Cricket Coach 2009 Instruction Manual Rockingham Software Ltd

Transcription

1 Cricket Coach 2009 Instruction Manual 2009 Rockingham Software Ltd 1

2 Disclaimer This product is not endorsed by any player or any team. Player data, statistical information, financial data and contract details are not guaranteed to be accurate. The match results are partly influenced by skill ratings but performances do not purport to represent the actual abilities of any real life players or teams. All such information has been created solely for the game and does not reflect the views of the developer or publisher. 2

3 Introduction Thank you for purchasing Cricket Coach 2009, we hope you will get many hours of enjoyment out of the game. The aim of this manual is not to cover every single feature in the game, rather it is an attempt to guide you through the most important aspects of Cricket Coach 2009 to allow you to quickly get an understanding of how to play the game. If you have any questions not covered in this manual, or you have a suggestion for a future version of the game, you can find the development team at On that website, you will find all the latest news, downloads and have the opportunity to join the community forums. Summary of the Game Cricket Coach 2009 allows you to take control of a large selection of countries or their various domestic teams. The difficulty of the game is dictated by the scale of challenge you decide to take starting as Australia will provide a vastly different in-game experience over managing relative minnows Bangladesh. 3

4 Installing the Game Your first task is to install the game. You need to launch the game installer, this is done by either inserting the game CD and following the on-screen instructions (in the case of the CD edition). Or by double clicking on a downloaded copy of the game. A dialog will appear that looks something like this. Follow the on-screen instructions to install the game onto your computer. This should only take a few moments. This installation process only needs to be performed the first time you play the game. Once installed the game is available to play at any time. Running the Game Once the game has been successfully installed you can launch the game by clicking on the relevant menu item in your computers 'Start' menu. Whatever operating system you are using this is likely to be accessed by clicking on the icon in the bottom left hand corner of your screen. 4

5 Now select either 'Programs' or 'All Programs' (depending on your operating system). You will see a list of programs that are currently installed on your computer. Navigate down to the section named 'Cricket Coach 2009'. You will see something similar to this. To launch the game click either 'Cricket Coach 2009 (play full screen)' which will launch the game as a full screen program. Or click 'Cricket Coach 2009 (play in windowed mode) which will launch the game in a window. Note: To launch the game in a window your screen resolution needs to be at least 1024 x 768. Trying to launch in a window using a lower resolution will either fail, or succeed but lead to only a certain amount of the window being visible. Note: Please see the troubleshooting section if you are using a netbook and want to launch the game, some users have discovered how to run using a window using these machines. The game should now start. If the game does not start when you click on one of the two links then please see the Troubleshooting section of this manual. Otherwise move onto the next section of the manual. 5

6 Troubleshooting Note: If you can successfully launch the game then you can skip this section. How to run using a Samsung NC10 Netbook (may also work on similar devices). This device has a small screen which natively doesn't support the 1024x768 resolution required for Cricket Coach However there is a screen mode which allows the game to be played on the device. For full details please see this page on the Samsung website: Note: Something similar may well be able to be done on similar Netbooks to allow the game to be played. For more information and solutions to problems please visit our forum at or contact us via our website at 6

7 Getting Started with Cricket Coach 2009 After the game has loaded you will be presented with the game setup screen. The options available to you here are: New Game New Career Mode Game Start a new career as coach of a team. International Series Mode Run a series of matches between two countries Game Editor Player Editor Launch the player database editor Team Editor Launch the team database editor 7

8 Ground Editor Launch the ground database editor Tour Editor Launch the tour editor Competition/Format Editor Adjust the name of competitions. Load Game Clicking 'Load Game' launches a dialog from which you can launch a previously saved career game. Select the game you wish to load from the drop down menu, then click 'Load'. Note: To load a previously saved International Series mode game go into the International Series mode and click 'Load Series'. Exit Quit Cricket Coach 2009 and go and play some real cricket! 8

9 Cricket Coach 2009 Using the data editors A series of data editors built into Cricket Coach 2009 allow you to edit the cricketing data that the game uses to influence results. It is possible to edit players (and indeed create new players and delete players). It is also possible to edit various details relating to the teams in the game and the competitions featured in the game. It is also possible to edit data linked to the huge selection of cricket grounds included in the game. Note: It is important to note that when using the editor under some versions of Windows (Vista and 7), you will need to launch the game using a user account with administrative privileges for these editors to permanently save the data you have changed. Right click and choose 'Run as Administrator' before playing the game to ensure this. Note: If you wish to leave an editor without saving the changes you have made then hold down the left shift key as you click to leave a particular editor. Using the each data editor is fairly straightforward and self explanatory. You will have a series of what is known in the database world as records (players in the case of the player editor). Click on one of these to bring up the data stored with that record. Adjust the various text fields or sliders to manipulate the data. Click on another record to save the changes to the previous record. Note: Any changes made to the editor will only affect new games started after the changes were saved. Existing saved game will not be affected in any way. 9

