05
Team & captain
Where the game is, what is about to happen to it, and the one call to make. For the afternoon you are captain, and for the afternoon you are not and can see what nobody else has noticed.
Batting and bowling are things you do on your own. This is the other half of cricket, and almost nobody is taught it: what your side does when it is winning, and what it does when it is not.
twelve situations, and sixty answers underneath them. Three taps say where the game is. The fourth says what is actually going on, and then you get what is coming, the call, and the job for the other ten.
Captaincy is rarely coached. Most young captains are handed the job and told to get on with it, which is why a side can play well all season and never learn to read a game.
How we want to play
Five things, taken from four people who have actually run sides. Four of them are about being positive. The third is the one that stops the other four turning silly.
We play like we chose to be here
Pat Cummins
Pat Cummins keeps saying the same thing about the Australian side. Keep it fun, because fun is why everybody started playing, and it is what gets the best out of people and makes them work as a side.
A team that is enjoying itself still chases in the thirtieth over. A team that is not, stops.
You can see which one you are. Watch who is still talking to each other at the end of a long spell in the field.
Just as you have always stuck up for your mates, I’m sticking up for mine.
You are allowed to fail
Eoin Morgan
Eoin Morgan changed England by telling players it was fine to fail. Go and be as brave as you can, and when it does not come off nobody is going to make you pay for it.
He had to mean it, because players can tell. The first time somebody is dropped for playing the shot he was told to play, the whole thing is over.
What it buys you is the batter who would have blocked out a bad over having a go at it instead.
One of the strongest parts of reinforcing the freedom in which we play is backing that up with selection. If we want our players to play cagey, yes, we would change things and probably half of us wouldn’t be here.
Brave has a plan. Silly does not
Eoin Morgan
This is Morgan’s own distinction. Reckless is doing something you would never normally do with no method behind it. Fearless is the same shot with a method behind it.
So the test is not how big the shot was. It is whether you could have said, before you played it, why you were playing it.
Charging a spinner because you have decided to get to the pitch of the ball is brave. Charging because the last two overs were quiet is silly. Same shot, same ball, and one of them is a plan.
Everybody knows their job
Stephen Fleming
Stephen Fleming has won more T20 titles than any other coach by doing something unglamorous. Find what a player is good at, give him one clear job, and back him long enough to get good at it.
Other sides change their team after three bad games. His do not, and that patience is most of the reason his sides are calm when a game gets tight.
If you cannot say your job in one sentence, you have not been given one. Ask.
He’s very, very good at creating role clarity within a team. One thing he identified about the Hundred, he was astute enough to realise that it can be quite chaotic. So he found a way of getting us to find simplicity within the chaos.
We do not accept ordinary, and we do not grind each other down
Andy Flower
Andy Flower won three Ashes by refusing to accept ordinary from anybody. He was a hard coach and the standards were the whole of it.
It ended five nil, and the honest reading is that the intensity wore the side out.
What he says now is that he had been working on the cricketer instead of on the person. Standards and looking after each other are both needed, and the one a team runs out of first is the second one.
When they played for England did they not want to be the best side in the world? Doesn’t every Test team want that goal? Surely? Isn’t it very obvious and natural? I find it strange that it’s seen as overconfidence or an outlandish goal. Otherwise aren’t you selling yourself and your country short?
The paragraphs above are a summary in my words. Where a quotation sits underneath one, those are the real words, fetched off the page they were printed on and read in context so it is clear who said them. Two of the five have none. Morgan’s distinction between reckless and fearless is the sentence this whole section leans on hardest, and no original wording for it could be found anywhere, so it is not in quotation marks. Fleming is quoted through Chris Jordan, who played under him, because Fleming’s own statement of it is in an interview that cannot be reached from here. All of that is set out on the sources page.
Where is the game right now?
Answer as it is, not as you would like it to be. Where two calls both look reasonable, the five above are how you pick between them.
Reading a game out loud
Nobody learns this by being told. You learn it by calling it before it happens and finding out whether you were right.
Commentate an over you are not in
When you are fielding, at the end of each over, say to yourself what you would do next: same bowler, change the bowler, change the field, or both. One reason each. Then watch what the captain does and what happens.
