LilleeWilleyDilley
School Cricketer
- Joined
- Oct 2, 2015
This is a guide for the first cricket game that was actually worth playing and worth keeping, Brian Lara Cricket 94, a.k.a Graham Gooch World Class Cricket, a.k.a Allan Border’s Cricket, a.k.a Jonty Rhodes II World Class Cricket. From here on I shall refer to the game either as BLC94 GGWCC, ABC, and JRIIWCC, respectively. This guide is specifically for the DOS version. During 2020, I created a number of edits and “fixes” for this game after many months of experimentation, and I believe they have the potential to make people stop playing their more recent cricket games and revert to playing this old classic that they probably gave up on a long time ago. I first started to write this guide in 2020 and I first published it on this site in 2021, but every now and then I have been coming back and adding numerous updates and alterations since that time. Please note that the sections of my guide concerning hex-editing of actual offsets and columns will only work for BLC94 , because the corresponding offsets and columns in GGWCC, ABC, and JRIIWC, are slightly different, but if you follow the hex-editing sections in my guide thoroughly you should be able to identify the corresponding offsets and columns for these other versions too, since they are not far off from each other. So with a few exceptions, please use this guide for the BLC94 DOS version in mind. This game was first made for the Amiga platform in 1993. The DOS version came out in 1994, I think, followed by a Sega Genesis version in 1995 and an update to the Sega Genesis version in 1996 and a PC update in 1997 called Shane Warne Cricket 1997.
Regarding the 1996 Sega Genesis update version, if anyone has found out how to reverse-engineer the game in such a way to completely remove the option of playing on Dusty and Damp pitches, thus making it possible to play solely on Normal, Hard and Green pitches only, please let me know!
Like most if not all other cricket games the DOS version has its own fair share of bugs and unrealistic features that might have made you give up on playing this game a very long time ago, but if you read this guide I can show you how to both fix and compensate for these drawbacks and turn this 1-megabyte game from okay to very good. This guide is a huge overhaul of the game. You may even find that this is the best online guide for the game.
In order to properly follow everything and get the best out of this guide, I recommend deleting all your team directories and re-installing the game from scratch. It will be worth it. Make sure to keep a backup of all your players’ names, averages and styles if you wish. I also recommend you to read the entire guide BEFORE you start applying the advice. Like all DOS games, you will need DosBox to play this game on modern computers and to get a decent frame-rate and the best audio. To achieve this, I recommend adjusting the cycles to 6500. You will also need a hex-editor to make some notable adjustments so download one if you don’t already have one; I use HxD.
I have a theory that JRIIWC has the least amount of bugs compared to ABC, GGWCC, and BLC94 (as in all the other 1994 DOS versions). I say this because when I right-click on the Properties of the CRICKET.EXE file in each version, I noticed by "date modified" that the EXE file in JRIIWC came out later in 1994 than the other versions. While all the DOS versions came out in 1994, the earliest month was on the EXE file of GGWCC, followed by ABC, then BLC94, and finally JRIIWC. Each EXE file varies between 146, 147, and 148 kilobytes, and the programming of each EXE file appears to be different than the other when I viewed them all under a hex-editor. The largest EXE file (148 kilobytes) was the one in BLC94. Could this mean that BLC94 is actually the most realistic version to play due to containing the most data? I don’t know, but each version feels slightly different when playing, especially when batting, and for me I would say the JRIIWC version feels the most realistic. The only advantage I see in ABC over the other versions is that the ABC version has the option to play matches in both white and colour kits. Now although JRIIWC seems to be the latest DOS version (before Shane Warne 97), the hex edits and other advice in this guide are mainly for the BLC version - please take note.
1) A fix for when you don’t like bowling at the CPU batsmen on the Professional level because it’s too easy, but you don’t want to change to the World Class level because you find batting on the World Class level too difficult:
Before we delve into the issue of difficulty, the information containing how and when the batsmen responds to a ball being bowled, and how the ball responds after being hit by the batsmen, is contained in the default STROKE.DAT and DEFLECT.DAT files inside the game's main directory.
If you have ever looked at the game files for Shane Warne Cricket 1997 PC, you will notice inside the sub-folder DATA the files called STROKE.DAT, DEFLECT.DAT, and DEFLECT2.DAT. (If you don't already have Shane Warne Cricket 97 for PC, buy or download the game and don't ask me where). Ignore the DEFLECT.DAT AND DEFLECT2.DAT files. Copy the STROKE.DAT file from Shane Warne 1997 into the main directory of any 1994 DOS version. Now download ABC and copy over the DEFLECT.DAT from that version into the same DOS version you copied the new STROKE.DAT file. These two files appear to be the latest official STROKE and DEFLECT files for the original DOS versions according to the properties of the files under Date Created or Date Modified. Alternatively, you may rather want to hex-edit the default STROKE.DAT or DEFLECT.DAT files already contained in your cricket DOS version to your own satisfaction, as I have already done. What you can also do is just replace the STROKE file only and leave the default DEFLECT file in tact, and vice versa, for when you are batting and/or bowling... Just make sure your game is saved before exiting the game and meddling with the STROKE.DAT and DEFLECT.DAT files. (I always use the new STROKE.DAT file for every single match I play whether batting or bowling) Do NOT insert the DEFLECT and DEFLECT2 files from Shane Warne Cricket 97 though, because the DEFLECT file of this game excludes the ability to hit sixes while the DEFLECT2 file only includes the ability to hit sixes and virtually nothing else! For convenience I have also attached to this guide an even more updated DEFLECT.DAT file that I personally made; this file incorporates some of the data from the DEFLECT.DAT file of Shane Warne 1997 without losing the ability to sixes.
The reason I dont just play Shane Warne Cricket 1997 for PC instead of the 1994 DOS versions is because I prefer the simplicity and the interface of the 1994 DOS versions and because they are easier to reverse-engineer. Plus it has less clunkiness.
Now more to the point about adjusting the difficulty - the following suggestions can be used with or without the new STROKE.DAT and/or DEFLECT. DAT files mentioned previously, depending on the match settings you have chosen: When starting a new game and, only if you end up bowling, save the game as soon as possible, exit to the main menu and change the difficulty to World Class level. Restore the game. Now the CPU batsmen will be batting on World Class level and will thus play better. When the innings has completed, save the game just before it is your turn to bat, exit to the main menu, and change the difficulty back to Professional level. Restore the game. In this way, you will always be batting on the Professional level and the CPU will always be batting on the World Class level in the exact same match, thus batting will not be too difficult for you nor the CPU. If you are a real purist like me then I recommend ignoring the Amateur level completely and I do not recommend bowling to the CPU on Professional level. However, even when I bat on the Professional Level, I still find batting sometimes a little too easy. So if you also find batting a little too easy on the Professional level, I recommend facing the CPU fast bowlers on World Class level and the CPU spin and swing bowlers on Professional level. So once a different type of bowler comes next in to bowl, save your match at the end of the over, exit to the main menu, and change the difficulty to the appropriate level for that particular new bowler, then go back to the match you were playing. So when you are about to face a fast bowler at the start of a new over, save the match, exit the match to the main menu, and change the difficulty level to World Class level, and when you are about to face a spin or swing bowler, exit the match and change the difficulty to Professional level. I have found that facing the CPU fast bowlers on World Class level is generally not as difficult as facing the CPU spin bowlers and swing bowlers on World Class level. The key to facing the CPU fast bowlers on World Class level is to BLOCK, BLOCK and BLOCK. Block all the faster balls that are pitched in line with the stumps, and hit away all the other deliveries that are not in line with the stumps. Practice good timing and precision. Often you will be able to pick up a single just by blocking if you run hard. Very occasionally the CPU fast bowler will bowl a wide, while the balls that are not pitched at the stumps can be hit away occasionally for fours AND sixes, especially when using the on-drive for a short pitched ball. Balls that are pitched at the stumps can also be hit away for runs as long as there is little to no pace on those balls, but BLOCK ALL balls from fast bowlers that are both pitched in the direction of the stumps and have a fair amount of pace. You may also try facing the CPU swing bowlers on World Class level in addition to the CPU fast bowlers if you still find batting too easy, but I do NOT recommend facing ALL the CPU bowlers on World Class level, unless: you have a very small target of runs to chase and you want to make the match interesting, for example. Think of it this way, if you want to bat on a "fast, good, hard batting pitch", then bat mostly (but not completely) on the Professional level; if you want to bat on an "extremely slow and damp pitch", then bat mostly on the World Class; the reverse applies for the CPU batting team. And if you want to play on a "normal" pitch, then maintain a 50/50 balance between the Professional level and the World Class level. Flip your own coin or throw some dice to determine how the pitch will turn out for that particular day if you desire. I have noticed that changing the difficulty in ABC makes little to no difference to the gameplay unlike in the other versions.
