I have played a lot of people online and most can't get past 40 runs in a 10 over game. Meanwhile me and other players who are even better than me are consistently scoring over 100 and even as high as 150 (my best is 157 against CPU and I think 120 or so online). Some of this is probably lag but I think a lot of people are struggling to understand how the batting system works in this game. Since I would like to play more competitive games online I figured I would write this guide. Hopefully some of you will find it useful.
General concepts:
The first thing to get down is how to time your shots and place the feet of the batsman properly. The best way to practice this is to have the CPU bowl you good length straight deliveries in the nets and practice the three major types of lofted straight shots - lofted cover, lofted straight, and lofted mid-wicket shot. After each shot the game will tell you "your timing was correct/poor with good/poor foot placement." The reason to use the lofted shots is that the timing and foot placement for these is similar to the other shots in the game (there are shots that are different which I will mention later), but more challenging, so it is a better test. Also, these are the three bread and butter boundary shots that are key to getting high scores.
The timing varies depending on the bowler, but in general what I use is:
Red/flaming : somewhat before the ball leaves the bowlers hand
Orange : slightly before or just as the ball leaves the bowlers hand
Yellow : just after to somewhat after the ball leaves the bowlers hand
This also depends on fast/medium/spin bowlers, orange for a fast bowler is usually faster than for a medium and so forth. Also, if you don't host, lag can be a big problem - I wouldn't play above 150ms and even 100ms has a big impact on timing. Be a sporting person if you host and warn people who have high ping that join your game that there will be lag, rather than just starting right away.
The foot placement is also very important, in fact from what I have seen most people time the ball pretty well but put their feet in the wrong location. For the cover shot, the ball needs to be about half a circle width outside of the batsman's ground circle, for straight the ball should pass just at the outside edge of the circle, and for the mid-wicket shot the ball should be on the middle or just leg side of the circle or thereabouts. Remember that for medium pacers and spinners the ball will move in the direction of the arrow so you have to account for this, except for googlies/doosras, which is why spinners are tough in this game.
Shot Selection (lofted shots):
The length of the ball determines the shot to play, like in real cricket, which is why this is a decent game compared to some others where you can slog bouncers over mid on. For the front foot lofted shots, it is somewhat tough to play a yorker length ball, especially the mid-wicket shot, but possible. I will tend to shy away from these shots if a yorker on the stumps is bowled, unless "predictable" comes up - then I slog away. Half-volley to short of a length are all ideal, bouncer length and these shots will not work, like in real cricket. The short of a length ball is just as easy to time so don't be afraid to play these shots to it, but it is more difficult to predict the line of the ball since there is more time to move.
For bouncers you have the choice of hook, pull, or cut. The hook and pull have somewhat similar foot placement (hook is more toward leg). I think the hook and pull require somewhat earlier timing than the cut but it could just be me. Anyway these shots are very effective and easy to time, the key is to use the placement to get it wide of the fielder (more on this later). For lofted versions of these you have a chance to hit a six, whereas you can't usually hit a six with standard front foot lofted shots.
Other Shots:
Even though this guide has talked about lofted shots so far, even when you are scoring 100+ the game is not all about slogging once you are against good players who can set good fields and bowl well. What you will find is that push shots and glances are far better in this game than in other cricket games so far.
When the fielders are all back on the boundary (all 5), this means that the opponent can't possibly cover everywhere in the infield. It is still possible to take on the fielders for fours with precise placement or go for sixes but even in a 10 over game you may run out of wickets if you go for sixes every time. The true money shots in this situation are the push shots (ctrl + direction direction), particularly the push to square and the push to leg. The advantage of these two shots in particular is that there are no other shots that will hit length deliveries in these areas, the ball does not travel as fast so you can run two if the boundary fielder has to field it, and they are very low risk - you have to mistime/misplace the feet badly to have negative outcomes with these.
The fine leg and 3rd man glances (left or right) are also very good but require placement to avoid the fielder, unless your opponent doesn't have a fine leg or 3rd man. In that case, help yourself to a boundary every time with these shots, but be careful not to play onto your stumps.
The sweeps are also very interesting. The sweep is a very strong shot as most field placings do not have a fielder in that direction, especially if you use placement to get the ball squarer, meaning it has a high chance of going for a boundary. However it can only be used against fuller than length deliveries against spinners (sometimes it will come off against a slow ball from a medium pacer but this is rare). The reverse sweep is also similar, but the timing is much earlier than other shots and takes some practice. Foot placing for these is generally right on the edge of the circle of the batsman. The "3rd man" aggressive shot, up + left, is also very similar to a sweep in that I think it only works against spinners and probably only against length deliveries or shorter. The added power of this shot can allow you to beat a short 3rd man with good placement.
