To be fair to the game I haven't spent long enough in bat to really criticise it. What I will say is it takes minimal skill and can be done one handed. Also you can't nudge and poke you way to a score. Everything seems really aggressive. Also shots that I seem to play go elsewhere. I like the idea of unorthodox shots but you never know which once your batsman is going to play. Personally prefer IC10s method of weighted analog stick movements for weight of shot. Much more sophisticated. 3-0
International Cricket 2010 having more sophisticated batting? What?
Firstly, it seems you don't even understand the controls for batting, you and freely admit this, then still go on to criticise them.
The depth of the batting in this game is great, but let's start with the actual controls:
Left stick: Foot placement
Right stick: Shot selection
Right bumper: Advance down the wicket
Left bumper: Unorthodox shots
Right trigger: Defensive shots
Left trigger: Aggressive shots
Both triggers: Aggressive ground shots
But what does this all mean in practice. Well, to start with if you want to push the ball, you slightly depress the right trigger and you will play a more defensive than normal shot, but not try and kill it entirely (which is what happens when you have the trigger right down). If not for the overpowered fielders (which is being patch) it would be a lot easier to push for a single to rotate the strike (although it is still possible with some practice and some sense of the field).
The next thing of note is how important foot placement is as well as shot selection. I hear some people mention "the ball not going the direction I wanted", and the simply point is this isn't the simple cartoon cricket of the past, shot selection is the direction of the shot, but where the ball goes is entirely up to how it makes contact with the bat. If it catches the bat early (say you're attempting to pull the ball and mess up the timing slightly), then it isn't going to go the direction you "picked". Unless the ball is middled, which ever shot is picked it's not going exactly that direction. But of course that's all just common sense.
Moving on to the unorthodox shots, they aren't unpredictable at all. In fact, go into practice mode and play around with them, just like all the other shots in the game it's the direction of the sticks that choose the shot, not the ball. If you go front foot and to the right on the right stick with an unorthodox shot (with a right hander), it'll be a reverse sweep each and every time. To the left is a sweep of course. Pushing forward is one of those scoop shots as I learned when I was caught out by a bowler with an unexpectedly straight ball (it actually went for 4 though... whew...).
As for batting in general, don't knock it until you've given it a proper try. It is a joy.