Don’t forget that you also have the option to disable the LBW rule in the match settings of the main menu for both your team or the CPU team. So if you find bowling at the CPU batting team is still too easy even on World Class level, you can disable the LBW rule just for their own innings to make it slightly more difficult for you to bowl the CPU batting team out. Then when you are batting, you can re-enable the LBW rule or keep it disabled, depending on whether you still find batting yourself to be too easy or too difficult.
2) Extra tips on creating teams and players.
If you want the full initials, last names, styles, and statistics of real-life cricket players included in your game when creating teams and editing players, you may look online. I find Wikipedia and ESPNCricinfo to be the most helpful. The latter not only gives you their real-life batting and bowling averages but also most of their batting strike rates, thus allowing you to determine if you should classify each batsman’s style as defensive, moderate, or aggressive. (These sites are obviously useful when it comes to creating and editing teams and players in any cricket video game).
I also recommend creating a whole new team directory purely for unlimited-over matches and use the default team directory purely for limited-over matches. So, while the default team directory is INTERNAT or, in Allan Border’s Cricket, SHIELD00, this should be used for limited-over matches only, while I recommend creating a new TEST directory (which shall reflect as TEST0000 in the TEAMS folder outside of the game) for test matches. You should create directories like this in order to avoid limited-over player averages being used for unlimited-over matches, and vice versa. As a purist I certainly would not want my team playing a test match with their ODI averages or T20 averages instead of their test averages. Its not authentic.
Similarly, you may also create other directories for other types of matches and tournaments, such as COUNTY for the English County Championship or I.P.L. for the Indian Premier League, with all the players’ respective averages for those kind of matches. In my own TEST directory, I have all the current test-playing nation squads, in addition to all-time squads such as the All-Time XI, England XI, Australia XI, South Africa XI, New Zealand XI, and West Indies XI, a current World XI, plus the game’s own made-up team called DEFAULT.
3) How to fix the bug that makes it easy to bowl never-ending dot-balls at the CPU batting team, regardless of the difficulty level you are playing on.
The following is a bug in all the 1994 DOS versions: If you bowl the ball too wide for the CPU batsmen to hit, but not too wide enough for the umpire to call a wide-ball, then you can bowl endless dot-balls, and thus maiden after maiden. The solution here is to simply avoid doing this altogether, as the game sees this as a “cheat”. Do you ever see the CPU bowlers using the same strategy to bowl dot-balls? No, of course not, because “it’s just not cricket”. You always see the CPU bowlers bowling a ball right at the stumps, just missing the stumps, or at a good to full length, while the only wide-balls you see from the CPU bowlers generally come from misdirected bouncers.
4) How to fix the bug that makes it too easy for the bowling team to bowl out the batting team cheaply, no matter whether you are the bowling team or batting team, and no matter what difficulty setting you are playing on:
When bowling: Rapidly tapping the Left and Right arrow keys on your keyboard with a fast bowler to make the ball in the bowling-meter in the top-right of the screen go to the absolute maximum will almost always bowl the CPU batting team out very cheaply, especially when the balls are pitched at good lengths aimed at the stumps. If you watch the CPU bowlers, the ball in the CPU bowling-meter never moves more than two-thirds of the meter, therefore ideally you should also never allow the ball in your bowling meter to move more than two-thirds, otherwise the game will see this as another “cheat”, because the default STROKE.DAT file was simply not designed to handle this properly. Rather wait until your bowler starts running BEFORE you start tapping the Left and Right arrow keys. If you can make this adjustment properly, then you will finally see the batting team making more realistic scores.
When bowling AND batting: Have you noticed that no matter how many matches you bowl against the CPU batsmen and no matter what difficulty you have the game set to, that you invariably always bowl out the CPU batting team cheaply and for a low score? Have you noticed that when batting on World Class level you always tend to do okay until the spinners and swing bowlers come on, and then you have a huge collapse? I am convinced this is to do with saving and loading. To fix this bug you need to save your match, abandon the match, and then quickly restore the match essentially after every single over, and PRESS ESCAPE when you get to the match screen to re-enter the match - DO NOT click outside the game screen to re-enter. This precise procedure is particularly important during the overs of spin and swing bowlers. Not so much with the fast bowlers. By doing this, the game feels less bug-ridden, not too difficult when you are batting, not too easy when you are bowling (and you have followed my bowling tips mentioned previously) and scores generally seem far more realistic. This could probably eliminate the need completely to put the match on Professional level when you are about to face spin and swing bowlers - you could probably now play permanently on the World Class level whether you are batting or bowling, but remember you MUST do the advice above after every single over of spin bowling and swing bowling, whether you are the bowling team or the batting team. This also includes computer vs computer matches. Alternatively, just do the advice after every single over no matter the bowler. This suggestion is probably the best solution to all of the other solutions I have suggested so far above to compensate for the game's difficultly or lack thereof. I know this procedure sounds outlandish, but I found that it works, and it took me years to figure out this simple fix. Now you will finally see the game play properly, like REAL cricket.
5) How to hex-edit the game so that you can play timeless tests. These are test matches that last for an “unlimited” number of days until either one of the teams has won or the match is a tie – there are no draws in timeless test matches. (Timeless “test” matches were mostly played before World War 2)
First start a new 5-day match with 2 innings and unlimited overs, then save the match after the first over as “TIMELESS”. Exit the game back to your desktop. Run your hex-editor and open the file TIMELESS.SAV – you will find this file in your game’s main directory or wherever you installed the game from scratch. (Make sure the columns are displayed in your hex editor under 16 bytes.) Once you open the file, go to the very first offset, 00000000, and under the column OC, you will see the hex number “04”. Change the hex number “04” to the hex number “62”. Now close your hex-editor and save. Now run the game again and restore the “TIMELESS” match. This will change your test match from 5 days to 99 days. Although 99 days is not an unlimited number of days, the longest recorded timeless test-match in history was only 9 playing days, so don’t worry. You could choose a higher number than 99 but I recommend choosing the highest two-digit number, which is 99.
If you want to start a new timeless test-match from scratch, I would simply recommend restoring the new hex-edited “TIMELESS” save, and then exit back to main menu. Then at the bottom of the screen you will then see that the match settings show the number of days as 99. So now you can simply start a new game normally without changing the Match Settings and you will be playing a timeless test-match without having to repeat the hex-editing process mentioned previously.
Please note that this hex-edit will remove the follow-on rule in the test match. So if you still want to have the follow-on rule, what I suggest is that if you or the CPU batting team is 8 or 9 wickets down and it looks like the batting team might not reach the deficit of 200 runs while batting, save the game just before the team is all out, exit to desktop and open the TIMELESS.SAV file in your hex-editor. Change the hex number “62” back to “04” temporarily. Close your hex-editor and save. This will then give the bowling team (you) the option to enforce the follow-on rule as per normal if the batting team is all out before the deficit. Once the option to enforce the follow-on rule has been offered, save the game as soon as you can. Then exit the game to desktop and go back to your hex editor and change the hex number “04” back to “62” to resume playing a timeless test-match. Close your hex-editor and save. Remember, if you are the batting team and you look like you might not reach the deficit, then be a gentleman, or gentlewoman, and also allow the CPU bowling team the option to enforce the follow-on rule by changing the hex number “62” back to “04” temporarily, too. Once you do this, the CPU will decide for themselves whether to put you in again to bat or not.
