Discuss all your great wins/losses/draws here.

[Aislabie]

The Cricket Captain 2020 T20 match engine is absolutely batshit. In this game we crumbled to 68 for nine, mostly thanks to my habit of just sending my batsmen to full aggression way too early in the piece. Anyhow, I decided I might as well leave Vasconcelos on full aggression because it was a last wicket stand, and then before I knew it he and Sanderson had nearly tripled the score. Absolute god-tier innings from Vasco in particular

 

[Prashanth S Kharche]

The Cricket Captain 2020 T20 match engine is absolutely batshit. In this game we crumbled to 68 for nine, mostly thanks to my habit of just sending my batsmen to full aggression way too early in the piece. Anyhow, I decided I might as well leave Vasconcelos on full aggression because it was a last wicket stand, and then before I knew it he and Sanderson had nearly tripled the score. Absolute god-tier innings from Vasco in particular

View attachment 233808

To be honest, it has never happened to me ever ,even when Kohli was batting with the number XI. Without doubt a one-off thing but a score to cherish nevertheless

 

[Bevab]

The Cricket Captain 2020 T20 match engine is absolutely batshit. In this game we crumbled to 68 for nine, mostly thanks to my habit of just sending my batsmen to full aggression way too early in the piece. Anyhow, I decided I might as well leave Vasconcelos on full aggression because it was a last wicket stand, and then before I knew it he and Sanderson had nearly tripled the score. Absolute god-tier innings from Vasco in particular

View attachment 233808

I wonder how good the current edition is. I know that the improvements in each version would make the annual release of Fifa look revolutionary but I lost faith in the developers after the 2019 edition which was borked for nearly half a year and riddled with plenty of bugs. Is it worth upgrading now?

 

[Aislabie]

I wonder how good the current edition is. I know that the improvements in each version would make the annual release of Fifa look revolutionary but I lost faith in the developers after the 2019 edition which was borked for nearly half a year and riddled with plenty of bugs. Is it worth upgrading now?

I've so far not enjoyed it much at all.

Rather annoyingly, the best version of CC I've ever played was 2002, but in order the best I've played since then have been 2018, 2009, 2014, 2016, 2011 and 2012, in that order. By comparison I'd say 2020 is far worse; there's no real advance on 2018 for game modes and the engine makes for a really intimidating play.

The Hundred has been well implemented, but the top bar of aggression has just become a get-out button 95% of the time. The other 5%, players get 30-ball centuries and stuff.

It's honestly really disappointing that between the editability of the old Cricket Coach game (my Firstklasse competition was a thing of beauty) and the match engine of mid-2010s or early-2000s Cricket Captain the two teams haven't put together an outstanding game in so long

 

[Bevab]

I've so far not enjoyed it much at all.

Rather annoyingly, the best version of CC I've ever played was 2002, but in order the best I've played since then have been 2018, 2009, 2014, 2016, 2011 and 2012, in that order. By comparison I'd say 2020 is far worse; there's no real advance on 2018 for game modes and the engine makes for a really intimidating play.

The Hundred has been well implemented, but the top bar of aggression has just become a get-out button 95% of the time. The other 5%, players get 30-ball centuries and stuff.

It's honestly really disappointing that between the editability of the old Cricket Coach game (my Firstklasse competition was a thing of beauty) and the match engine of mid-2010s or early-2000s Cricket Captain the two teams haven't put together an outstanding game in so long

I remember one of the main selling points for 2019 being the revamped ODI engine which in fairness did lead to more modern ODI scores in the range of 280-290 as par totals. However, this meant that most bowlers would regularly go for over 5 runs per over when in reality at least one or two bowlers would be fairly economical. This also completely ruined the test match engine as very aggressive cricketers would score at rates twice that of what they normally should. I remember having a super team of India in the 2020s where the likes of Gill, Iyer, Shaw and Pant all averaged over 60 with Shaw in particular averaging over 90. All of this was also in addition to their ability to strike at above 70 which made my team unbeatable with the presence of just Bumrah and Kuldeep alongside two other average bowlers. The overpowered teams of South Africa, Pakistan and India were also a huge drawback as teams like Australia and New Zealand would become quite bad in contrast to never recover to former heights. While Bangladesh and Afghanistan do have potential to become better, I will never believe that a traditional power like Australia can rank below seven and New Zealand below nine. Wonder what the rankings are like in your save?

