I think that since the patch the timing of these shots may be a little less forgiving but I am certainly still able to hit these shots along the ground more often than not.
I've played the game since April and have got a pretty good handle on timing but the pull & cut shots still go in the air. I hit "Match Practice" to see if it was the timing issue but I got 'Perfect' feedback for both footwork and timing, and still the ball went into the air everytime. Before the 2nd patch the balance was perfect for these shots, i.e. if I nailed these shots, they went along the ground and if I mistimes I was caught by Square Leg/Mid Wkt/Forward Square Leg (Pull/Hook) or by Gully/Slips (Cut).
Playing the shot along ground using an additional trigger (R2 & L2) is not a solution either as these triggers are meant to play aggressive shots, which I'm not. It should be the other way round - if you use triggers for an aggressive shot there should be more chance of the ball going in the air and not when you play a regular pull or cut shot.
I think overall the game is more balanced now. But it certainly is less fun.
Batting is all lofted shots to the boundary or a fielder for me so I usually end up at 12 off 3 then out, or something similar.
Career spin bowling has been nerfed hard. It was silly before, really really silly. But now its just dull. I bowl maiden after maiden after maiden. Virtually no wickets to be seen.
Its definitely a mixed bag, sadly not the holy grail I was hoping for.
For me we are left with something similar to what we had before, A really good cricket game with some big issues. Its just that the issues have changed now.
The main problem I face is that it's literally become impossible for me to get past 30s or 40s in career mode now. Earlier I was able to score an odd 100 with an average of mid 30s in odis (intl) and 37 in T20Is. But since the patch as soon as my career player gets a start, AI puts one of the following two fields....
Field 1: Backward Square Leg, Square, Square Leg, Mid Wkt, Mid On or Long On, Mid Off or Long Off, Cover or Extra Cover, Point or Backward Point, Third Man
Field 2: Fine Leg, Forward Square Leg, Mid Mkt, Deep Square Leg, Mid On, Mid Off, Extra Cover or Cover, Point or Backward Point, Gully.
With these two fields you can't do much against pacers. You can't play on the leg side as you don't have enough time to change your shot when they throw in the short ball which is taken by one of the leg side fielders, and playing on the off side is a lottey as you get caught in the cover region or edge it behind. Cut shot is out too due to point/backward point or Gully/Third man as the ball carries to these fielders.
Essentially batting becomes russian roulette after you cross 20, if you are lucky, coz sometimes AI puts these fields at the start of my career player's innings itself. Before patch 2 I could play on the leg side and take 1s and 2s before AI reacted and opened another gap but now I can't as short ball being hit in the air everytime takes it out of equation. In shorter formats (odis & T20s) I don't have an option of blocking the field till AI changes the field as run rate is an issue. Before patch 2 there was a way to build an innings if you timed everything well, but not so anymore as even well timed shots are hit in the air and you end up being dismissed.
A touch disappointed coz if the leg side flicks & glances could have been fixed the way they have been in this patch, without changing the other shots and keeping them as is, we would have had a near perfect game.
Kudos to the guys who are able to play the cut/pull along the ground atm, maybe i need to practice a bit more, but i have played in the net against short ball only, played a practice match against fast, medium etc getting the timing and footwork perfect and it was still going in the air under these conditions. The only thing that worked was holding the triggers which really isnt a practical solution imo.
Agreed. Tried hitting the 'Practice Match' and my results were consistent with yours.
Edit: I would request Big Ant folks to adress the issue of some of the shots being hit in the air everytime (pull/hook & cut) as part of Patch 3 gameplay balancing. I see this concern as a much bigger problem than poor field sets or any other remaining issues as it takes away from the realism. You want to build your inning by keeping the ball on the ground in Tests, which is not that feasible unless you cut out most the shots.
.