10 International Series Mode Setting up an International Series The International Series Mode lets you create a series between two countries. The series can either be a Test series, an ODI series, or a T20 series. All countries available in the game can be chosen, even if in real life they aren't eligible to play that form of cricket. To begin choose which two sides are to face each other. The matches will be played in the country specified in 'Select home country'. If you wish to control one of the sides playing in the series then check the 'User Controlled?' tick-box next to the country that you wish to control. Next you need to decide what format of the game is going to be played during this series. Choose either a Test series (5 days, 2 innings), a One Day series (50 overs a side), or a T20 series (20 overs per side). 10

11 Once you have made these decisions click 'Add Match to Series Schedule' to add a match to the series. You can have up to five matches per series. If you wish to choose both team lineups for each game, irrelevant of whether you are actually controlling that team in the match check 'Select both team lineups?' tickbox. You are able to change the ground that will stage each match by using the dropdown list-box that appears next to each scheduled match. When you have setup your series click 'Continue' to begin. Loading a previously saved series If you have previously played a series and saved it then you can continue the series by clicking on 'Load Series'. Choose your game from the drop down menu and click 'Load'. You will be taken to the point where you saved the series. Playing an International Series 11

12 An international series proceeds one match at a time. Click 'Continue' to move to the next match in the series. Each match is completed before you are returned to the International Series screen. After each match various statistics are available. Using the buttons at the top of the screen you can choose to view the series schedule (shown). Next to the schedule button you can click to view averages and stats from the current series. To the right of these options are buttons that show the overall statistics of games played in the International Series mode since the statistics were last reset, and a collection of records kept since the statistics were last reset. Saving an International Series Click 'Save Series' to save an International Series. This records the current state of your series to your computer so you can return to it on a later date. Saving to a web page/html Click 'Output to HTML' to save a summary of your series to HTML format which can be viewed using any web browser. Files are saved to your 'My Documents\Cricket Coach 2009\Output' directory. Reset All Stats From time to time you may wish to reset all the statistics that have been stored over time through the International Series mode. To do this click on the 'Reset All Stats' button. Note: This action is permanent, and cannot be undone. Once you have reset stats there is no way to retrieve them. 12

13 Career Mode The career mode of the game puts you as the coach of a real life cricket team. Your job is to lead them through each season making decisions that will hopefully lead to a large amount of success. Starting a new game To start a new game at the beginning of the 2009 season, click the New Career Mode Game button. On choosing this mode you will be asked to create your managerial profile. Here you can enter your name and then choose either a first class team to coach or one of a large selection of countries. Click on the 'Filter' dropdown list-box to change what teams you are currently selecting from. Click on the name of the team you wish to coach. Once you have done this the 'Continue' button will become active and you will be able to start your game. 13

14 Before starting your game you can adjust various options which will affect your experience of the career mode of the game. Stop player retirements and ageing This option will result in the game world standing still no players will retire and their ages will remain locked to their 2009 values. This options is particularly useful if you prefer building up a team without the fear of players announcing their retirements Fictional player names This will mean that the names of the players are completely randomised, presenting a greater challenge as you will no longer be able to rely on familiar names. Stop Managerial Sackings Tick this checkbox to stop any managers getting sacked during the career mode of the game. You might choose this option if you are taking control of a weak team that might take many seasons to turn into a great team. You might need to go through a lot of poor seasons to really turn the team around. By turning managerial sackings off you will avoid the risk of being sacked whilst you are turning the fortunes of the team around. Empty Indian Franchises This option starts the game with empty Indian T20 franchises, without their current real life squads. You might select this option if you wish to take a franchise and build the whole team from scratch. If this option is selected then at the first player auction each franchise will have a far larger budget. Transfer Options Normal Player Transfers The game runs using a transfer system similar to real life. No First Season Transfers The transfer system is similar to real life, but no transfers will happen during the first season of the career game. You might choose this option to ensure the squads for each team reflect reality correctly. Not selecting this option might mean that some early season transfers move players around creating a cricketing world that doesn't reflect current reality. 14

15 No Transfers Transfers are completed disabled. No transfers will occur during the game. Simulate Domestic Cricket In These check boxes allow you to decide whether domestic cricket in each of the major cricketing countries is simulated in your game. On very slow computers you might wish to simulate cricket in only a few countries. This will speed the game up a bit. When you are happy with your choices, press the continue button to start your managerial career. 15

