I just got back from a baseball game (the Angels won) and I was reminded of a question I've been wondering about. What sort of strategies are there in Cricket? I attended a match between Australia and New Zealand when I was in Adelaide, it was fun but other than the types of bowls a bowler throws and if a batsman is trying to play defensively or just swing away, what strategies need to be considered. I played baseball as a boy and only recently started thinking of how complex it can be. As a boy I would know how to handle the following situation and variations of it: you are winning by two runs, they have a man of first and third with one out, the batter is batting left handed, the pitch count is two balls and two strikes, our pitcher is getting tired, our catcher has a strong arm, they have a fast runner on third but a slow one on first, there are a few other factors and I know as a first baseman I should play to hold the runner and back off after the ball is pitched. As you can see there are many factors involved in how you set up for each pitch (equivalent of a bowl). What sort of strategic considerations are there in Cricket?
Well, there are a lot. To put it in short. Firstly, the surface on which the game is played is of immense importance. Different countries have different geological conditions which result in varying surfaces. In some places, the pitch is conducive to bounce and hence pacemen are preferred in the starting lineup while in the Asian subcontinent, the surface is conducive to slower bowling. Also the amount of grass on the surface matters.So the team composition is directly influenced by the pitch conditions to start with.