Placement Arrows:
The placement arrows are the key to high scoring and low-risk cricket in this game. In fact they give too much of an advantage to the defensive batsman type in my opinion and I use the defensive type exclusively. Basically what these arrows do is alter the direction of the shot, from the default direction where the shot would normally be hit. The amount the ball's direction can be changed depends on the type of batsman - defensive can move all the way, balanced is in the middle, aggressive is very small.
For the arrows to be useful, you have to know where each of the 37 shots will go without using the arrows, which is just something that takes practice, I guess. In general though, I use the arrows on 80% of my shots for various reasons. The most common use is to go wide of the fielders on the boundary for lofted shots. With the defensive batsman, if you move the arrow all the way you can pierce gaps for four even in a 5-boundary rider field, as long as their outfielders are not too fast (it is important to have fast outfielders, btw). Also, even if there is no fielder on the boundary for your lofted shot, there is usually someone on the infield. If you slightly mistime your shot, you can still get a boundary or have the ball land safe by hitting it wide of the infielder - making these shots far less risky.
Another important use is for the push shots. It is not usually possible to push the ball wide of a fielder - for example if there is a fielder at point, you won't be able to push it past him with ctrl + L L. But if there is no fielder there, you can push the ball slightly wide of the fielder on the boundary who will take longer to field the ball. By doing this you can run a safe two instead of a close/struggling two. You can even get an occasional boundary square of the wicket if they have no fielder there and your placement is perfect.
Finally these are very good for sweeps and glances. It is usually possible to beat a slip with 3rd man glances and often a short 3rd man as well, although these can be somewhat risky. Fine leg even short is hard to beat unless he is badly placed. For the sweep if you put the ball all the way square, against the standard field this is a boundary every time even with fine leg deep. If you are playing any of these shots square as opposed to fine, it is rare to play on to the stumps, even if you play a ball outside off to fine leg/vice versa, but playing the ball fine will play on every time in these situations.
Standard aggressive shots:
In general in a 10 over game I won't use these much, except for the pull and cut which I probably use 50-50 between lofted and normal, depending on the field. Usually the risk-reward is better either playing the lofted shot or a push shot. However if the opponent puts all of his ring fielders on the edge of the circle, you can use the standard shots to still score twos instead of the ones that you would get from a push shot. Just remember that the timing and foot placement requirements are somewhat more stringent on these. For longer games these become more viable as they are lower risk and are definitely satisfying when you beat the boundary fielders with a classic cricket shot.
Slog (alt) shots:
The alt slog shots have the advantage that they can go for sixes, but are otherwise much more difficult to time and foot place than standard lofted shots. They make up the difference between the defensive and aggressive batsman. Aggressive batsmen are far more likely to hit a 6 with these shots, while the defensive batsman will often come up just short, which can be bad if you are taking on the fielder. Even if you hit a perfect shot, these will not go for 6 every time, the type of batsman and stats determines the % chance.
These shots have to be played slightly earlier than normal lofted shots and the foot placement requirement is very severe. If you are slightly off with the placement of feet you will never hit a 6 but will often hit a flat, although powerful, shot that could be caught in the infield. Use the arrows to avoid this and still get a boundary. The placing of feet is similar to the lofted shots.
In general the standard lofted shots will score more on average and are far far safer, especially if your batsman is not "settled". However with a set/on fire batsman the timing window is much wider and you can smash some huge sixes with these.
Alt + L L and R R deserve special mention as these are the only aerial shots to length deliveries in these directions. The RR slog is a very powerful but somewhat difficult shot and is worth the practice as it is common for people/cpu to block the straight boundary shots. The foot placement is just outside of a standard midwicket shot, and unlike the others, the timing for this shot is normal, not early like the other slogs. This shot can hit sixes as well, but does not work well at all against yorker (sometimes is ok against yorkers) or shorter deliveries. The other slog, over point is very difficult in my opinion and I don't use it much, although I have seen other people use it to good effect.
Overall:
This guide is long but I think it should serve as a good basic playbook for batting in this game. The reason this is the best cricket game by far (in my opinion) is the wide variety and usefulness of all the shots offered, as long as you understand their use and have practiced them. All games online are 10 overs right now which means that lofted slogs are the name of the game but I think this could be a very good game to play in a 20 or 50 over format and I have hit some centuries already against the cpu in 20 over contests - it is very satisfying to build up the batsman's meter with low risk shots and then slog for the fences with a set player.
