International Cricket Captain General Thread of Miscellany

[AndyZaltzHair]

Follow up

Nottinghamshire vs Durham
Started CC 2012 campaign with Nottinghamshire today. After winning against Worcestershire, the match against Durham was a bit of insane game. Declared at 386/7 after lunch in 2nd day. James Taylor hit a ton and more than useful contribution by Chris Read scoring 96 before getting plumb lbw off Ben Stokes.

Durham reached 329 before getting all out. Swann picked a five for with Broad and Adams taking 2 wickets each.

Rain interrupted and lost few overs in the progress. Came out to bat with full aggression mode the final day with intentions of declaring somewhere around lunch. Both Hales and Edwards scored 50 odd in quick succession with Taylor and Read providing handy 30 odd each. Declared at 183/2 at Lunch setting the target around 240 in hope that might be enough to defend if Durham comes out all aggressive and also two full session giving me a chance to take a shot.

Durham came out all guns blazing. After the openers reached 40 odd after 9 overs, brought Swann back. Immediately Swann provided the much needed break through sending M Di Venuto to the pavilion who was striking at over 80. But the charge was still on. J Myburgh and Stokes made a solid partnership in the middle scoring 47 and 48 respectively. However Broad cleaned up Stokes followed by a plumb lbw to Myburgh. Game on.

Around 40 needed from 10 overs with 5 wickets in hand for Durham. Phil Mustard and Blackwell were at the crease. Mustard was playing Swann really well so I had to take him off. Brought Adams back and they were comfortably rotating strikes. Just when I ran out of ideas and blaming myself for not batting atleast for half an hour after lunch, Adams provided the break through getting Blackwell. Few more overs where Mustard kept rotating strikes and Durham needed 10 runs from last two over. Brought Broad on and gone for 8 runs! I thought the game was pretty much over at that point. I reluctantly gave Swann the last over in hope. Durham needed 2 runs with 4 wickets in hand.

First ball to Borthwick, Out! c & b Swann

A very nervous Plunkett comes to bat, misses the second delivery, huge appeal for lbw the next one. Now 2 required from 3 balls. At this point field mode is in full aggression. Kind of blocks the next one, wraps into the pad the 5th delivery and misses the final ball. A huge miracle. I couldn't believe my eyes. Match Drawn.

 

[Viscount Tom]

Still playing in the 2030s on ICC2010

Been using the editor to ensure that international teams actually show up with a team.

 

[Dan]

Warwickshire vs Worcestershire, T20 Group Game

Warwickshire 188/3 (Gayle 104*, Trescothick 34) def. Worcestershire 86 (Woakes 6/16) by 102 runs.

Went in with a bowling attack of 3 regens, plus Woakes and Vettori. Didn't have to bowl the latter.

Did I mention Worcestershire are the second placed side on the table?

T20 - 15 games for 12 wins (first)
Pro40 - 5 for 5 (first)
CC - Running second with 5 wins from 8. Bloody Lancashire are 52 points ahead (we have 2 games in hand, mind), because they haven't caught the bad weather.


EDIT:

Quarter Final vs. Gloucestershire
Warwickshire 1/172 (Gayle 104*, Carberry 61) def. Gloucestershire 82 (Snell 28, Woakes 5-12, Hildreth 2-5) by 90 runs.

Giving Hildreth a trundle works, apparently.

 

[Dan]

County Championship vs. Notts

I win the toss and bat (Day 2 looking terrible to bat through), and despite Trescothick, Malan, Compton, Hildreth and Ambrose failing to pass 21, we posted 9dec./396. James Ord made 195, Joe Root 49 while Tim Murtagh and Chris Woakes chipped in with 30s.

That left Notts with a handful of overs to bat before Lunch on Day 2 - when the weather was set to hit. We pick up an early wicket before the break, but after it all hell breaks loose.

The sky is charcoal and the pitch offers something for seamers - yet Boyd Rankin still went at 6 an over. I continue Woakes with Murtagh, and they tear through the top order. Notts are bowled out by 30 mins into the final session, Woakes with the figures of 12 overs, 8 maidens, 5/8. 141 all out.

Then they fight a bit harder in the second dig, making 236 (Murtagh 5/74). Innings and 19 run win, and the 23 points put me 1 behind Lancashire - with 2 games in hand.



