The RWA has banned cricket in the lanes. Win the Colony Cup and the notice comes down. Chotu is twelve, and his outs have never counted.
TIGERS XI
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TIMING
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Gali No. 4, Krishna Nagar · Summer holidays
Three versus three in a gully two and a half cars wide. Bricks for stumps, a forty-rupee red ball, one tip one hand, and if it goes into Sharma Aunty's house, you're out.
A made-up gully with made-up kids. Every colony plays by its own rules; these are ours. Legal
The RWA has banned cricket in the lanes. Win the Colony Cup and the notice comes down. Chotu is twelve, and his outs have never counted.
The nets. Bat or bowl as long as you like: no overs, no all out, no interruptions, nothing counts for the board. Quit from the pause menu.
Call it in the air!
The camera is behind the bowler, like the old PC cricket games. The arrow keys only aim, as you see it: ↓ straight back past the bowler, ← → to his left and right, ↓← ↓→ forward to either side, ↑ fine behind you. Then play it as the ball arrives: S off the front foot, W off the back foot, D down the road to it. Hold Shift to loft any of them. No arrow is a block. A leaves it. Before the ball is bowled, hold ← or → to move across the crease (or Q E); once it is in the air the arrows aim. After a hit, D (or R) runs and A sends him back.
Hold the pad on the left for the direction as you see it from behind the bowler (down is straight back past him), then tap FRONT, BACK or STEP (down the road) as the ball arrives. Tap LOFT first to hit the next one in the air. No direction is a block. LEAVE lets it go. The small arrows move your guard. After a hit, RUN runs and BACK turns round. You can also swipe: a long swipe lofts it.
A red ring shows where the ball will pitch. Front foot to full balls, back foot to short ones; the wrong foot costs you timing. Stepping out turns a good length into a full one, best against spin, but miss it and the keeper stumps you. Too early pulls it to your leg side, too late pushes it to the off side. In the air, play straight.
First pick the delivery with 1 to 6: quicks have the stock ball, inswinger, outswinger, off-cutter, leg-cutter and slower ball; spinners their stock turner, the one that goes the other way (doosra or googly), the arm ball or flipper and the top-spinner. Q switches over or around the wicket. Put the yellow marker where it should pitch (mouse or arrows): at the feet is a yorker, short is a bouncer. Hold Space to run in: the speed bar fills. Let go to bowl at that speed; past the top is a no-ball. F moves your fielder. When a catch comes, press Space on the ring.
Pick the delivery on the left (swing, cutters, slower ball; or the spinner's variations), OVER switches to around the wicket, then push the yellow AIM stick on the left to move the marker where it should pitch (or tap the road). Hold BOWL to run in: the speed bar fills. Let go to bowl; past the top is a no-ball. FIELD moves your fielder. When a catch comes, tap CATCH!
Swing moves in the air and most when it is pitched up; cutters and spin move off the road. Mix them: the batter reads the same ball twice.