You will be wrong a lot at first. Being wrong when it costs nothing is the cheapest way there is to get right.
Count something every over
Where did the last six balls go. How many fielders are inside the circle. How many overs has your best bowler got left. Captains who lose games rarely lose them by being outthought. They lose them by not knowing a number.
Say the plan so somebody can repeat it
A field that has heard a plan is a field that is thinking. If nobody can say it back to you, you have not set a plan, you have moved two people.
Every situation, written out
The same twelve situations and sixty answers, in order, for reading rather than tapping.
Batting, and the runs are coming
Nothing has gone wrong yet. This is the easiest part of an innings to waste.
They are bowling wide and short and we are helping ourselves
What happens nextTheir captain moves two fielders and it stops. Free runs always stop, usually inside two overs.
The captainSay out loud what the score will be in five overs at this rate. That is the number to protect, and it is bigger than anybody thinks.
The teamHit it where the fielders are not. A four off a bad ball is worth the same as a four off a good one, and there are only so many bad ones.
One of us has hit three fours in an over
What happens nextA bowling change, and a field with two more men back. The next over will be a maiden if you let it.
The captainWarn the batters before it happens. A change they expected costs one quiet over. A change that surprises them costs three.
The teamTake a single off the new bowler early. You do not have to hit him for four to beat him.
Both openers are in and nothing has happened
What happens nextThis is the best position in cricket and the easiest to throw away. Wickets in the first ten overs come from boredom more than from good balls.
The captainNothing. Let them bat. The worst captaincy in junior cricket is a message sent out to two players who are winning.
The teamKeep counting. Every over you are both still there, the total you can reach goes up faster than the run rate does.
We are scoring fast but somebody has been dropped twice
What happens nextHe gets out. A batter who has been dropped twice is playing at balls he should be leaving, and the third one carries.
The captainNothing public. Tell him at the over, quietly, to leave the next wide one.
The teamThe other batter takes the strike back for an over and lets him breathe.
It is coming easily and the pitch is doing nothing
What happens nextThey will find it just as easy. A flat pitch does not belong to whoever batted first.
The captainRaise the target in your head. On a pitch where nothing is happening, par is a bigger number than it feels like.
The teamNobody plays for a not out. On this pitch a total that felt safe last week is thirty short.
Batting, with a partnership going
Two of you are in and the field has gone back. This is where innings quietly stop.
They have put everybody on the boundary and the fours have dried up
What happens nextThe run rate falls without a wicket falling, and in ten overs you are behind without having done anything wrong.
The captainCount the fielders inside the circle. If there are only two, singles are free and nobody is taking them.
The teamTake the single. Two runs an over from ones and twos beats four an over from a boundary and five dots.
They have brought both spinners on and we have stopped
What happens nextA quiet ten overs, then somebody tries to break out and gets stumped.
The captainPick the weaker spinner and take him down. You do not have to score off both of them.
The teamUse your feet to one and sweep the other. Standing still against spin is how a middle order goes quiet.
One of us is scoring and the other cannot get off strike
What happens nextThe one who is stuck plays a shot he does not own, and you lose the wrong batter.
The captainGet them talking between overs about who is taking strike at the start of each one.
The teamThe set batter takes the first ball of the over where he can. The other one hits into the gaps for one, not four.
We are ahead but the light is going or rain is coming
What happens nextThe game gets cut short and the total you have is the total you get.
The captainWork out what a shortened game needs and say it. A side that does not know the new target bats to the old one.
The teamScore now. Runs in the book beat runs you were planning.
We are well ahead of where we need to be
What happens nextSomebody decides the game is won and gets out playing a shot he would not play at four for none.
The captainGive the batters a number for the next five overs. A target stops a settled batter inventing one.
The teamBat the same way. The score does not change which ball is worth hitting.
Batting, and the game is nearly yours
You are winning with overs to spare, or you are setting a total they will struggle with.
We need a handful of runs and have wickets in hand
What happens nextSomebody tries to finish it with a six and gets caught, and the next two come in nervous.
The captainName the number out loud and say singles will do it. A team that knows it needs seven off three overs does not slog.
The teamTake the ones. Nobody remembers who hit the winning four.