I don’t know if this hex-edit also completely removes the chance of rain. I think it does, but if you are playing a timeless test, remember that the rain does not influence the result, because there are no draws in a timeless test, so rain doesn’t matter.
There is at least one other method to create timeless test-matches and probably without inadvertently removing the follow-on rule nor the chance of rain, but I find my method to be the simplest.
6) A brief summary on creating your own classic-match scenarios
Here I will outline the basics of what you need to do to create your own classic matches in the game (like those we saw in the later cricket games developed by Codemasters) Recreating classic matches also involves hex-editing a .SAV file. For hex-editing the .SAV file in more detail, you will need to experiment as it is too intricate to explain in full. Basically, you start any new match with the match settings, player names, styles, and averages of the players at the time they were involved in the classic match that occurred in real history, and save the match as soon as you can. Then note the appearance of this .SAV file in your hex-editor. Make a copy of this .SAV file. Then go back to playing the match and once you are more or less half-way into finishing the match, save the match with a DIFFERENT filename than before. Then exit the game, run your hex-editor again, and first open the .SAV file that you copied. Then compare this file in your hex-editor with your second .SAV file that you saved with a different name. You may even want to play the game further and make a third .SAV file for more comparative purposes. Once you make the comparisons, you may eventually ascertain the various hex-numbers that contain the number of runs, the number of wickets, the number of overs, the number of playing days, the number of innings, the number of extras, and so on for each match. You can then use and change this information to hex-edit the .SAV file into a whole new classic match-scenario so that when you decide to play a classic match, you simply load the hex-edited .SAV file in which the scenario is already set. Remember to edit the playing teams in the game’s default team-editor BEFORE you hex-edit the .SAV file so that their names, appearances, styles, and averages reflect the time of the classic match in which it was played in real-life. Do not forget to keep a backup of this .SAV file and do not overwrite it.
7) How to change the number of overs per day in unlimited-over matches and test-matches to “90 overs per day” (just like in real life) instead of 60 overs per day, which is the game’s default number of overs per day.
Copy your CRICKET.EXE file into a new folder. Run your hex-editor, then open the COPY of your CRICKET.EXE file. (Once again, make sure the columns are displayed in your hex editor under 16 bytes.) Now make the following hex edits:
Offset 1570, Column 02: Change 94 to 58
Offset 16C0, Column 05: Change 94 to 58
Offset 17E0, Column 08: Change 94 to 58
Offset A670, Column 06: Change 94 to 58
Offset A6B0, Column 05: Change 38 to 74
Offset A6D0, Column 0C: Change 94 to 58
Offset 11B00,Column 06: Change 38 to 74
Offset 11EA0,Column 07: Change 74 to B0
Now close your hex-editor and save. I recommend re-naming the copied CRICKET.EXE to CRICKET1.EXE, so you can still use your original CRICKET.EXE if need be. Transfer the CRICKET1.EXE file into your game’s main folder, then open DosBox like you normally do and type “CRICKET1” instead of “CRICKET” to run your game. Run “CRICKET1” whenever you want to play unlimited-over matches.
These hex-edits change the starting time of each day in an unlimited-overs matches from 11:00am to 10:00am, and the finishing time from 06:00pm to 07:00pm, thus extending each day by 120 minutes in order to accompany more overs. Note that on some days you still might not get a full 90 overs, but unless it rains on that day you will always get more than 80 overs. Also note that these hex-edits will not remove the chance of rain and the follow-on rule, unlike the timeless test matches.
I noticed that the Sega Genesis and Amiga versions of this game (unlike the DOS version) are already programmed by default with 80+ overs per day in an unlimited-overs match, but I found both the 95' and 96' Sega Genesis versions more difficult to reverse-engineer in general, and the Amiga version, in my opinion, to possess less appealing graphics and more difficult to properly emulate. I also don't like the fact that you cannot choose to play on the exact same type of pitch for an entire test match in the 96' Genesis version - batting on damp pitches is virtually impossible unless you are happy with low-scoring matches and test matches that always end on or before the third day. If the pitch on the first day of an unlimited-overs match is damp, it will remain damp throughout all the following days of the match.
8) How to make the CPU batting team use a night-watchman
It is rather unfair that a human player can opt for a night-watchman while the CPU is unable to do so in the game. Hence when you are playing a test-match or an unlimited-overs match, and the CPU batting team is currently batting at around an hour and a half before the end of the day’s play with little to no wickets down, and you reckon, if you put yourself in the same shoes as the captain of the CPU batting team, that the situation would become necessary to insert a night-watchman at the crease in the event that the bowling team is able to pick up a wicket within the remaining time of the day’s play, (and you believe in fair play) then quickly save your match at around an hour and a half before the end of the day’s play, (you should really save your match after every over anyway) and exit to the main menu. Restore your game. Then choose the 1-player temporarily as the batting team. Once you get to the match-statistics screen, and WITHOUT resuming the actual play, change the batting order so that you now have a lower-order batsman or tail-ender (night-watchman) elevated to come in next. Any batsman in the lineup averaging the closest to 15 should be sufficient. Then quickly save the game again, and exit to the main menu. Restore your game. Then resume the 1-player normally as the bowling team like you were originally playing. If you pick up a wicket before the end of the day’s play, the CPU batting team will send the night-watchman in next. But importantly, if you do not pick up a wicket before the end of the day’s play, remember at the close of play to change the CPU batting team back to the order it was before you first changed the order so that the CPU does not insert a night-watchman when he is not needed. I presume you now also know what to do if you want to insert a night-watchman for your own team.
9) About declaring in unlimited-overs matches
I am not sure if the CPU batting team is programmed to automatically declare their own innings when their total score is much higher than the opposing team. I once played a test match where the CPU batting team was way over 250 runs ahead of the score I made in the previous innings, and they still never declared. So once again I would advise you to temporarily take over the role of the CPU batting team when you are the bowling team and sportingly declare on their behalf when it looks like the CPU batting team have plenty of runs to stand a good chance of winning the match.
Note that the CPU bowling team IS programmed to enforce the follow-on rule under normal circumstances by its own accord - I have seen this happen; the only exception is if you are playing timeless test matches as mentioned previously.
10) How to make the limited-overs matches last for just one day as in real life instead of going into the second day. (By default, limited-over matches in the game except for T20s always last more than one day)
Copy your CRICKET.EXE file into a new folder. Run your hex-editor, then open the COPY of your CRICKET.EXE file. (Once again, make sure the columns are displayed in your hex editor under 16 bytes.) Now make the following hex-edits:
Offset 1570, Column 02: Change 94 to 58
Offset 16C0, Column 05: Change 94 to 58
Offset 17E0, Column 08: Change 94 to 58
Offset A5D0, Column 0F: Change 0C to 8C
Offset A5E0, Column 00: Change 03 to 05
Offset A600, Column 09: Change AC to 96
Offset A600, Column 0A: Change 03 to 05
Offset A6B0, Column 05: Change 38 to 82
Offset A6B0, Column 06: Change 04 to 05
Offset 11B00,Column 06: Change 38 to 82
Offset 11B00,Column 07: Change 04 to 05
Now close your hex-editor and save. I recommend re-naming the COPY of your CRICKET.EXE to CRICKET2.EXE, so you can still use your original CRICKET.EXE file if need be. Transfer the CRICKET2.EXE file into your game’s main folder directory, then open DosBox like you normally do and type “CRICKET2” instead of “CRICKET” to run your game. Run “CRICKET2” whenever you want to play limited-over matches.
