Match,Tour & Competition Experiences

[blockerdave]

Have gone down the Blocker road and have created a forty-over 4 ball an over 16 team World League with me playing as Vanuatu against such world powers as France, Japan, Hong Kong and the mighty Italy. Great fun and the four ball over makes it very doable as it were.......View attachment 165105 View attachment 165106 View attachment 165107 View attachment 165108 View attachment 165109 View attachment 165110

Quality Dutch!

I've been playing it as a straight knockout and 2 innings per team and it is by a mile the most fun and playable vs AI format I've found.

I'm currently at the semi-final stage, having had my first batting innings and being about halfway through my first bowling innings. The two semi-finals are real grudge matches - currently playing England 30s v Aus 40s, and then the 2nd semi will be West Indies 1984 v West Indies Rebel XI.

It's long enough to score 50's/100s (and concede them!) and/or to be bowled out or bowl the AI out. Had some brilliant matches with some great tense moments. Had some humiliating defeats (Canada beating me when I was Associates All Time XI!) some brilliant knocks (150+ in each innings from Gordon Greenidge), good bowling performances (wicket in each of his first 3 overs from Harold Larwood to undermine the AI run-chase and lead to a cool collapse), and got some sweet revenge (1993 Ashes England beating 1993 Ashes Australia).

Just been so much fun. I wish I'd struck on this format ages ago!!

 

[Dutch]

Quality Dutch!

I've been playing it as a straight knockout and 2 innings per team and it is by a mile the most fun and playable vs AI format I've found.

I'm currently at the semi-final stage, having had my first batting innings and being about halfway through my first bowling innings. The two semi-finals are real grudge matches - currently playing England 30s v Aus 40s, and then the 2nd semi will be West Indies 1984 v West Indies Rebel XI.

It's long enough to score 50's/100s (and concede them!) and/or to be bowled out or bowl the AI out. Had some brilliant matches with some great tense moments. Had some humiliating defeats (Canada beating me when I was Associates All Time XI!) some brilliant knocks (150+ in each innings from Gordon Greenidge), good bowling performances (wicket in each of his first 3 overs from Harold Larwood to undermine the AI run-chase and lead to a cool collapse), and got some sweet revenge (1993 Ashes England beating 1993 Ashes Australia).

Just been so much fun. I wish I'd struck on this format ages ago!!

had three yes moments in the game:

AI got a bottom edge nick to the keeper...looked really sweet.....no-ball!! Didn't mind, shit happens.
Bowled a beauty just outside off that spun and caressed the off stump, just whispering past the bat....fist-pumps all round.
Got caught down the leg side off a mis-timed pull shot that I should have left alone.....little nick, keeper dives and takes a beauty.....no arguments from my end.

The subtlety of the game is glorious sometimes.....just need MORE!

 

[Dutch]

Might as well bung this up on here seeing as I have nowt else to do. Suffice to say that I am crap at batting and on veteran its a steep learning curve! Nice moments in the game when you nick one through the slips and grab a couple when you thought you were surely out! A beauty of a yorker as well to rip out good old Yang's off stump! Vanuatu has it all to do! Italy gutted to drop points against Russia!

 

[blockerdave]

Might as well bung this up on here seeing as I have nowt else to do. Suffice to say that I am crap at batting and on veteran its a steep learning curve! Nice moments in the game when you nick one through the slips and grab a couple when you thought you were surely out! A beauty of a yorker as well to rip out good old Yang's off stump! Vanuatu has it all to do! Italy gutted to drop points against Russia!


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Veteran!! I'm still on Pro.

Might play the next competition on veteran though - see how it goes.

 

[blockerdave]

My most disappointing innings bowling vs AI I've had in the whole of the 404 cup...

6 runouts!! absolutely ridiculous. the only thing i can think of is if it was some sort of attempt to model pressure? it was the semi final, and i posted a decent score batting first so they were under some pressure. but even so it was ridiculous.

most annoying was the 2 wickets that weren't run out were beauts: a realistic looking lbw and a great edge to a scrambled seam moving back in to the right hander from left arm over the wicket.

shame that being gifted the runouts took the shine off things.

 

[Cloud Starkman]

Its strange that different people playing this game get such different results good for the game but since the patch where the AI run harder I have played about 6 one dayers where the games have been really tight the AI chasing my batting first scores and still I would have only had about 3 run outs.
Overall I would be lucky to have as many run outs in every game I have played as Blocker got in that last match

 

[blockerdave]

Its strange that different people playing this game get such different results good for the game but since the patch where the AI run harder I have played about 6 one dayers where the games have been really tight the AI chasing my batting first scores and still I would have only had about 3 run outs.
Overall I would be lucky to have as many run outs in every game I have played as Blocker got in that last match

Generally I get 0, 1 or 2 run outs per innings.

