As a cricket captain, it's important that you pick the best bowler for every situation. Here's how to get the most out of the attack available to you, and to use your bowlers' strengths to get the best out of your team.
Know Your Bowlers
It sounds simplistic, but it's important that even in casual or social cricket, a captain aspiring to success knows his bowlers, and knows how they prefer to bowl. These are the characteristics that you will need to ascertain in each of your bowlers, with regard to their particular bowling style:
- their pace
- their ability to move the ball off the seam or swing it, or turn it if they are a spinner
- their ability to bowl a consistent line and length
- their ability to vary between bowling different types of delivery
- their ability to respond to pressure situations
If you are aware of these qualities in your bowlers, then you have the basis of a good decision-making process. If you are unsure of any of these qualities in a particular bowler, you are taking a gamble in selecting them to bowl, however small it may be.
Assess The Situation
Another issue that sounds simplistic, but is essential to a sound decision-making process. Make sure you assess the match situation as accurately as possible. Take into account the following aspects of the match:
- the score
- the opposition's target, if they are batting second
- the pitch and overhead conditions
- the standard of the opposition and your subsequent expectations for the match
In bearing in mind all these factors, you will ensure that you are able to judge exactly what is required at each stage of the game, and will be able to make flexible decisions based on the ever-changing match situation.
Set Your Immediate Aims
Once you know your bowlers and the match situation, it's important to set your immediate goals in the match, for the next over and beyond. Are you looking to contain the batsmen and stop them scoring? Do you need quick wickets? Or are you looking to dismiss a particular batsman who is causing you problems? These aims should form part of your decision-making process as you build towards achieving a victory.
It is also important that on an over-by-over basis, you revise your immediate aims to fit the context of your aims for the match as a whole. If it's a match you're not expecting to win, don't go into every over looking to take quick wickets; if it's a match you're expecting to win easily, don't let it slip away from you with a lack of aggression. Setting medium-term goals for the next five or ten overs can help you match your immediate aims to your expectations for the match.
Choose A Bowler To Fit The Situation And Your Aims
Now that you know all you need to know in order to make an informed decision, you can apply your knowledge of your bowlers, the match situation and your aims, and choose the right bowler. It's important to plan ahead - don't bowl out your best bowler early on if you think you'll need him for the final overs, but don't leave him standing in the outfield if the match is slipping away from you.
Your bowlers' personality is also crucial - every match situation carries with it different levels of pressure, and each bowler responds differently to having pressure placed upon them. Don't throw a bowler into a pressure situation if you're not sure they're ready for it; even if it means bringing on an inferior bowler, don't hesitate to do it if they're a bowler you trust in the situation.
Take Wickets And Win Games
Bearing in mind all this advice, you are now in a position to get the best from your attack. If your bowlers are performing, you can give yourself a solid basis for the development of your side, and you will see marked improvements in performance in the short term. Follow these guidelines, and your side will be winning games in no time!
For tips on Motivating Your Players, click here. For advice on Setting A Field, click here.
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