These hex-edits change the starting time of a limited-overs match from 11:00am to 10:00am, and the finishing time from 06:00pm to 11:30pm, thus extending the day in order to fit as much as 120 overs (60 overs per innings) in one day, which is more than enough to accommodate any limited-overs match in one day. They also completely remove the lunch-breaks and tea-breaks, which are typically reserved for unlimited-over matches.
11) How to fix the bug that makes it impossible for the batsmen to run for 3 runs after hitting the ball.
You might have noticed that running for 3 runs after hitting the ball is seemingly impossible in the game whether you are batting or the CPU is batting. The reason for this is that all the default fielding setups for each bowler are positioned in such a way that prevents this altogether. You could call this a bug, but if the fielding setups were re-arranged in such a way that there was enough space in the field for the ball to travel long enough, it would be possible for both you and the CPU batting team to run for 3 runs. With a re-adjusted fielding setup I have personally seen this happen, and I definitely prefer a match where running 3 runs is possible.
Note that there are 3 default types of fielding setups in the game, one for fast bowlers, one for spin bowlers, and one for swing bowlers (even though you can actually use each type of fielding setup for any bowler when you change the fielding positions in-game). Re-arrange each of the 3 default types of fielding setups so that it’s possible to occasionally hit 3 runs off any type of bowler. For example, if you put all the fielders on the boundary directly behind the wicketkeeper, the batsmen may easily run for 3 runs when hitting down the ground or to long-on and long-off, but obviously a more realistic fielding setup is more suitable than this one.
I strongly advise to keep a backup of each default fielding position of your team if you intend to save your newly created fielding setups to disk. You can do this by making a copying of the team directory’s folder.
In Allan Border’s Cricket version, it is possible, without any re-arrangement, to occasionally run 3 runs if and when the ball is hit down the ground passed the bowler just short of the boundary, since the fielders always throw the ball back to the wicketkeeper’s end and never to the bowler’s end. Unfortunately, throwing the ball back only to the wicketkeeper’s end every single time is unrealistic, and while it’s possible for you (the player) to run 3 runs in Allan Border’s Cricket even with the default fielding positions, I have never seen the CPU-controlled batsmen run for 3 runs with the default fielding positions in Allan Border's Cricket.
Having said all this, I have noticed that the batsmen by default can actually run for 3 runs during an overthrow by the fielder, and I am sure the CPU batsmen can do this as well. However, overthrows are incredibly rare in the game and the batsmen would need to have already run 2 runs before the overthrow takes place.
12) How to solve the bug that sometimes sees the fielders and wicketkeeper standing slightly out of position, the bowler running and unable to follow through with each delivery thus resulting in an unintentional maiden-over, players playing with incorrect names, among other bugs:
When you create a new squad completely from scratch, you will notice that the squad consists of fictional names until you change them. So when you create your wicketkeeper(s), make sure to rename him in the same slot(s) for Catcher and/or Droppit, since these are the 2 wicketkeepers in those slots by default. If your squad has 2 wicketkeepers, (which it really should) then name the wicketkeeper with the higher batting average in the slot for Catcher. Similarly, when you create your 2 opening fast bowlers in your new team, make sure you rename them in the same slots as Sheppard and Bouncer, since these are the 2 opening fast bowlers by default. Use only the remaining slots of Sawyer, Bowler, Beamer, and Fielding for creating any other fast bowlers – in the numerical order of their averages. Similarly, use the slot of Donnison to create your best swing bowler. Likewise, if your squad has any other swing bowlers, make sure you rename them in the same slots for Dreamer, Yorker, and Grabbitt. Do the same with the other slots when creating your leg-spin and off-spin bowlers. If possible, try to match your team’s best 11 players inside the default best 11 slots in the game’s default squad, together with their respective batting and bowling styles. If you can achieve this and put the new players into their respective slots and not just into any slot, you should be able to eliminate various fielding and bowling bugs.
Also, do not edit any players in a match that you are currently playing, otherwise you will see all kinds of bugs like players with incorrect names, and batsmen that are already out coming back into bat in the same innings. Wait until the match is over before editing those players again.
13) Replacing some of the default sound files with different sound files.
I managed to create a few new sounds in the game. The files containing the original sounds in the game are the .VOC files in the main directory, which you will hear if you installed the game with the Sound Blaster option and not the PC Sound option. If you want to make new sounds, the old .VOC files must be replaced with new .VOC files and they must be the exact same file-size as their original. I was successfully able to replace the BOUNCE.VOC, the CATCH.VOC, the STRIKE2.VOC, and the STRIKE3.VOC sound files with more improved sounds from later cricket games, after minimizing and converting them from their original .OGG format into .VOC file format. I found the other original .VOC files in the game to be more painstaking to replace. What I also do is turn off the music in the game and A-B loop a crowd ambience sound in the background with VLC media player when playing the game. I have attached these new files at the end of my guide.
14) Keeping records of completed matches.
At the start of each new innings, I recommend saving the new innings of the current match under a different .SAV filename than the one you used for the previous innings. By doing so, you will not lose the match statistics from any previous innings played in the match. (The match statistics consist of the scorecard, the batting figures, and the bowling figures.) So once you do this and the match is over, you may view the statistics of each innings played and not just the statistics of the last innings played, by simply loading the appropriate filename for that innings. I would also recommend using the screenshot option in DOSBOX to capture all the match statistics once the match is completed if you do not want to keep the .SAV files. It’s up to you how you then decide to group the screenshots and or the .SAV files into their respective categories.
15) Playing in colour kits
You might know that its only possible to play in colour kits in ABC, and not GGWCC, BLC94 and JRIIWCC. However, I found find a small curious hack in the other versions. If you created a new team directory, and you have a game saved from that directory, as in a directory besides the default directory called INTERNAT or SHIELD00, exit the game completely to desktop and reload the game from desktop. Then before loading the saved game file, ensure you have NOT selected the different team directory that the two teams come from within the main menu - ensure the team directory remains at INTERNAT or SHIELD00 when you load up the saved game file of the two teams from the different directory. Make sure these two teams in the different directory are listed anywhere in the slots between 11 to 22. (Each team directory has a maximum of 22 slots for 22 teams). If you do this correctly, you should see one team or both teams playing in "colour" kits. Kind of. (I really wish I knew how to make teams in GGWCC, BLC94, and JRIIWCC play in proper colour kits like in ABC, but I don’t.)
15) More about bowling averages
As in all of Audiogenic’s cricket games, the quality of a bowler by default is purely dictated by his average and nothing else. In practice, this means that when you are rotating two bowlers with roughly the same average, and the one bowler has been able to pick up 2 or 3 wickets while the other bowler has not been able to pick up any wickets in the same amount of overs, for example, then the bowler who has not been able to pick up any wickets has a higher mathematical chance of picking up wickets going forward than the bowler who has already picked up 2 or 3 wickets. This is because sooner or later his average is going to kick in. This is often completely different to how bowlers are used strategically in real cricket. In real cricket, a bowler who constantly bowls and still gets no wickets is eventually taken off, whereas a bowler who picks up a few quick wickets is pushed on to continue, due to momentum, which is a completely different element compared to sheer average. My point is that if you want to use your bowlers strategically in the game, it is often best to do the opposite strategy that we see in real cricket and in later cricket video games. However, if and when you are finding it too easy to bowl the batting team out in the game, you could then always adopt the strategy used in real cricket just to make the game feel more authentic and interesting. Put it this way, use the opposite strategy if you want to bowl on a surface that “favours the bowlers”, and use the normal strategy when bowling on a surface that “favours the batsmen”. Again, flip a coin so to speak to decide how the surface will play out, and use your bowlers accordingly - this is another way to add more realism to the game.