One thing that I will credit the 2019 version for is the increased generation of good all-rounders who could make it into plenty of sides. This is negated by the AI's absolute reluctance to bowl them in most games even when their domestic records are extremely good because only the best five bowlers must bowl in any limited overs game.

My cynical reason for the lack of an editor in this game is the fact that the developers know that with the presence of an editor, plenty of sales would be lost as people would simply edit the database changes they wish to keep up to date. The official reason of 'not wanting players to cheat by knowing player abilities beforehand' is absolute bollocks and they pretty much know it. I might just try the game if any of the recent work on the unofficial editors (wish we could have it working for the normal mode too as easy is just too easy for me personally while normal offers a decent challenge) and fixture creators come to any fruition.

EDIT: Didn't notice that you had Cricket Coach mentioned in there. While the game's outdated engine does the previous iteration a disservice, the presence of an editor means that it still rakes in money to this date along with a large number of features such as actually being able to save every season's stats, coaches for every team and just the sheer number of teams to control. Hopefully Oli manages to get the next version of the game to the market soon enough for us starved cricket fans!

 

[Aislabie]

I remember one of the main selling points for 2019 being the revamped ODI engine which in fairness did lead to more modern ODI scores in the range of 280-290 as par totals. However, this meant that most bowlers would regularly go for over 5 runs per over when in reality at least one or two bowlers would be fairly economical. This also completely ruined the test match engine as very aggressive cricketers would score at rates twice that of what they normally should. I remember having a super team of India in the 2020s where the likes of Gill, Iyer, Shaw and Pant all averaged over 60 with Shaw in particular averaging over 90. All of this was also in addition to their ability to strike at above 70 which made my team unbeatable with the presence of just Bumrah and Kuldeep alongside two other average bowlers. The overpowered teams of South Africa, Pakistan and India were also a huge drawback as teams like Australia and New Zealand would become quite bad in contrast to never recover to former heights. While Bangladesh and Afghanistan do have potential to become better, I will never believe that a traditional power like Australia can rank below seven and New Zealand below nine. Wonder what the rankings are like in your save?

One thing that I will credit the 2019 version for is the increased generation of good all-rounders who could make it into plenty of sides. This is negated by the AI's absolute reluctance to bowl them in most games even when their domestic records are extremely good because only the best five bowlers must bowl in any limited overs game.

My cynical reason for the lack of an editor in this game is the fact that the developers know that with the presence of an editor, plenty of sales would be lost as people would simply edit the database changes they wish to keep up to date. The official reason of 'not wanting players to cheat by knowing player abilities beforehand' is absolute bollocks and they pretty much know it. I might just try the game if any of the recent work on the unofficial editors (wish we could have it working for the normal mode too as easy is just too easy for me personally while normal offers a decent challenge) and fixture creators come to any fruition.

EDIT: Didn't notice that you had Cricket Coach mentioned in there. While the game's outdated engine does the previous iteration a disservice, the presence of an editor means that it still rakes in money to this date along with a large number of features such as actually being able to save every season's stats, coaches for every team and just the sheer number of teams to control. Hopefully Oli manages to get the next version of the game to the market soon enough for us starved cricket fans!

Yeah, I fully agree with pretty much all of this.

I personally wouldn't mind if less realistic teams were able to progress to the top of world cricket - I don't have the slightest objection to a West Indies vs Zimbabwe World Cup final, but what can make it become stale is the lack of variety. It's hardly difficult to give it that variation either: just code in some RNGs rather than just having a set value for average quality of regen players. But they've never seemed to do that - in every game it's always the same teams that rise to the top.

As it is, I didn't think the improvements in the game were worth buying more than every two years before I bought 2020; now I suspect that I won't be buying one for a long time to come given that it's actually got worse in the last two years. I, like so many Cricket Captain players past and present, feel as though I've been taken for a ride. They've had rather a lot of my money.

I just wish there was some way of making ICC 2002 be properly compatible with my Windows 10, no disk drive laptop so that I could take Mike Hussey, Ricky Anderson and Matt Cassar to Northants glory again.