We are setting a total and the last overs are here
What happens nextTwo wickets in three balls and you finish twenty short of where you were heading.
The captainSend in the player who hits straight, not the one who hits hardest. Straight has two boundaries to aim at and no fielder in the way.
The teamEvery ball is worth one at least. A run out going for a second you did not have costs more than the two you wanted.
We are ahead but two new batters are in at the end
What happens nextThe rate drops just when it needed to climb, because two people are playing themselves in with no time to do it.
The captainTell them plainly: no playing in, hit the gaps from ball one, and a dot is worse than a risk now.
The teamRun hard at everything. Two new batters can still get twelve an over out of ones and twos if they sprint.
Their best bowler has overs left and is coming back
What happens nextFour quiet overs at the end, and a chase that was easy becomes tight.
The captainWork out which overs he will bowl and decide now whether to see him off or take him on. Doing neither is what loses it.
The teamIf you are seeing him off, say so, and get everything you can off the other end.
Nothing is wrong and there is nothing to do
What happens nextNothing, which is the answer. Most of captaincy is knowing when the game does not need you.
The captainKeep the field talk going and let them bat. A change made because you feel you should be doing something is the change that costs you.
The teamPlay the ball. Not the situation, not the crowd, not the scoreboard.
Batting, and the wickets have gone early
Two or three down inside the first few overs. Everything you do now is about the next twenty minutes, not the total.
Three have gone in the first four overs
What happens nextA fourth follows inside two overs. Wickets come in clusters because the next batter walks in already believing it.
The captainStop the clock. Send out the message that the only job is to be there in twenty minutes, and mean it.
The teamTwo of you get to the twentieth minute. That is the whole plan and it is enough.
One bowler has taken all of them
What happens nextHe bowls out his spell and takes two more, because nobody has worked out what he is doing.
The captainAsk the batters who are out what he is doing. They know, and nobody has asked them.
The teamSee him off. Score off the other end and give him nothing. He has a limited number of overs and you do not.
We have run somebody out and it has rattled us
What happens nextAnother one. A side that has run one out runs two out, because the next call is made by two people who no longer trust each other.
The captainGet the pair in the middle to agree three words before the next over. Yes, no, wait, and nothing else.
The teamCall for your own shot in front of you, and the non striker calls anything behind. Every single time.
The pitch is doing more than we expected
What happens nextThe whole order gets out the same way, one after another, because nobody has changed anything.
The captainSay out loud what the pitch is doing. If it is low and slow, the cut shot is out. If it is seaming, the drive is out.
The teamPlay later and straighter. On a pitch doing something, the ball you leave is worth as much as the ball you hit.
It is a big game and we have frozen
What happens nextYou get bowled out for a total nobody in the side would have predicted, and everybody says afterwards that they were fine.
The captainMake the next job small. Not "bat forty overs". The next six balls.
The teamTalk between overs about anything else. A conversation about nothing resets a head faster than a conversation about batting.
Batting, and the runs have stopped
Nobody is getting out and nobody is scoring. This is the quiet way an innings dies.
We have had two overs with almost nothing off them
What happens nextA wicket. Dot balls do not stay dot balls: the pressure comes out as a shot somebody did not mean to play.
The captainBreak the sequence deliberately. A pushed single off the third ball is worth more than a four off the last one.
The teamEvery batter takes the first single available. Get off strike and let the other one look at him.
They have set a field and we are hitting it
What happens nextYou keep hitting to the same two fielders until one of them catches you.
The captainCount where the last twelve balls went. If they all went to the same two places, the field is doing the bowling.
The teamHit it somewhere else. If you cannot, work the ball behind square where nobody is standing.
A bowler nobody can get away has come on
What happens nextHe bowls his whole spell for almost nothing and the required rate climbs the whole time.
The captainDecide now: see him out, or attack him. Then tell the batters which. Half of each is the worst of both.
The teamIf you are seeing him out, score at the other end hard enough that his overs cost them.
We have lost two while going nowhere
What happens nextYou end up thirty short with four overs unused, which is the most annoying way to lose.
The captainSend in somebody who scores rather than somebody who survives. At this point the innings needs runs, not another anchor.