LEGAL NOTICE
The advice and contents given in my guide is to the best of my knowledge, and as such, you use it at your own risk; I cannot be held responsible for any issues you encounter that do not provide the outcome you desire. This guide is for personal use only. Nobody may publish or copy my guide, any part thereof, nor its contents on another website, nor may they alter or distribute my guide or its contents in any way without my express permission. My silence will not be consent. Action will be taken against those who transgress. You do, however, have my permission only to share the link itself. It took me months of hard work and experimenting in order to write this guide. So nevertheless, I hope my guide will assist you in rejuvenating and further appreciating this classic cricket game for DOS. Put all the advice together and I'm sure you'll end up with a great game.
Personal Note
If you have read everything in this guide up to this point, and you would like to add anything relevant to the guide, please politely let me know.
Regarding the 1996 Sega Genesis update version, if anyone has found out how to reverse-engineer the game in such a way to completely remove the option of playing on Dusty and Damp pitches, thus making it possible to play solely on Normal, Hard and Green pitches only, please let me know!
Like most if not all other cricket games the DOS version has its own fair share of bugs and unrealistic features that might have made you give up on playing this game a very long time ago, but if you read this guide I can show you how to both fix and compensate for these drawbacks and turn this 1-megabyte game from okay to very good. This guide is a huge overhaul of the game. You may even find that this is the best online guide for the game.
In order to properly follow everything and get the best out of this guide, I recommend deleting all your team directories and re-installing the game from scratch. It will be worth it. Make sure to keep a backup of all your players’ names, averages and styles if you wish. I also recommend you to read the entire guide BEFORE you start applying the advice. Like all DOS games, you will need DosBox to play this game on modern computers and to get a decent frame-rate and the best audio. To achieve this, I recommend adjusting the cycles to 6500. You will also need a hex-editor to make some notable adjustments so download one if you don’t already have one; I use HxD.
I have a theory that JRIIWC has the least amount of bugs compared to ABC, GGWCC, and BLC94 (as in all the other 1994 DOS versions). I say this because when I right-click on the Properties of the CRICKET.EXE file in each version, I noticed by "date modified" that the EXE file in JRIIWC came out later in 1994 than the other versions. While all the DOS versions came out in 1994, the earliest month was on the EXE file of GGWCC, followed by ABC, then BLC94, and finally JRIIWC. Each EXE file varies between 146, 147, and 148 kilobytes, and the programming of each EXE file appears to be different than the other when I viewed them all under a hex-editor. The largest EXE file (148 kilobytes) was the one in BLC94. Could this mean that BLC94 is actually the most realistic version to play due to containing the most data? I don’t know, but each version feels slightly different when playing, especially when batting, and for me I would say the JRIIWC version feels the most realistic. The only advantage I see in ABC over the other versions is that the ABC version has the option to play matches in both white and colour kits. Now although JRIIWC seems to be the latest DOS version (before Shane Warne 97), the hex edits and other advice in this guide are mainly for the BLC version - please take note.
1) A fix for when you don’t like bowling at the CPU batsmen on the Professional level because it’s too easy, but you don’t want to change to the World Class level because you find batting on the World Class level too difficult:
Before we delve into the issue of difficulty, the information containing how and when the batsmen responds to a ball being bowled, and how the ball responds after being hit by the batsmen, is contained in the default STROKE.DAT and DEFLECT.DAT files inside the game's main directory.
If you have ever looked at the game files for Shane Warne Cricket 1997 PC, you will notice inside the sub-folder DATA the files called STROKE.DAT, DEFLECT.DAT, and DEFLECT2.DAT. (If you don't already have Shane Warne Cricket 97 for PC, buy or download the game and don't ask me where). Ignore the DEFLECT.DAT AND DEFLECT2.DAT files. Copy the STROKE.DAT file from Shane Warne 1997 into the main directory of any 1994 DOS version. Now download ABC and copy over the DEFLECT.DAT from that version into the same DOS version you copied the new STROKE.DAT file. These two files appear to be the latest official STROKE and DEFLECT files for the original DOS versions according to the properties of the files under Date Created or Date Modified. Alternatively, you may rather want to hex-edit the default STROKE.DAT or DEFLECT.DAT files already contained in your cricket DOS version to your own satisfaction, as I have already done. What you can also do is just replace the STROKE file only and leave the default DEFLECT file in tact, and vice versa, for when you are batting and/or bowling... Just make sure your game is saved before exiting the game and meddling with the STROKE.DAT and DEFLECT.DAT files. (I always use the new STROKE.DAT file for every single match I play whether batting or bowling) Do NOT insert the DEFLECT and DEFLECT2 files from Shane Warne Cricket 97 though, because the DEFLECT file of this game excludes the ability to hit sixes while the DEFLECT2 file only includes the ability to hit sixes and virtually nothing else! For convenience I have also attached to this guide an even more updated DEFLECT.DAT file that I personally made; this file incorporates some of the data from the DEFLECT.DAT file of Shane Warne 1997 without losing the ability to sixes.
The reason I dont just play Shane Warne Cricket 1997 for PC instead of the 1994 DOS versions is because I prefer the simplicity and the interface of the 1994 DOS versions and because they are easier to reverse-engineer. Plus it has less clunkiness.
Now more to the point about adjusting the difficulty - the following suggestions can be used with or without the new STROKE.DAT and/or DEFLECT. DAT files mentioned previously, depending on the match settings you have chosen: When starting a new game and, only if you end up bowling, save the game as soon as possible, exit to the main menu and change the difficulty to World Class level. Restore the game. Now the CPU batsmen will be batting on World Class level and will thus play better. When the innings has completed, save the game just before it is your turn to bat, exit to the main menu, and change the difficulty back to Professional level. Restore the game. In this way, you will always be batting on the Professional level and the CPU will always be batting on the World Class level in the exact same match, thus batting will not be too difficult for you nor the CPU. If you are a real purist like me then I recommend ignoring the Amateur level completely and I do not recommend bowling to the CPU on Professional level. However, even when I bat on the Professional Level, I still find batting sometimes a little too easy. So if you also find batting a little too easy on the Professional level, I recommend facing the CPU fast bowlers on World Class level and the CPU spin and swing bowlers on Professional level. So once a different type of bowler comes next in to bowl, save your match at the end of the over, exit to the main menu, and change the difficulty to the appropriate level for that particular new bowler, then go back to the match you were playing. So when you are about to face a fast bowler at the start of a new over, save the match, exit the match to the main menu, and change the difficulty level to World Class level, and when you are about to face a spin or swing bowler, exit the match and change the difficulty to Professional level. I have found that facing the CPU fast bowlers on World Class level is generally not as difficult as facing the CPU spin bowlers and swing bowlers on World Class level. The key to facing the CPU fast bowlers on World Class level is to BLOCK, BLOCK and BLOCK. Block all the faster balls that are pitched in line with the stumps, and hit away all the other deliveries that are not in line with the stumps. Practice good timing and precision. Often you will be able to pick up a single just by blocking if you run hard. Very occasionally the CPU fast bowler will bowl a wide, while the balls that are not pitched at the stumps can be hit away occasionally for fours AND sixes, especially when using the on-drive for a short pitched ball. Balls that are pitched at the stumps can also be hit away for runs as long as there is little to no pace on those balls, but BLOCK ALL balls from fast bowlers that are both pitched in the direction of the stumps and have a fair amount of pace. You may also try facing the CPU swing bowlers on World Class level in addition to the CPU fast bowlers if you still find batting too easy, but I do NOT recommend facing ALL the CPU bowlers on World Class level, unless: you have a very small target of runs to chase and you want to make the match interesting, for example. Think of it this way, if you want to bat on a "fast, good, hard batting pitch", then bat mostly (but not completely) on the Professional level; if you want to bat on an "extremely slow and damp pitch", then bat mostly on the World Class; the reverse applies for the CPU batting team. And if you want to play on a "normal" pitch, then maintain a 50/50 balance between the Professional level and the World Class level. Flip your own coin or throw some dice to determine how the pitch will turn out for that particular day if you desire. I have noticed that changing the difficulty in ABC makes little to no difference to the gameplay unlike in the other versions.
