Pitch Selection

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Admin_team
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Pitch Selection

Post by Admin_team » Tue Nov 05, 2013 1:13 am

I started this somewhere else, and tidied it up here. It's nothing new or inspired for veteran managers - but it might be something worth keeping somewhere for newbies once we've refined it a little.

So if you've taken a minute to read through or you know a couple of pitch types at expert level, feel free to drop a few comments and I'll update.

Pitches and Weather


Flat
Flavour - "Flat as a road". Dry but not so much that it's cracking, not dusty, no grass on the pitch. Just Flat and Hard. "Batsmans paradise".
General - Lots of runs to be scored. Very little the bowlers can do in terms of wickets or economy. You probably won't use your whole batting lineup.
Pros - You don't need as deep a batting lineup.
Cons - Not much you can do to stop the flow of runs.
Strategy Advice - This is going to be a good 'equaliser' pitch. If you're much weaker, or only have a few key batsmen that are as strong as your opponent this pitch can make the most of them while neutralising stronger bowlers. Likewise if you're the stronger side, you risk giving your opponents a chance. I'd say that nothing is unchaseable on this pitch - I've seen beyond 350 runs in both innings before. That in mind, I'd recommend chasing in almost all instances on Flat.

Hard
Flavour - "Hard and Fast". Not grassy, nor dry enough to give much seam or spin, but the quicks wills generate some bounce.
General - It's like a Flat pitch with just a little bit in it for superior quicks.
Pros - You probably don't need a really deep batting lineup, and there's probably just enough in the pitch to take wickets given enough RRR pressure, or lower quality bats at the death.
Cons - It's still fairly road-like. You may or may not need a deep batting lineup. Chasing has the potential to be tough.
Strategy Advice - The pitch is going to neutralise spin and mediums, and put lesser importance on top batsmen, so if you're a tiny bit weaker with the bat and/or have really gun FM/F's, you could use this. I'd strongly recommend batting first on this pitch. I think this is the least useful pitch in the game though from a strategy standpoint - it's difficult to think what you couldn't get better from a Flat or Uneven deck.

Uneven
Flavour - "Uneven bounce". It's not particular grassy-seamy, but the uneven wicket makes faster bowling unpredictable and tough for the batsmen.
General - If you have better F/FM's, this is your go-to pitch. Nothing stopping you from using spin here either, it just won't gain the big seam benefit. It's can be really tough for batsmen.
Pros - Your faster quicks get a sizeable advantage here, and if you use it right you can make this a pretty destructive kind of pitch. It doesn't hurt spin either, so you can keep one in for variety.
Cons - There's a risk of a superior batting lineup still falling heavily against inferior seamers. It can really give mediocre opposition seamers a chance to clip your best batsmen.
Strategy Advice - If you have stronger bowlers, but your seam is a bit better (or their spin is a bit better), this is a good pitch to enforce that. You probably want to be careful if your batsmen are weaker though. Batting and bowling first both have benefits - probably best to decide that depending on your team - if your batting is much stronger, probably bat first and create RRR pressure. If your seamers are much better, bowl first and try take the hammer to them early. There's also wicket-taking potential all innings long on this pitch - some pitches "slow down" in the middle overs, but Uneven is highlighted as one where good seamers are a chance at wickets all innings long. I've heard a lot of stories where "around drinks" can be particular destructive.

Green
Flavour - "Green grass". Not there's a bit of grass on the pitch, the ball will seam a bit more, but won't spin or bounce quite as much.
General - Medium pacers become A LOT more useful on Green decks. There's still something in it for batsmen. I find Green to have the bigger range of all the pitches in terms of target score, as one bad bowler can easily get carted around the park OR snatch a couple of sneaky wickets (or both at the same time).
Pros - Mediums are the most common bowlers in the game, so there's plenty of chance to get high skilled mediums to take wickets here. This also weakens spin a little, where Uneven doesn't, so there's something in that too.
Cons - Similar risks to Uneven - a good bowler can rip you apart if you're not careful. Any advantage you can get through having high skilled mediums is obviously available to your opponent. This pitch has (imo) the biggest Par Score variation (probably 160-270) of all pitches, so it's tough to know what type of game you'll have.
Strategy Advice - Green is a great pitch if you're a newer team or weaker team than your opponent in the sense of "you can gather great mediums cheaper and get the most of them from Green pitches". It also is a pretty useful tactical pitch for deep squads, as you can adapt your lineup to suit Green quite well, where all your opponents may not be able to. When deciding to play Green or not, you probably want to consider if you have seam all rounders or not. Spin all rounders are going to hurt you, but you're most likely going to need more than 6 batsmen. I would say if you're new and unsure, play Green because the batting vs bowling advantages are fairly similar, keeping in mind not to use too much spin. Also play Green if you know you can put out a more fitting side than your opponent.