16 Main Menu The main menu is your homepage throughout the game; from here you can view at a glance your latest news items, details of your next match as well as your position in currently active competitions. Continuing the game At any point during the game you can press the Continue button to move forward in the game ('Bowl' when viewing the match screen). Continuing the game will move the simulation forward to the next stage of the game. Note: You will only be allowed to continue if all the news items with decisions to be made have been answered. The game simulation is based on the real life calendar, so you will notice the days passing by in the top left hand corner of the screen. Years in Cricket Coach 2009 are split into two, the northern hemisphere summer (April 1st September 31st), and the southern hemisphere summer (October 1st March 31st). 16

17 News All the important news items from the world of cricket that relate to you will appear in your news. This will range from news of players being selected for international duty to players being injured. If you want to go directly to a relevant player profile - for example - from a news item, simply hover over the name within the news body and you will notice the name will be underlined. Clicking on the name will take you to the players' screen. Some news items might require a response. For instance, you might be asked to confirm an international touring party. You will not be allowed to continue the game until you have responded either positively or negatively to the news item. Jobs In Cricket Coach 2009, you can apply for other management positions whether at a domestic or international post when they become available. You can find a list of available positions on the Jobs screen. This screen outlines those positions that are no longer secure. You will come to visit this screen frequently should your team not be performing well on the field! If a position is listed as Vacant, you can apply for the position by clicking on the team s name, then clicking on the Apply button located in the top right hand corner of the screen. When applying for a job you have to bear in mind that the chances of you getting the job depend on your reputation in the game. You won t stand much chance of getting the Australian manager s job for example if you have had one poor season at a Zimbabwean domestic side! If your application is successful, you will be notified via the news. Should you opt to take the new job you will be automatically resigned from your current job. If you get offered an international manager s job, you will also be forced to resign your domestic job (should you have one). If you accept a job with a team in a different hemisphere from the one currently active, the game will switch to the auto simulate screen and return once the next season begins. Resign your current job You can resign your current job by first visiting your profile screen (available by clicking on your name at the top of the screen in many areas of the game), then selecting the Resign from job button. Fast Forwarding/Going on holiday/skipping to your next match In Cricket Coach 2009, it is possible to go on holiday until your next match or required input (for example, selecting an international squad). It is particularly useful to jump to your next match if you are for example, managing an international team and have several months before your next tour or tournament. 17

18 To fast-forward to your next required action click the 'Fast Forward' button at the bottom of the main screen. Competitions Getting Information Each competition has its own 'screen' from which you can view a variety of information such as the current league table, batting and bowling averages for that competition, and details of fixtures and past results of matches relating to that competition. To quickly see information on a competition that your team is playing in you can click on the relevant competition on the information area to the top right of your screen. You will see listed a series of competitions that your team is entered into. If you are coaching an English county for example you might see the County Championship Division 1 listed, along with the one day league and T20 competition. Often though you will wish to see information about a competition that your team is not participating in. To do this click on the 'Domestic Comps' button on the left hand side of your screen. You will see a list of countries, click on one of these to see a list of domestic competitions running in that country. From this list select a competition to view its information screen. 18

19 Information is also available about international competitions such as the World Cup. This is available through the 'International' button on the left hand side of your screen. An information page about Test match and ODI series taking place currently is also available here. Note: To view information about a past Test series or ODI series click on 'International', then click 'Test Championship' or 'ODI Championship'. From there you are able to view information on past series. More recent series still have their information page available. Click on any series to find out if information is still available. 19

20 Club Management Player Contracts and Transfers As a manager you must always be on the lookout for new players to improve your squad. In Cricket Coach 2009, you have two main periods in which you should be active in the transfer market. For southern hemisphere clubs this period occurs between 1st October and 1st November. For northern hemisphere clubs this period occurs between 1st April and 1st May. The first five days of this period is exclusively for extending contracts that are going to end this season. After this ten-day period those players into their last season will be open to approaches from other teams. You are free to extend the contract of any of your players at any time you can do this by going to their profile and choosing Offer new contract from the actions drop down menu. Of course, out of contract players can be signed outside of the transfer window at any point should you have sufficient funds left over for the seasons wage budget. To make an approach for a player not in your squad, first bring up their profile screen, and then choose Approach to sign from the actions drop down menu. You might be informed that you are unable to sign the player at this time should this be the case, a reason will be given. You also have the option to release any of your players. Be warned however that the board might opt to block the move to release the player. Should this happen, the player is likely to suffer from a serious decline in form and morale. They might even refuse to sign future contracts. If you do release a player, you will be liable to pay 50% of their remaining wages due on their contract. Player Comparisons In Cricket Coach 2009, it is possible to directly compare two players in the game world. This will help you assess which is the better player, at a glance. In order to do this, first select the player you wish to compare. Click the 'Actions' button on their profile page, then choose 'Set as comparison player'. Then navigate to the profile of the player you wish to compare them with then simply select Compare player, again from the 'Actions' drop down menu on their profile. Contract Negotiation Screen Whether you are renewing a contract with an existing player or looking to sign a new player, you will eventually have to negotiate a deal with the player. The contract negotiations screen is the place to do this. On this screen, the board will outline the maximum amount of money that you can offer the player per season. If there is sufficient finances available to you, the board will outline the maximum amount of money that you can offer the player for his salary. It is important that you spend this money wisely if you give players 20

