Brisbane cricketer, Simon Eggins is back with his view on club cricket from the other side of the world.

Getting the right batting order can be a tough job for a club captain.

Sometimes it's useful to experiment with different possibilities. Batsmen generally perform better when given the chance to get comfortable batting in one spot for an extended period.

Each position in the batting line up comes with its own set of challenges and while striving to establish an order that will best suit the team as a whole, it's ideal (if not always possible) for the personalities and abilities of each batsman to match up to their assigned positions. The better the captain knows his team the more likely this will
be achieved, though this knowledge still needs to be put to good use.

Fantasy Cricket

To help explore this important aspect of captaincy, I will attempt to choose a batting order from the following list of players of a hypothetical team to demonstrate some of the variables involved.

A club captain's job is very different to that of a professional cricket selector. The selector chooses players from a pool to fill 11 positions. The club captain is often just given his players and must work out how to make best use of them. The skipper must also deal with other issues alien to first class cricket, such as the problem of making sure that everyone in the team (regardless of ability) gets at least some sort of a fair go.

I'll assume for present purposes that the game being played is a two-day unlimited overs two innings match on a decent but not perfect pitch, the match is yet to get underway, and the team is going to bat first (so that there are no special conditions that might provoke a change to the line up).

The Players

Liam - L/H Bat

Though generally a defensive player, Liam doesn't like to get tied down for too long. He has a good range of strokes – particularly favouring the horizontal bat shots like the pull and the cut but is normally pretty circumspect. He also bowls a bit of part time medium pace.

Avg: 32.53

Paul - R/H Bat

Paul is an excellent quick bowler, but a very ordinary batsman – normally only good for a few blocks before he gets tempted into a big shot and goes out.

Avg: 6.01

Darryl - L/H Bat

Darryl doesn't like running too much and is a little slow between the wickets, but makes up for this with his explosive and well directed hitting (though in spite of preferring to be on the attack, he also has a good defensive technique). Darryl is also renowned for being very nervous before going in to bat and has a number of pre-game rituals to try and fight the butterflies. He also bowls a bit of right arm leg-spin.

Avg: 30.25

Max - L/H Bat

Max is a left arm orthodox spin bowler who doesn't really take batting too seriously. He has some handy shots, but his defensive technique is lacking – can make a few runs now and again, but don't count on him sticking around at the crease for too long.

Avg: 10.34

Aaron - R/H Bat – Wicketkeeper

Aaron is a busy batsman with an ok defence, who prefers to work the ball around rather than smash it hard. He is a good runner between the wickets and uses this ability to get full value out of his less powerful shots.

Avg: 19.52

Jack - L/H Bat

This guy loves to smash the ball. He hasn't got a great defence – (he normally takes a huge “around the world” backswing) but can certainly hit it hard and always scores quickly, though he's not the quickest runner and prefers to deal in boundaries. His innings are generally explosive, but normally pretty brief. Only really knows how to play one way and often goes out if he tries to block. Bowls medium pace, but is hardly ever called upon.

Avg: 17.13

Don - R/H Bat

Undoubtedly the team's best batsman, Don has a sound defence and all the shots, and is remarkably versatile, being able to adapt his play depending on the match situation. He has however made it clear that he likes to bat down the order a bit – he loves to come out in crunch situations when the game is in the balance. He's also a decent swing bowler.

Avg: 41.46

Gerard - R/H Bat

This guy has a good defensive technique, but doesn't have many shots. Often plays very long innings for not many runs. Regularly lets the ball go and gives up scoring opportunities to ensure he doesn't lose his wicket. He will hit the odd four now and then, but is a good runner between the wickets and prefers to deal in singles and twos. Given the choice, he'll normally take the safer option unless the match situation dictates otherwise. He doesn't generally bowl.
Avg: 19.13

Nathan - R/H Bat

A fairly aggressive batsman who loves to drive the quicker bowlers down the ground, this player often makes runs though is often caught in slips when the ball is doing a bit because of the way he drives hard at the ball. Aside from Don, he's probably the best player of spin in the team as well because of his excellent footwork.

Avg: 24.75

Charlie - R/H Bat

This guy loves to play shots on the leg side, but has virtually no off side game at all. He makes runs now and again, but because of his obsession with scoring on the leg-side he often falls victim to decent quick bowlers who consistently pitch it full and on the stumps. He is frequently called upon to bowl his medium pace.