To get better I recommend first getting the timing down in the nets and then playing 10 over games against the CPU and just focusing on certain types of shots in each game, push shots, lofted, glances, etc. One nice feature is that you win the toss every time, at least on normal. After you can get above 100 or so consistently you should do very well online. Good luck.
General concepts:
The first thing to get down is how to time your shots and place the feet of the batsman properly. The best way to practice this is to have the CPU bowl you good length straight deliveries in the nets and practice the three major types of lofted straight shots - lofted cover, lofted straight, and lofted mid-wicket shot. After each shot the game will tell you "your timing was correct/poor with good/poor foot placement." The reason to use the lofted shots is that the timing and foot placement for these is similar to the other shots in the game (there are shots that are different which I will mention later), but more challenging, so it is a better test. Also, these are the three bread and butter boundary shots that are key to getting high scores.
The timing varies depending on the bowler, but in general what I use is:
Red/flaming : somewhat before the ball leaves the bowlers hand
Orange : slightly before or just as the ball leaves the bowlers hand
Yellow : just after to somewhat after the ball leaves the bowlers hand
This also depends on fast/medium/spin bowlers, orange for a fast bowler is usually faster than for a medium and so forth. Also, if you don't host, lag can be a big problem - I wouldn't play above 150ms and even 100ms has a big impact on timing. Be a sporting person if you host and warn people who have high ping that join your game that there will be lag, rather than just starting right away.
The foot placement is also very important, in fact from what I have seen most people time the ball pretty well but put their feet in the wrong location. For the cover shot, the ball needs to be about half a circle width outside of the batsman's ground circle, for straight the ball should pass just at the outside edge of the circle, and for the mid-wicket shot the ball should be on the middle or just leg side of the circle or thereabouts. Remember that for medium pacers and spinners the ball will move in the direction of the arrow so you have to account for this, except for googlies/doosras, which is why spinners are tough in this game.
Shot Selection (lofted shots):
The length of the ball determines the shot to play, like in real cricket, which is why this is a decent game compared to some others where you can slog bouncers over mid on. For the front foot lofted shots, it is somewhat tough to play a yorker length ball, especially the mid-wicket shot, but possible. I will tend to shy away from these shots if a yorker on the stumps is bowled, unless "predictable" comes up - then I slog away. Half-volley to short of a length are all ideal, bouncer length and these shots will not work, like in real cricket. The short of a length ball is just as easy to time so don't be afraid to play these shots to it, but it is more difficult to predict the line of the ball since there is more time to move.
For bouncers you have the choice of hook, pull, or cut. The hook and pull have somewhat similar foot placement (hook is more toward leg). I think the hook and pull require somewhat earlier timing than the cut but it could just be me. Anyway these shots are very effective and easy to time, the key is to use the placement to get it wide of the fielder (more on this later). For lofted versions of these you have a chance to hit a six, whereas you can't usually hit a six with standard front foot lofted shots.
Other Shots:
Even though this guide has talked about lofted shots so far, even when you are scoring 100+ the game is not all about slogging once you are against good players who can set good fields and bowl well. What you will find is that push shots and glances are far better in this game than in other cricket games so far.
When the fielders are all back on the boundary (all 5), this means that the opponent can't possibly cover everywhere in the infield. It is still possible to take on the fielders for fours with precise placement or go for sixes but even in a 10 over game you may run out of wickets if you go for sixes every time. The true money shots in this situation are the push shots (ctrl + direction direction), particularly the push to square and the push to leg. The advantage of these two shots in particular is that there are no other shots that will hit length deliveries in these areas, the ball does not travel as fast so you can run two if the boundary fielder has to field it, and they are very low risk - you have to mistime/misplace the feet badly to have negative outcomes with these.
The fine leg and 3rd man glances (left or right) are also very good but require placement to avoid the fielder, unless your opponent doesn't have a fine leg or 3rd man. In that case, help yourself to a boundary every time with these shots, but be careful not to play onto your stumps.
The sweeps are also very interesting. The sweep is a very strong shot as most field placings do not have a fielder in that direction, especially if you use placement to get the ball squarer, meaning it has a high chance of going for a boundary. However it can only be used against fuller than length deliveries against spinners (sometimes it will come off against a slow ball from a medium pacer but this is rare). The reverse sweep is also similar, but the timing is much earlier than other shots and takes some practice. Foot placing for these is generally right on the edge of the circle of the batsman. The "3rd man" aggressive shot, up + left, is also very similar to a sweep in that I think it only works against spinners and probably only against length deliveries or shorter. The added power of this shot can allow you to beat a short 3rd man with good placement.