21 too much money, you might miss out on further signings later on in the transfer window, as your wage budget for the season will be fully used. You are also able to specify the length of the contract this can range from between one season and five seasons. Be careful not to offer an ageing player too long a contract, just in case he should suffer from a decline in ability and be on the team s books for a great length of time. Click on either the + or arrows to alter the salary or the length of the contract. Once you are happy with the offer you are making the player, press the Make Offer button. This offer will be sent to the player, who will consider the deal and come back with a response via the news screen. If you wish to cancel the deal, press the Cancel Offer button. This will take you back to the player s profile. Replacing overseas players If local transfer rules permit, in Cricket Coach 2009, you can replace overseas players for instance if they are called up for international duty unexpectedly and will miss crucial periods of your domestic season. In order to do this, when approaching another overseas player, you will be given the option to select the overseas player you wish to replace. 21

22 International Management If you chose to coach a national side from the start, or you are fortunate enough to be given the opportunity to coach internationally during your career, you will face a whole new set of tasks and decisions. When you are the coach of an international team it is your responsibility to pick squads for forthcoming tournaments and series. You will be prompted to do this via the news. Players can be added or removed from international squads from the player profile actions menu however the easiest way of doing this is to use the country s 'All Eligible Players' tab. To add or remove a player from the current squad, right click on the player s name. Left clicking on the player s name will take you to that player s profile. To filter the number of players on display, click on the Filters button. From here you can customise easily which type of players you wish to include in your search. Alternatively, you can ask your assistant to automatically select the squad by clicking on the Auto select squad' button on the squad panel. You can also quickly clear the current squad by clicking on the Clear Squad button. Once you are happy with your squad choice, returning to the news item and confirming the squad will allow you to continue with the game. Central contracts In addition to selecting squads, it will be your responsibility to choose the players who will be centrally contracted to your national board. Northern hemisphere nations will choose these in April, whereas southern hemisphere nations will select these in October. Note: Some countries do not utilise a central contracts system. If a player is centrally contracted to you it gives you ultimate control of the player. You can choose to either rest the player or allow them to take part in domestic cricket with their club side. Failure to balance this correctly could result in unfit players turning up for international matches! Qualifying for Tournaments If you are lucky enough to be coaching one of the ten leading nations in cricket, then you will automatically be included in a vast tours program which will see you host and visit the other nine leading nations over a period of four years. If you are one of the top eight ranked One Day International playing countries then you will qualify for the Champions Trophy. Which is a short international tournament taking place every four years. 22

23 If you are one of the top ten One Day International playing countries then you will also qualify for both the World Cup and T20 World Cup automatically. These occur every four and two years respectively. Lower Rankings Nations Those Outside the Test Championship Cricket Coach 2009 gives you the opportunity to coach many minor cricketing nations. These nations are not eligible at the start of the game to play Test match cricket. They do however have competitions through which they can earn the right to eventually play Test match cricket. All lower ranked nations play in the World Cricket League. This is a six division league based competition with promotion and relegation. The top two teams in divisions 2-6 get promoted up a division. Whilst the bottom two teams divisions 15 get relegated to the division below them. These leagues are played once each season, so twice a year. Each side plays all the other sides once. The top two sides in World Cricket League Division One qualify for the World T20 competition should that be scheduled to take during the next season. The top four sides in World Cricket League Division One and the top two sides in World Cricket League Division Two qualify for the World Cup should that be scheduled to take place during the next season. Earning Test Match Status Whilst the World Cricket League structure allows a side to qualify for the major one day international tournaments the Intercontinental Cup offers a country the chance to enter the top ten elite of world cricket. By winning the Intercontinental Cup three years in a row a country will earn the right to play test match cricket. Not only this but they will also enter the top ten One Day International elite as well. They will replace the country bottom of the Test Championship table at the end of the season during which they won their third consecutive Intercontinental Cup trophy. Once Test Match status has been earnt however further work must be done to protect it. As the next side to win three consecutive Intercontinental Cup's will again gain test status at the expense of the bottom side in the Test Championship. Any countries gaining test match status need to work hard in the 18 months of guaranteed elite cricket to get themselves off the bottom of the Test Championship table. The Intercontinental Shield competition sits below the Intercontinental Cup. The top two in the Intercontinental Shield each season get promoted to the Intercontinental Cup, the bottom two teams in the Intercontinental Cup get relegated to the Intercontinental Shield. The bottom team in the Intercontinental Shield gets removed from the competition, replaced by the highest ranked team 23

