Your Cricket Playing on grass w/ hard tennis ball

[deerkick]

I don't really play Club level cricket, just sometimes at some random park. And we play with a hard tennis ball so we don't really get swing or even spin really. And while batting, some of the timing shots don't really work (ball doesn't carry on the grass) and usually players just slog a lot. I was just wondering for people who have played in these conditions, what are some good tactics while bowling/batting?

 

[Jit]

Well if the ball doesnt carry and keeps then bowl with pace because it will get the batsman in trouble. With pace the odd one will keep low and bowl him or lbw.

 

[Leggie]

So everyone has fun -- Bowl it fuller so there is more chance of the batsmen hitting the ball and the bowlers getting him out properly (Not just getting him LBW or bowled because the ball has practically dribbled across the grass). Never try to bowl a bouncer, It will fail 99 time out of a 100 on grass.

 

[Niv]

When I play on grass at my mate's place, I just drop it outside off and let the grass do the rest, it tends to be uneven and cut/spin unpredictably. Batting is best to stay defensive and the ball should ping off nicely if you're using a wooden bat.

 

[Amiya]

Ah playing on grass. Always try to bowl fuller delivery and while batting late cut the ball when it is on off side.

 

[ZoraxDoom]

Spin is beautiful on grass. I kid you not. I know those hard tennis balls you talk of. Quick, high arm action offbreaks are nice. But I haven't played a great deal on grass, so I haven't tried other stuff. Maybe other better options out there. I have never tried fast on a grass either, so I don't know if it swings or not.

 

[Slowcoach]

Playing on grass just after it rained was always fun, we would give it a quick mow with the blades set down low and we would have a nice juicy greentop.

Surprisingly batting was sometimes easier against pace on a wet pitch, because the ball tended to skid through nice and straight and give the batsman more chance to straight drive the ball, whereas on a dry pitch the bounce was unpredictable and the ball tended to hold up at times and make timing difficult.

This was with a tennis ball, sometimes taped up on one side but more often than not without tape because it usually fell off or became tattered after a few overs.

Making the pitch slightly shorter than in proper competitive cricket works well with a tennis ball, because a tennis ball loses too much pace before it gets to the other end on a full length pitch, 20 paces is about right.

As for tactics, spin was best when a batsman was being defensive, while pace was best when a batsman was having a slog.