This is intented as a getting started guide aimed at those users who are new to the game and that might be struggling a little bit. The purpose is to give you some guidelines to follow to make yourself competitive in the early days. This guide will focus on the strategy for test matches. I've also made an assumption that you've read the manual and know a bit about cricket.

For more information check out the forums[childishthings.com] and the user manual.

I recommend choosing a good international side when starting out and make sure you choose the Easy skill level. There is no hard skill level so the Normal skill level is realistically hard. If you're a beginner make sure you start on Easy or you will find it very frustrating.

Once you've started your game, click Continue and the game will progess until your ready for your first tour.

When you come to the squad selection screen for the first time, a default squad has been selected for you. This makes a pretty good starting point, but you might want to make some changes. This is your opportunity to play as a selector. Pay attention to the type of match you are selecting for. In the screenshot above, I'm selecting for a three test match series.

These are important considerations for selecting your squad:

• Select your squad for the appropriate format. I.e. select test players for the test series. You'll get an opportunity later for selecting the ODI squad.
  
• Think twice before selecting injured players. Will they be fit in time to play any of the games?
  
• "Players will not be at their best until they have experience." Players with less than 15 games in the specific format are considered inexperienced.
  
• "An excellent player out of form is better than a poor player in form."
  
• Select a balanced squad. For this 18 man test series I'll make sure I have at least 3 openers, 2 wicket keepers, 2 spinners, and 4 seamers. Players can get injured, so don't leave yourself short of cover.

After you've selected your squad you'll be presented with the Coach and Physio screen. Use your physio on the two players with the lowest fitness that you are likely to play.

Split you coaching up roughly even between Bowling Practice and Batting Practice. Don't worry about any of the technique training at this stage, you want your players in good form or you'll find it hard to compete.

The goal of the warm up game is to get your players in form. It does not matter if you win or lose.

Sometimes your tour will start with a warm up game. If you do have a warm up game then use the opportunity to get your players in form. It would be a much better outcome if you batted for 3 days and had your top order batsmen accumulate high scores at a slower scoring rate, than if you won the game but your top order batted twice and scored quick 20's before getting out.

Some points for consideration for the warm up game:

• Don't use it as an opportunity to play your second string side. They won't get any useful experience from it.
  
• Rest players that have a low fitness. Don't exhaust them or they will end up like the England team in the '92 World Cup final.
  
• Bat with low aggression to give your batters the best opportunity to score runs.
  
• If your bowlers are struggling to make the breakthrough use your part-timers against settled batsmen. Then bring your top bowlers back on if they get a breakthrough.

Make sure you select a team that's suited to the conditions. If the pitch is turning select 2 or 3 spinners if you have them. If the bounce is average it will suit the seamers as will cloudy conditions. It's a good idea to have at leat one spinner in the side as they can bowl more overs before becoming tired so can hold up one end. The pitch will also detoriate over time so they are likely to become more involved on days 4 and 5.

"When you win the toss - bat. If you are in doubt, think about it, then bat. If you have very big doubts, consult a colleague - then bat" -- W.G. Grace

If you win the toss you should bat. The pitch is only going to get harder to bat on. Maybe consider bowling if the first day forecast is very cloudy and the rest of the forecast is fine and you are confident you can bowl the opposition out cheaply.

Just like in real cricket, you should set yourself a goal of where you'd like to be at various points in the match. A rough guide is about 100 runs with the loss of 1 or 2 wickets per session.

The typical approach is to bat at two aggression until your batter becomes partially settled then move on to 3 bars of aggression. If your batter is in form, make this change at about 33% settled, or if they are not in form make the change at around 50% settled.

In this game, the pitch is average with cloudy weather. This gives an advantage to the seam bowlers. However, in the other two sessions of the day, the weather clears giving neither side an advantage. The goal of this session is to not lose too many wickets. I think a par score would be 70 for 3. I'd rather be 50 for 0 than 100 for 5, so I'm going to bat defensively. The first hour of any test match is always tough, so I'll bat on 1 aggression for the first hour then probably 2 aggression for the remainder of the session. With the other two sessions clearing a par score for the day would be 275 for 5.

It's a good idea to drop your agression to 2 bars when the opposition take the new ball. I do this for about 10 overs then go back to 3 bars. If the conditions favour the batters and my batters are settled, I'll consider leaving them on 3 agression or moving them back to 3 sooner.

After a significant break, such as the end of the day or rain interruption, the batters will be back at being unsettled. Start off at 2 bars of agression and move them up to 3 when they get to 33% settled.

If you're lucky enough, you might have a large first or second innings score of around 600, then you can think of declaring. Time your declaration with about 45 minutes before a break, so your strike bowlers can have two spells of bowling either side of the break.

The third innings declaration is the most interesting. You want to have a high enough score that the opposition won't get it in the time remaining and leave yourself enough time to bowl them out. Few teams will score more than 400 in the 4th innings and 4 sessions should be enough to bowl a team out. This does give the opposition an opportunity to win if they play well and they might bat a bit more aggressively giving more chances.

Your opening bowlers will be your best seam bowlers. The new ball is suited to seam bowlers so maximise your chances for taking wickets during this time.

For opening bowlers:

• Your opening bowlers should start on 4 or 5 agression.
  
• Use the default field settings there is no need to customise it at this stage.
  
• Bowl over the wicket.
  
• Keep the line on middle and off stump (the middle setting)
  
• Keep the length on a good length (the middle setting) except bowl full if your bowler is right handed and the batter is left handed or vice versa. This increases LBW chances.
  
• Another exception to line and length is to attack the batsman's strength initially. E.g. I'll often bowl full to a player that prefers front foot shots for their first 20 or so balls. The theory being that batters will play a more expansive shot before they are settled.

Change your bowlers when their stamina gets low, about 25%, which is about after 5 or 6 overs. Your first change bowlers will be your next best seam bolwers. Continue to be aggressive against new batters, otherwise change your aggression level to 3. This is the level that bowlers best operate at.

If you are struggling to make a break through, try bowling around the wicket and bowling at a settled batsman's weaknesses. Wickets often come about due to pressure so try restricting the number of runs the batsmen are getting to increase the pressure. Also try using an occassional bowler.

Don't introduce spin earlier than 15 overs. Spinners often use the older ball but if the pitch is suited or your struggling to take wickets, introduce them sooner.

When you get a breakthrough, consider bringing one of your main strike bowlers back on while the batsman is new at the crease.

Your main strike bowlers are usually the best against the tail enders. Bring them on with agressive bowling settings to clean them up cheaply. Some tail enders also struggle against spin.

A new ball can be taken at 80 overs, so make sure your strike bowlers have full stamina when you take the new ball. Bowl your spinners and your 3rd or 4th seamers in the last 10 to 15 overs before the new ball. And if your spinners are having success, keep bowling them as you don't need to take the new ball. Another thing to consider is giving your strike bowlers two spells with the new ball either side of a break. Sometimes you might want to bowl with the old ball for an extra 5 or so overs so this can happen.

Follow these techniques and you'll now have the basic skills to win test matches. I followed my own guide and in this example I came away with a fairly comfortable win.