6 of the most innovative tactics used in Cricket in 2015
In 1937, we witnessed possibly the most tactical Test match ever, between Sir Gubby Allen’s England and Sir Don Bradman’s Australia. Both captains were trying to outmanoeuvre each other with unexpected declarations, and there was an unprecedented reversing of the batting order by Bradman in the second innings to protect his batsmen from a difficult pitch.There have been a lot of other innovations by captains — Martin Crowe throwing the ball to a spinner to open the innings in the ‘92 World Cup, Mark Greatbatch’s pinch hitting in the same World Cup, the Sri Lankan openers’ blitzkrieg in the first 15 overs in the ‘96 World Cup, Australia fielding 9 slips in a Test against New Zealand in 1977, and again in an ODI against Zimbabwe in 1999.Even if nothing as radical as some of the above strategies were used in 2015, there were some innovative tactics that came into play. Let’s take a look at some of them.
#1 Brendon McCullum\'s ODI slips
Brendon McCullum’s aggressive captaincy is undoubtedly one of the stories of the past year. Though he has been too attacking for his own good at times, his all-out attack style of captaincy worked a treat for the most part.
The wonderful thing about McCullum’s captaincy in the one-dayers was his use of the slip cordon. With high-quality swing bowlers like Trent Boult and Tim Southee at his disposal, it made sense to have a lot of men behind the wicket.
New Zealand often had 3 or 4 slips and 1 or 2 gullies waiting to pounce on edges. In addition, there were often men close-in in front of the wicket. This was classic Test match field placement in ODIs, in almost every match. Even in the World Cup semi-final against South Africa, Boult and Southee bowled to 4 slips and a gully.
In another match in the World Cup, against Scotland, McCullum took it a step further. Boult was given a scarcely believable 5 slips and a gully at one point, something which would be considered outrageously attacking even in Test cricket.
And even more stunningly, McCullum continued to retain his slip fielders during the middle-overs, when the field is traditionally more spread-out.