Avg: 12.24

Sam - R/H Bat

Sam is a new player who is just learning the game. He doesn't normally bowl and struggles with the bat as well (though he's very keen and is constantly improving). He applies his mind well and tries to play to the conditions, but his under-developed technique usually means that his stay at the wicket is fairly brief.

Avg: 7.82

Identifying the Tail

It's handy to initially give thought to the whole picture rather than filling the positions from top to bottom. To begin the process, I identify the players I think will fill the tail –

Paul, Max, Charlie, and Sam.

As the opening bowler, Paul will hopefully not complain about batting at 11.

Sam would appear to be the next weakest batsman and would therefore occupy the number 10 slot, but because he is unlikely to bowl I'd prefer to bat him one spot higher at 9 – so that he at least has some chance of playing a bit of an innings. Max, who apparently doesn't care too much about his batting, will presumably be happy to go in at number 10. Charlie the medium pacer, who seems to be the best of the tail, can occupy the number 8 position.

The remaining players will fill the top seven spots.

Where to Bat Don - the Team's Best Batsman

Though it is often said that the best batsman should bat at number three, I don't believe that is a hard and fast rule and Don's own preference for batting lower down should be considered. I would not however bat him too far down in the middle order, as if all goes well you would prefer your best player to be at the crease for the maximum number of overs. Number 4 seems the best position for him – hopefully he can get used to batting there.

The Top Three

A left hand / right hand opening combination is clearly desirable, but it would also be ideal to have players of contrasting styles. At a basic level this means one “attacker” and one “defender”, with a prerequisite that the attacking player must still have a good defensive technique that would enable him to help see off the new ball. Two defensive players would be possible, but not ideal – the 2007 Boxing Day test match between Australia and India demonstrated the potential problems of this approach, with the defensive styles of Rahul Dravid and Wasim Jaffer combining for a run rate of less than one run per over for an extended period, largely nullifying the advantage of their having seen off the opening onslaught and putting pressure on the middle order.

I will discount Nathan and Jack, who look as if they will do best down the order, as well as Aaron the wicketkeeper (I'd prefer not to put pressure on the wicketkeeper by asking him to come in early unless there were no better options). This leaves Liam and Darryl, both left handers with decent defences who have aggressive tendencies (Liam appears to be the second best bat in the team), and Gerard – the defensive right hander.

I'll therefore select Gerard as one opener (giving him specific instructions to play his natural game and attempt to see off the new ball, taking singles to help tick the score board over), partnered by Darryl – the aggressive left hander (not having to sit around with the pads on should help his pre-innings nerves).

Liam seems to be the more versatile of the three, and in my view would therefore be the best to occupy the number three position, having the ability to knuckle down if an early wicket is lost, and power on if things are going well (effectively to play the role of whichever of the openers is the first to go).

The Middle Order

We now have to slot Aaron, Jack and Nathan into positions 5, 6, and 7.

Nathan appears to be the best of the three, and number 5 seems as if it would suit him – hopefully he'll be walking to the crease just as the time comes for the spinners to brought on. I'd put Jack at number 6 – Aaron may be a better bat, but this way you put the left hander in between the two right handers, and Aaron as a steadier player is probably better suited to bat with the tail and act as a last backup in case things go wrong.

The Line Up in Full

My suggestion for the full batting line up is therefore:

1. Gerard
2. Darryl
3. Liam
4. Don
5. Nathan
6. Jack
7. Aaron
8. Charlie
9. Sam
10. Max
11. Paul

Making the Most of a Little

In many cases a club captain won't have this much information to help sort out the line up, but as time goes on and games go by there should be some opportunity to evaluate the players and to begin developing profiles like those set out in my hypothetical team. The club captain also has the tough job of playing diplomat – keeping the team happy when everyone wants to bat at numbers 5 and 6 may not be an easy task!

Of course there can't be an absolute right answer as to where each player should bat, and it will undoubtedly depend on the brand of cricket a particular captain may wish to play and the match situation (which may dictate the use of pinch hitters, etc), but hopefully this exercise has illustrated some of the factors and variables at work in this somewhat tricky yet important aspect of captaincy.