Ashes 2009 - Platinum Trophy Tips

I finished my 3rd platinum, Ashes 2009. Took me a little over a weekend. Very easy game to platinum, mainly because you can get it at any difficulty setting and because you can reload most parts of the game until you get the trophies. While most trophy guides for this game list each trophy and explain how to get it, I'll provide my roadmap that would take you to platinum with minimum playthroughs.

Resources:

First of all, these were my main references:

http://www.xbox360achievements.org/forum/showthread.php?t=167211 (yeah, it is for xbox but it doesn't matter)

http://www.xbox360achievements.org/forum/showthread.php?t=168607 (help with Batting Challenge 6, which I found difficult)

http://www.ps3trophies.org/forum/ashes-cricket-2009/20324-ashes-cricket-2009-trophy-guide.html (this is the first site I goto usually, but this guide wasn't all that helpful)

Roadmap:

Start off with Legends Coaching and learn the controls well. You may want to complete the tutorial challenges Master of the Blade, Master with the Ball, Dynamite in the Field as you learn, but you could come back to it later too. I found batting challenge 6 very hard so I did it at the end.

Then start with Ashes in easy mode. Pick a team, and before you start the game, edit your opponent team's line up (Edit Home/Away Squad). Pick the worst batsmen and put them in the top 11, making one of them the captain. Set the strongest bowler among them as the wicket keeper. By doing this, it will be easy to get wickets later, and there are quite a few bowling challenges to complete. Make sure you bowl first (save before the toss and reload if you don't get it). Pick a bowler (preferably spinner) you are comfortable with, based on off/leg, left/right handers. This guy will be your "main bowler". Save before you bowl the first ball. Bowl, and make sure you get a wicket. If you don't, reload. Save again. Repeat this for the next 4 consecutive wickets. Once done, you should have The Hat Trick and The Top Hat Trick trophies. After this you don't have to save every single ball (may be once per over), but you MUST get every wicket only with your main bowler. You could alternate between someone else and him, but if the other guy gets the wicket or there is a run out, just reload before the over. Make sure you bowl everyone out before the 10th over ends (reload if you don't). By the end of the session, your main bowler should have 10 wickets and you should have Demolition with the Ball, Raise the Ball and If You Want Something Done Right trophies.

Next you bat. Similar to bowling, pick a guy and consider him as your main batsman. Save every over or so and make sure this guy never gets out. The other guy can technically lose his wicket, but if you lose too many wickets the tail enders may not play well, so just reload. Make your main batsman play a lot - for instance if he is batting at the start of the over, try for boundary shots or 2 runs only; and in the last ball of the over, hit the ball to a fielder near the boundary and take a single, so that he gets to bat again next over. In a while, he should have 500 runs, and you should have Raise the Bat, The Big 100, Double Ton, Triple Ton and Ashes King with the Bat trophies. While playing, keep watching for sixers or fours you hit at the start of an over. If you hit any, save every ball after that, try hitting the boundary shot for the next 6 balls. If you manage, you should get Power Hitting and The Blazing Blade trophies. It isn't as difficult as it may sound because I got the Power Hitting trophy without even trying. Once your 500 runs are done, you can let go of your main guy if you want (don't have to reload if he gets out). But do continue up to 600 runs to get the Test Match Domination trophy. You can declare the game now (Menu > Tactics > Declare).

First match, 2nd innings, you bowl. Once again, your main bowler should take over and get every single wicket. You must also make sure that you get the first wicket in the very first ball. If you do this, The King Pair and Nought and Nought trophies should pop. After you finish getting all 10 wickets, your main guy should have 20 wickets now. Remember that you scored 600+ in your last batting session. Now, you MUST make sure that your opponent's total from the previous innings and this one does not exceed your score. Which means you don't need to bat again. Which means you get the Innings Defeat trophy.

Second match, 1st innings. Make sure that you bowl first, and that your main guy has all the wickets, which would bring his count to 30. When you bat, don't score much and declare early; you need to make sure you get to bat in the next innings.

Second match, 2nd innings. Start bowling, allow your opponents to score above your total. Again, make sure your main guy gets all the wickets. At the end, he should have 40 wickets, and you should have the Ashes Destroyer trophy. Now it is your turn to bat. The only thing you need to watch out is to NOT lose any wicket and win the game. Once done, you should have the 10 Wicket Defeat trophy.

Third match. No rules, just make sure you win. After this, you would've won the series, but you have to play the remaining 2 games for a trophy. To cut it short, you may want to lose the next 2 games voluntarily. For example, you could declare without playing, skipping your batting turns. You win or lose, you should get the Ashes Champion trophy after 5 games.

That covers most of the trophies. Just a few left... Start an ODI tournament, select easy mode and 5 over length. Give yourself a strong team and pick easy teams like Bangladesh, Kenya, Ireland etc. Win the first 3 games of the tourney and get the ODI Champions trophy. Start another ODI match (exhibition), select easy mode and 50 over length. Again, give yourself a strong team and pick a weak opponent if you want. Make sure you bat first, and thrash the ball until your score is 300. That will give you ODI Domination trophy. You can quit the game here if you want. Now start a Twenty20 tournament, do the same thing you did for ODI Champions; you should have 20 Over Champions at the end.

If you didn't finish the tutorial trophies, go back and get them now. Bowling and fielding ones are easy, and batting ones are mostly easy. I found batting challenge 6 hard, and I used the tips from the link I gave above. The off spinner bowls only a few balls to the stumps and spins the rest away. Using L1 + L2 + O, I hit a few boundaries to the leg side when he bowled close to the stumps, and left the rest. With the leg spinner, I left every single ball. With the few boundaries I got from the off spinner and some no balls, my total was 49 in 2-3 overs. I blocked/left every ball after that (unless the off spinner aimed it straight at the stumps).

Finally, enjoy the Best of the Best platinum trophy!