Your Cricket Advice for a new captain

[Insomniac]

Let me give you a suggestion out of my book.

Never, ever, tell a bowler to slow down his pace for accuracy.

In fact, encourage them to bowl faster and faster.

Assuming you're playing at a club (or lower) level, if you've got some decent fast bowlers, you might be able to use pace at an advantage.

Let me tell you a story. Did you hear about the 70 year old woman, who saw a 5 year old in the road? Her body, became instantly pumped with adrenaline, and she was able to run into the road, and lift the car, and save the 5 year old.

Now whether thats a true story, I really have no idea, but somebody did tell that to me. Point is, you can have some very weak and useless players (muscle / strength wise), but if you can get them pumped up enough, anything is possible.

 

[Left_Hander]

Though at the start of his spell he has got to find his rhythm and you need to build up your speed because you could start spraying or could hurt yourself.

Also with that story one guy in my team who isn't that great but can bowl some decent medium pacers. He bowled a couple of overs to the tail and got a couple of wickets, which was great to see him get excited and I felt great because he isn't the best player on the team, so for him to get two wickets was cool.

 

[ZoraxDoom]

Put it this way: If Cricinfo doesn't record the stats of these matches, it's a low level

 

[Left_Hander]

Well actually Zorax my association has a website with results and tables on it

 

[Black Magic]

What ever you do, don't do what I did...Couple of years ago, I was captain for school. Do not do the following -

• Copy the other teams field
• Have your top 2 best batsmen batting at 9 and 10
• Have bowlers come in at 3 and 4
• Bring spinners on first change
• Have everyone fielding behind square to put pressure on the batsmen

That was from personal experience and I guarantee it doesn't work

 

[baggy_blogger]

Great to see you are Captain mate!
I usually don't cruise on over to this part of the forum but here's my input:

LEAD BY EXAMPLE! A good attitude enforces belief, not only in yourself but your players too.
KNOW YOUR RESOURCES. Who your bowlers are, batsman, fielding strengths etc. Utilise them well and think smart. Everyone has a role, encourage them to fulfil that duty.
BE FAIR BUT FIRM. Give all the guys a chance at their desired role in the team and be fair in this matter. However be firm by always seeing if the next bloke is working harder than the current bloke not performing, he may have to reasses his role in the team.
MOTIVATE ON & OFF THE FIELD. At nets be a listener, be observant. If you can see a bloke is struggling, get stuck in there and motivate him. Empathise with your team mates and motivate each other. Nothing better than getting motivation from someone who cares.
SWOT. Know your STRENGHTS, WEAKNESSES, THREATS & OPPORTUNITIES. This wont only be picked up by you but by your teammates alike.
SYNERGY. Work as unit, as you may know 'the whole is greater than the sum of its parts'.
GOOD SPORTSMANSHIP. Its great to be competitive and hard playing but remember, true sportsmanship goes along way off the sportsfield. Be fair, respectful, honest and loyal to your team mates, even the opposition. It can pay off by reducing the sledging from the slips!
HAVE FUN & PLAY TO WIN! They key! Enjoy your cricket always, even if you having a bad season. Ensure your team mates have a good time, but play hard competitive cricket even when the chips are down. Always play to win so when the going gets tough and you come out in the end, even if it is a marginal loss, you will feel the rush of potential victory!

Thats simple leadership skills. You really have it naturally or not. If not you just find guys who are, listen and learn and ask questions!
Otherwise yeah mate, have a blast this season and I hope you Captain yourside to many victories!

baggy_blogger added 4 Minutes and 57 Seconds later...

With fair but firm in a simpler way; stick by your gut instincts and don't be afraid to tell a guy who maybe isn't playing brilliantly, to maybe drop down the order a bit or bowl third change instead of opener. This seems negative can be a great confidence booster. If you back yourself it doesn't only motivate the guy you've addressed (if he ups his game in the end) but also the bloke who is going to be filling the void for the other.

You get my idea, I hope.

 

[Left_Hander]

What ever you do, don't do what I did...Couple of years ago, I was captain for school. Do not do the following -

• Copy the other teams field
• Have your top 2 best batsmen batting at 9 and 10
• Have bowlers come in at 3 and 4
• Bring spinners on first change
• Have everyone fielding behind square to put pressure on the batsmen

That was from personal experience and I guarantee it doesn't work

1) Ok, simple enough
2) Why would you do that anyway?
3) Is that batting?
4) Ok.
5) You can only have two right?

I don't think I did any of those so I passed the test.

---

@ Baggy Blogger (sorry your post was too long to quote )

Thanks for that. I might print that off and identify what each players strengths and weakness are.

I've started to keep notes on each days play like who scored the most, how I got out and who were there gun batsmen. I feel this helps as we play each other twice this season.

 

[tassietiger]

Okay, seeing as I wasn't that helpful the first time, I might post something a bit more reasonable in here. I was captain of a team a few years ago which regularly performed much better than it should have, and in all modesty, I played a decent role in that.

Batting:
There isn't much you can do with batting, other than trying to bat really well yourself. You can try and get everyone relaxed as much as you like but you have to accept that some would rather be tense and get themselves focused. Giving people promotions up the order for consistent performances in the lower order can boost their confidence which might help a little, but really, there's not much you can do to improve your teams batting other than hope.

Bowling:
Always be looking at each batsman's strengths and weaknesses. Figure out whether he is getting onto the front foot all of the time, or the back foot all of the time. If he's playing the ball late, stick your fastest bowler on and see if he can react to that. If he's playing the ball early, stick a spinner on and he'll more than likely spoon the ball to someone.