24 in the World Cricket League structure not currently playing Test cricket or in the Intercontinental Cup or Intercontinental Shield. Good performances in these competitions, including getting promoted and earning Test Match status will result in an increase in interest in cricket in that country. This over time will lead to better players coming through the youth systems, and ultimately more talented players playing for these teams. 24

25 Picking your team One of your key duties as a cricket coach is to pick the side that will play in each game. You have free reign to pick whatever side you decide for each game from the selection. Occasionally some players will be unavailable, you will be told via icons on the squad screen why each player is unavailable. It is possible to pick your team at any point during the game. You do not need to wait until a match to adjust your team. Your latest team selection is always saved, so you don't need to pick the team at the start of every game, just make whatever changes you wish to make. On the right hand side of the screen is your team sheet. On the left hand side of the screen is a list of your players. To move a player into the team click on his name and 'drag' your mouse over to the slot in the team sheet where you wish him to bat. Whilst doing this you need to keep your left mouse button pressed down. You can change the order of players in your team sheet by clicking and dragging players to different positions in the team sheet. 25

26 Setting your captain, opening bowlers, and wicket keeper. Certain players in your team have important roles. The captain leads your team on the field, this should be a senior member of your team. The wicket keeper stands behind the stumps and needs to be skillful otherwise he may drop potential catches or let the ball fly past him too much. The opening bowlers are the bowlers who bowl at the very beginning on an innings. They bowl overs 1 & 2. Usually this will be your best two pace bowlers. To assign any of these jobs to a player on your team sheet click the right mouse button on the name of the player. A menu will appear from which you can set a role. Next Fixture Information In the bottom right hand corner of the screen, you are presented with details of the next scheduled fixture (should there be one). A weather forecast is available seven days before the fixture is due to commence and a detailed pitch report is available on the day of the match. Multiple Lineups (Club sides only) Through the course of a season your side will play in a variety of different competitions. The competitions you play in will either be first class (4 days, 2 innings per side), one day cricket (one innings each, usually 50 overs) or the new T20 cricket (20 overs per side, one innings). You have a different team sheet for each format of cricket. This allows you to pick a team suited to first class cricket and have that stored ready for your first class games, whilst at the same time having a different side chosen for the limited overs formats of the game. To view each team sheet click on the format buttons on the left hand side of your screen. Picking your team how to decide Choosing your team is one of the key tasks that you have as a coach in Cricket Coach There are no perfect team selections, each team selection will have it's advantages and disadvantages. Thankfully Cricket Coach 2009 presents you with a huge array of information that can be used when making decisions about who should play in your next match. Batting / Bowling Skills Each player has a series of current skill ratings noted down for your benefit by your coaching staff. These rate the players in various areas. Batting Skills: Front Skill when executing front footed shots. 26

27 Back Skill when executing shots off the back foot Off Skill when executing shots to the offside (right for a right handed batsmen facing the bowler) On Skill when executing shots to the onside (left for a right handed batsmen facing the bowler) Pace vs Pace bowling. Skill when facing pace bowling. Spin vs Spin Bowling. Skill when facing slow/spin bowling. Speed scoring speed. How fast roughly are they at keeping the scoring rate going. Note: The actual skill value used in the game is a combination of all these values, weighted depending on the actual shot executed. e.g. An upper cut off the back foot would use a skill value created by taking a large chunk of the back foot skill and off side skill, as well as pace skill if it was against a pace bowler. Other skills values in this case wouldn't be used as much. For a sweep to a spinner the front foot, on side, vs spin skill values would be used to create a batsmen skill value. Bowling Skills Arm Do they bowl with the left arm or right arm? Classification What type of bowler are they? Fast The fastest bowlers out there, 85mph+ Fast Medium Very fast, but not quite the fastest Medium Fast Good paced, but get wickets from swing rather than outright pace Medium These bowlers take the pace off the ball, usually with lots of variations to confuse the batsmen. Slow Slower bowlers who look to vary the pace and take the pace off the ball to make scoring tricky. Off Spin Off spinners Leg Spin Leg spinners Skill Bowling skill. How smart are they when bowling, can they outfox a batsman? A high skill value will get more wickets, a low skill value will result in the bowler bowling a lot of poor balls that don't go where they were intended. Cons Consistency. How consistent is this bowler at executing the bowl plans given to him. Is he able to stick to them, or does he fail to keep to a plan. 27