Don’t forget that you also have the option to disable the LBW rule in the match settings of the main menu for both your team or the CPU team. So if you find bowling at the CPU batting team is still too easy even on World Class level, you can disable the LBW rule just for their own innings to make it slightly more difficult for you to bowl the CPU batting team out. Then when you are batting, you can re-enable the LBW rule or keep it disabled, depending on whether you still find batting yourself to be too easy or too difficult.
2) Extra tips on creating teams and players.
If you want the full initials, last names, styles, and statistics of real-life cricket players included in your game when creating teams and editing players, you may look online. I find Wikipedia and ESPNCricinfo to be the most helpful. The latter not only gives you their real-life batting and bowling averages but also most of their batting strike rates, thus allowing you to determine if you should classify each batsman’s style as defensive, moderate, or aggressive. (These sites are obviously useful when it comes to creating and editing teams and players in any cricket video game).
I also recommend creating a whole new team directory purely for unlimited-over matches and use the default team directory purely for limited-over matches. So, while the default team directory is INTERNAT or, in Allan Border’s Cricket, SHIELD00, this should be used for limited-over matches only, while I recommend creating a new TEST directory (which shall reflect as TEST0000 in the TEAMS folder outside of the game) for test matches. You should create directories like this in order to avoid limited-over player averages being used for unlimited-over matches, and vice versa. As a purist I certainly would not want my team playing a test match with their ODI averages or T20 averages instead of their test averages. Its not authentic.
Similarly, you may also create other directories for other types of matches and tournaments, such as COUNTY for the English County Championship or I.P.L. for the Indian Premier League, with all the players’ respective averages for those kind of matches. In my own TEST directory, I have all the current test-playing nation squads, in addition to all-time squads such as the All-Time XI, England XI, Australia XI, South Africa XI, New Zealand XI, and West Indies XI, a current World XI, plus the game’s own made-up team called DEFAULT.
3) How to fix the bug that makes it easy to bowl never-ending dot-balls at the CPU batting team, regardless of the difficulty level you are playing on.
The following is a bug in all the 1994 DOS versions: If you bowl the ball too wide for the CPU batsmen to hit, but not too wide enough for the umpire to call a wide-ball, then you can bowl endless dot-balls, and thus maiden after maiden. The solution here is to simply avoid doing this altogether, as the game sees this as a “cheat”. Do you ever see the CPU bowlers using the same strategy to bowl dot-balls? No, of course not, because “it’s just not cricket”. You always see the CPU bowlers bowling a ball right at the stumps, just missing the stumps, or at a good to full length, while the only wide-balls you see from the CPU bowlers generally come from misdirected bouncers.
4) How to fix the bug that makes it too easy for the bowling team to bowl out the batting team cheaply, no matter whether you are the bowling team or batting team, and no matter what difficulty setting you are playing on:
When bowling: Rapidly tapping the Left and Right arrow keys on your keyboard with a fast bowler to make the ball in the bowling-meter in the top-right of the screen go to the absolute maximum will almost always bowl the CPU batting team out very cheaply, especially when the balls are pitched at good lengths aimed at the stumps. If you watch the CPU bowlers, the ball in the CPU bowling-meter never moves more than two-thirds of the meter, therefore ideally you should also never allow the ball in your bowling meter to move more than two-thirds, otherwise the game will see this as another “cheat”, because the default STROKE.DAT file was simply not designed to handle this properly. Rather wait until your bowler starts running BEFORE you start tapping the Left and Right arrow keys. If you can make this adjustment properly, then you will finally see the batting team making more realistic scores.
When bowling AND batting: Have you noticed that no matter how many matches you bowl against the CPU batsmen and no matter what difficulty you have the game set to, that you invariably always bowl out the CPU batting team cheaply and for a low score? Have you noticed that when batting on World Class level you always tend to do okay until the spinners and swing bowlers come on, and then you have a huge collapse? I am convinced this is to do with saving and loading. To fix this bug you need to save your match, abandon the match, and then quickly restore the match essentially after every single over, and PRESS ESCAPE when you get to the match screen to re-enter the match - DO NOT click outside the game screen to re-enter. This precise procedure is particularly important during the overs of spin and swing bowlers. Not so much with the fast bowlers. By doing this, the game feels less bug-ridden, not too difficult when you are batting, not too easy when you are bowling (and you have followed my bowling tips mentioned previously) and scores generally seem far more realistic. This could probably eliminate the need completely to put the match on Professional level when you are about to face spin and swing bowlers - you could probably now play permanently on the World Class level whether you are batting or bowling, but remember you MUST do the advice above after every single over of spin bowling and swing bowling, whether you are the bowling team or the batting team. This also includes computer vs computer matches. Alternatively, just do the advice after every single over no matter the bowler. This suggestion is probably the best solution to all of the other solutions I have suggested so far above to compensate for the game's difficultly or lack thereof. I know this procedure sounds outlandish, but I found that it works, and it took me years to figure out this simple fix. Now you will finally see the game play properly, like REAL cricket.
5) How to hex-edit the game so that you can play timeless tests. These are test matches that last for an “unlimited” number of days until either one of the teams has won or the match is a tie – there are no draws in timeless test matches. (Timeless “test” matches were mostly played before World War 2)
First start a new 5-day match with 2 innings and unlimited overs, then save the match after the first over as “TIMELESS”. Exit the game back to your desktop. Run your hex-editor and open the file TIMELESS.SAV – you will find this file in your game’s main directory or wherever you installed the game from scratch. (Make sure the columns are displayed in your hex editor under 16 bytes.) Once you open the file, go to the very first offset, 00000000, and under the column OC, you will see the hex number “04”. Change the hex number “04” to the hex number “62”. Now close your hex-editor and save. Now run the game again and restore the “TIMELESS” match. This will change your test match from 5 days to 99 days. Although 99 days is not an unlimited number of days, the longest recorded timeless test-match in history was only 9 playing days, so don’t worry. You could choose a higher number than 99 but I recommend choosing the highest two-digit number, which is 99.
If you want to start a new timeless test-match from scratch, I would simply recommend restoring the new hex-edited “TIMELESS” save, and then exit back to main menu. Then at the bottom of the screen you will then see that the match settings show the number of days as 99. So now you can simply start a new game normally without changing the Match Settings and you will be playing a timeless test-match without having to repeat the hex-editing process mentioned previously.
Please note that this hex-edit will remove the follow-on rule in the test match. So if you still want to have the follow-on rule, what I suggest is that if you or the CPU batting team is 8 or 9 wickets down and it looks like the batting team might not reach the deficit of 200 runs while batting, save the game just before the team is all out, exit to desktop and open the TIMELESS.SAV file in your hex-editor. Change the hex number “62” back to “04” temporarily. Close your hex-editor and save. This will then give the bowling team (you) the option to enforce the follow-on rule as per normal if the batting team is all out before the deficit. Once the option to enforce the follow-on rule has been offered, save the game as soon as you can. Then exit the game to desktop and go back to your hex editor and change the hex number “04” back to “62” to resume playing a timeless test-match. Close your hex-editor and save. Remember, if you are the batting team and you look like you might not reach the deficit, then be a gentleman, or gentlewoman, and also allow the CPU bowling team the option to enforce the follow-on rule by changing the hex number “62” back to “04” temporarily, too. Once you do this, the CPU will decide for themselves whether to put you in again to bat or not.
I don’t know if this hex-edit also completely removes the chance of rain. I think it does, but if you are playing a timeless test, remember that the rain does not influence the result, because there are no draws in a timeless test, so rain doesn’t matter.
