3 Twenty20 Tactics You Should be Coaching | Cricket coaching, fitness and tips

3 Twenty20 Tactics You Should be Coaching

With the World Twenty20 in full swing, I look at some new tactics that will be used in the tournament, and how you can copy them in your games.

1. Spinners in the powerplay

The difference in short format cricket now is the specific use of spin.

The IPL is the perfect example of spin being used as an economical and wicket-taking tactic.

In sub-continent style conditions there is significant evidence that the ball spinning away from the swing of the bat is more effective in the powerplay than the ball spinning into the bat.

So, smart bowling sides target the more dangerous opening batter and use spin that goes away. Just think of the key tussles in the 2012 World Twenty20:

  • Swann v Gayle
  • Yuvraj v Kieswetter
  • Narine v Warner

Other bowlers with this role are Pakistani pair Ajmal and Hafeez, Ireland’s youthful pairing of Dockrell and Stirling and the Bangladesh left-arm spinners Ahakib Al Hasan and Abdur Razzak.

It's mouth watering stuff, and food for thought for your Twenty20 matches.

2. Wicket taking in middle overs

Don’t be surprised if you see the strike bowlers working in the unfamiliar surroundings of middle 8 overs more frequently.

Taking wickets in the middle overs significantly reduces the number of runs that are scored in the last 6 overs of a game. potential run-rates and end of innings scores are decimated by mid-innings wickets. The likes of Dayle Steyn, Stephen Finn, Kemar Roach, Umar Gul and Morne Morkel are likely to be the key destroyers in this phase of the game.

These guys will use the boundary fielders as wicket taking options with slower balls, bouncers and other deceptive balls mixed in with their stock deliveries to keep the threat of losing wickets large.

the average difference between end total can be as large as 13 runs if you have 6 wickets instead of 4 wickets left going into the last 6 overs.

13 run wins are considered comfortable in T20 cricket. So wickets make a huge difference, the side that deploys their attacking bowlers during the middle 8 overs will come out on top.

3. Spread your killer-yorkers out

Fast bowlers only think about the yorker when the game gets into the last few overs. However, Lasith Malinga - by far the most effective seam bowler in recent IPL editions - deploys his yorker throughout his 24 ball spell.

Well trained and well executed yorkers bring wickets, reduce run rates and crucially, prevent batters from swinging through the rock hard cricket balls.

With this in mind, any side who possess a battery of faster bowlers - all of whom can all deliver killer yorkers throughout their 24 ball spell - will be favourites for any T20 tournment.

Pakistan bowlers like Tanvir, Gul, Arafat and Sami are the perfect example. But don’t forget to see how Malinga does it too!

4. Left-armers ahoy

Left arm seam has played a crucial role in the IPL over the first 5 editions and also helped England to win the World Twenty20 in 2010 with Ryan Sidebottom playing a prominent role. Australia made it to the final in 2010 with Southpaws Dirk Nannes and Mitchell Johnson spearheading their attack.

The angle creates issues for right handed batters meaning left hand strike rates and RpO are much lower than their right arm counterparts.

Bowlers such as Tanvir, Starc, Zaheer Khan and Lonwabo Tsotsobe will play their part.

Think how these tactics apply to your team, your players.

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Comments

I think the main thing about T20 bowling is that you need as much quality and variety as you can possibly get. If a batsman faces 5 overs he shouldn't see the same delivery twice. The moment he is able to predict what is coming next, he can premeditate a way of hitting it for 6.

You need a wide variety of bowlers all bowling a wide variety of deliveries. We saw how England struggled yesterday because their bowling attack was all too similar. Another spinner and a medium pacer and they could have saved 15-20 runs.