Match,Tour & Competition Experiences

[cd779]

1993 Ashes, Second Test, Stumps on Day One

A crucial session here, with England looking to bat out the day comfortably. Unfortunately, it got off to the worst start possible - Hick inexplicably leaving the very first ball of the session and being out LBW. In came Alec Stewart, the wicketkeeper-batsman, and he looked in good nick, scoring at pace. That was until he mistimed a pull shot and could only watch as the ball tamely bounced back onto his stumps. 45 off 52 was a respectable score, but not the big score that England had been looking for to go alongside Atherton's. Speaking of Atherton - he had the session of his life. Resuming on 119 from 217, he finished on 199 from 296 - scoring 80 runs off just 79 balls. Moreover, the occasional lapses in concentration he had exhibited in getting to 100 - indeed, he reached his hundred with an edge that went for 4 - were no more. There were no edges, no LBW appeals, or anything remotely close to an appeal while he was at the strikers' end. He ended the day on 199*, the highest score of his Test career. The rest of the team have managed only 139 between them. Tomorrow will be a big day for him with only the tail to come. If he can farm the strike, and play with similar aplomb to today, England stand a chance of making a huge total. Get out early, and this could be a disappointing score on a batting pitch.

Latest scorecard:

 

[cd779]

1993 Ashes, Second Test, Stumps on Day Two

The crowd at Lord's on the day two of this second Test match were treated to a spectacular display of batsmanship. In the morning, Atherton successfully made his way through to a double century but was out shortly after for 227 after edging to the wicket-keeper. Lewis fell early too, Foster didn't make many runs and Caddick was out for a golden duck. From a position that had seemed possible to score 450+ in the morning, they now found themselves struggling to make 400 runs with Such and Tufnell at the crease. Luckily for England, they played well, hitting their way to a 40 run knock (Such) and a 20* cameo (Tuffers). When Such fell after spooning a ball to mid-on, the score was 456 all out. This seemed to be a good score, although only one player beside Atherton had made a half-century or lasted more than 100 balls.

Australia had to face a few overs before lunch, the openers being Slater and Taylor as in the previous Test. Little did England know that they would still be there at the end of the day, with a record stand of 336 runs - an opening partnership has never scored more for Australia against England. It was a batting pitch, to be sure, but England's bowling was lacklustre. Slater played aggressively from the off, scoring his half century off just 51 balls. Taylor was slower, his half century coming from 150 balls. But he soon caught up, as the scorecard below demonstrates. What should have been a first innings lead for England has now turned into a challenge to save the match. Perhaps the rain that is forecast is their best hope going into day three ...

 

[wasteyouryouth]

The release of the new patch coincided with me starting the 1993 Ashes.

I'm gonna bowl the first two innings and bat the last two.

A good first day for England, including a wicket in the first over, two in two balls in Tufnell's first over. At the time I had to go out Australia was 241/9 after 66 with Merv Hughes still there on 42 from 42 balls to frustrate the hell out of me.

Some interesting running from Australia at times. I made a little clip of the wickets so far.

 

[wasteyouryouth]

My test match continues.

Here are the wickets, last Australian one and the England first innings. Very close after bowling for both sides. With me batting it could be over by the the end of the third day.

Some interesting dismissals here. A few beauties and a few that are a bit soft, even for England in the 1990s.

 

[Bigby Wolf]

Won the 2nd Ashes Test matches Playing as Australia and lead the series by 2 - 0.

Started playing on Hardest Batting and bowling with the match difficulty set to legend it was an amazing experience playing the day the night test , Australia won the toss batted first under the overcast conditions. James Anderson was absolutely brilliant with the pink ball swinging it both ways picking Bancroft for a Duck and eventually went on to pick 5 wickets in the innings and 10 wickets in the match at one stage Australia lost 5 wickets for 135 but a brilliant century by skipper Steve Smith and Counter attacking 70 odd by Paine made sure Australia reach a respectable total of 358.

There were 53 extras in the 1st innings which were mostly 5 wides out of the 43 ones.