The teamThe set batter takes charge. He faces more and he takes the risks, so the new one does not have to.
We are behind the rate and nobody has said so
What happens nextPanic at the end. Ten overs of quiet becomes five overs of slogging, and that gets four people out.
The captainSay the number every five overs. A side that hears the rate every five overs never has to catch up all at once.
The teamAdd a run an over now rather than five an over later. It is the same runs and much less risk.
Batting, and needing more than you are getting
The rate is beyond you at the moment. What you do next depends on whether the game is gone or only difficult.
It is hard but the number is still reachable
What happens nextYou leave it too late and need eighteen off the last over, which is a lottery you usually lose.
The captainWork out the over you have to start from and go one over earlier than that. Everybody goes too late.
The teamTwo boundaries an over and no dots. Both halves matter and the dots are the half people forget.
The number is out of reach and we all know it
What happens nextThe side plays out the overs, learns nothing, and everybody goes home flat.
The captainChange what you are playing for. Not out is worthless now. Give somebody their best score, or bat out the overs so nobody is bowled out.
The teamPlay properly at every ball. A game that is gone is the cheapest place there is to practise the shot you are frightened of.
We need runs and we have two wickets left
What happens nextOne shot ends it. With two left the innings is one ball from over, whatever the rate says.
The captainGet the recognised batter on strike and keep him there. The tail is for running, not for hitting.
The teamThe last pair run everything. Two off a push beats a four you tried for and missed.
Their best bowlers are bowling the last overs
What happens nextThree quiet overs and the game finishes without a finish.
The captainLook at who has overs left on both sides. If their best has two left, those are the overs to survive, not the ones to win it in.
The teamTake the singles off the good bowler and go hard at the other end. Pick your over.
We need a lot and we have wickets in hand
What happens nextNothing, unless somebody starts. Wickets in hand are worth nothing at all if the overs run out with them unused.
The captainSend the hitters up. Batting order is a plan for a normal innings and this is not one.
The teamTake the risk early while there are still overs to recover in. A wicket now costs less than a dot ball at the end.
Bowling, and the wickets are coming
You have two or three early. The next twenty minutes decide whether this is a good start or a won game.
Both openers have gone to the new ball
What happens nextTheir best batter comes in and settles, because everybody relaxes the moment the openers are gone.
The captainKeep the attacking field for the new batter. The two overs after a wicket are the cheapest wickets you will ever get.
The teamEverybody in and loud for the first six balls. A new batter should not get a quiet start.
One bowler has all of them and is running out of overs
What happens nextYou take him off, the scoring restarts, and he comes back at the end when they are already away.
The captainGive him one more over than feels right, then save his last two for the batter who is set later. Bowling him out now leaves you nothing.
The teamField like it for his last over. Give him a wicket rather than making him earn a third.
They have collapsed and their tail is in early
What happens nextThe tail hangs around for ten overs, adds forty, and the game turns into a normal one.
The captainBowl straight and full at the tail and take the slips out for the run out. A tail gets out to straight balls, not to clever ones.
The teamNobody switches off. Forty from the tail is the most annoying forty in cricket.
The pitch is doing a lot and anybody could bowl
What happens nextIt stops doing it. Pitches do most of their moving in the first hour.
The captainGet your overs in now. Bowl your best two out earlier than you planned, because these conditions will not be there at the end.
The teamCatch everything. On a pitch like this the chances come in a bunch and then not at all.
We are miles on top and there is nothing to fix
What happens nextSomebody gets bored, a catch goes down, and the batter who was gone on nought makes forty.
The captainGive the overs to the bowlers who do not usually get them. This is the safest place in the season to do it.
The teamStay in the game between balls. The dropped catch in a won game is the one everybody remembers.
Bowling, and they cannot score
Nobody is getting out but nothing is coming off either. You are winning the part of the game nobody watches.
We have bowled a lot of dots and nothing has happened
What happens nextA wicket, if you hold it. Dot balls are wickets that have not arrived yet, and in professional T20 sides bowling forty or more dots in an innings win most of the time.
The captainDo not change anything to make something happen. The squeeze is the thing that is working.
