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General Cricket => Your Cricket => Topic started by: aidankelleher on January 30, 2013, 02:03:16 PM

Title: Captain
Post by: aidankelleher on January 30, 2013, 02:03:16 PM
Hi guys looking for some help/tips as a captain and the one I wonder most about is on a grass wicket how should you no whether to bat or bowl first
Title: Re: Captain
Post by: The_Bird on January 30, 2013, 02:15:16 PM
Depends if your side chase well, if they don't always bat first. I'm always a fan of batting first unless it an absolute green road. At my level the slow low wickets tend to get harder to bat on last so even tho its been wet its still better to bat first.

Bat first and put the pressure on the chasing side, if they get them you didn't get enough runs or didn't bowl well enough.
Title: Re: Captain
Post by: Buzz on January 30, 2013, 02:21:49 PM
I think the question is around reading a pitch and condictions as well - i.e. is the pitch green an soft or white and hard - damp or dusty
Title: Re: Captain
Post by: trypewriter on January 30, 2013, 02:25:52 PM
On the other hand, if you want to eat a big tea, bat second  ;)
Title: Re: Captain
Post by: The_Bird on January 30, 2013, 02:26:37 PM
On the other hand, if you want to eat a big tea, bat second  ;)

A very crucial point..!!
Title: Re: Captain
Post by: Red Ink Cricket on January 30, 2013, 02:28:56 PM
Depends on the make up of the side. if its damp/wet or green and you have the bowling to utilise the wicket then bowl first. if its a road then get first use of it and bat. if its very dry then make first use of it and bat and hope it gets slower and spins later in the day as it dusts up/breaks up.

on a good standard pitch that offers a bit for both then work to your strengths. as others have said if you chase well then chase. if not set and defend

i was always told by the old guys that if a pitch was cold then it would do a bit as there was a bit of moisture in it.  it tends to be a little hit and miss with club wickets as ive played on a dark green wicket (looked shocking and we bowled first) which produced 300 plus runs a side with us narrowly missing out chasing and also played on something which looked an absolutely belter- lovely colour and rock hard, which bounced about 10cm and was so slow.

i tend to find you get used to how a wicket plays if your regularly playing the same teams. obviously weather dependant that is. i always look out for the regulars in other teams we play. we tend to know each others game pretty well so i know if their opening bowlers missing etc it could infulence the decision at the toss
Title: Re: Captain
Post by: joeylough on January 30, 2013, 02:38:22 PM
Also depends on what your league rules are. In my league (the captain informs me) we get more points by batting second and chasing.

Not sure why, never read the rules and I also go with the " I can have a bigger tea " I hate running after that second chocolate roll.
Title: Re: Captain
Post by: Red Ink Cricket on January 30, 2013, 02:42:51 PM
Also depends on what your league rules are. In my league (the captain informs me) we get more points by batting second and chasing.

Not sure why, never read the rules and I also go with the " I can have a bigger tea " I hate running after that second chocolate roll.

my league you get more points for batting first and bowling a team out rather than chasing. only works if you have the bowling to do it. so many times last year we had the opposition 7+ down and just couldnt bowl them out
Title: Re: Captain
Post by: aidankelleher on January 30, 2013, 02:48:21 PM
Hahaha so what I've taken so far is if there's nice tea bat second haha any more tips guys ?
Title: Re: Captain
Post by: ProCricketer1982 on January 30, 2013, 04:06:09 PM
my league you get more points for batting first and bowling a team out rather than chasing. only works if you have the bowling to do it. so many times last year we had the opposition 7+ down and just couldnt bowl them out

More pts for batting first and then actually getting 10 wickets indicates the 'better team'.. Assuming you can play for the draw of course.
Title: Re: Captain
Post by: Red Ink Cricket on January 30, 2013, 04:11:03 PM
More pts for batting first and then actually getting 10 wickets indicates the 'better team'.. Assuming you can play for the draw of course.

yes but in theory its no different to bowling a side out and knocking them off. yes potentially you could bowl a side out for a low score and therefore have less to knock off but it should just be a win is a win and you get X amount of points. we can play for a draw in our leagues
Title: Re: Captain
Post by: ad2606 on January 30, 2013, 07:35:21 PM
Depends on what your side is like in terms of ability aswell, if you've got a young team that are learning dont let them bowl first and get carted round the park week in week out, so if your league has a massive difference in points between draws and wins it can make a big difference. If your a side looking for promotion or to win a league it's sometimes best to chase, this stops a side dropping anchor and costing you points through a draw, we had one side last year who put us into bat first, we posted a good total and right from the start they weren't interested in chasing it down, we ended up getting a winning draw which gave us 16 points instead of 20 and for their efforts they got all of 1 point!
Title: Re: Captain
Post by: RossViper on January 30, 2013, 08:30:33 PM
bat first.
Title: Re: Captain
Post by: ProCricketer1982 on January 30, 2013, 08:52:04 PM
Depends on what your side is like in terms of ability aswell, if you've got a young team that are learning dont let them bowl first and get carted round the park week in week out, so if your league has a massive difference in points between draws and wins it can make a big difference. If your a side looking for promotion or to win a league it's sometimes best to chase, this stops a side dropping anchor and costing you points through a draw, we had one side last year who put us into bat first, we posted a good total and right from the start they weren't interested in chasing it down, we ended up getting a winning draw which gave us 16 points instead of 20 and for their efforts they got all of 1 point!


