim for but don't always get: too wide and they cut it. Edges seem to come when it's narrow enough that they defend or drive but short enough that it bounces high on them.
Obviously someone at BA (@MattW) might reading it & thinking the system is nothing like that but anecdotally from my experience in the last couple of weeks this is what I'm thinking right now.
blockerdave
ICC Chairman
Have set up a tour where England's Worst XI will tour Australia, battling the 1993 Australia side for the Ashes.
The tour will use my 4 ball over modification. The tour "first class" matches are 3 90-over days with 1st innings closing on 75 overs but not closure on the 2nd innings.
The Ashes itself will be a 5 match series of 5 70-over days, no enforced closure of any innings.
All List A/ODI/T20/T20I matches are like real-world counterparts but 4-ball overs.
The tour starts with a first class match against Dame Edna's XI.
England win the toss and choose to bat on a good looking pitch.
However, and perhaps unsurprisingly, things don't start well and this becomes a familiar sight:
Dame Edna's boys celebrating and Englishmen trudging disconsolately back to the dressing room.
Only Chris Adams shows any fight dominating the 30-run partnership with Irani that started with England 36/4. Irani has contributed just 5 when he departs to put the score at 66/5.
Blakey joined Adams and the two counter attacked nicely, bringing up a 50 partnership in just 40 balls.
Adams brought up his own deserved 50
But fell for 60 edging a pull from Thomson.
Blakey was next to go falling just short of a 50, bowled by Thomson.
Thommo's pace was too much and he mopped up the tail in no time. He finished with a 6 wickets and England were skittled for 159 in just 36 and a half overs.
Dame Edna's XI Innings was a strange one. England never really looked too penetrating although they kept things tight.
There were very few attempts to increase the urgency, and after Hilditch and Chappel fell with half-hearted attempts to hit to cover leaving them 27/2, any attacking intent seemed to disappear.
England did drop a few sitters including an edge off Ilott dropped by Irani at backward point.
The highlight of the innings was this catch by Blakey to dismiss Walters off the bowling of McCague.
Law and Hookes shared a 50 partnership
but although Law fell towards the end of the innings and Hookes was in the 40s, the Invitational side showed no ambition to either get Hookes to his 50 or overhaul England. Amazingly, the 75 over closure point was reached with Dame Edna's XI still 2 behind!
England find themselves in the strange position of having been blown away when batting, and unthreatening with the ball, yet ahead at the halfway stage!
However, with no innings closure in the 2nd dig, and nearly 2 whole days left, England will need to perform much better 2nd time round to avoid a demoralising defeat.
The tour will use my 4 ball over modification. The tour "first class" matches are 3 90-over days with 1st innings closing on 75 overs but not closure on the 2nd innings.
The Ashes itself will be a 5 match series of 5 70-over days, no enforced closure of any innings.
All List A/ODI/T20/T20I matches are like real-world counterparts but 4-ball overs.
The tour starts with a first class match against Dame Edna's XI.
England win the toss and choose to bat on a good looking pitch.
However, and perhaps unsurprisingly, things don't start well and this becomes a familiar sight:
Dame Edna's boys celebrating and Englishmen trudging disconsolately back to the dressing room.
Only Chris Adams shows any fight dominating the 30-run partnership with Irani that started with England 36/4. Irani has contributed just 5 when he departs to put the score at 66/5.
Blakey joined Adams and the two counter attacked nicely, bringing up a 50 partnership in just 40 balls.
Adams brought up his own deserved 50
But fell for 60 edging a pull from Thomson.
Blakey was next to go falling just short of a 50, bowled by Thomson.
Thommo's pace was too much and he mopped up the tail in no time. He finished with a 6 wickets and England were skittled for 159 in just 36 and a half overs.
Dame Edna's XI Innings was a strange one. England never really looked too penetrating although they kept things tight.
There were very few attempts to increase the urgency, and after Hilditch and Chappel fell with half-hearted attempts to hit to cover leaving them 27/2, any attacking intent seemed to disappear.
England did drop a few sitters including an edge off Ilott dropped by Irani at backward point.
The highlight of the innings was this catch by Blakey to dismiss Walters off the bowling of McCague.
Law and Hookes shared a 50 partnership
but although Law fell towards the end of the innings and Hookes was in the 40s, the Invitational side showed no ambition to either get Hookes to his 50 or overhaul England. Amazingly, the 75 over closure point was reached with Dame Edna's XI still 2 behind!
England find themselves in the strange position of having been blown away when batting, and unthreatening with the ball, yet ahead at the halfway stage!
However, with no innings closure in the 2nd dig, and nearly 2 whole days left, England will need to perform much better 2nd time round to avoid a demoralising defeat.
