“What’s a good score on this pitch?”

That question is a tough one to call because you don’t want to restrict yourself batting first, but you also don’t want to overstretch going for a huge total and end up sub-par.

I know Mark Garaway - a man with international coaching chops - would say 600–2 is a good score, so try and get as many as you can no matter what.

That’s a great piece of advice because it overcomes the flaw of restricting yourself to a satisfactory score that will be fine most of the time, when you could have got many more.

I would like to add some more to it.

Why not set three goals?

That way you can achieve a winnable score and still have space to kick on rather than play within yourself.

So, grab your scorebooks from the last few years and let’s work some things out.

Goal One: Minimum viable score

The first thing to consider is what is the lowest score you can get batting first and still win most of the time? This MVS is your first batting goal.

I’ve played in games where 85 is a winning score, but I wouldn’t consider it an MVS. In the league I coach, 131 would see you win just over 50% of games.

Ground, conditions and opposition will adjust this score in specific games, but as a ball park figure, it’s good to know that achieving your MVS gives you a better chance of winning than losing.

That way, even if we collapse after a good start and are bowled out for 140, we know the odds are in our favour if we bowl well. Do the maths for your team.

Goal Two: Par score

Imagine you are going well and the MVS is secured. Your next target is par score.

The par is the average score that gets you a win almost certainly.

While there will be times when this number fails you - it is an average after all - most of the time it won’t fail, so it’s the second step.

With my team, that score is 173. Scoring this batting first at home gives us an 85% chance of winning.

So now we know anything between 131–173 is a decent score, it gives us confidence to go out and have something to bowl at. The same will apply to you with your own numbers.

You’ll still need to adjust up or down on conditions on the day of course. A flat wicket with cloudless sky generally pushes the par score up. A wet wicket on a grey day, or dusty turner with uneven bounce might drop the par down. So use your judgement as best you can away from the ball park figures.

A side note on par scores is the “30 over par”. Here - in 50 over matches - you can see what is a decent score after 30 overs so you can decide if going for a stretch goal (below) is on or not. For my team that number is 102–4. So, if we are in a position like that, we can look at the next goal; the stretch.

Goal Three: Stretch score

Now, say you get off to a great start on a good wicket. Why would you settle for a measly 173?

So don’t. Set your stretch goal.

The highest score my team got batting first last year was 239 and we lost! We also conceded 300 bowling first. Our best winning score batting first was 227.

What does this tell us?

That if things start well, you can consider a stretch total.

For my team, the average stretch total batting first is 204. But with totals ranging from 176 to 239, there’s no number high enough to guarantee victory. So take the shackles off and go for broke.

Once you get past the par score, start thinking massive totals instead.

It’s here you can throw away the numbers and start throwing the bat instead. Follow the sage Garaway advice of getting as many as you can. Theres no limit if you get in a position to play with freedom, have plenty of batting and the confidence of you game. I’ve seen club games in my league when teams got over 500!

Get as many as you can in the time available under the conditions.

The power of stretch goals

You might rightly ask, why bother with MVS and par scores if you are just going to try and get as many as you can anyway?

It’s all down to psychology.

If you know what a viable score is, you can walk out with your head high and ready to attack even when things go wrong with the bat. If you know what a par winning score is, you know you have to work hard to win but the odds are in your favour.

You will have achieved a goal even in batting failure.

And if you do find yourself in a dominant position with the bat, you also won’t be restricted by the false limit of saying “200 is a good score on this pitch”.

How do you set targets batting first?