England lost Cook early and Vince didn't last too long either but Stoneman was rock solid until an unfortunate run out which triggered a Collapse putting England from 100 - 2 to 135 - 7 ( This is were i felt that steam rolling England will be easy now by Bouncing them out ) but Ali and Woakes had other ideas they had a solid Partnership of 98 before Ali got a rip snorter by Starc and the latter was attacking and punished every loose that were there to be hit before missing out on a well deserved century as England Bundled out for 290 giving Australia a lead of 62





Australia started off cautiously to survive 13 overs before the end of 2nd days play but Bancroft once again sccummb to a brilliant outswinger by Jimmy Anderson , the next day Moeen Ali got some purchase from the track got the big wicket of Smith ,Khawaja and later cleaned up the tail.




The start of the 4th innings for very frustating as England dealt the new ball threat under the night sky pretty and were 85 - 0 before Cook tried to cut Cummins and lost his wicket and then it was all Nathan who got some spin off the deck and decieved the English batters with flight and Starc Bouncing the Lower order the likes of Ali, Bairstow , Overon all were a victim of the short pitched deliveries.

A video showing England's 2nd innings Wickets ( only managed 8 out of the 10 wickets unfortunately the last was actually a beauty - a doosra that just went through the defence of James Anderson).

Never enjoyed so much playing a test match before on any other previous cricket video games. The whole test match was so much fun and kept me intrigued,absolutely loving every moment of this wonderful game.

P.S - The video is recorded on a low end pc so ignore the graphic.

 

[wasteyouryouth]

Started a three day match playing as Nepal v Oman. Was interesting to play at a very small ground, fours and singles were the other of the day. Did notice that the AI not running when playing to the boundary was an issue on the small ground, maybe that's something that could be looked at. I've found it to be far more interesting playing with the lower rated teams, although the bowling speeds are a bit too slow for medium and fast medium bowlers, in general you see a lot more variation.

After bowling out Oman I set myself the goal of digging in and batting out the last 26 overs of the day. AND, I was there, until the penultimate ball of the day when I played a forward defensive that missed the bat and I had one of those irritating stumpings. They feel kind of realistic but it would at least be nice as default to have the players stand in at the crease so they are less likely to get stumped because the animation drags the foot onto the line. It was a real test though, thought that boundaries would come easily for me, like they had for the AI but I was really grinding out the runs. Very enjoyable though.

For those that are counting in my 26 overs I had five edges. One went for a boundary through point and the other four dropped safe.

Spoiler: Scorecards

 

[Punk_Sk8r]

@cd779 Who are you playing as?

Very nice reads from everyone, reminds me of the old story forum

 

[cd779]

@nutshot I've been batting as both teams.

 

[Redfive]

Appreciate some don't seem to be having this type of experience for whatever reason but for what it's worth:

Two and a bit innings into an ashes test on a dry crumbly surface with heavy cracks. Veteran AI, hard batting, medium bowling.

Bowled Aus out for 249 in 70-odd overs and it was wonderful. Varied dismissals - a few poor shots, bowled Smith off an inside edge, Warner edged an attempted cut to the keeper and two more nicks to 2nd slip.

Picked up Bancroft's wicket in the second over but at one point Warner and Smith put on 100 and with the ball a bit older and not swinging I had to get creative in searching for a wicket. Really felt like I had to take advantage of new batsmen and once their confidence bar turned green it was a lot harder to induce edges or beat the bat.

I was the architect of my own downfall to a large degree when batting, probably played Lyon a bit too aggressively for a turning deck (he went at over 5 an over but took 8 wickets!) - as when bowling the game played super different when batsmen were set - after seeing off the new ball openers put on over 100 but wickets fell in clumps thereafter and finished with a slender lead of about 25.

I've picked up a couple of wickets in Australia 2nd innings (including a beaut of a stumping when Bancroft was beaten by a flighted delivery) but Smith is looking imposing and I don't fancy chasing too many as the pitch continues to deteriorate.

What an immersive, enjoyable game this is when it clicks.

Only slight criticism is the old 'last ball of the over is going for 4 whatever you do' reared its ugly head with a bit too much regularity.