28 Vari Variation. How much variation is there in his bowling? Getting a good batsman out will be easier if the bowler is both skillful and has a lot of variety to his bowling. A poor bowler with a low skill but reasonable variety might still cause problems for some weaker batsmen. Mov Movement. How much swing/seam/spin does this bowler get from an average wicket? The very best spin/swing bowlers have high values here. Meaning they are able to get considerable movement from an otherwise benign surface. Bowlers with lower movement values will need pitches that give considerable help to the bowlers to get an amount of movement to unsettle a batsman. Note: All these values are out of 100. With 100 being good, and 0 being awful. Somewhere around 50 is competent. 85+ is world class, 70+ is good for a professional playing domestic cricket. In addition to information about a players skills you also have information about their usual batting position and their current form in both batting and bowling. This can be found on the 'Basic' view'. To view match statistics from a players entire career you can select either 'Career Batting/Fielding' or 'Career Bowling' from the view dropdown menu. Similar data but for just the current season is available from the 'Season Batting/Fielding' and 'Season Bowling' views. In addition when viewing career or season data you can adjust what format of the game these statistics relate to by changing the Format dropdown menu. Finally all of this data can be sorted in a variety of different ways by adjusting the 'Sort' dropdown menu. To view more in depth information about a player click using the left mouse button on any player on your squad list on the left. This will take you to that players profile page. 28

29 During the season icons may appear alongside players in your squad list. Here is a brief explanation of their meanings: Centrally contracted the player is centrally contracted to his national board and is currently unavailable for selection. Contract running out this player s contract is due to run out at the end of the current transfer period. Overseas player this player is one of the team s overseas players. Depending upon local rulings, selecting this player might result in the team having to pay a penalty to the national board. Injured this player is currently injured and unavailable for selection. On international duty this player is currently away on international duty for his national side and is unavailable for selection. Transferred this player is already transferred and will be leaving the club at the end of the current transfer period. Playing in the ISL - this player is playing in the Indian T20 franchise competition and thus is currently not available to play. 29

30 Playing a Match As you proceed through the game it will not be long before your first match is upon you. Before a match you will be presented with the Today s fixtures screen. This will detail the day s fixtures. In Cricket Coach 2009, if a game is played over several days, you play each day individually in other words at the close of play, you leave the match screen and return to the other managerial screens until the following morning. Pressing continue will take you to the tactics screen. For instructions on how to use the tactics screen, view the section on Picking your starting line-up earlier in this manual. Once you have selected your team, press the continue button to proceed to the match preview screen. You will be presented with the starting line-ups and match conditions. It is here that the toss takes place. You will be asked to either choose heads or tails. If you are fortunate enough to win the toss, you must then elect to either bat or bowl first. Once you have made your decision, press the relevant button and then press the continue button to move onto the match screen and begin playing the match. 30

31 The Match Screen When controlling the batting team Bowl: This will continue the simulation. If you are playing ball by ball or over by over then the simulation is moved on until the end of the next ball or over. The simulation will stop if a major incident has taken place. The simulation will automatically show you a replay of the ball if it matches the criteria set out in the options dialog. For example if you have 'Show Wickets' set in the options dialog and the next ball is a wicket then you will be shown the highlight. If a ball doesn't match your highlights settings but you still want to watch it then you can be clicking on the ball outcome icon (for example to see the four highlighted in the screenshot click your left mouse button on the four icon). Autoplay: Occasionally you will be short on time and will want to move more swiftly through a match. By clicking the Autoplay button a dialog will appear giving you various options. These are: 31

32 For first class matches and Test Matches End of Day: Autoplay until end of the current day End of Innings: Autoplay until the end of the current innings (or day) End of Session: Autoplay until the end of the current session Next Wicket: Autoplay until the next wicket For limited overs matches End of Match: Autoplay until the end of the match End of Innings: Autoplay until the end of the current innings Last 10 overs/last 30 runs: Autoplay until the last 10 overs (or 30 to win) Next Wicket: Autoplay until the next wicket falls Speed Selector: The game can be played at various different speeds. Critically some speeds run the game automatically, without you needing to press the bowl button each ball/over. Other speeds require you to move the game on by clicking the bowl button. Manual Each Ball (play through the game ball by ball) Manual Each Over (play through the game over by over) AUTO: Slow (play automatically but at a very slow pace) AUTO: Normal (automatic and a little faster than slow) AUTO: Swift (automatic and quite a bit faster than normal) AUTO: Faster (automatic and fast) AUTO: Pretty Quick (automatic and very fast) AUTO: Fast (automatic and so quick that overs will fly by) AUTO: Manic (the fastest speed setting, extremely quick) Note: Of course if you wish to immediately move to the end of the match/day you can do so by using the autoplay option. Other Options. Series Screen / Main Menu: This button takes you back to the main menu in the career mode, or the series screen when playing the International Series mode. You will return to the game where you left it when you click on Continue from those screens. 32

