Flawed ODI engine?

[hitthestump]

I've been playing this game for a while now and really like it, however ODI's are frustrating to the point where i'm wondering whether the gameplay has big flaws in it.

Every batsman in my team seems to take a good 15-20 balls to settle in before i can up the aggression. Fine, obviously that's pretty realistic. Unfortunately this concept seems to carry through to the death overs a little too realistically. Keeping wickets in hand doesn't seem to achieve much in terms of giving the final 10 overs a good go. 19/20 times a batting collapse will occur and i'll only score 50-60 runs in the final 10, often limping over the line with my tailenders. Starting the batsman on low/middle aggro settings seems to be equally unproductive, with batsman playing with dead bats eating up precious deliveries without even attempting to rotate strike to the set batsman. It's a lose-lose situation.

However...it also doesn't seem to matter WHAT i set in ODI's. Even 300 doesn't make me confident. The reason for that is that opposition batsman seem to be able to keep up with the run rate from the absolute get go regardless of the situation. You take a couple of early wickets, batsman 3 and 4 will quite comfortably play their shots and get to 40 each off 40 balls. Teams should get bogged down by losing wickets, but i don't think that's happened even once in an ODI i've played. Teams always keep up with the rate required. Hence to win any game whether i set 220 or 300, i know i need wickets or i am going to lose 90% of the time. This isn't realistic enough. It's also a laughable contrast with my own batsman who need time to get in while the CPU batsmen can always blast away from the first ball.

I'd be really interested to hear other people's opinions on this and also receive tips on how i can fare better in ODI's.

I don't want to be too harsh as i love the game otherwise and i'm really glad there's something on the market for cricket lovers like me to enjoy. However if you could fix these issues for the 2017 version that'd be even better

[Cam]

I start my 2 openers at level 6 aggression. Then every batsman after that at 5, until i get to 35 over mark then depending on wickets in hand is how far up the aggression levels go.
If i haven't lost a wicket at 25-30 overs i will keep every batsman at, at least 6 bars or more depending on batsman and game situation,

very rarely do i go under 5 bars aggression in OD matches.

As for bowling i dont change field or where i bowl i use computer settings
i just drop the aggression to 1 bar and just bowl and hope.

8/10 games I am winning in OD format with these settings.

[Raver]

I have reasonable success in the ODIs. I bowl on 2 bars aggression to custom fields and generally do alright with the ball if I have some decent bowlers. I feel your frustration with the bat though - I go much more cautiously than Cam, and can regularly score over 300, but I find that I cant score freely in the first 10 overs while the ball is new, and have to get well set batsmen before the runs will come. Feels like there should be more ability for some cameo innings down the order (or at the top) to me.

[Sureshot]

I've found, as obvious as this sounds, that you need really good openers in ODIs/OD. I've had a fair amount of success with Jeet Raval opening the innings, and he's Defensive, but he's always done well for me and has had high strike-rates. You have a couple of bad openers and suddenly you're 20-2 after 7-8 overs...then you start trying to play catch up. As always, I find it can take me 2-3 seasons just to make my team "my" team. Cam's tactics sound good to me. I do think there is a bit of a learning curve with the game, if you're new to it. I've only really been successful at short format cricket in the last 2-3 iterations of the game.

Beyond the openers I won't pick Defensive players (though less fussed about that at #8 and below) in short formats.

[Michael H]

For the reasons stated regarding settling in batsmen I do think one day games need some more balancing in terms of match engine. You consistently see good and realistic matches in red ball cricket and the 20-20s throw up a normal range of scores 130-190 but for the 50 over games it's very difficult to post the types of high scores we are seeing regularly now from the top international teams. As Raver says, I think there needs to be more opportunity for players to hit the ball to the boundary as soon as the come in (as Kohli has been doing against England) but I understand this might be hard to reproduce in the game without throwing other things off!

[danielallum]

I've been playing this game for a while now and really like it, however ODI's are frustrating to the point where i'm wondering whether the gameplay has big flaws in it.

Every batsman in my team seems to take a good 15-20 balls to settle in before i can up the aggression. Fine, obviously that's pretty realistic. Unfortunately this concept seems to carry through to the death overs a little too realistically. Keeping wickets in hand doesn't seem to achieve much in terms of giving the final 10 overs a good go. 19/20 times a batting collapse will occur and i'll only score 50-60 runs in the final 10, often limping over the line with my tailenders. Starting the batsman on low/middle aggro settings seems to be equally unproductive, with batsman playing with dead bats eating up precious deliveries without even attempting to rotate strike to the set batsman. It's a lose-lose situation.

To be honest, I think it is a matter of perspective. The recent batting performance we have seen in ODI's may have skewed our perspectives in terms of what is a reasonable first innings score is. Lest we not forget that scores of 350+ are an anomaly in the history of the one day international game.

I think your claim that the ODI engine is flawed in terms of being overly conservative is interesting and is also just a matter of perspective. Perhaps, it may be your tactics. From experience in game and from the cricket I have watched. I feel that it is harder to defend a total. Day/night games are often hard for the bowling teams, especially considering the dew factor, it would also be in line with what we've seen in the last edition of the Big Bash League. Also, I've just played an ODI with India vs UAE and I chased 208 in 21 Overs with Rahane scoring 116 in 64 balls. So if anything the ODI engine would be flawed in terms of its aggressiveness.

However...it also doesn't seem to matter WHAT i set in ODI's. Even 300 doesn't make me confident. The reason for that is that opposition batsman seem to be able to keep up with the run rate from the absolute get go regardless of the situation. You take a couple of early wickets, batsman 3 and 4 will quite comfortably play their shots and get to 40 each off 40 balls. Teams should get bogged down by losing wickets, but i don't think that's happened even once in an ODI i've played. Teams always keep up with the rate required. Hence to win any game whether i set 220 or 300, i know i need wickets or i am going to lose 90% of the time. This isn't realistic enough. It's also a laughable contrast with my own batsman who need time to get in while the CPU batsmen can always blast away from the first ball.

I'd be really interested to hear other people's opinions on this and also receive tips on how i can fare better in ODI's.

I don't want to be too harsh as i love the game otherwise and i'm really glad there's something on the market for cricket lovers like me to enjoy. However if you could fix these issues for the 2017 version that'd be even better

But it isn't flawed we as Cricket Captain players and Cricket fans just have to have realistic expectations when it comes to what a good score is. If you have a good and established bowling attack you should be able to defend 270/280 nine times out of ten. Or maybe that's just the English in me.

I agree with Sureshot too in regards to openers being important to ODI success, as I mentioned above, Rahane scored 116 in 64 balls as an opener and he's a player with a solid technique and I have also found the same in other saves. In my own experience, a player with a Very Aggressive style starting on 7 bars of aggression coupled with a defensive player with a solid technique (i.e rarely plays and misses) should usually build you a good platform. In terms of tactics, I try and bowl first 9/10 out of ten. The exception being if you are confident in your batting lineup and the pitch and outfield are favourable. Then I like to have 1 batting all rounder 2 bowling all rounders and 2 bowlers however if you have really good bowling all-rounders then I would have them in the squad.

If you do have to bat first just remember as long as you are confident in your bowling attack 270/280 should be okay to defend. The bowling I usually start off custom fields and two bars of aggression and after the power play, it's really just a matter of preference. I like to take the pace off in the middle overs and focus on economy, I'll have my spinner on and try and steal a couple of overs from part time bowlers because in an ODI any over that goes for under 5rpo is a good one for the bowling side in my opinion anyway. Then you'll have your strike bowlers left at the end and won't be running out of bowlers.

Hope that helps.