EDIT:

Just went on to the next day - Michael Carberry (on England duty) is out for 3 weeks as a result of injuries sustained opening the batting in the Ashes. This comes the Test after Jonathan Trott was put on the shelf for 3 weeks as a result of injuries sustained opening the batting in the Ashes. Both are out due to a 'fracture'.

And Phil Mustard, opening the batting in a CC game in the absence of Carberry (not in the Ashes; he's still too **** for that), is out for - you guessed it - 3 weeks with a fracture.

 

[Dan]

Resurrected by NZ save.

2nd Test vs. South Africa, they make a 130 run opening stand and are 2/200, before collapsing to 348ao, Trent Boult finally proving himself with 5/62.

We then make 6/605, tons to Williamson, Wells, Merchant and 50s to CdG and Franklin.

Despite having a 250 run lead, we somehow spontaneously lose the ability to take a wicket, as they rack up 6/510 (only thanks to Cam Merchant dismissing Smith when I was declaration-bowling, and a pre-declaration runout). That leaves us 250 odd to chase in 39 overs.

Decided to go for it, and we're 4/235 with time to spare, despite needing 110 in the last hour. Wells, Guptill and CdG smacking it all around the joint. We then lose 4/10, leaving us 6 runs short with 3 overs to go and 2 wickets in hand. Todd Astle plays out a maiden. In the end we get over the line with 4 balls to spare.

The South African left arm spinner (Regen) had the figures of 10 overs, 1 maiden 5/71.

 

[Cabinet96]

Just went on to the next day - Michael Carberry (on England duty) is out for 3 weeks as a result of injuries sustained opening the batting in the Ashes. This comes the Test after Jonathan Trott was put on the shelf for 3 weeks as a result of injuries sustained opening the batting in the Ashes. Both are out due to a 'fracture'.

And Phil Mustard, opening the batting in a CC game in the absence of Carberry (not in the Ashes; he's still too **** for that), is out for - you guessed it - 3 weeks with a fracture.

Haha, WOW.

 

[Cabinet96]

Batted 326.3 overs in the Shield final with NSW (I finished top and just needed to draw to win the tittle)

Only just went above 2 an over, and that was thanks to some really big teeing off in the last 20 overs, which meant I got bowled out probably 20 overs earlier than I would have otherwise.

I started my inning before Lunch on day 2, and got bowled out just before tea on day 5. Siddle bowled 85 overs, and McDonald bowled 84 overs.

 

[Dan]

Finished the 2014 season with wins in all 3 competitions again.

Contracts were ITSTL. Regen quick who is gun in T20 but pretty mediocre everywhere else wanted his salary doubled, so I told him to stick it. Released a few guys who weren't getting games and ended up with this squad:

Locals:
James Ord, Michael Carberry, Joe Root, Sam Robson, Nick Compton, James Hildreth, Dawid Malan, Tim Ambrose, Phil Mustard, Chris Woakes, Tim Murtagh, Liam Fletcher, Boyd Rankin, Robin Peterson (K), Jonathan Trott, Ian Bell, Adam Wheater.

Regens:
Gary Hislop (R), Mitch Taylor (R), Rob Mundy (R) Tim Corbett (R), Rob Downes (R).

Overseas:
Shakib Al Hasan, Imran Khan (Res.), Obus Pienaar (t20), Chris Rogers (t20).

Unexpected h4x players: Malan, Khan, Pienaar, Fletcher, Ord.

 

[Noble One]

Played through a couple of seasons in my ICC2005 Australia save.

The date is 28 April 2031. Australia recently beat India in the World Cup final.

Test Championship

India
Australia
Pakistan
West Indies
Sri Lanka
England
Bangladesh
New Zealand
South Africa
Zimbabwe

ODI Championship

India
Pakistan
Australia
West Indies
Sri Lanka
Bangladesh
England
South Africa
New Zealand
Zimbabwe

Key squad members (Test only)

1. Popplewell: 188M - 19,932 runs @ 67.80
2. Westlake: 95M - 8,532 runs @ 60.08
3. Ripley: 57M - 6,067 runs @ 68.94
4. Herceg: 40M - 3,160 runs @ 58.52
5. Winters: 41M - 3,882 runs @ 57.09
6. Forrest: 100M - 9,051 runs @ 63.74
7. Neate: 10M - 265 runs @ 24.09 - WK
8. Fry - 138M - 3,352 runs @ 23.44 - 900 wickets @ 28.68
9. Quentin - 48M - 854 runs @ 16.42 - 205 wickets @ 28.82
10. Beresford - 34M - 412 runs @ 15.85 - 122 wickets @ 34.75
11. Hull - 8M - 144 runs @ 14.50 - 21 wickets @ 39.76