33 Options: This launches a dialog from which you can choose various game options. Options for determining what balls are shown as highlights when moving through a game are available, plus whether the score should be shown in the traditional English style of 350/3 or the Australian style of 3/350. Take Power Play: When a batting power play is available you can click this button to take it. A batting power play is a series of overs where the fielding team is restricted in where they can place fielders. Typically a batting power play will help the batting team by making boundaries easier to score. Batting power plays only occur in some one day matches, they do not occur in first class/test matches. 33

34 The Match Screen When controlling the bowling team The speed controls, autoplay dialog and options settings are identical to when playing as the batting team. Bowl plan selector Your bowlers attempt to bowl to a plan. A plan comprises of a field setting, plus a target area to bowl to, and what side of the non-strikers wicket the bowler will run up past. Different bowl plans are used at different points in a game of cricket. One bowl plan might be suitable for attacking a new batsman in a test match, whereas another bowl plan might be suitable for containing a side in the latter stages of a one day match. Cricket Coach 2009 comes complete with a set of bowl plans for each format of the game which you can use. You can also create your own, either from scratch or by modifying an existing bowl plan. 34

35 Cricket Coach 2009 sorts the default bowl plans by order of aggressiveness. Thus if you want your team to attack and attempt to take wickets, they you will want to use an attacking bowl plan. If you wish to defend and slow the scoring of runs then you will want a defensive bowl plan. To move to a more attacking bowl plan click on the button with the right arrow (highlighted with a red box on the screenshot). To move to a more defensive bowl plan click on the < buttons. Note: Your user created bowl plans are listed after the default bowl plans and are not sorted by aggressiveness. You will also notice that you have different bowl plans selected for each bowler, and for each batsmen that bowler will bowl to. This allows you to uniquely target each batsmen (and his weaknesses) just like captains do in real life cricket. Changing a bowler Click the 'Change Bowler' button to change your bowler. Note you can only do this at the end of a completed over. Click on the name of the bowler you wish to bowl next. Note: In one day matches there is a limit to the number of overs a bowler can bowl. If a bowler has already bowled this maximum number of overs then he cannot bowl again. Note: Your wicket keeper cannot bowl. Note: No bowler can bowl two successive overs. 35

36 Match Screen Choosing What Data to view It is possible to split the match screen into two parts. The top half either shows a scorecard or it shows a brief overview of the current innings. The bottom half of the screen shows more detailed information. Top Half Data When moving through a match you can choose to be shown information on the current innings in one of two ways. Overview: This is the default view. It shows an overview of the current innings in the style of a traditional cricket scoreboard. It gives you all the critical information without filling your screen with data. Scorecard View: This view shows an innings scorecard. You can choose which scorecard to view by clicking on the yellow scores at the top of the screen. Usually you will want to see the current innings scorecard (click 'View Detailed Card'), but it is possible to check back at earlier innings to remind yourself how they went. Bottom Half Data Recent Overs This is the default view and shows at a glance the outcome of each ball in the most recent overs. Click on a ball icon to watch that ball in the highlights match view. Recent Balls 36

37 This shows individual balls that have been bowled during this innings. Use the scroll bar to view an earlier part of the innings. Click on the information about a ball to watch that ball again. Playing Conditions Here you can see at a glance the current conditions at the ground. Data shown includes information about the bounce of the pitch plus the weather and ball conditions. In the second innings of one day matches the current DL par score is shown. This is the score that the second team must be at currently to gain a tie should the match be abandoned at this point. One ahead of this is needed to win the game. 37

38 Current Partnership This shows information about the current partnership. These are the two batsmen currently at the crease. The overall stats are for these batsmen during their entire innings. Contribution is just the runs and balls stats whilst this partnership has been alive. Partnerships/Fall of wickets This shows each partnership during this innings. From here you can see which partnerships were successful and which weren't. It's also possible to see how many overs each partnership took up, and how many minutes the partnership lasted for. RPO is the runs per over for that partnership. Runs each over Manhattan chart (Limited Overs Matches Only) 38

39 Here each innings is shown with bars rising upwards showing how many runs were scored off each over in the game. These rising bars look similar to a city skyline, leading to the name 'Manhatten chart'. Run Rate Worm (Limited Overs Matches Only) This shows the current run rate achieved by each team at each point of the two innings. This chart (known as a worm for obvious reasons) can be used to see how a team has accelerated at various point of it's innings. Cumulative Score Chart 39

40 This shows how a team's score in an innings has increased over the course of the innings. The Y axis shows the score, plotted against the overs gone on the X axis. 40