The teamSave every single. One run an over saved is the same as a wicket if it goes on long enough.
A new batter has come in and cannot get off strike
What happens nextHe gets out, or he gets away. It depends on the next eight balls, not the next eight overs.
The captainKeep him on strike. Set the field so the single is hard and the boundary is impossible, and bowl your best bowler at him now.
The teamCut off the single first. A new batter who cannot get down the other end starts inventing.
One of them is stuck and the other is scoring
What happens nextThey work it out and the good one takes the strike. Then you have a problem you did not have.
The captainBowl at the stuck one and let the good one have a single early in the over. You want five balls at the weak end, not one.
The teamField to give the good batter one and to give the stuck one nothing.
It is working but our best bowlers are running out of overs
What happens nextThe squeeze ends when they do, and the last ten overs go for twice the rate of the first twenty.
The captainCount the overs left for each bowler now and write it down. Most junior captains find out too late that their best bowler has one left.
The teamThe bowlers who are not on stay ready. A change is worth less if the man coming on has not moved for an hour.
They have started taking risks to get out of it
What happens nextA wicket, and soon. A batter who has decided to break out has already decided to hit somebody, and it will be to a fielder if you put one there.
The captainPut the fielder where he is about to hit it, not where he has been hitting it. Then bowl the ball that makes him do it.
The teamTwo deep on the leg side and everybody else up. Take the catch that is coming.
Bowling, with runs to play with
They need more than they are getting. The only way you lose from here is by handing it back.
They need a lot and have wickets in hand
What happens nextThey send the hitters up and have a go. It usually fails, and when it does it fails quickly.
The captainPush the field back and take the boundary away. Let them have the singles. A team needing ten an over cannot win on singles.
The teamNobody dives at a single that does not matter. Save the boundary, every ball.
They need a lot but two set batters are still in
What happens nextTwo set batters can find twelve an over for three overs. The game is closer than the required rate makes it look.
The captainBreak the pair before you defend the boundary. One wicket here is worth more than two saved boundaries.
The teamOne catcher stays in for the mishit. A set batter going hard offers a chance most overs.
We are ahead but our bowling is nearly used up
What happens nextSomebody has to bowl four overs at the end who has never bowled at the end, and it goes for thirty.
The captainWork out who bowls the last four overs and tell him now, so he has ten minutes to get his head right rather than ten seconds.
The teamThe field does his job for him. Set it so that his worst ball still only costs one.
We keep giving them wides and no balls
What happens nextExtras win the game for them. In junior cricket extras are often the highest score on the card, and they come almost entirely at the end.
The captainBowl the man who lands it, not the man who is quickest. Accuracy is worth more than pace in the last four overs.
The teamThe keeper stands up to the slower bowlers and stops the byes. A bye is a run nobody had to earn.
They need very few and cannot get them, or so it looks
What happens nextOne over changes it. A team needing very few with wickets left is never as beaten as it looks.
The captainBowl your best bowler at the best batter, whatever over it is. Saving him for later is how a won game goes.
The teamField like it is level. It is closer than the scoreboard says.
Bowling, and they are away
They have started fast and nothing has gone your way. The temptation is to change everything at once.
They are scoring quickly and we have not bowled badly
What happens nextIt settles. A fast start on a good pitch usually slows down on its own once the ball stops being new.
The captainHold your nerve for two more overs before changing anything. Most bad captaincy in junior cricket is a change made in the fourth over.
The teamStop the boundary and take the single. Fast starts end when the fours do.
We are bowling badly and they are helping themselves
What happens nextIt gets worse. A bowler who has lost his length in junior cricket does not usually find it in the same spell.
The captainChange the bowler, not the field. A field cannot fix a bowler who is not landing it.
The teamSay nothing to him about it in the field. Get him off, get him calm, and bring him back later.
One batter is doing all of it
What happens nextHe gets a hundred and the game is gone by the twentieth over.
The captainGive the other one the strike and bowl at him. Set the field so the good batter can only take two, never one.
The teamEvery fielder knows which of the two you are trying to bowl at. Half a field doing it does nothing.
We have dropped two catches already
What happens nextYou drop a third. Catching goes in the head, not the hands, and it spreads across a fielding side fast.