Slow
Flavour - "Low and Slow". The ball won't bounce or deviate too much, but the ball comes of the pitch and the bat slower, and it promotes miserly bowling.
General - Slow pitches are really unique in that they really do slow the runs down without being overly destructive or difficult to bat upon.
Pro - Can reward good batsmen. It gives something for teams with good mediums and spinners to play on, without concern of being ripped apart when they're batting.
Cons - Is really tough to predict when combined with weather. Poor weather can make wickets fall freely. Sometimes batsmen that get on top can score quickley even though it's a slow deck.
Strategy Advice - Probably something you go to more when you have good batsmen and your bowlers aren't likely to take our your opponents bats easily. Sometimes it's best to bat first as well - sometimes slow decks build up RRR pressure without much effort on the bowlers part, and trying to hit out can mean late-innings collapses on Slow. On the flipside, sometimes in batting first you batsmen won't appear to "try" as hard, and you may not feel like they put up enough of a good target, despite having wickets in hand.

Dry
Flavour - "Dry and Dusty". A pitch where the ball will grip and turn, with plenty of rough patches.
General - Dry pitches go hand in hand with good spinners. In fact, whether you have better spinners or not pretty much decides if you should play on this deck or not.
Pros - Spinners become both destructive and economical - no matter if they're finger spin or wrist spin. It's tough to get batsmen "set".
Cons - You still need a contingent of decent batting to survive the opposing spinners. There's a risk that even 1 good opposing spinner can take the game away.
Strategy Advice - Only aim for Dry if you have at least 3 good spinners, and maybe an all rounder or two. Seam isn't likely to lose you the game, but you don't want to be playing 3-4 seamers. I think Dry decks promote both batting and bowling first. My preference is to bat first, get a score, then force your opponents to grind runs out of your spin triad during the chase - and hopefully when they hit out due to RRR pressure your slower bowlers pick them off.

Crumbling
Flavour - "Crumbling Minefield". Envision a Dry or poorly prepared Hard deck, but on the 5th day of a Test match. The pitch will be a mix of cracked, bumpy with dry and roughed up spots all over it.
General - All the bowlers are going to be destructive on this pitch and spinners are going to love it.
Pros - Wickets are going to fall. If you can fit a strategy where your opponent doesn't have many good batsmen but you do, or where your bowling is just better than his all round, this might work out.
Cons - Like Flat, but the opposite end of the scale, there's a chance that giving all bowlers an boost simply ruins any advantage you may have had in having better bowlers or batsmen.
Strategy Advice - Best bet is having a deep batting lineup, deeper than your opponent. But make sure you keep at least a couple of full time bowlers to ensure you do capitalise on the destructive nature of the pitch. I'd recommend at least one wrist spinner - they're the most likely to single-handedly win you the game. Sometimes, "statistically" you can get away with a little less fielding in your side on this pitch, as more chances are created and dropped catches may not hurt you quite as much (not that I'd ever advocate "not" having a side of good fielders!).

Sticky
Flavour - "Sticky". The movers dream, where spinners are able to move the ball due to extra purchase and seamers love the glide of the pitch; this really is a "sticky" wicket for batsmen. Usually this is because of a bit of rain on game day and the pitch hasn't dried out properly.
General - Gives a big boost to all bowlers equally. It's tough to bat on.
Pros - Like the Crumbling decks, there are going to be wickets falling, so it's great at taking down strong batting lineups. It favours all bowling types too so you don't have to put all your eggs in a few bowlers like with a spin or seam preference deck.
Cons - It's going to be equally hard for both teams to bat and could bring into play some weaker bowlers from your opponents.
Strategy Advice - Sticky is likely to favour the most balanced side. Stand-out batsmen can get going, and stand out bowlers can sometimes take the game away on their own, but mostly this is going to promote the side that can bat deep and bowls well across the board. I'd recommend batting first here and going down the "RRR pressure" route - if you bowl defensively, with a variety of bowlers and mixed orders, wickets will fall and it can mean a steep chase for your opponents at the death. Similarly though, there should be enough destruction that if you have a bowling attack stronger than your opponents, you should run through them and coast home. Sometimes, "statistically" you can get away with a little less fielding in your side on this pitch, as more chances are created and dropped catches may not hurt you quite as much (not that I'd ever advocate "not" having a side of good fielders!).
Last edited by Guest on Sat Jan 25, 2014 4:37 am, edited 6 times in total.