There is at least one other method to create timeless test-matches and probably without inadvertently removing the follow-on rule nor the chance of rain, but I find my method to be the simplest.
6) A brief summary on creating your own classic-match scenarios
Here I will outline the basics of what you need to do to create your own classic matches in the game (like those we saw in the later cricket games developed by Codemasters) Recreating classic matches also involves hex-editing a .SAV file. For hex-editing the .SAV file in more detail, you will need to experiment as it is too intricate to explain in full. Basically, you start any new match with the match settings, player names, styles, and averages of the players at the time they were involved in the classic match that occurred in real history, and save the match as soon as you can. Then note the appearance of this .SAV file in your hex-editor. Make a copy of this .SAV file. Then go back to playing the match and once you are more or less half-way into finishing the match, save the match with a DIFFERENT filename than before. Then exit the game, run your hex-editor again, and first open the .SAV file that you copied. Then compare this file in your hex-editor with your second .SAV file that you saved with a different name. You may even want to play the game further and make a third .SAV file for more comparative purposes. Once you make the comparisons, you may eventually ascertain the various hex-numbers that contain the number of runs, the number of wickets, the number of overs, the number of playing days, the number of innings, the number of extras, and so on for each match. You can then use and change this information to hex-edit the .SAV file into a whole new classic match-scenario so that when you decide to play a classic match, you simply load the hex-edited .SAV file in which the scenario is already set. Remember to edit the playing teams in the game’s default team-editor BEFORE you hex-edit the .SAV file so that their names, appearances, styles, and averages reflect the time of the classic match in which it was played in real-life. Do not forget to keep a backup of this .SAV file and do not overwrite it.
7) How to change the number of overs per day in unlimited-over matches and test-matches to “90 overs per day” (just like in real life) instead of 60 overs per day, which is the game’s default number of overs per day.
Copy your CRICKET.EXE file into a new folder. Run your hex-editor, then open the COPY of your CRICKET.EXE file. (Once again, make sure the columns are displayed in your hex editor under 16 bytes.) Now make the following hex edits:
Offset 1570, Column 02: Change 94 to 58
Offset 16C0, Column 05: Change 94 to 58
Offset 17E0, Column 08: Change 94 to 58
Offset A670, Column 06: Change 94 to 58
Offset A6B0, Column 05: Change 38 to 74
Offset A6D0, Column 0C: Change 94 to 58
Offset 11B00,Column 06: Change 38 to 74
Offset 11EA0,Column 07: Change 74 to B0
Now close your hex-editor and save. I recommend re-naming the copied CRICKET.EXE to CRICKET1.EXE, so you can still use your original CRICKET.EXE if need be. Transfer the CRICKET1.EXE file into your game’s main folder, then open DosBox like you normally do and type “CRICKET1” instead of “CRICKET” to run your game. Run “CRICKET1” whenever you want to play unlimited-over matches.
These hex-edits change the starting time of each day in an unlimited-overs matches from 11:00am to 10:00am, and the finishing time from 06:00pm to 07:00pm, thus extending each day by 120 minutes in order to accompany more overs. Note that on some days you still might not get a full 90 overs, but unless it rains on that day you will always get more than 80 overs. Also note that these hex-edits will not remove the chance of rain and the follow-on rule, unlike the timeless test matches.
I noticed that the Sega Genesis and Amiga versions of this game (unlike the DOS version) are already programmed by default with 80+ overs per day in an unlimited-overs match, but I found both the 95' and 96' Sega Genesis versions more difficult to reverse-engineer in general, and the Amiga version, in my opinion, to possess less appealing graphics and more difficult to properly emulate. I also don't like the fact that you cannot choose to play on the exact same type of pitch for an entire test match in the 96' Genesis version - batting on damp pitches is virtually impossible unless you are happy with low-scoring matches and test matches that always end on or before the third day. If the pitch on the first day of an unlimited-overs match is damp, it will remain damp throughout all the following days of the match.
8) How to make the CPU batting team use a night-watchman
It is rather unfair that a human player can opt for a night-watchman while the CPU is unable to do so in the game. Hence when you are playing a test-match or an unlimited-overs match, and the CPU batting team is currently batting at around an hour and a half before the end of the day’s play with little to no wickets down, and you reckon, if you put yourself in the same shoes as the captain of the CPU batting team, that the situation would become necessary to insert a night-watchman at the crease in the event that the bowling team is able to pick up a wicket within the remaining time of the day’s play, (and you believe in fair play) then quickly save your match at around an hour and a half before the end of the day’s play, (you should really save your match after every over anyway) and exit to the main menu. Restore your game. Then choose the 1-player temporarily as the batting team. Once you get to the match-statistics screen, and WITHOUT resuming the actual play, change the batting order so that you now have a lower-order batsman or tail-ender (night-watchman) elevated to come in next. Any batsman in the lineup averaging the closest to 15 should be sufficient. Then quickly save the game again, and exit to the main menu. Restore your game. Then resume the 1-player normally as the bowling team like you were originally playing. If you pick up a wicket before the end of the day’s play, the CPU batting team will send the night-watchman in next. But importantly, if you do not pick up a wicket before the end of the day’s play, remember at the close of play to change the CPU batting team back to the order it was before you first changed the order so that the CPU does not insert a night-watchman when he is not needed. I presume you now also know what to do if you want to insert a night-watchman for your own team.
9) About declaring in unlimited-overs matches
I am not sure if the CPU batting team is programmed to automatically declare their own innings when their total score is much higher than the opposing team. I once played a test match where the CPU batting team was way over 250 runs ahead of the score I made in the previous innings, and they still never declared. So once again I would advise you to temporarily take over the role of the CPU batting team when you are the bowling team and sportingly declare on their behalf when it looks like the CPU batting team have plenty of runs to stand a good chance of winning the match.
Note that the CPU bowling team IS programmed to enforce the follow-on rule under normal circumstances by its own accord - I have seen this happen; the only exception is if you are playing timeless test matches as mentioned previously.
10) How to make the limited-overs matches last for just one day as in real life instead of going into the second day. (By default, limited-over matches in the game except for T20s always last more than one day)
Copy your CRICKET.EXE file into a new folder. Run your hex-editor, then open the COPY of your CRICKET.EXE file. (Once again, make sure the columns are displayed in your hex editor under 16 bytes.) Now make the following hex-edits:
Offset 1570, Column 02: Change 94 to 58
Offset 16C0, Column 05: Change 94 to 58
Offset 17E0, Column 08: Change 94 to 58
Offset A5D0, Column 0F: Change 0C to 8C
Offset A5E0, Column 00: Change 03 to 05
Offset A600, Column 09: Change AC to 96
Offset A600, Column 0A: Change 03 to 05
Offset A6B0, Column 05: Change 38 to 82
Offset A6B0, Column 06: Change 04 to 05
Offset 11B00,Column 06: Change 38 to 82
Offset 11B00,Column 07: Change 04 to 05
Now close your hex-editor and save. I recommend re-naming the COPY of your CRICKET.EXE to CRICKET2.EXE, so you can still use your original CRICKET.EXE file if need be. Transfer the CRICKET2.EXE file into your game’s main folder directory, then open DosBox like you normally do and type “CRICKET2” instead of “CRICKET” to run your game. Run “CRICKET2” whenever you want to play limited-over matches.
These hex-edits change the starting time of a limited-overs match from 11:00am to 10:00am, and the finishing time from 06:00pm to 11:30pm, thus extending the day in order to fit as much as 120 overs (60 overs per innings) in one day, which is more than enough to accommodate any limited-overs match in one day. They also completely remove the lunch-breaks and tea-breaks, which are typically reserved for unlimited-over matches.
11) How to fix the bug that makes it impossible for the batsmen to run for 3 runs after hitting the ball.
