The Hundred

[T.J.Hooker II]

He's looked pretty useful. Batting side deffo finding it tough going. Cox might have a broken hand from the look of it.

Def would like to see the swing graphic.

 

[Bevab]

Adam Milne appears to be swinging it both ways

@T.J.Hooker II

Would unironically take him ahead of Lockie in the WC XI for NZ.

 

[wasteyouryouth]

Would unironically take him ahead of Lockie in the WC XI for NZ.

Meanwhile, one delivery from Benny Howell swings both ways.

 

[pillowprocter]

Interesting how every team is still in contention for the Men's Hundred

 

[wasteyouryouth]

Ravi B with three in ten balls. Legendary bowling.

 

[Till Valhalla]

Ravi B with three in ten balls. Legendary bowling.

I am like did Bishnoi did very well against Ireland today.

 

[T.J.Hooker II]

Ravi B with three in ten balls. Legendary bowling.

Do you remember an old DBC build - I think it was DBC14 - where they tried expanding the min/max spped range and the result was medium pacers being incredibly difficult to hit because of the pace changes.

That's perfect for a Bopara style bowler.

 

[wasteyouryouth]

Do you remember an old DBC build - I think it was DBC14 - where they tried expanding the min/max spped range and the result was medium pacers being incredibly difficult to hit because of the pace changes.

That's perfect for a Bopara style bowler.

Nah, but I assume that's why you can't bowl slower balls anymore. Having Obed McCoy bowl a full pace effort ball in the high 80s then drop down the 50s would be impossible to play against.

Probably why people use 0 skill medium pacers online.

 

[T.J.Hooker II]

Yeah, it's another example of something that has a very specific use where it'd be fantastic but is horrible if every player can do it.

eta similarly, the flick through midwicket from outside off stump. At one stage in a 14 or 17 build the AI was playing that shot all the time and it pissed everyone off mightily. But if it's a shot that only a limited number players in the game can play then you get something much closer to reality.

 

[T.J.Hooker II]

Actually there's one more thing I should say if I'm going to be thorough / boring about it : the visual arm speed is really really really key.

I would have to confirm with somebody at BA but I'm not sure that the game maps delivery speed onto visual arm speed. That makes changes of pace much more difficult to pick up.

That's the key with good changes of pace. They only decieve the batsman if the arm speed looks similar to regular pace deliveries. If Bopara bowled his changes ups without disguising his arm speed he'd just go out of the park.

 

[wasteyouryouth]

Actually there's one more thing I should say if I'm going to be thorough / boring about it : the visual arm speed is really really really key.

I would have to confirm with somebody at BA but I'm not sure that the game maps delivery speed onto visual arm speed. That makes changes of pace much more difficult to pick up.

That's the key with good changes of pace. They only decieve the batsman if the arm speed looks similar to regular pace deliveries. If Bopara bowled his changes ups without disguising his arm speed he'd just go out of the park.

The popularity of the knuckle ball and holding the ball deep in the hand, is probably a big factor is making deception more effective. You don't need to adjust the arm speed just the grip. Obviously it's quite a skill to get the line and length when changing the grip but it certainly makes it easier to deceive the batter this way. Most cutters seem to be more subtle too which also means less deviation off the pitch and more subtle speed changes. The back of the hand is probably equally challenging to bowl, but potentially easier to pick.

I expect from batting perspective it requires an ability similar to picking a spinner. Although with more data and analysis available I'd imagine batters have a lot of insights into bowlers and what they are likely to bowl. I remember seeing a couple players get smacked first ball, because they like to start off with a slower ball, and the batter is expecting it. Jade Dernbach and Tom Curran, at international level, seem to have been victims of the initial success. Batters can just play them as medium pacers because they bowled so many slower balls.

Bopara seems to have made himself into a Benny Howell type variation bowler, with the quicker ball being a rare option. He looked to be bowling a lot of knuckle balls last night.

I do wonder if we're going to see more of these, certainly in franchise/domestic cricket. Bowling higher pace with variations still seems to be the preference in the top international teams. Sikandar Raza, Tim David both seem to be taking a leaf out of Sunil Narine's book with their bowling. And, I think, Narine and Raza seem to have more in common with someone like Benny Howell than other finger spinners. Although one trend I've seen over the last twelve months is finger spinners firing it in at above 70mph. Dan Mousley seems to be closer to that speed as a stock ball than Bopara or Howell.

 

[T.J.Hooker II]

I think Franklyn Stephenson was the first bowler I heard of with a specialist slower ball, and I think that was probably a knuckle ball. Chris Cairns developed a very good slower ball in the 90s, prob also a knuckle ball.

Essentially, the more batsmen are looking to generate bat speed and the more damaging dot balls are, the more dangerous off speed deliveries are. For a primarily defensive batsman in long form cricket, a bunch of off speed pitches probably aren't going to do a lot - a dead bat defensive shot, by the nature of it, largely negates the issue of timing because you're just moving the bat into line and then waiting for the impact. You can be early on the shot with little to no penalty.

As soon as you swing hard, you're reducing the amount of time that the bat spends passing through the ideal interception point so coordinating your swing so that bat meets ball at the most powerful point of the arc becomes increasingly difficult.

 

[Umair7]

Sam Billings: 7 innings, 50 runs @12.50

 

[Umair7]

Sam Billings: 7 innings, 50 runs @12.50

Billings Today: 76 runs (not out) should have shat on him earlier

 

[wasteyouryouth]

What an incredible innings from Harry Brook

83 not out with five to go, finishes on 105*