It is true that the AI could use a bit of refinement. If I could pick one thing for the AI to improve in it would be their willingness to run between the wickets. Their cautious nature is justified in the longer forms of the game, but it would be nice to see them try for more quick singles and twos in limited overs games, especially in twenty20.
Zapages does have some good ideas though. Here's mine, some of which are obvious, but nonetheless I hope they are good ideas. The first one (FC competition points) might be possible to include in patch 3 for the current game;
- More options for awarding points in first class competitions:
- Different options for awarding points for ties as opposed to draws, as most real life leagues award more points for a tie than a draw.
- The option to choose which game outcomes allow first innings lead points to be awarded, as opposed to awarding them either in a draw/loss, or not at all.
- And the ability to replicate, or tweak, the complex 14-15' Sheffield Shield decimal bonus points system.
- It would be nice if there were a couple of separate skills or attributes that directly influence wicket-keeping ability in the game. From what I've seen, there doesn't appear to be any incentive in-game to use the recognized wicket-keeper in your team if a stronger pure batsman is available to use. A possible workaround in the current iteration is to manually nerf the fielding skills (Catching and Agility in particular) of any non-wicket-keeper in the game, but this might be unfair on players who are known to be outstanding fielders but not wicket-keepers.
- The big one and also the obvious one; career mode improvements. As Zapages mentioned, the 50 over World Cup and the World Twenty20, licensed or otherwise, would be fantastic additions to the international level of career mode. An international rankings system for all three formats (Test, ODI, T20I) would also help to give the international matches more meaning.
- The other big improvement would be making the game world in career mode dynamic:
- Have older players eventually retire, and randomly generated rookies enter the game world.
- Have younger players slowly gain skills, with some players improving quicker or for longer than others.
- Have players sometimes change teams; it should only occasionally happen in county and state cricket, but be more common in the Indian and Australian T20 leagues where salary caps are a thing.
- AI players could also have the occasional form peak or slump where their skills temporarily change for better or worse.
- A system where an AI manager picks the starting XI for each match based on skills, form and the match type would be a difficult thing to implement, but would probably be necessary to make this 'dynamic' game world work.
- Said system would replace the current system where you choose your spot in the batting order and stay there for your career, ensuring that you don't accidentally replace a star player and also making you earn your preferred spot in the line-up through continued good performances.
- Second XI's would be a nice touch, and would represent an extra rung on the ladder to climb if starting a player career as a 16 year old. Starting as an older player could come with the bonus of starting in the first XI, but with the chance of getting dropped back down to the second XI if you don't perform.
- A dynamic game world also opens up the possibility of a manager career mode. Depending on team and league you choose to manage in, you'd have to balance finances/salary caps, recruit and sign players, deal with international call-ups, or make international call-ups if you choose to manage a national team...
- Perhaps an optional feature to hide player skills, making the manager rely on statistics and scouting reports to determine who to play in the First XI/who to call up to the national team. The idea in my head is that you get to see the starting skills of any rookies that you sign, but from then on you have to keep an eye on their performances to see how they are progressing.
That's pretty much everything I have to offer right now...
