My Batting Advice

[cricket_online]

Touch?... I'm loyal and play to the hand that I was dealt

On another batting matter. I'm practising to play full balls on the off-side and for the life of me I am not able to play a front-foot drive to point or backwards of point. The batsman tries to play this weird front-foot cut which does not work for a full ball on off or wide of off. The only shots I can get right is to play towards mid-off and a late squirt to third man.

Is there a missing shot in the game or am I missing something?

You are right in the sense you can't drive the ball through point or backward point region. In essence square drive is missing as you end up playing a cut shot to an overpitched delivery through point region. Maybe in the next iteration of DBC the animations could be different depending on the length of the deliveries. For a good length or short pitched ball, the shot through point & backward point region could be a cut shot the way it is now but if the ball is fuller in length the game should play a square drive.

 

[Cloda]

You are right in the sense you can't drive the ball through point or backward point region. In essence square drive is missing as you end up playing a cut shot to an overpitched delivery through point region. Maybe in the next iteration of DBC the animations could be different depending on the length of the deliveries. For a good length or short pitched ball, the shot through point & backward point region could be a cut shot the way it is now but if the ball is fuller in length the game should play a square drive.

That's really a pity, and also really strange that such an important shot is not even in the game. I have begin to notice that I need a way to get the ball into cover/backward cover as the short mid-off or mid-off tend to stop a lot of drive. That is why I tried to practice that shot. Anyway, hope it gets patched in at some point as I love to put Jonty Rhodes at backward point in the game so that he can pull of some amazing catches

Yeah, this game is not perfect, but it is still immensely playable and I hope that just like the recent Formula 1 game series that it would also get better with further reiterations. I will be happy to support the next version of the game next year (my wife not so much ) if they are able to make significant improvements. So far so good with the current patch support.

 

[Cloda]

This might sound strange, but it is better for you in this game if your thinking is backwards... well, in my opinion. I have recently had some (limited) success in my ongoing battle against the Legendary Australian All-time-best. It all came from the realisation that I'm always late against the fast bowlers when I play on the front foot, but not always so when I play from the back foot. As such, I began to set myself to play the majority of the shots on the back foot and low and behold, I found it much easier to react to a fuller ball and play it on the front foot than other way around. I'm also suddenly hitting many more crisp shots and I am picking up the occasional four. I still get it wrong often, but I feel much more in control and hopeful that will lead to vast improvements. Take care to initially play straight until you batsman's eye is in better... you are more likely to get away with playing a too full ball on the back foot if you aim to play straight.

 

[aspink3]

Can anyone offer some advice on timing? It seems to be the only thing stopping me from getting big scores. Particularly off the spinners, I strike balls out of the middle (no aggressive just a stick nudge) and they can travel flat but airborne to the long on/off fielder. If the fielders weren't there it would have gone for 6, but if I want to hit a 6 I would hold the L2 button.

All I really want from a well timed shot is for it to travel along the ground so I don't get caught on the boundary. I don't want to hold L2 & R2 because that's not as controlled vs spinners, does anyone else get caught out from well timed drives?

 

[Cloda]

Can anyone offer some advice on timing? It seems to be the only thing stopping me from getting big scores. Particularly off the spinners, I strike balls out of the middle (no aggressive just a stick nudge) and they can travel flat but airborne to the long on/off fielder. If the fielders weren't there it would have gone for 6, but if I want to hit a 6 I would hold the L2 button.

All I really want from a well timed shot is for it to travel along the ground so I don't get caught on the boundary. I don't want to hold L2 & R2 because that's not as controlled vs spinners, does anyone else get caught out from well timed drives?

Some ideas from me on this from earlier posts:

- http://www.planetcricket.org/forums...ly-giving-up-batting-89770-4.html#post2768527

- http://www.planetcricket.org/forums...orum/my-batting-advice-88980.html#post2776998

 

[aspink3]

Some ideas from me on this from earlier posts:

- http://www.planetcricket.org/forums...ly-giving-up-batting-89770-4.html#post2768527

- http://www.planetcricket.org/forums...orum/my-batting-advice-88980.html#post2776998

I've had a read through your thoughts and I'm not sure it's really what I was after. I always get my batsman set at the crease and build their confidence before I try driving down the pitch, or clipping off legs.

Particularly vs spinners I try drives that seem to catch the bat really well but they travel about knee height to the boundary fielder. How do I drive the ball for the singles without getting caught on the boundary?

 

[Cloda]

I've had a read through your thoughts and I'm not sure it's really what I was after. I always get my batsman set at the crease and build their confidence before I try driving down the pitch, or clipping off legs.

Particularly vs spinners I try drives that seem to catch the bat really well but they travel about knee height to the boundary fielder. How do I drive the ball for the singles without getting caught on the boundary?

In short, what has worked for me and as I expanded on in my posts is:

- As soon as you identify the line and length choose your foot placement with the left stick and hold it it place.
- Wait then for the ball and at the appropriate time, play your chosen shot.

If you play the wrong line or shot to the ball bowled or if your timing is out or if you use a shot modifier, the ball will still go in the air.

