There's a years worth of English cricket home and abroad, across all three formats that is just begging to have a competition made out of it.
We ran a 'Test' last year, time to ramp it up a bit this.
Essex Wideboys ran away with it last time, leading from pretty early on and never flinching as they put on a strong stand to blow the other pretenders out of the water. But we've vowed to come back stronger this year, so bring it on.
There's a load of cricket going on this year.
A few breaks to catch our breath, but a few manic months, including a frantic start and barmy September.
Let's start with the important bits.
Joining is going to cost you £25.00 and a percentage of that will go to The Ruth Strauss Foundation.
I will confirm how the remaining pot will be split, once we've confirmed our final numbers and the competition is up and running.
What YOU have to do.
The format is quite easy. Every game you get to name a few players that you think will smash a load of runs, take a load of wickets, or do both. The better they do, the more points they win you.
Points vary depending on the format being played, in a futile attempt to create a level playing field across the three formats. I wonder if this helps explain that in anyway.....😳😳
In addition you'll be asked to make an educated prediction (or as we call it, guess) at things like the number of catches that will be made in the match, the biggest partnership, number of wides bowled, that kind of stuff.
It's really that simple.
However, I will throw a few other things into the mix in the background, nothing that will involve any addition input from you, but will hopefully add a bit to the overall experience (I've been reading to many hotel reviews and websites recently, it's affecting the way I write these things!!)
Match Input
Each game you'll get to Pick 5 Players. At least 1 must be a recognised batsman, at least 1 must be a recognised bowler, and there must be at least 1 from both sides.
Last year one of the picks was a player you'd hope would fail, I'm dropping that this time round.
All 5 players will earn you batting, bowling and fielding points. All shown in the graphic above
In addition, points will be on offer for 'predicting' the following
Total Number of Catches in the match
Total Total Number of Runs scored in the match
The Biggest Runs Partnership made in the match
The Total Number of Extras in the match
The Number of Ducks (Golden Ducks will Count as 2)
The Opening Partnership Stand of the match
The Last Wicket Stand of the match
Your FIRST entry will be stored as a default and used in the event that you miss the deadline for any other games during the season. Players you will pick will be saved as their batting order number, and the players in those positions each game will be your picks, if the default is used. All the additional points above will be doubled for Test Matches. So if you pick Ben Duckett and he’s England’s opening batsman on game 1, your default will be saved as E1. If you pick India’s number 1, your default will be the opponent’s number 1
Head2Head League
To add a bit more interest, we will also all play in our own '100'/'Big Bash'/IPL type competition.
Just for 'Fun', you don't need to do anything extra. Your player Picks will determine how well you bat in the H2H, and your bowlers how well you bowl. And if they do better than your opponent, you'll win your H2H.
So 'Message Me' and come and join in. I just need you to say 'You're In', and confirm a team name you want to compete under. Go On, Message me now,
Game 1 is 22 January, a special day, and the deadline for your first Picks will be Midday on that Wednesday.
It might make the games more interesting, I can't promise that, but it might.
And hopefully, by the time we get to the end of it, on the 7th January 2026, along with Stokesy we will all be feeling like this again as we've crushed the Aussies Down-Under. ⚱️
Unless of course, you are an Aussie.
The Points and A Few Rules.....
Here's the small print for those interested enough to read it. You don't need to worry too much about all this, if you trust me. It will all be worked out in the background, but it's good to have it written down, as it reminds me of how it's meant to work
It's £25 to join in, and a percentage of the fees collected will be sent to The Ruth Strauss Foundation
The rest of the pot will be paid out to the eventual winner/runners up, and the splits will be confirmed once the final number of competitors is known.
Your Picks will need to be submitted before the deadline set for each match.
If they are not submitted before the deadline, the default picks will be used
If once a player you have selected is not in the team announced at the toss, you can make a change before a ball is bowled, or the default will be subbed in for you.
All players selected will score batting, bowling and fielding points as per the 'easy to understand' diagram I've included in the 'Blog' above.
The points on offer differ for each format, in an attempt to level the points on offer.
Additional points will be on offer every game for the following categories
For guessing the correct number of catches in a match 30 points are awarded. If not spot on you will get a percentage of the actual number of catches made, based on how close you are. If you guess 8, and there's 10 catches, you'll get 80% of 10, 8 points (What a meaningless example that was LOL)
There are 10% of the total runs scored in the match on offer as points in a Limited Overs game, 5% of the total runs scored in a Test Match. Get within 5% of the correct total and you'll get Maximum points. Outside that, 75% of the points are on offer, and you'll get points for how close you are.... 500 runs in an ODI would be worth 50 Points. If you've guessed 350, then you'll get 70% of 37.5 points, so 26.25 (better than nought which it was last year...)
The Biggest Runs Partnership, the Partnership for the First Wicket in the Match and the Last Wicket Stand in the Match, as well as the Extras, all follow the same calculation basis as 6(b) above, apart from it's the actual Runs recorded, not 10%, or 5% of them. If the Opening Partnership is 33 runs, the calculations are based on 33.
Ducks, and Golden Ducks. Get the number correct and it's worth 20 points. Not correct, then you'll get 15 points, adjusted by how far you're out. You guess 2, and there's 4, it's 50% of 15 points.
Put quite simply, the player with the most points at the end of the final test against the Aussies, in all of this, wins.
The Head2Head 'Fun Bash' will pit us all against each other in some format, to be finalised as it's still bouncing around in my head, but it's likely to 'pit' your batting attack against the opponents bowling attack, which will give you your 'net run score' for the H2H, against their batting attack reduced by your bowling attack.
10 points for a big win (30% or more), 5 points for (30% - 5%), 2 any closer.
5 for a draw
Most important rule is to enjoy it, and understand that what I say goes!!!
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