As you know Sam's exe removes the bowling cursor and does not display the swing/spin of the ball + it eliminates the line-up bug.
If you are good at batting in the default hard mode, then you can try Ravi's patches. The 7.0 is the latest released patch. It makes batting pretty tough. I am currently using that. But, I installed the patches as and when they were released (progressively becoming tougher).
Otherwise, you will have to use all the other great downloads that people have put here:
SaveTweak - Absolutely required. Will help you overcome a few bugs + other enhancements.
Line-Up Editor - I just love it. Also, you can use this to change the line-up in the middle of the tour or in a saved game and the like. You can even overcome the line-up bug using this editor.
And others ...