These top tips will help you get ahead in Cricket 22.

When Cricket 22 was released in December 2021, it received a somewhat lukewarm reception due to the fact that it was clearly not in a fully finished state at the time. In order to launch the game as close to the start of the Men’s Ashes as possible, there was a scramble by developers Big Ant Studios to get the game out before Christmas – even if that meant with a lack of polish.

A few months later, however, and after a whole heap of significant free updates, the game now appears to be in the full form that it was intended and there has never been a better time to pick it up. So here are some hints and tips for beginners, so that you can get the most out of Cricket 22.

These tips are based on playing the game on medium difficulty and above.

Bowling in Cricket 22 can seem like pot luck to the beginner, as at first as you’ll be taking wickets without really knowing what you did and conceding boundaries off what you thought would be good balls.

While there are some unrealistic oddities that are still being ironed out with in-game patches (such as tailenders being able to play straight drives off a short Pat Cummings delivery for four), bowling in the game is generally a lot like real life. Unlike previous cricket games (such as the old Brian Lara or EA Sports Cricket titles from back in the day), a crucial thing to remember about Cricket 22 is that the ball is realistic, simulated entirely in 360-degree space – with no predetermined outcomes or physics. The ball can go anywhere, can be bowled anywhere, and hit anywhere. So, with that in mind, some tips on how to take wickets:

Related: Cricket 22: Career Mode Training And Recovery Guide

A crucial element of Cricket 22 that the game doesn’t tell you about is how important the confidence and stamina bars are to both batters and bowlers. These are found below the players’ names on the score graphic at the bottom of the screen.

Confidence is shown on a scale from red (not confident) to green (very confident). Just as in real life, confidence changes based on how settled a player is regarding how things are going for them. Confident players be able to play more dangerous shots or bowl more accurate deliveries. Nervous players are liable to make mistakes and, crucially, a nervous batter will find it difficult to play lofted aggressive shots without getting caught out.

Stamina is depleted as a match continues and, again, affects the likelihood of player mistakes. Don’t run your bowlers into the ground!

Appealing in Cricket 22 is not automatic by default on the medium difficulty. Instead, you must appeal manually for any LBW or caught behind by pressing Up on the Dpad/Tab Key. If the ball strikes the pads inline, or you feel a nick through your controller vibrating (or hear a wooden noise), make sure to press that button, so you don’t miss the chance.

Certain game modes in Cricket 22 implement DRS in the exact same way as in real life. You have a limited amount of reviews, and it’s important to not burn them on chances that probably aren’t out or on trying to reverse plum LBWs. Otherwise, it might end up costing you a vital test match…

When it comes to having a net practice session in Cricket 22, there are a huge amount of options hidden away that can really be a help in trying to hone your skills. Having a net is particularly useful when learning advanced shots, such as the sweep or ramp.

When batting in the net, you can go into the pause menu and then select Setup > Batting Setup to chose from a wide variety of options as to how you’d like to be bowled at (human or machine, spin or pace etc). You can also pick the type of pitch.

When bowling you can choose the skill of the batter you are bowling to, or choose to not bowl to one at all.

Manual fielding in Cricket 22 is quite iffy, and difficult to get right for even seasoned players of Big Ant’s series of cricket games, as there are now a lot of different buttons to press depending on different situations:

Considering the minute reaction time that you have when fielding the ball to remember which button you need to press and when, it’s best to just leave this up to the AI at first.

Just like any real game of cricket, the setup of the pitch in Cricket 22 is absolutely crucial to your match strategy – more so than the game suggests. In fact, the way the ball behaves is probably the most realistic feature of the game, so it requires real-life tactical thinking. While there are a multitude of different approaches to understanding pitch set-up, there are a few golden rules to remember:

You can check how the pitch is set up just before hitting start match in any game mode. You can modify the pitch in any game mode as well, be selecting Pitch Settings under the Match Settings menu. You can also practice different pitch conditions in the practice nets.

Next: Cricket 22 Interview: Making A Sports Sim For Five Different Sports In One

Nick is a freelance writer based in Suffolk, UK. He has been hooked on video games ever since he first played Sonic the Hedgehog on the Sega Megadrive, and loves historical strategy games, sports games and anything with an immersive open world. He has a degree in creative writing and has contributed to game scripts. Outside of games he enjoys listening to the Beatles and endures watching Norwich City FC.