You might have noticed that running for 3 runs after hitting the ball is seemingly impossible in the game whether you are batting or the CPU is batting. The reason for this is that all the default fielding setups for each bowler are positioned in such a way that prevents this altogether. You could call this a bug, but if the fielding setups were re-arranged in such a way that there was enough space in the field for the ball to travel long enough, it would be possible for both you and the CPU batting team to run for 3 runs. With a re-adjusted fielding setup I have personally seen this happen, and I definitely prefer a match where running 3 runs is possible.
Note that there are 3 default types of fielding setups in the game, one for fast bowlers, one for spin bowlers, and one for swing bowlers (even though you can actually use each type of fielding setup for any bowler when you change the fielding positions in-game). Re-arrange each of the 3 default types of fielding setups so that it’s possible to occasionally hit 3 runs off any type of bowler. For example, if you put all the fielders on the boundary directly behind the wicketkeeper, the batsmen may easily run for 3 runs when hitting down the ground or to long-on and long-off, but obviously a more realistic fielding setup is more suitable than this one.
I strongly advise to keep a backup of each default fielding position of your team if you intend to save your newly created fielding setups to disk. You can do this by making a copying of the team directory’s folder.
In Allan Border’s Cricket version, it is possible, without any re-arrangement, to occasionally run 3 runs if and when the ball is hit down the ground passed the bowler just short of the boundary, since the fielders always throw the ball back to the wicketkeeper’s end and never to the bowler’s end. Unfortunately, throwing the ball back only to the wicketkeeper’s end every single time is unrealistic, and while it’s possible for you (the player) to run 3 runs in Allan Border’s Cricket even with the default fielding positions, I have never seen the CPU-controlled batsmen run for 3 runs with the default fielding positions in Allan Border's Cricket.
Having said all this, I have noticed that the batsmen by default can actually run for 3 runs during an overthrow by the fielder, and I am sure the CPU batsmen can do this as well. However, overthrows are incredibly rare in the game and the batsmen would need to have already run 2 runs before the overthrow takes place.
12) How to solve the bug that sometimes sees the fielders and wicketkeeper standing slightly out of position, the bowler running and unable to follow through with each delivery thus resulting in an unintentional maiden-over, players playing with incorrect names, among other bugs:
When you create a new squad completely from scratch, you will notice that the squad consists of fictional names until you change them. So when you create your wicketkeeper(s), make sure to rename him in the same slot(s) for Catcher and/or Droppit, since these are the 2 wicketkeepers in those slots by default. If your squad has 2 wicketkeepers, (which it really should) then name the wicketkeeper with the higher batting average in the slot for Catcher. Similarly, when you create your 2 opening fast bowlers in your new team, make sure you rename them in the same slots as Sheppard and Bouncer, since these are the 2 opening fast bowlers by default. Use only the remaining slots of Sawyer, Bowler, Beamer, and Fielding for creating any other fast bowlers – in the numerical order of their averages. Similarly, use the slot of Donnison to create your best swing bowler. Likewise, if your squad has any other swing bowlers, make sure you rename them in the same slots for Dreamer, Yorker, and Grabbitt. Do the same with the other slots when creating your leg-spin and off-spin bowlers. If possible, try to match your team’s best 11 players inside the default best 11 slots in the game’s default squad, together with their respective batting and bowling styles. If you can achieve this and put the new players into their respective slots and not just into any slot, you should be able to eliminate various fielding and bowling bugs.
Also, do not edit any players in a match that you are currently playing, otherwise you will see all kinds of bugs like players with incorrect names, and batsmen that are already out coming back into bat in the same innings. Wait until the match is over before editing those players again.
13) Replacing some of the default sound files with different sound files.
I managed to create a few new sounds in the game. The files containing the original sounds in the game are the .VOC files in the main directory, which you will hear if you installed the game with the Sound Blaster option and not the PC Sound option. If you want to make new sounds, the old .VOC files must be replaced with new .VOC files and they must be the exact same file-size as their original. I was successfully able to replace the BOUNCE.VOC, the CATCH.VOC, the STRIKE2.VOC, and the STRIKE3.VOC sound files with more improved sounds from later cricket games, after minimizing and converting them from their original .OGG format into .VOC file format. I found the other original .VOC files in the game to be more painstaking to replace. What I also do is turn off the music in the game and A-B loop a crowd ambience sound in the background with VLC media player when playing the game. I have attached these new files at the end of my guide.
14) Keeping records of completed matches.
At the start of each new innings, I recommend saving the new innings of the current match under a different .SAV filename than the one you used for the previous innings. By doing so, you will not lose the match statistics from any previous innings played in the match. (The match statistics consist of the scorecard, the batting figures, and the bowling figures.) So once you do this and the match is over, you may view the statistics of each innings played and not just the statistics of the last innings played, by simply loading the appropriate filename for that innings. I would also recommend using the screenshot option in DOSBOX to capture all the match statistics once the match is completed if you do not want to keep the .SAV files. It’s up to you how you then decide to group the screenshots and or the .SAV files into their respective categories.
15) Playing in colour kits
You might know that its only possible to play in colour kits in ABC, and not GGWCC, BLC94 and JRIIWCC. However, I found find a small curious hack in the other versions. If you created a new team directory, and you have a game saved from that directory, as in a directory besides the default directory called INTERNAT or SHIELD00, exit the game completely to desktop and reload the game from desktop. Then before loading the saved game file, ensure you have NOT selected the different team directory that the two teams come from within the main menu - ensure the team directory remains at INTERNAT or SHIELD00 when you load up the saved game file of the two teams from the different directory. Make sure these two teams in the different directory are listed anywhere in the slots between 11 to 22. (Each team directory has a maximum of 22 slots for 22 teams). If you do this correctly, you should see one team or both teams playing in "colour" kits. Kind of. (I really wish I knew how to make teams in GGWCC, BLC94, and JRIIWCC play in proper colour kits like in ABC, but I don’t.)
15) More about bowling averages
As in all of Audiogenic’s cricket games, the quality of a bowler by default is purely dictated by his average and nothing else. In practice, this means that when you are rotating two bowlers with roughly the same average, and the one bowler has been able to pick up 2 or 3 wickets while the other bowler has not been able to pick up any wickets in the same amount of overs, for example, then the bowler who has not been able to pick up any wickets has a higher mathematical chance of picking up wickets going forward than the bowler who has already picked up 2 or 3 wickets. This is because sooner or later his average is going to kick in. This is often completely different to how bowlers are used strategically in real cricket. In real cricket, a bowler who constantly bowls and still gets no wickets is eventually taken off, whereas a bowler who picks up a few quick wickets is pushed on to continue, due to momentum, which is a completely different element compared to sheer average. My point is that if you want to use your bowlers strategically in the game, it is often best to do the opposite strategy that we see in real cricket and in later cricket video games. However, if and when you are finding it too easy to bowl the batting team out in the game, you could then always adopt the strategy used in real cricket just to make the game feel more authentic and interesting. Put it this way, use the opposite strategy if you want to bowl on a surface that “favours the bowlers”, and use the normal strategy when bowling on a surface that “favours the batsmen”. Again, flip a coin so to speak to decide how the surface will play out, and use your bowlers accordingly - this is another way to add more realism to the game.
LEGAL NOTICE
The advice and contents given in my guide is to the best of my knowledge, and as such, you use it at your own risk; I cannot be held responsible for any issues you encounter that do not provide the outcome you desire. This guide is for personal use only. Nobody may publish or copy my guide, any part thereof, nor its contents on another website, nor may they alter or distribute my guide or its contents in any way without my express permission. My silence will not be consent. Action will be taken against those who transgress. You do, however, have my permission only to share the link itself. It took me months of hard work and experimenting in order to write this guide. So nevertheless, I hope my guide will assist you in rejuvenating and further appreciating this classic cricket game for DOS. Put all the advice together and I'm sure you'll end up with a great game.
Personal Note
If you have read everything in this guide up to this point, and you would like to add anything relevant to the guide, please politely let me know.
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