 

[Part-Time Jaffa]

Sri Lanka (cpu) v Zimbabwe

Game 1 World Test Championship
Colombo
12,13,14,15 January
Zimbabwe won by 2 wickets

Sri Lanka 348 (D. Chandimal 156) and 335 (D. Chandimal 93, C. Mpofu 5 for 66);
Zimbabwe 230 (C. Ervine 61) and 8/454 (C. Chibhabha 137, R. Chakabva 69)​

========================================
The most remarkable and exciting match will be remembered for as long as cricket history exists. The opening match of Test Crickets new yearly competition and format was Zimbabwe's first Test victory in 19 attempts against Sri Lanka. The momentous result featured the 2nd highest 4th innings total in Test history, and also the highest 4th innings total to win.

Sri Lanka posted a first innings total of 348 thanks largely to a fine 156 by Dinesh Chandimal. In reply Zimbabwe were all out before the close of Day 2 for a low 230. At 4 for 265 in their second innings, Sri Lanka looked comfortable and in control of the match with a lead of 373 and 6 wickets in hand. When Christopher Mpofu picked up his 4th wicket and the prized scalp of Chandimal for 93, and then his 5th in the same over, the Sri Lankan tail was exposed. A fighting 71 from Niroshan Dickwella set Zimbabwe a target of 454 with just over 2 days to play.
Day 4 provided 2 century partnerships and plenty of fine cricket from both teams. At 2-292 the pitch had seemed to have flattened out. Masakadza and Ervine supported Chibhabha well for half centuries, and when the opener fell for 137 it started a collapse of 5-39. Regis Chakabva, 69 off 79 balls, batted hard into the last session and fell to the second new ball off a beautiful piece of away swing bowling by Lakmal. A fighting 9th wicket partnership of 54* by Jarvis and Chigumbura, containing many half-chances off the edges of both players blades, saw the away side record a historic victory as they establish themselves again on the world stage.
Zimbabwe home by 2 wickets.

*Settings to note
Legend Difficulty
Semi-Auto Fielding- Hardest
Ball Marker Display Time 6-8
Foot Placement 75
Shot Timing 63
Bowl Quality Influence 100
Shot Choice Difficulty 90
Spin Bowling Revolutions 39-56
Pace Bowling Swing 71-77
Shot Force 44-50
Pace Bowl Speed 57-63
Field Radar- Off
*all bowlers in-game 75+ rated for accuarcy and stock ball
​

 

[Part-Time Jaffa]

England v Bangladesh (cpu)

Game 2 World Test Championship
Birmingham 18, 19, 20, 21 January
England won by 399 runs

England 7/785 Dec. (B. Stokes 262*, M. Ali 129, J. Bairstow 103) and 1/148 Dec. (A. Cook 100*);
Bangladesh 240 (T. Iqbal 102, C. Woakes 4-57) and 294 (B. Stokes 5/75)​

======================================
I had arrived in England six days before the first Test and could not believe how the upcoming World Test Championship, with the prospect of capturing the inaugural title, had gripped the country. Everywhere I travelled people wanted to talk cricket. It was just about the only topic of conversation on everyone's lips.

Cook, in his 60th Test as England captain, called correctly and batted first on a typical Edgbaston pitch. England plundered Bangladesh's pedestrian attack and scored at better than five runs per over throughout the opening day to reach 6 for 443. This was England's highest first day total since World War 2. Stokes and Ali were particularly savage on Bangladesh's bowlers and brought up their 350 run partnership at a run a ball in just over 6 hours. Their partnership of 368 broke the Test record for a 7th wicket partnership, surpassing the effort of 347 by D. Atkinson and C. Depelaza of the West Indies in 1955.

England's first innings total of 7/785 Dec. was the fifth-highest total in Test history. Ben Stokes, on return to International Cricket from suspension, was in sublime touch and smashed the second-fastest Century by an English player, reaching the milestone in 82 balls. His 250 was brought up in 198 deliveries, the 2nd quickest to reach 250 in Test history.