 

[aspink3]

In short, what has worked for me and as I expanded on in my posts is:

- As soon as you identify the line and length choose your foot placement with the left stick and hold it it place.
- Wait then for the ball and at the appropriate time, play your chosen shot.

If you play the wrong line or shot to the ball bowled or if your timing is out or if you use a shot modifier, the ball will still go in the air.

I'm finding it hard to tell how my timing is out. If you hit it early the ball sort of loops up and doesn't travel too far, and if you play late it looks a bit ugly and doesn't travel that far either.

I'm more concerned about where it feels like good timing, and the ball rockets towards the boundary but at a low catchable height. I don't know whether, in these circumstances, my timing is right/wrong or whether it's another factor such as playing a drive to a good length ball which will go in the air regardless of timing?

 

[Cloda]

I'm finding it hard to tell how my timing is out. If you hit it early the ball sort of loops up and doesn't travel too far, and if you play late it looks a bit ugly and doesn't travel that far either.

I'm more concerned about where it feels like good timing, and the ball rockets towards the boundary but at a low catchable height. I don't know whether, in these circumstances, my timing is right/wrong or whether it's another factor such as playing a drive to a good length ball which will go in the air regardless of timing?

A timing indicator/meter would certainly help and I hope that it gets implemented at some point. I often switch my batting camera around with a hope of finally settling on one. The reason why I haven't yet, is because for different bowlers, different cameras seems to work better. For fast/fast-medium bowlers I use Broadcast camera as I believe it gives you more time for choosing a shot and I pick the length up easier but I struggle to time the ball as soon as the bowling speed starts varying as there is no way to tell when exactly the ball is in your hitting zone. For slow medium/slow bowlers I prefer the Pro Batting camera as it really helps me with timing the shot but with fast bowlers it feels like I have no time and you immediately have to play the shot as the bowler releases the ball. Irrespective, first choosing your foot placement and then timing your shot goes a long way towards keeping shots down in my experience.

 

[DS1994]

I've pretty much got the hand of batting now. I pre-meditate about three shots depending on the type of bowler. For pace bowlers (bowling over the wicket), drive to mid-on/mid-off if they're deep, cover drive or defend. For pace bowling around, I step right across my stumps and leg glance. Eventually they place 2 behind square so I start driving to mid on. For spinners I either play late to mid on, sweep/reverse sweep or aggressively go down the ground depending on field placements. I used to get caught trying to drive a lot but now since limiting my shots I've been scoring 30+ most innings (Difficulty - Pro). Hope that helps..

 

[cricket_online]

I'm finding it hard to tell how my timing is out. If you hit it early the ball sort of loops up and doesn't travel too far, and if you play late it looks a bit ugly and doesn't travel that far either.

I'm more concerned about where it feels like good timing, and the ball rockets towards the boundary but at a low catchable height. I don't know whether, in these circumstances, my timing is right/wrong or whether it's another factor such as playing a drive to a good length ball which will go in the air regardless of timing?

That's why a feedback mechanism for timing and footwork would go a long way in helping us figure out where we are going wrong. Currently, there's no way to know whether you got out coz you played the ball early, late or it was due to poor/incorrect footwork. Hopefully @BigAntStudios will add some sort of optional feedback HUD/mechanism in a future patch.

 

[aspink3]

That's why a feedback mechanism for timing and footwork would go a long way in helping us figure out where we are going wrong. Currently, there's no way to know whether you got out coz you played the ball early, late or it was due to poor/incorrect footwork. Hopefully @BigAntStudios will add some sort of optional feedback HUD/mechanism in a future patch.

Certainly would make life easier, just until I am fully used to the game. As there is little time to make a shot, it's too hard to determine how well you timed it as well as considering whether you played the right shot and used the correct footwork. A game like this should provide plenty of support and statistics to guide you through.

I've really enjoyed the gameplay and finding a technique that suits my ability to react to a delivery. Everyone will have a different way of being comfortable at the crease, which is a really good concept to have in a cricket simulator. Personally I would love to see more in depth statistics to let me know how well I'm playing, otherwise it's about 50% guessing as to why I get out. It even annoys me when I crunch a ball to the boundary if I just wanted a single in the gap. The lack of control is worrying!

 

[javs52]

Ross said that its not possible to ascertain the right shot because maybe you intentionally play a shot early on time or interntionally play a late shot.....

 

[barmyarmy]

Agreed but some kind of batting feedback would still be helpful.

 

[superfreddie]

Guys, I've tried and tried to play pace bowling without having to premeditate foot placement and have come to the conclusion it is impossible for me. Maybe it is my reactions, but I either play the ball too late and miss it altogether or play too late and edge it. I know some of you have said you don't premeditate for pace bowling but I feel my reactions will never be that quick and it is spoiling the realism of batting for me.

I hope Bigant could maybe think about an adjustable slider for the coloured circle to appear earlier for people like me who aren't quick enough. In the nets the circle seems to appear earlier and I can just about react to the length, but in a game I have no chance.

Any advice would be good but I don't think it will help unfortunately.