 

[ahmedleo414]

This year's version has been probably the most boring one I've played in a very long time. I usually get into it and by this time have played with mulitple teams, but for whatever reason I am struggling to even play with my first team. Maybe I'll try again, but I just don't have any interest.

 

[Aislabie]

This year's version has been probably the most boring one I've played in a very long time. I usually get into it and by this time have played with mulitple teams, but for whatever reason I am struggling to even play with my first team. Maybe I'll try again, but I just don't have any interest.

That's pretty much my experience tbh

Usually I'd have settled by now on my main project save. For 2018 it was creating a massive Ranji dynasty with a spin-only Maharashtra side. For 2016 it was Test match only saves with Ireland and Zimbabwe. For 2014 it was a Western Australia side where we got to the top and with a WA and Australia side managed to curate a fantastic career for regen player Andy Leaburn. For 2012 it was a save with Gloucestershire where I got Harry Boam as my overseas in the first year and kept him on until he retired from cricket. For 2002 it was my Sussex save where I built a champion team around Dom Clapp, Robin Martin-Jenkins, Paul Hutchison and Bas Zuiderent. These were all saves that defined their respective games for me.

With this one, I just haven't found a team I care about yet but also don't feel like I will.

 

[Bevab]

All of this is pretty damning and should probably clinch the decision to not buy the game.

I've usually played as the Indian national team for the last two iterations and tried to go as far as possible with them. For some reason the domestic team aspect has almost never appealed to me due to the lack of actual management off the field. In an age where a solo developer can come up with outstanding games like Mashinsky, it is a shame that this franchise that had potential once is now merely relegated to database updates and just one decent feature per iteration with plenty of bugs and unrealism still ruining the limited experience.

 

[Aislabie]

So I just had this tied Test in my 90s playthrough:

Australia (0) vs (1) England - Fifth Test at The WACA

Australia XI
Michael Slater
Mark Taylor
David Boon
Mark Waugh
Steve Waugh
Greg Blewett
Ian Healy
Shane Warne
Craig McDermott
Jo Angel
Glenn McGrath

England XI
Graham Gooch
Alec Stewart
Michael Atherton
Robin Smith
Graeme Hick
Chris Lewis
Jack Russell
Glen Chapple
Phillip DeFreitas
Dominic Cork
Phil Tufnell

- - -

England win the toss and choose to bat

- - -

After so much fannying about with selecting second spinners that Mark Taylor didn't trust, it was a blessed relief to see Glenn McGrath return to the Australian side - for everyone who wasn't English anyway. Although the reasons for picking Jo Angel over Paul Reiffel weren't entirely clear. Meanwhile, England returned to their trusted five-man attack, making a couple of enforced changes for Fraser (injured) and Such (dreadful), as well as a couple of optional ones to get rid of Thorpe (no runs) and Gough (no wickets). All in all, both sides looked a bit stronger, although England might have been better off to go into the last Test with a genuine pace threat in their ranks.

It looked as if the Australian groundsmen had again got the message of "pls build road" from the ACB, and Gooch had no hesitation in choosing to bat first after winning his final Test toss. He did not, however, capitalise on the opportunity; instead, he trudged back to the pavilion with a golden duck to his name, followed soon after by Stewart for five. Fortunately, that brought England's real form man to the crease: with three centuries already in the series, Robin Smith just needed someone to stick around with him, and although nobody else made fifty, there were still a few worthy partners in Atherton, Russell and Cork who all scored between 36 and 41. But of course Smith was the star, finally getting that elusive maiden Test 150 and immediately converting it into a double-century.

The bowlers were clearly motivated to go out there and win another Test series, not allowing a 110-run opening partnership to stand in their way. Indeed, once DeFreitas and Tufnell had broken through the Australians' powerful top order, the game was just waiting for someone from either side to grab hold of it. That someone was Chris Lewis, who bowled fifteen immaculate overs to take three for 20, a headline-grabbing spell from a player who thrives in the role he's been given in the team. He, Tufnell and the rest delivered a lead of 143, though Michael Slater was left wishing that it was only 142 as he fell one run short of a century. Let's hope that doesn't become a habit (wink).

