Former Adelaide Strikers coach Darren Berry has given detailed insight into how to set up a cricket side to effectively play Twenty20 cricket.
Berry, who also coached alongside Shane Warne at Indian Premier League side the Rajasthan Royals during their triumph in the tournament’s opening season in 2008, shared the 12 main principles he used when directing his T20 sides.
Batting
Play three power batsmen to combat the powerplay
“What you need in the first six overs is power batsman that play with freedom. They’re not afraid to get out and will take the game on.
“If you can get 60-plus runs in the first six overs – that’s big, that’s 10 an over - but that’s what the good sides do in Twenty20 cricket.
“The powerplay is crucial. You need top order players than can whack it. Most sides are getting to know that now. The traditional opening batsmen that just stodge around – no good.”
Forget batting orders
“What you have is people to play a role in your team and they might be injected into the game at certain times, so you have to prepare for that.
“KierCiaron Pollard in the Adelaide Strikers team is a massive man, he hits the ball out of sight. It’s no use leaving him in the sheds listed at number six to come in and face five balls.
“When I was coach of them, no matter what stage of the game after 10 overs, if Pollard hadn’t got in, the next fall of wicket he’s in. He needed to face 60 balls plus to have a real impact and win the game.
“Don’t keep your big hitters in the shed because sometimes the batsmen may waste seven or eight overs. Crucial timing to get your good players at the wicket is important.”
Stick the glue of your team at four and five
“Four and five tend to be your glue in the middle. Brad Hodge, Michael Hussey - those quality players that can adjust their game accordingly.
“If you’re in a spot of bother, you can’t shut up shop, you’ve got to keep hitting the ball around. They can manipulate the ball around the field and they have also got to have the ability to go big at the end as well.”
Have a mixture of left and right-handed batsmen
“Spin bowling is playing a very big role and generally you want people hitting with the spin of the ball.
“Bowling a leg spinner, that’s spinning away from the right-hander, that’s dangerous because the ball is spinning off the outside edge.
“Bowling to a left hander, they can hit with the spin and launch it over the short boundary. Just get underneath it and hit with the spin.”
Bowling
Swing is important
“You have got to be able to move the ball. If you bowl straight, cannon fodder stuff, you are going to disappear. You need to be able to swing the ball early to entice an outside edge.
Spin to win
“You have got to have spinners in your bowling line-up. “I think the Renegades will go up because they have recruited Brad Hogg and Sunil Narine, two world class spin bowlers.
“Spin halts run rates in the middle order. Not many batsmen are prepared to take spinners on when they first walk in.
“Generally they bowl outside the powerplay, five men on the boundary. The player tries to slog it, it goes up in the air and he gets a wicket and halts the run rate. Spin to win.”
Medium pacers should avoid bowling good length
“The worst thing to do is bowl good length because the batsman is looking for the ball in the pitch and he wants to get underneath the ball and launch it over the fence.
Quicks must have variety
“As a fast bowler you have to have a change of pace, a good slower ball that batsman can’t predict.
“You have to work on your variety. My saying is be predictably unpredictable. Don’t serve up the same stuff and be a bowling machine.”
Fielding
Have fit, agile fielders who can throw
“No donkeys please. I watched the Sydney Thunder the other night and they had old slow fieldsmen. They’re going to be exposed.
“If I’m coaching against that, I’m saying if you hit it to him, run, he’s slow. You’ll get a run every time. Put them under pressure.
“You’ve got to have a good throwing arm or you’ll be exposed. There will be run-outs on. Fit, agile and strong arms.”
Play your best fielders in the hotspots
“As a fielding captain, get your best fieldsmen in the hotspots. You need to know the strong hitting areas of the batsmen and put your three best fieldsmen in their hotspot to chop off their runs.
“Late in the innings, when the five men are out, don’t get caught with a donkey on the boundary line because they’ll get two every time and if he’s got not throwing arm, you can turn twos into threes.”
Final tips
Captaincy is crucial
“What you need out there when it gets tight is a cool head. In congestion you need calmness.
“If you’re putting a team together, get a good captain that is strategically and tactically smart and has a cool head.”
The little things are the big things
“In Twenty20, the little things are the big things. Anyone who has played under me, ad nauseam I’ve given that.
“Back up. We get told that in under-12s but in the two (BBL) games so far, there’s been overthrows. Two nights ago a throw came in and no one backed up. It went for four overthrows.
“How important in Twenty20 cricket is four overthrows? That can be the difference between winning and losing the game.
“Don’t bowl no balls. Don’t step over the front line because a no ball is a free hit. It’s not just the no ball that goes for one run, the next ball gets hit for six and that ball costs you seven.”