The captainMove on out loud and quickly. Ten seconds of noise about the next ball beats a minute of everybody looking at the grass.
The teamEverybody moves their feet before the ball is bowled. A side that has stopped moving is a side that is about to drop another.
It has got loud and nobody is talking to each other
What happens nextThe next twenty minutes go the same way, because a field that has stopped talking has stopped thinking.
The captainCall everybody in. Not for a speech. For thirty seconds of quiet and one plan that everybody can repeat.
The teamOne plan, said out loud, by somebody who is not the captain. If a fielder can say it back, the side has it.
Bowling, and a partnership is set
Two of them have been in for a long time and nothing you have tried has moved them. This is the hardest job in captaincy.
We have tried everything and nothing has worked
What happens nextThey bat to the end. A partnership that survives the middle overs usually decides the game.
The captainTry the bowler nobody expects. A part timer with the right field breaks more set partnerships in junior cricket than a fourth spell from your quickest.
The teamChange something visible. A field that has not moved in ten overs tells two set batters they have nothing to think about.
They are milking singles and never in trouble
What happens nextThey accelerate at the end from a base you gave them, and the total is sixty more than it should have been.
The captainStop the single before you chase the wicket. Bring the ring in and make them hit over the top.
The teamAttack the ball on the ring. A saved single is a dot, and dots are what break a comfortable pair.
One is a left hander and we keep changing the field around
What happens nextYou lose an over of concentration every time they cross, and they use it.
The captainSet one field that works for both and leave it. Two fields and a switch every ball is how a side loses its shape.
The teamKnow your two positions before the over starts, and move without being told.
Our best bowlers have bowled and they are still there
What happens nextThe rest of the attack gets picked off and the rate goes up in the last ten.
The captainSave two overs of somebody good for the death, even now. You cannot win this middle passage, so stop spending on it.
The teamThe bowlers still to come get a plan each rather than an over each.
They have started playing shots they were not playing
What happens nextA wicket. A set batter who has changed how he is batting has given you the first thing you have had for an hour.
The captainPut the catcher out for the shot he has just started playing, and bowl the ball that invites it again.
The teamEverybody stays alive. The chance from a set batter comes once.
Bowling, and they need very few
They need a small number and have wickets left. You need something to happen and you need it now.
They need very few and have most of their wickets
What happens nextThey win. This is the honest answer, and the game is now about how you play the last twenty minutes rather than the result.
The captainAttack everything. Every fielder up, catchers in, bowl straight. A defensive field cannot save a total this small.
The teamPlay for the run out. Two direct hits and a game that was gone is a game again.
They need very few but their tail is in
What happens nextOne wicket and the whole thing changes. A tail chasing a small number gets out more often than anybody expects.
The captainBowl straight and full at every one of them, with the field up. Tail enders get bowled and run out, not caught at deep midwicket.
The teamThe keeper stands up. Nothing gets past for four and nobody leaves their crease.
It comes down to the last over
What happens nextSix balls decide it, and the side that has thought about it beats the side that has not.
The captainGive the over to whoever lands it under pressure, not whoever has taken most wickets. Then set the field for the first ball and change it after each one.
The teamEverybody knows where the ball is going before it is bowled. No thinking, only running.
They need very few and we have gone quiet
What happens nextThe last overs go past without anybody making anything happen, and you lose without playing.
The captainMake one thing happen every ball. A move, a shout, a change. A side that is doing something believes something.
The teamThe loudest person in the field is not the captain. Somebody else takes it on.
It is gone and there are overs left
What happens nextNothing, unless you decide otherwise. This is time nobody can take off you.
The captainGive the last overs to the bowler who never gets them, in a game where it costs nothing.
The teamEvery fielder practises the thing he is worst at, now, while it does not matter.
Where this came from: two decades of watching and playing, and a read around the coaching material on death bowling, powerplay fields, strike rotation and bowling changes. There is one number on the whole page, that sides bowling forty or more dot balls in a T20 innings win most of them. It is from professional men's T20 and it came through a search summary rather than the study itself, so treat it as the shape of a thing rather than a measurement. Everything else here is judgement, and the judgement is junior cricket on a short pitch.