But that was when the problems started - and by problems, one means "McGrath and Warne". The pair just claimed wicket after wicket after wicket, and although Jack Russell was the only batsman to be dismissed for a duck, there was no stopping Australia from obliterating the English batting for an embarrassing 74 all out. It could have been far worse too, had it not been for a combative 30 in the lower order from Glen Chapple. From being free and clear in the match, England had fallen to a position of having only 217 runs to defend.

England needed a hero, so they threw the ball to Phil Tufnell. The crafty left-arm spinner - whose spinning finger must by now have been sporting calluses the size of marbles - wheeled his way through 37 overs unchanged from one end as England tried desperately to save the Test and their record of winning a shitload of Test series in a row. So how did he do? Well, very well indeed. When Glen Ghapple managed to dismiss Ian Healy for eight, Tufnell's five wickets had dragged England within sight of victory: the Australian tail still needed fifteen more runs.

Chapple to McDermott (15 to win, 3 to come) - 4 • 1 - That could have gone so differently! Chapple drew the outside edge twice, but one flew harmlessly over the slips for four, and the other one was grassed by a diving Hick.

Tufnell to McDermott (10 to win) - 1 • 1 • • 1 - Excellent composure now from the Australians - no need for risks with the winning line in sight.

DeFreitas to McDermott (7 to win) - 1 • • • • • - A bowling change here as Gooch decides to go with the experience of DeFreitas. A tight over ensues.

Tufnell to McDermott (6 to win) - • 4 • • • W - What a moment in the game! With only two runs to win, Craig McDermott loses his head and tries to win it in one big his! Tufnell gets his sixth victim, but surely it's too little too late?

DeFreitas to Warne (2 to win) - • • 1 W - OH MY GOODNESS! A single from Warne levels the scores, but DeFreitas immediately strikes back by getting Angel caught behind! One to win, one wicket left, and two balls left in the over!

DeFreitas to McGrath (1 to win) - W - AND THAT'S IT! ENGLAND HAVE TIED THE TEST! A HUGE APPEAL FOR LBW FROM DEFREITAS AND THE UMPIRE HAS ABSOLUTELY NO OPTION BUT TO GIVE IT OUT. WHAT. A. TEST. MATCH.

And what a way for Graham Gooch to sign off as captain of England. Only the third-ever Tied Test match, and it gives England their seventh consecutive Test series win. Somehow. After being bowled out for 74. After having only one run left to play with and three wickets left to take. I'm in shock.

View attachment 243346

Truly would have been one of the best Test matches of all-time had it happened in real life - there were so many narratives: from our absolute domination of the first Test, to the third innings collapse at the hands of the formative McGrath-Warne partnership, to Tufnell grinding his way through the batting order, to Australia getting so close to the winning line, to Phillip DeFreitas, recalled specifically for this Test, pulling it out of the fire with what would be the last over of the game. Absolutely the best Test I've played on Cricket Captain

To find out more about this strange timeline where 1995 England are the world's number one Test team, feel free to visit the thread.

 

[Aislabie]

Managed some absolute domination here; not quite sure what happened - it's only my third game of a new save

 

[Aislabie]

What a day's cricket this must have been to watch

 

[ddrap14]

It's honestly really disappointing that between the editability of the old Cricket Coach game (my Firstklasse competition was a thing of beauty) and the match engine of mid-2010s or early-2000s Cricket Captain the two teams haven't put together an outstanding game in so long

I was just scrolling through here and saw this. Do you know of any more modern database for Cricket Coach? I have it but I've never really got into it mainly because of the elderly database. But I sense its limited overs games would be more entertaining than even my CC2019 copy's T20s (see: Babar Azam 190* in a T20 in my Australia playthrough)

 

[Aislabie]

Marco Marais arrived at the crease with 3.2 overs left; he carried the South African innings to 285 for 5

 

[Aislabie]

And today's match was played on a bit of a road. The full story behind this scorecard is that because Zimbabwe are pretty much hardwired to be trash, I pack my side with hard-hitting batsmen to see what sort of ungodly scores I can rack up against them. On this occasion, I was left a tiny bit short of bowling options as a result.