Sometimes the obvious tactics aren't the best ones. If someone is playing the cut shot regularly, you might want to leave a gap there and tell the bowler not to let it outside off. That way he'll go for his favourite shot anyway because of your gap and he might get cramped and edge it / get bowled.

Bowl your bowlers from the right ends. We had this one guy who would bowl beamers all of the time in the nets, and even when he didn't bowl those he was bowling full-tosses. I'd make sure every time he bowled he was either against the wind or bowling up-hill if the ground was sloped. Not only did this get his bowling to hit the pitch, but he became a huge asset to the team as not many bowlers tended to like bowling up the hill on our home ground.

Another important thing you need to do is sort out which of your fast bowlers have a good slower ball. Occasionally you will come up against quality batsmen who tend to be excellent on the front foot, and they seem to be able to drive anything reasonably pitched up. Get the designated bowler to keep pitching it up until the batsman is hitting them that perfectly that he doesn't really need to think about it any more. Once they're coming off that sweetly, get the slower ball to come out. He'll see it, go for the drive, being sky-high on confidence with the shot, and will be a fair chance to miscue it. If it doesn't work, then you're in for a long day, and just hope that he gets run out or something.

Fielding:
This is where I think our team excelled. Be an idiot in the field. Make ridiculous comments all of the time. They don't have to be sledges, just say something. When someone would drop a catch, there was none of that boring 'oh, don't worry about that, you'll get it next time'. It was more like 'you should put a fielder where he is.' If the team is having fun in the field then they will stay focused.

Also, considering your standard of cricket, I suggest you don't persist with slips for too long. They won't take many catches, even if they do come. I know there are always a couple of blokes in the team who insist that they are really good in the slips and could take a hanger at any stage, but it doesn't happen often. A short third man towards the end of an innings can save a huge amount of runs.

 

[Left_Hander]

Thanks Tassie.

I wasn't really sure what to do with the batting side of things because people usually have their own preparations.

Also with the bowlers I have asked them if they want anything changed to the field and asked if what they the batsmen is doing etc.

I think I might drop myself back to short third man in our next game.

Thanks for the post

 

[tassietiger]

Thanks Tassie.

I wasn't really sure what to do with the batting side of things because people usually have their own preparations.

Also with the bowlers I have asked them if they want anything changed to the field and asked if what they the batsmen is doing etc.

I think I might drop myself back to short third man in our next game.

Thanks for the post

With the bowling, I think the captain can play a fair role in figuring them out rather than the bowler. Obviously in international cricket the bowlers do most of that, and set their own fields, but in lower standards of cricket, bowlers are just trying to make sure they don't spray the ball off the pitch, and are hardly thinking about what the batsman is thinking. If you spot anything in the batsman, do whatever you can to exploit it.

I probably shouldn't have said short third man. Go the whole distance and make it a proper third man. Edges fly off the bat and are hard to stop, and you don't want to be giving the other team boundaries for shots that were pure flukes. Also, as captain, you should never go to third man, because it is boring. Put your least liked teammate there. There have to be perks.

tassietiger added 5 Minutes and 27 Seconds later...

Let me give you a suggestion out of my book.

Never, ever, tell a bowler to slow down his pace for accuracy.

In fact, encourage them to bowl faster and faster.

Assuming you're playing at a club (or lower) level, if you've got some decent fast bowlers, you might be able to use pace at an advantage.

Let me tell you a story. Did you hear about the 70 year old woman, who saw a 5 year old in the road? Her body, became instantly pumped with adrenaline, and she was able to run into the road, and lift the car, and save the 5 year old.

Now whether thats a true story, I really have no idea, but somebody did tell that to me. Point is, you can have some very weak and useless players (muscle / strength wise), but if you can get them pumped up enough, anything is possible.

Some bowlers should not try to bowl too fast. If they aren't that quick, they won't get much reward from the extra pace so it wasn't worth the effort. If they are quick, it's most likely that they'll still be a reasonable pace without the extra speed and, combined with the accuracy they'll be a considerable force bowling a little slower. A fast bowler might scare a few tailenders, but a batsman with a bit of confidence about them will thrive on the lack of accuracy.

 

[Left_Hander]

With the bowling, I think the captain can play a fair role in figuring them out rather than the bowler. Obviously in international cricket the bowlers do most of that, and set their own fields, but in lower standards of cricket, bowlers are just trying to make sure they don't spray the ball off the pitch, and are hardly thinking about what the batsman is thinking. If you spot anything in the batsman, do whatever you can to exploit it.

I probably shouldn't have said short third man. Go the whole distance and make it a proper third man. Edges fly off the bat and are hard to stop, and you don't want to be giving the other team boundaries for shots that were pure flukes. Also, as captain, you should never go to third man, because it is boring. Put your least liked teammate there. There have to be perks.

I was trying to figure out the batsmen in our last game and asking the bowlers if they wanted to change the field. Thing is I didn't want to spend to much time on one decision.

Obivously if we are on top I wouldn't bother with the third man. Also we have two keepers but so has to field and I put him next to me at around gully. I thought that was a good idea because being in the slips is a little like being a keeper.

You couldn't have a whole serious post could you mate . I will field inside the ring now, don't have a strong arm and I can see make changes easier.

 

[baggy_blogger]

Glad you found my bit of advice helpful LH!
Anytime mate, take care. Good luck for the season.