Placement Arrows:
The placement arrows are the key to high scoring and low-risk cricket in this game. In fact they give too much of an advantage to the defensive batsman type in my opinion and I use the defensive type exclusively. Basically what these arrows do is alter the direction of the shot, from the default direction where the shot would normally be hit. The amount the ball's direction can be changed depends on the type of batsman - defensive can move all the way, balanced is in the middle, aggressive is very small.
For the arrows to be useful, you have to know where each of the 37 shots will go without using the arrows, which is just something that takes practice, I guess. In general though, I use the arrows on 80% of my shots for various reasons. The most common use is to go wide of the fielders on the boundary for lofted shots. With the defensive batsman, if you move the arrow all the way you can pierce gaps for four even in a 5-boundary rider field, as long as their outfielders are not too fast (it is important to have fast outfielders, btw). Also, even if there is no fielder on the boundary for your lofted shot, there is usually someone on the infield. If you slightly mistime your shot, you can still get a boundary or have the ball land safe by hitting it wide of the infielder - making these shots far less risky.
Another important use is for the push shots. It is not usually possible to push the ball wide of a fielder - for example if there is a fielder at point, you won't be able to push it past him with ctrl + L L. But if there is no fielder there, you can push the ball slightly wide of the fielder on the boundary who will take longer to field the ball. By doing this you can run a safe two instead of a close/struggling two. You can even get an occasional boundary square of the wicket if they have no fielder there and your placement is perfect.
Finally these are very good for sweeps and glances. It is usually possible to beat a slip with 3rd man glances and often a short 3rd man as well, although these can be somewhat risky. Fine leg even short is hard to beat unless he is badly placed. For the sweep if you put the ball all the way square, against the standard field this is a boundary every time even with fine leg deep. If you are playing any of these shots square as opposed to fine, it is rare to play on to the stumps, even if you play a ball outside off to fine leg/vice versa, but playing the ball fine will play on every time in these situations.
Standard aggressive shots:
In general in a 10 over game I won't use these much, except for the pull and cut which I probably use 50-50 between lofted and normal, depending on the field. Usually the risk-reward is better either playing the lofted shot or a push shot. However if the opponent puts all of his ring fielders on the edge of the circle, you can use the standard shots to still score twos instead of the ones that you would get from a push shot. Just remember that the timing and foot placement requirements are somewhat more stringent on these. For longer games these become more viable as they are lower risk and are definitely satisfying when you beat the boundary fielders with a classic cricket shot.
Slog (alt) shots:
The alt slog shots have the advantage that they can go for sixes, but are otherwise much more difficult to time and foot place than standard lofted shots. They make up the difference between the defensive and aggressive batsman. Aggressive batsmen are far more likely to hit a 6 with these shots, while the defensive batsman will often come up just short, which can be bad if you are taking on the fielder. Even if you hit a perfect shot, these will not go for 6 every time, the type of batsman and stats determines the % chance.
These shots have to be played slightly earlier than normal lofted shots and the foot placement requirement is very severe. If you are slightly off with the placement of feet you will never hit a 6 but will often hit a flat, although powerful, shot that could be caught in the infield. Use the arrows to avoid this and still get a boundary. The placing of feet is similar to the lofted shots.
In general the standard lofted shots will score more on average and are far far safer, especially if your batsman is not "settled". However with a set/on fire batsman the timing window is much wider and you can smash some huge sixes with these.
Alt + L L and R R deserve special mention as these are the only aerial shots to length deliveries in these directions. The RR slog is a very powerful but somewhat difficult shot and is worth the practice as it is common for people/cpu to block the straight boundary shots. The foot placement is just outside of a standard midwicket shot, and unlike the others, the timing for this shot is normal, not early like the other slogs. This shot can hit sixes as well, but does not work well at all against yorker (sometimes is ok against yorkers) or shorter deliveries. The other slog, over point is very difficult in my opinion and I don't use it much, although I have seen other people use it to good effect.
Overall:
This guide is long but I think it should serve as a good basic playbook for batting in this game. The reason this is the best cricket game by far (in my opinion) is the wide variety and usefulness of all the shots offered, as long as you understand their use and have practiced them. All games online are 10 overs right now which means that lofted slogs are the name of the game but I think this could be a very good game to play in a 20 or 50 over format and I have hit some centuries already against the cpu in 20 over contests - it is very satisfying to build up the batsman's meter with low risk shots and then slog for the fences with a set player.
To get better I recommend first getting the timing down in the nets and then playing 10 over games against the CPU and just focusing on certain types of shots in each game, push shots, lofted, glances, etc. One nice feature is that you win the toss every time, at least on normal. After you can get above 100 or so consistently you should do very well online. Good luck.
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