Problem: Is batting just guess work?

[whiteninness]

I just think they have got it way too hard even for the easy levels. I like a challenge but I have been playing this for 6 months now and really getting no further. Apparently the '15 version is no different, shame, I think I'm just going to shelve it now and do something else with my spare time.

According to where?

 

[Biggs]

Reached a stage where I can do well in tests, staying in and hitting bad balls. In limited overs where there's pressure to score, I'm much less good.

I'm pretty much at exactly the same level and to be honest, after a year of playing on the same difficulty level anything other than "Pro" pushes me way too far into the "luck" category with batting and bowling. I find when batting I'm premeditating early on, especially in Tests, just to get some runs on the board... and once I've been "in" I'm playing shots naturally into gaps and there's very little premeditation going on, even against the faster bowlers, I'm just playing organic shots to relevant lengths. It's really just the early stages of batting I feel there's some guesswork going on while you get your eye in, which I believe truly fits the nature of the real sport... and since very few of us are professional cricket players that have faced 150kmph bowler on a regular basis, I think it's perfectly fine to premeditating the odd delivery, especially advance shots which are exactly that in real life anyway...

 

[isrararrafi]

I'm pretty much at exactly the same level and to be honest, after a year of playing on the same difficulty level anything other than "Pro" pushes me way too far into the "luck" category with batting and bowling. I find when batting I'm premeditating early on, especially in Tests, just to get some runs on the board... and once I've been "in" I'm playing shots naturally into gaps and there's very little premeditation going on, even against the faster bowlers, I'm just playing organic shots to relevant lengths. It's really just the early stages of batting I feel there's some guesswork going on while you get your eye in, which I believe truly fits the nature of the real sport... and since very few of us are professional cricket players that have faced 150kmph bowler on a regular basis, I think it's perfectly fine to premeditating the odd delivery, especially advance shots which are exactly that in real life anyway...

I will second that. I premeditate at the beginning of the innings a lot. But after a while, i would find myself actually playing the right shots . I would see the line early and would start varying my shots. Length though has been an issue for me always no matter how much longer i play.

 

[Biggs]

Length though has been an issue for me always no matter how much longer i play.

Breaking it down, for me, scoring-wise it normally goes:

• 0 - 25 premeditating 80% of the shots to both fast/spin bowlers
  
• 25 - 40 premeditating 50% of the shots to only fast bowlers, spin playing from the "hand"
  
• 40 --> premeditating 10% of the shots to only fast bowlers and only advance shots in ODI's/T20's

It varies slightly in Test matches because the batsmans confidence meter increases at a much slower rate, so I really have to be patient against the AI. It's a bit different when playing online in the longer formats, because when I lose patience I'll drop anywhere between 3 to 5 wickets getting frustrated and slogging away. @MattW tends to have better patience in those scenarios and can pull rabbits out of hats in the longer formats.

But definitely against the AI and career mode especially, that's a pretty true representation of my 'guesswork' if you like when batting. I tend to struggle with shorter balls on my leg side as I prefer to cut, rather than pull. Everyone has a weakness!

 

[tazzron]

I premeditate almost 100% of my shots (and most of them are basically slogs) in all formats and have a lot of success on Veteran mode.

 

[mehtaapurv]

Batting is sometimes frustrating when after putting a lot of effort you get out getting an unrealistic edge.

But regardless here what I do:
At the start of the innings avoid hitting anything outside the off stump and good length. Try to play straight or flick on the leg side
After that I just decide two shots for each delivery and play them depending on where the delivery lands.
If I can't pick the delivery for a particular bowler I just leave him alone and play out his over rather risking my wicket.
Sometimes what works is to attack the fast bowler hit him for a few boundaries and it does become easier to face them.

 

[Mr Snrub]

I also try and narrow my range of shots so that I'm down to 2-3 options depending on the field. There is often, but not always a degree of premeditation. It's only slightly to the point where an adjustment to any future versions would be pleasing to me. It'd have to be very subtle, because I like the game to be hard, but fair.