Custom Bats Cricket Forum
General Cricket => Cricket Training, Fitness and Injuries => Topic started by: AdClem on May 06, 2015, 12:04:18 PM
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First game of the season. Pitch soft, damp and sticky. You win the toss. Bat first or bowl?
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bowl first.
experience is that the pitch will improve as it dries and, well, chasing 120 on a 150 deck is always easier than batting first without knowing what would constitute a good score playing too many shots and ending up with 120...
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I would bowl, give them the pressure of setting a target and hope that the pitch dries a little before your innings.
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Bowl - As others have said the wicket should get better
If you bat first and make sub 100 you could run the risk of being out of the game before tea time
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It depends how soft we're talking here, if everything goes through the top when they're bowling and then dries out quickly, unless they're on it with tapping down the divets created then it can become worse to bat on as it dries out (as perverse as it seems)
But most of the time agree, bowl first.
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Doesn't sound perverse to me. We're talking very soft and I'm worried, like you say, that it'll get worse rather than better.
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Dont know much about preparing a wicket, but if they batted first and there were divots etc, would you be able/allowed to get a roller on it before you bat to help level it out?
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I wondered about that. I'll have to check our league rules.
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Dont know much about preparing a wicket, but if they batted first and there were divots etc, would you be able/allowed to get a roller on it before you bat to help level it out?
A good reason for batting first. Use to happen alot in the village leagues in yorkshire. Teams would bowl first and get loads of movement, oppo crawling to 120 ao. Second innings the wicket has dried enough for the divots to harden. All of a sudden the ball starts going up and down, plus a little bit of sideways movement. Team batting second lose early wickets and scoreboard pressure means they have to chase the game. 80 AO. Let's not forget that the ball may skid on for the first hour or so of batting. As the sun dries the deck it get's slower and makes scoring runs more difficult.
This is strictly a village cricket answer, anybody playing decent club level with covers shouldn't be playing on decks this wet.
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Wet wickets up north I tended to bat first
The dearth of Pakistan overseas slow left arm bowlers would grip 2nd innings when it would dry out a touch when it was wet it tended to not grip but skid and I found as it got dryer the proper spinners when we didn't do bowling restrictions would become unplayable.
See what your against I would
league cricket around Lancashire up until around 10-15 years ago wouldn't have covers
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@procricket B3 uncovered pitches - sound like Boycott mate
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Forgot to mention the mental aspect as well.
If you skittle a team for a low your score you're always buzzing at tea and their heads might go down quick if you get off to a good start in your innings.
Sometimes worth letting someone have a free rein and play some shots when knocking off a small total
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As Captain I would bat first and have best out of the of the track get a score and apply pressure on the opposition when fielding.
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Bat first! With some luck, you get your batting in, and then it rains and you go home without fielding on the damp ground.
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Wet wickets up north I tended to bat first
The dearth of Pakistan overseas slow left arm bowlers would grip 2nd innings when it would dry out a touch when it was wet it tended to not grip but skid and I found as it got dryer the proper spinners when we didn't do bowling restrictions would become unplayable.
See what your against I would
league cricket around Lancashire up until around 10-15 years ago wouldn't have covers
Batting first is still the conventional way of doing things, especially in the leagues in and around Greater Manchester. Some clubs still use uncovered wickets as well, which can be a nightmare.
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Sounds like a bit of a north/south divide on this one. The optimists for improving weather in the south say put them in, with the pessimists for a worsening pitch in the north say bat first :)
Assuming its your home pitch then you should also have past experience to guide you and also depends on the relative strengths of your team.
Alternatively you could call Alastair Cook for his advice and then do the opposite ;)
Good luck
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Sounds like a bit of a north/south divide on this one. The optimists for improving weather in the south say put them in, with the pessimists for a worsening pitch in the north say bat first :)
Assuming its your home pitch then you should also have past experience to guide you and also depends on the relative strengths of your team.
Alternatively you could call Alastair Cook for his advice and then do the opposite ;)
Good luck
Appreciate all the well reasoned opinions. We don't use covers, but we're down South, on chalk [Chalkie] and dry out very quickly. I'm thinking:
- damp-ish, with the likelihood of drying - bowl first;
- soggy and likely to stay damp - bat first;
lose toss - dilemma solved.
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lose toss - dilemma solved.
This. This is the answer to your problem.
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Not quite the same but I remember playing a Sunday game at Wokingham once. The wicket was starting to crack up after a long hot spell and we were dead chuffed at tea, having scored 220 odd. It was showing signs of breaking up and surely we had done the right thing? The weather broke and it rained during tea. We got out there and all the cracks had sealed up and the ball was coming off nicely for the batsman. Lost inside 30 overs with the oppo only 2 down :(
It's all to do with timing. If the wicket is very wet then batting first makes sense. If it's slightly damp but likely to dry then stick them in.
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Bat first, always
The day I stop thinking that is the day I give up playing
I've played on every type of wicket there is , from sticky oop north clay wickets to the crumbly top surface southern wickets.
No one can predict how a wickets gonna play second half, even when covers are used