Admin_team
MOD
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Re: Pitch Selection

Post by Admin_team » Tue Nov 05, 2013 1:14 am

Summary (tl:dr version)

Categorise your team (and your opponents maybe) into 3 sections - batting, seam, spin.

I have better;

Batting - Hard, Crumbling, Slow
Seamers - Uneven (F/FM), Green (M),
Spinners - Dry, Crumbling, Slow
Batting & Seamers - Hard (F/FM), Slow (M), Sticky
Batting & Spinners - Crumbling, Dry, Slow, Sticky
Seamers & Spinners - Sticky, Uneven (F/FM)
Last edited by Guest on Tue Nov 05, 2013 5:04 am, edited 1 time in total.

Cynic
Posts: 55993
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Re: Pitch Selection

Post by Cynic » Tue Nov 05, 2013 1:18 am

My best bowlers now go:

Fast
FS
WS
Daylight
M
Further daylight
FM
Light years
F

So ... I'll have to stick with uneven.
Yellow Comet The Hybrid Dolphins
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uliose
Posts: 4310
Joined: Wed Jun 08, 2011 12:19 am

Re: Pitch Selection

Post by uliose » Tue Nov 05, 2013 12:14 pm

MasterQ wrote:
PowerBug wrote:
Butlee wrote: Uneven
Pros - Your faster quicks get a sizeable advantage here, and if you use it right you can make this a pretty destructive kind of pitch. It doesn't hurt spin either, so you can keep one in for variety.
Cons - There's a risk of a superior batting lineup still falling heavily against inferior seamers. It can really give mediocre opposition seamers a chance to clip your best batsmen.
Strategy Advice - If you have stronger bowlers, but your seam is a bit better (or their spin is a bit better), this is a good pitch to enforce that. You probably want to be careful if your batsmen are weaker though. Batting and bowling first both have benefits - probably best to decide that depending on your team - if your batting is much stronger, probably bat first and create RRR pressure. If your seamers are much better, bowl first and try take the hammer to them early.
This is why I went 13-1 last season in SOD 2.2, despite having the lowest rating side for half the season (Then others dropped off). lf, rf, rfm, rm, lm/rws. Got me through quite easily.


There is one strategy that I employ alot now, I find it hard not to enter a game without these orders. And it's opening the batting with a bowler. Why? I hate early wickets, and I always noticed I'd lose alot of early wickets on Uneven, so I chucked a bowler to open, and nothing changed, apart from now having a proper batsman at 8. I don't have concrete evidence, but three seasons in a row I've been knocked out of PC on an Uneven (I know, favourite deck, embarrassing) without doing this, however I've had very successful seasons during leagues as I use the tactic. Food for thought.
Oh I so want to try that :P Any stats for some of your openers? I'm pretty sure you can check somewhere...

Do any of your bowlers have the opener talent?
I did this for one of my youth bowlers and he nearly won the leagues batting award and smashed the leagues best player in div 3. I found this technique highly successful and I have been having solid batting partnerships opening with the two guys I have been lately but when they go will probably try this tactic on the senior front as well.

Funny thing was it started as a mistake in a friendly after I had failed to set the orders
Former SA U19 Manager - YOD Div 1 Champions Tour 1 S28

uliose
Posts: 4310
Joined: Wed Jun 08, 2011 12:19 am

Re: Pitch Selection

Post by uliose » Tue Nov 05, 2013 12:17 pm

Flavour for sticky...

The movers dream, spin are able to move the ball due to extra purchase and seamers love the glide of the pitch, this really is a "sticky" wcket for batsmen
Former SA U19 Manager - YOD Div 1 Champions Tour 1 S28

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