16. Match Orders
Finally onto the nitty gritty of competition now. Before you play a match, it is up to you to pick your side and give the players your orders.On your Fixtures page, it will show you the games you have played, any matches that you have currently ongoing, and also the next few games to play. For each of the games to play, you can use the orders link to submit your match orders for that game.
Whilst it is always advisable to set Orders in advance, the final cut-off point for setting Orders is 20 minutes before the scheduled start of play. ie: Orders must be set by 10.10am if the match is scheduled to start at 10.30am.
ONE DAY MATCHES
Select a line up - The first thing that you need to do is decide which eleven players you want to play in the match and then enter them in the order in which you want them to bat. Generally people will bat the better batters at the top of the order, and the bowlers with less batting skill at the bottom, but it is entirely up to you.
Select captain and wicket keeper - Use the buttons to select the teams wicket keeper and captain.
Select bowlers - You must select 5 bowlers for a one day match. Each bowler will bowl 10 overs. The player you select as bowler 1 (b1) will bowl first, b2 will bowl second, b3 will come on first change and so on.
Individual orders - The next step is to give the players individual orders if you so wish. You can give instructions to each batter as to how to approach their innings: attacking, normal or defensive. Similarly, you can give the same choice of orders to each of your 5 bowlers that you have nominated. Although the batters and bowlers will generally follow this order, they may deviate if the situation requires it. They are more likely to do this if their experience is high.
Select bowling tactics - There are some preset tactics that determine which order the bowlers bowl in, and for how long. Each one has plus points and negative points, you must select the one that you think is most appropriate for the match.
* A table displaying all of the available bowling options can be found here. (Google spreadsheet)
The Toss - An important part of the game. If you are the away side, you will be asked what you want to call for the toss. Everyone must then declare what they intend to do first if they win the toss, bat or bowl. This will not be shown to the opposition prior to the match.
Finally, you can give your team an overall order of how to approach the match. These orders will affect the fitness level (PFL) of the players that play in the game - it will not affect any players not involved in the game. They can either:
Take it Easy - The players will conserve energy and so not perform on the day to their potential, but their personal fitness level will go down less than normal.
Play as Normal - The players will play to their natural ability, with a standard change to their personal fitness level.
Go For It - The players will run themselves into the ground trying to win the game, and will feel the effects afterward resulting in their personal fitness level falling more than normal.
It is up to you to decide which the game merits.
These orders must be set prior to the start of a game. If for whatever reason you forget to change the orders, the team will resort to the default match orders. You can change the current orders to the default by selecting the check box at the bottom of the orders screen prior to submitting your orders.
FIRST CLASS MATCHES
Select a line up - The first thing that you need to do is decide which eleven players you want to play in the match and then enter them in the order in which you want them to bat. Generally people will bat the better batters at the top of the order, and the bowlers with less batting skill at the bottom, but it is entirely up to you.
Select wicket keeper - Use the button to select the team's wicket keeper.
Select captain - Use the button to select the team's captain. Your captain in First Class matches is a very important member of the team as they will be responsible for decision making on the field with regard to how the bowlers are rotated. Try to pick a captain with good leadership skills and some experience.
Select bowlers - You can select as many bowlers as you want in first class matches, all players except for the wicket keeper may be selected to bowl although you should think twice before selecting your opening batter with worthless bowling to turn their arm over!
Select bowling tactics - Unlike the one day games there are no preset patterns that determine which order the bowlers bowl in. You set the priority and other settings and your captain makes decisions on the field of play based on how your bowlers are performing. Priority 1 and 2 open the bowling. Under the bowling options you have four decisions to make.
1. Priority - Select the priority that you wish your captain to give to each bowler.
2. Max overs/spell - This is the maximum amount of overs that you want this bowler to bowl in an individual spell. Your captain may override this setting dependant on the performance of your bowlers.
3. Min overs/spell - This is the minimum amount of overs that you want this bowler to bowl in an individual spell. Your captain may override this setting dependant on the performance of your bowlers.
4. Max RR/spell - This is guidance for your captain as to the maximum run rate that your bowler should go for before he is taken off. Your captain may override this setting dependant on the performance of your bowlers.
Individual orders - The next step is to give the players individual orders if you so wish. You can give instructions to each batter as to how to approach their innings: attacking, normal or defensive. Similarly, you can give the same choice of orders to each of the bowlers that you have nominated. Although the batters and bowlers will generally follow this order, they may deviate if the situation requires it. They are more likely to do this if their experience is high.
The Toss - An important part of the game. If you are the away side, you will be asked what you want to call for the toss. Everyone must then declare what they intend to do first if they win the toss, bat or bowl. This will not be shown to the opposition prior to the match.
Declarations - You can declare in both your first and second innings in the match.
First Innings Declaration target - The minimum declaration total of runs scored in the first innings is 200.
Second Innings Declaration target - In the second innings you must score a minimum of 100 runs before you can declare. However if this leaves your opponent with a target of less than 100, then the captain will override the instruction and bat on until you lead by at least 100 runs. The figure that you enter for your second innings declaration target is the figure that you want to score in your second innings before your captain declares.
Following on - You have the option to enforce the follow on, select the Yes option if you want to make your opponent bat again. If you have batted first and your opponent is 150 runs or more behind after both teams have completed their first innings, you have the option to tell the opponent to "follow on". This means you can tell the other team to bat again even though they've just finished their first innings. This potentially means that you might not need to bat again if they get bowled out a second time and not be in the lead.
Changing orders overnight - At the end of the day's play you have the option to change the following for the next day's play:
Add or amend declaration targets.
Amend follow on instructions.
Amend your bowler selections, you can add or remove bowlers, change their priority and individual settings.
You cannot change the batting order.
Selling a player during a game - If you sell a player at any point during the match (including the twenty minutes before the start on day one when orders are locked) they will not be replaced in your team and will play the whole game.
TIE/PAN/GFI - the Take It Easy, Play As Normal and Go For It options are not available for First Class matches.
Overs in a day - There are 110 overs in a day, 35 overs in the morning session, 35 in the afternoon and 40 in the evening session.
Regions and Weather
When you register you are asked to select a region to play in. The only effect that this has on the game is the weather. On the region page you will get a weather forecast for today and the next 5 days. Unfortunately Battrick forecasters are as bad as the rest of them, so it can change from day to day. The chances of getting any sort of weather is exactly the same in every region. One of the main advantages of playing cricket in Battrick is that it will never rain, so no umbrellas or running back to the pavilion here!!
The weather can have a large impact on your matches. Certain types of player will flourish in certain weather conditions although may suffer in others.
Also the weather will affect the match attendance to a degree.