This was something I've not had before, it was very frustrating. (Consider that as well as 6 rumours there were at least 6 more where only the time the bowler/keeper takes to field the throw cost the run out.)

The second innings was much better. One runout and all the other dismissals (I got all 10 wickets inside 30-odd overs) were good ones.

Main thing is England beat Australia.

 

[Krokenoster]

Do you guys sometimes feel, that you have to "dumb down" your batting?

I often feel that I have to put some limits on my self when batting, like force yourself to block three balls per over, not sprint, but just jog between the wickets etc. just so that the match is a little closer in scores compared to the AI, like in a 50 over match. I sometimes feel like if I don't do it, there would be no contest at all.

 

[Dutch]

Do you guys sometimes feel, that you have to "dumb down" your batting?

I often feel that I have to put some limits on my self when batting, like force yourself to block three balls per over, not sprint, but just jog between the wickets etc. just so that the match is a little closer in scores compared to the AI, like in a 50 over match. I sometimes feel like if I don't do it, there would be no contest at all.

Thats where the 4 ball over comes in: you are suddenly 20 overs down in no time....

 

[Llewelynf]

Playing in a Casual Match play testing my IPL teams with reduced skills, I just took my first hat trick. Felt pretty good. I was quite nervous on the hat trick ball and it didn't even land in the green zone but got the LBW anyway.

It is moments like these that make the game SO worthwhile.

 

[blockerdave]

Do you guys sometimes feel, that you have to "dumb down" your batting?

I often feel that I have to put some limits on my self when batting, like force yourself to block three balls per over, not sprint, but just jog between the wickets etc. just so that the match is a little closer in scores compared to the AI, like in a 50 over match. I sometimes feel like if I don't do it, there would be no contest at all.

No but as my competition has progressed I've felt more sure of beating the AI. I have learnt both how to make a score I can be confident of defending & how to rein in the AI.

When I've finished my current competition I will probably move up to veteran. Now I have a format I enjoy I'm more likely to persevere with the learning curve on the extra difficulty.

 

[blockerdave]

Thats where the 4 ball over comes in: you are suddenly 20 overs down in no time....

I concur the 4 ball overs are great I really wish I'd thought of it before

 

[blockerdave]

Playing the grudge match - West Indies 84 (Me) v West Indies Rebels

This is the 2nd semi-final of my 404 cup.

Clive Lloyd (me) wins the toss and puts the rebels in to bat.

Turns out to be the wrong choice as Bacchus and Greenidge put on over 130 for the first wicket. The Innings ends in slightly odd fashion: Faoud Bacchus is 98* with 2 balls left. Marshall bowls and he takes a single to strand himself on 99*!! Kallicharan bashes the last ball for 4 to end the innings at 206/2.

The 84 Windies find themselves in the odd position of having less fast bowlers than the opposition: Lloyd has at his disposal the fearsome quartet of Marshall, Garner, Holding & Baptiste but had to use the part time spin of Gomes for the 5th bowler. Counterpart Lawrence Rowe has an awesome 5-man seam attack in Croft, Clarke, Stephenson, Moseley and King.

This unrelenting pace barrage told as the Windies fall to 75-7, with only Haynes (34) and Greenidge (14) making double figures. However, the whole innings is held together by keeper Dujon, who puts on 50+ for the 8th wicket with Moseley and 100+ for the last wicket with Garner, on his way to being last man out for a brilliant 112 and taking them up to an improbable 233 all out from 35.2 overs.

The official Windies amazingly lead the rebels by 33 at the half way stage.

Sadly, rain has reduced the 2nd innings to 29 overs apiece.

to be continued...

 

[Aislabie]

Screenshot of the year?

 

[Cloud Starkman]

Do you guys sometimes feel, that you have to "dumb down" your batting?

I often feel that I have to put some limits on my self when batting, like force yourself to block three balls per over, not sprint, but just jog between the wickets etc. just so that the match is a little closer in scores compared to the AI, like in a 50 over match. I sometimes feel like if I don't do it, there would be no contest at all.

Since the last patch I actually having trouble beating the ai I have played 4 tests won 1 lost 3 and played 5 one dayers and won 3 lost 2 and the one dayers have been really close