Maybe you guys scored too many?? This is something teams are guilty of fairly regularly if they then can't get a team out. Declare earlier on a total teams WILL chase
Title: Re: Captain
Post by: forester123 on January 30, 2013, 08:56:12 PM
Depends on what your side is like in terms of ability aswell, if you've got a young team that are learning dont let them bowl first and get carted round the park week in week out, so if your league has a massive difference in points between draws and wins it can make a big difference. If your a side looking for promotion or to win a league it's sometimes best to chase, this stops a side dropping anchor and costing you points through a draw, we had one side last year who put us into bat first, we posted a good total and right from the start they weren't interested in chasing it down, we ended up getting a winning draw which gave us 16 points instead of 20 and for their efforts they got all of 1 point!
Do you play declaration cricket?
Title: Re: Captain
Post by: ad2606 on January 30, 2013, 08:58:28 PM

Maybe you guys scored too many?? This is something teams are guilty of fairly regularly if they then can't get a team out. Declare earlier on a total teams WILL chase
We put 230 in 45 overs on the board, it was a very flat wicket and the team we were playing were pushing for promotion and just a couple of points below us in the league, it was a tough call but I thought that as a draw wouldn't help them at all I decided not to declare. To be fair though it seems to be happening a few times now not just to our team but where sides are abit 'thick' when it comes to the scoring system we had one side 79-7 chasing 160 with 10 overs left, they blocked up till the end and walked off celebrating that they'd got 2 bowling points (and nothing else) from the match, when I saw the captain I asked why he didn't try to get to 100/125 to pick up a couple of extra points and if they'd ended up bowled out they still would have got their 2 bowling points "didn't think about that" was all he could manage as he trudged back to the pavilion!
Title: Re: Captain
Post by: ad2606 on January 30, 2013, 08:59:03 PM
Do you play declaration cricket?
Yeah very rare that anyone declares though
Title: Re: Captain
Post by: pacman75cricket on January 30, 2013, 09:03:25 PM
I declared on once for our team on about 280 with 5 overs to go in our innings then players always took the mick as declared on batsman approaching double ton.
Title: Re: Captain
Post by: ad2606 on January 30, 2013, 09:05:48 PM
I declared on once for our team on about 280 with 5 overs to go in our innings then players always took the mick as declared on batsman approaching double ton.
Haha never to be forgotten by mick taking team mates! We had a team in our league the other season who declared on 280 odd against a good side, they knocked them off with 15 overs to spare! Very unusual to get anything above 200 in our leagues
Title: Re: Captain
Post by: Manormanic on January 30, 2013, 10:07:01 PM
put very bluntly it depends what the points structure of your particular league is.

if you play in one like the TVL, where everything is weighted toward batting first, then you insert the opposition only on a sub 100 pitch.

if you play in a straight 50 or 40 over job...I think a good bet is to ask your senior seamer.  Seriously - they'll either give you a clear sign that they're up for it in which case bowl, or they'll be noncommital/hedge their bets.  Then, bearing in mind the value of scoreboard pressure at lower levels of the game, bat...
Title: Re: Captain
Post by: Manormanic on January 30, 2013, 10:07:51 PM
or, as Len Hutton put it....if you win the toss, bat.  If it looks like to favour the bowler, think very carefully about it. 

Then bat.
Title: Re: Captain
Post by: Vitas Cricket on January 30, 2013, 11:46:19 PM
Declaration (and the ability to start the second innings with the old ball)makes for some interesting tosses in our league.
Title: Re: Captain
Post by: lukemannionzimbabwe on February 02, 2013, 04:29:15 AM
Hope this helps bud.

http://www.pitchvision.com/reading-the-signs-how-to-decide-whether-to-bat-or-bowl-when-you-win-the-toss (http://www.pitchvision.com/reading-the-signs-how-to-decide-whether-to-bat-or-bowl-when-you-win-the-toss)
Title: Re: Captain
Post by: Number4 on February 02, 2013, 08:32:45 AM
Bat first, and if you aren't sure then think about batting second and then bat first