Squad members

Birtles: 47M - 3,149 runs @ 56.23
Law: 25M - 2,092 runs @ 52.27
Harrison: 10M - 512 runs @ 39.38
Morris: 30M - 93 wickets @ 32.99
Jacklin: 29M - 92 wickets @ 34.92

Team has struggled since the retirement of several key players.

The batting is fine with 18 players with first class averages above 50.

No all-rounder is destroying my ODI record. No batsmen can bowl 10 overs. *No bowlers are reliable at number seven. The best all-rounder at domestic levels averages mid 20's with the bat and high 40's with the ball. Awaiting a regen.

Wicketkeeping an issue. Several choices average mid 30's in domestic - however all have failed at international level. Neate is only 22 and has the best record.

Bowling remains the big issue. Fry and Quentin do the job; however it's a constant recycling process through the remaining bowlers.

Four or five seasons ago the team had a perfect record being the series holder against all Test nations. Big rebuilding job ahead.

 

[ohnoitsyou]

Just played through a few more games on my ICC 2012 New Zealand save (2015 season)
Ranked 3rd in Test. 5 in ODI and T20
In the batsmen rankings for tests, 1-Kane-Williamson(avg 45),2-Ross Taylor(51),3-Jesse Ryder(41), 5-Dean Brownlie(51),6-Martin Guptill(40), 9- Brendon McCullum(38). Also have a wicket keeper regen averaging 150 after 8 matches!
BJ Watling was recently dropped, after averaging 37 with 5 hundreds after 40 matches.
In ODI's 1-Brendon McCullum, 3-Kane Williamson,6 Martin Guptill
In T20s 1-Kane Williamson, 6-Martin Guptill, 7-Ross Taylor. I just tried williamson for the first time in T20, he is averaging 99 with a SR of 140 after 10 matches batting at 3! and to think i had never considered batting him in this format before.

The bowlers are not dominating the rankings (no bowlers in top 10 for any format) but consistently bowl very well, defending modest totals of 225 and bowl out top batting units such as South Africa for under 300-350. Matt Henry is a beast in ODIs for me, rubbish economy but has taken 17 5-fors in 25 games.
In tests Daniel Vettori, Doug Bracewell, Small, Henry and a couple of regens average under 30, with Boult and Wagner averaging mid 30s (although the computer keeps wanting me to select them), making it very hard to pick a pace quartet.

The team is far from perfect, for starters apart from the aging Dan the Man who has won many a match for me i lack a spinner. Furthermore while there are a couple of decent spinnners at first class, there is not a single allrounder spinner (discounting Woodcock who sucks and is old) While i have managed adequately without a spinner in the past, the teams are balancing out really nicely with over powered regens appearing everywhere and players like Lyon and Finn turning into beasts (Finn took 8 wickets one T20 match!). What makes it even worse is every second home pitch seems to favor spin.
I also suffer from the age old problem, to many middle order batsmen, not enough top order or decent all rounders. Munro, Broom and a regen are handy, but are not good enough to be selected above someone else, so remain in training for LO's where they are adequate but bowl to many lose deliveries

 

[LongHopCassidy]

I find it dehumanising to call my home grown and nurtured players 'regens', like they're some common replicant from Blade Runner. I've thrown in two seasons of you learning front foot onside technique, now go and do Northants proud Fred Manglebury.

 

[Dan]

I find it dehumanising to call my home grown and nurtured players 'regens', like they're some common replicant from Blade Runner. I've thrown in two seasons of you learning front foot onside technique, now go and do Northants proud Fred Manglebury.

I'm ridiculously attached to a few of them. Sam Aimson, the left-arm pace bowling all-rounder for New Zealand is one that I occasionally forget isn't real. Averages 45 with the bat in Tests and 19 in ODIs with the ball.

 

[Crazy Sam]

I started up my Australia game for the first time in about 8 months today. Won the 2059 World Cup in England (Zimbabwe somehow finished top of their table, though lost the other semi final).