4 Bangladesh wickets fell in the last session on Day 2 and at the stroke of lunch on Day 3 the away side was all out 240. Woakes and Broad shared the first 7 wickets with some potent seam bowling.
England suprised everyone and came out to bat a second time. The two hour session saw Alistair Cook bring up his 33rd Test Hundred at just under a run a ball. When Stoneman fell for 47, a comfortable knock to go along with his first innings score of 91, England declared for a second time in the match at 1/148.

Chasing a mammoth total for victory, the visiting side only lasted 75.2 overs and were all out for 294 with a day and half of time to spare. Ben Stokes capped off a man of the match performance with 5-75 off 17.2 overs.

England had won a classy one-sided contest by 399 runs, Stokes came of age as a world class genuine all rounder and the fight for the first World Test Championship was on in earnest.

*Noteable Ashes Cricket PS4 debut - Ben Stokes
In his first Test back into the team, scoring 262* and taking 5 second innings wickets, plus a catch. ​

 

[Punk_Sk8r]

AUSTRALIA v PAKISTAN, TEST MATCH
Legend Difficulty
Adelaide Oval
Stumps Day 1/2 Update

AUSTRALIA ELECT TO BAT, 1st INNINGS!
551-8 dec

With Australia coming out to bat on a good surface, I was hoping to get some early wickets which I did. Bancroft clean bowled through the gate trying to play a straight drive early on, his troubles as an opener continue, after that the wicket of Khawaja fell as he played a little chip shot to mid on which is exactly how captain Smith got out not too long after.

However this is when things got really bad for Pakistan, with zero chances coming in the way of nicks for the best part of 120 overs the Aussies turned it on with Warner and Marsh getting big tons. Warner was bowled by the most beautiful in-swinging delivery by Amir which came as a huge shocker as it was against the run of play. Unfortunately it didn't stop there as Paine came in and also got a hundred but was soon dismissed nicking the ball behind. Marsh also went six runs before another milestone edging the ball trying to play a cut shot, the Pakistanis still felt they had little to cheer about as the damage had been done by now.

A couple more wickets fell and Australia decided to declare at 551-8 a few minutes before tea on Day 2. Absoloutly demolished my bowling attack and the wickets I got did feel extremely satisfying, however would have liked to see more edges in the 152.2 overs I bowled. Randomly towards the end they started to edge it which seems to be a trend for me.



PAKISTAN BATTING, 1st INNINGS!
114-5, Stumps

So it was Pakistans turn to face a few overs before tea and in typical fashion they lost a wicket followed quickly by another. Tea came and went and they continued in similar fashion, Starc being the most threatening bowler with the lines and deliveries he was bowling whilst the other pacers kept a more steady off stump line. The Pakistanis have had multiple life lines, with numerous nicks going into gaps for four runs.

Nathan Lyon then came on and produced the most wonderful delivery to batsmen Azhar Ali who looked in fine touch despite also getting a few nicks previously, but here he was seen leaving a ball which pitched way outside off stump and when everyone saw the stump flying there was literally shock and confusion, especially on my face. Here's a small snippet of it below



Lyon didn't stop there as he picked up another quick wicket of the patient Harris Sohail who got impatient and tried to drive a flighted ball which he ended up nicking straight into Paines mits. Pakistan are sitting in a very fragile position and if these two at the crease don't show up in a big way we could see the end of the match very quickly!




​

 

[CornishCricketer]

Just the match summary from the 1st test of Zimbabwe's (me) tour of Sri Lanka and it was a great test match, enjoying the mode far more than the same mode in DBC17.

An excellent effort from the Zimbabwe bowlers on a slow pitch that offered very little for the bowlers, especially good in the 2nd innings when there wasn't much of a target to defend after a pretty poor second innings batting effort which I thought could've lost me the game.

Turning point in Sri Lanka's 2nd innings was Lakshan Sandakan being given out caught off the bowling of Malcolm Waller even though there was no clear edge or contact with any bat or glove, but he chose not to review the decision, maybe he thought otherwise.

Overall I thoroughly enjoyed a challenging test match and look forward to the 2nd test of the series!

Difficulties: Hard/Hard and Legend