41 Basic Tactics and Strategy Batting Batting in Cricket Coach 2009 is a case of judging how well you believe your batsmen are coping out in the middle, then giving them orders that will result in a large amount of runs being scored, for the loss of as few wickets as possible! Usually in a four or five day match you will want to give your batsmen a few overs to 'get their eye in'. Set them at a slightly defensive aggression level until their confidence level (the green boxes next to their name) are 2 or 3. Then as their innings builds gradually increase their aggression. Unless the match situation demands then going too aggressive in a four or five day match doesn't benefit you in the long term. As the increased scoring rate will be rendered pointless if you lose quick wickets. In limited overs matches however you need to be ready to adjust the batting aggression sliders far more often. If a partnership is building and a weaker bowler comes on then you need to be ready (and courageous enough) to attack that bowler. The matches might only be decided by a run or two, so a few big overs could easily be match winning ones. Towards the end of an innings you will want to move to at least an aggression setting of 7 out of 10. You don't get any benefit of having batsmen left at the end in one day matches, so ensure you give it everything you have, whilst at the same time making sure you actually bat out the overs available to you. Warning: However be very careful about going on all out attack with anyone other than a very confident batsmen. Weaker batsmen who have only just come in will struggle when told to play all out attack. They are likely to either completely miss the ball (and score no runs), or get out (and lose you a wicket). Note: The batsman in yellow on the left hand side of your screen is the batsmen who is going to face the next ball bowled. Note: Use the left and right arrow button to increase and decrease the aggression setting for a batsman. The 'lock aggression' option adjusts the batsman's aggression setting against both current bowlers, saving you the hassle of changing both values. Note: The five red/green squares next to each current bowler on the tactics panel outline how confident the batsman in question is against that particular bowler. A confident batsman will be more capable of hitting out for quick runs or defending his wicket. Clicking on the batsman s name in the tactics panel will take you to a screen with more detailed information about their current tactics as well as their current innings and career statistics. 41

42 Bowling Bowling in Cricket Coach 2009 revolves around choosing suitable bowlers and giving orders to those bowlers that you have chosen. You have full control over who is handed the ball at the start of each over, so it is up to you to make the best decisions possible. A bowler performs better when he has maximum energy. A bowlers energy bar replenishes when he is given a rest from bowler, and when he is indoors during a luncheon or tea break, and overnight in a multi-day game. Controlling Bowling Aggression Bowling tactics are dictated by selecting a pre-defined bowl plan. This plan effectively controls both how aggressive the field is, and how aggressive the bowler should actually bowl. To alter the current bowl plan to a batsman click on either the left or right arrow buttons for the relevant bowl plan on the left hand side of the screen. Clicking on the bowler s name in the tactics panel will show you more specific information about the current bowl plans chosen, as well as detailed innings and career statistics. It will also present you with the option of creating your own bowling plans or editing existing ones. Bowl plan editor On this screen, you can create or edit an existing bowling plan. The screen highlights the potential weaknesses of both batsman currently at the crease. It is up to you to use your cricketing knowledge to decide the line, length and type of delivery to bowl. For the even more adventurous cricket coach, it is also possible to manually edit the field. To do this click the edit field button and then simply drag and drop the fielders into the desired positions. 42

43 Advanced Tactics and Strategy As you by now know basic cricket strategy goes something like this. Score more runs that the opposition and you will win. You score more runs by carefully ensuring your best batsmen bat for a long time before getting out. You stop the opposition from scoring a lot of runs by getting your best bowlers to bowl at their best batsmen and ideally get them out quickly. That's the basics, this section discusses various tactical options that aren't necessary to enjoy the game, but may well need to be executed very well to win certain games. Batting Declarations Occasionally there comes a time when your batsmen are scoring so many runs that you feel you really don t need to add any more and you d rather be using up the time bowling to the opposition. During any non-limited overs match you can opt to declare when batting this closes your innings for good and you can t return to that innings later on. Example Situations Situation 1: You are batting against a weak side and are scoring heavily, you re 650/4 at the end of day two. You feel life you could go on and score 1,000 or more runs but your main goal is to win the game, and you can t do that without bowling out the other team twice. You realise that you have enough runs already, and wish to spend the next two or three days attempting to bowl the opposition out. You therefore declare the innings close and proceed to try and bowl the opposition out twice. Situation 2: You are batting in a rain-affected match that is going into the last day, after posting 300 in your first innings you bowl the opposition out for 200. You are now 100/1 in your second innings with just 90 overs to go in the game. You feel that in reality you could bat all day and extend your lead but then the game would end in a draw, so you decide to bat for a little longer until lunch, extending your lead to 300. You then declare, thus putting the opposition in and attempting to bowl them out, which is of course the only way you will win the game. As you can see a carefully timed declaration can be the difference between winning a match, and letting it fade out into a draw. As the coach it s up to you to decide whether to declare, and if you do declare, what the best point to declare at is. 43