South Africa is touring and I just managed to bowl them out for 45 within the first session on the first day of the 3rd test. Their highest partnership was 13 for the last wicket...

 

[Dan]

Luke Fletcher's return in the first T20 of the season:

3-0-7-7

My legspinner took the last 3 in an over to ruin his chances of all 10. NRR at +4.88 after that.

 

[Somerset]

I started up my Australia game for the first time in about 8 months today. Won the 2059 World Cup in England (Zimbabwe somehow finished top of their table, though lost the other semi final).

South Africa is touring and I just managed to bowl them out for 45 within the first session on the first day of the 3rd test. Their highest partnership was 13 for the last wicket...

Reassuring to know that in just under 50 years' time, the side that bowled us out for 45 will have a similar fate inflicted.

 

[Dan]

Started a NZ save on ICC 2012. My initial selection for the West Indies T20 series paid off; Matt Henry had a gun start to his career, ending his first 3 ODI games with 7 wickets @ 7 apiece or something equally ridiculous. Hamish Rutherford also doing a good job, alongside Mitch M and Hamish Bennett.

Now to see whether some of those guys can transfer it across to the red ball format.

Picked the following squad (first XI playing the tour match)
Rutherford, Raval, Ryder, Brownlie, Watling, CdG, Vettori, Wagner, Henry, Boult, Mitch M, McCullum, Taylor, Williamson, de Boorder, Bracewell, Astle, Guptill.

Rested the certain starters from this match; 3 way opening shootout to partner Guptill and I want to see what the quicks can do. Southee shunting it in the ODIs getting him dropped.

 

[Dan]

First Test was nuts.

I did a Nasser Hussain and sent the West Indies in on a pretty placid deck, banking on the afternoon conditions to help my bowlers out. Unfortunately we got hit by a Gayle (coming off the back of consecutive ODI tons returning from injury) and they seized the initiative early on. When that blew over, Chanderpaul came in and dominated. Barath stuck with him, and despite a trio of quick wickets we couldn't tear through them. Brendon Nash made a 50, and Wagner cleaned up the tail to bowl them out for 351. Chanderpaul the last out for 149.

Our first innings started with a rather brisk opening stand, Guptill looking very much at home. Rutherford got a start then got out, and that somewhat set the tone for the innings. Every specialist batsman made double figures, but only Guptill passed 60. Bowled out for 331, Guptill 87, Taylor 55, Watling 56.

Boult struck in the first over to get rid of Gayle, but that was the only bright spark of the second innings. Chanderpaul made 155, Barath another ground out innings of ~50 and Bravo, having failed in the first dig, made a circumspect 60 to have the West Indies firmly in control at 3/300. But then they collapsed, Boult, Wagner, Henry and Williamson all taking vital wickets to limit them to 370, with Boult ending up with 5/94.

That set us 391 to win in a day and a bit. We ended Day 4 at 0/30 odd, a decent position.

The openers put on 89 before Rutherford was out for 45, and while Williamson once again didn't convert a start, he forged a successful partnership with Guptill that kept us right in the mix. When he fell, Taylor went to work with the opener, but they both fell with the score at 233. Guptill made 120.

That brought Jesse Ryder and BJ Watling to the crease, and the former, despite being short of form, blasted the attack around the ground for 55 off 60 right when the run-rate needed to be upped. But the target was still 60 runs off about 9 overs, and the ball was pretty new. Cue captaincy mistake - bowling Brendon Nash. He went for 21 off 2, and when Kemar Roach came back it was too late. Watling ended up on 68* (100) and McCullum 30 (29) to take us to victory 5 down with an over to spare.

 

[Dan]

Well that was an interesting T20. Just bowled Derbyshire out for 23, having been 8/11 at one stage.

My regen opening bowler who is rubbish at FC cricket but gun in the shorter formats took 6/11 off 3.3

My other opener, a West Indian regen with 251 T20 wickets @ 8.81 apiece, took 3/12.

 

[Cabinet96]

Today I found out Boult and Southee aren't as good on ICC 2012 as they are in real life.

 

[Prince EWS]

But the target was still 60 runs off about 9 overs, and the ball was pretty new. Cue captaincy mistake - bowling Brendon Nash.

Test match. New ball. Opposition 5 down, needing 60 off 9 overs.
Bring on Nash, of course.