ataraXIa season review
I came in to the game a third of the way through the season, to a horrible SOD record in the league and terrific Dev record.
In the SOD, I finished 5th. There's heavy competition among the human teams in that, while in the T20 (4th) I reckon I'm a chance next season with less competition. In the Dev (2nd) I'm also a chance next season.
I've got three big prospects, and a number of half-prospects. Finances are healthy. I have 5 senior players and 12 Devvies.
Player profiles
There have been exactly 100 matches for the club.

Statistics are inevitably outdated. They don’t include the tutorial friendlies.
Afzal Mohiuddin is a 19yo seamer. He has just 24/41 skill/potential so is close to the chop. However, he’s served the club well, with 50 wickets from 41 games at 16.92. 18 batting skill is there but his HS is just 13. A good fielder and useful reserve wicketkeeper.
16yo
Andrew Mimms, with a batting average of 60 and a bowling average of 9, only played two games for the club, being an egregious no-rounder. His 60* (72) at #8 did save me a Dev game from a bot, though.
Ant Mitchell was a moderate scout, a high skill low pot PaBr left-arm seamer. 28/38. A good captain, fielder, and moderate batsman, he managed 48 wickets from 35 games albeit costly, at 22.48. I decided to cut him recently; he fetched a bid second time on the TM.
Austin Hyde, 30yo previous SA Nat spinner, was perhaps an unwise bid on the TM. Despite his 37 skill, he wasn’t actually that successful for the club. 50 wickets from 34 games at 22.08. Much of that comes from playing tough games. With the bat he got 247 runs at 15.44. He sold for a profit, only to be converted to a coach.
Bobby Shaffrey has been great as my captain/keeper. 34/9 skill as a bat/keeper isn’t amazing but is sufficient. I got him when he was still Dev, but being Precocious he hasn’t a long future. He has the most runs out of any AXI player at the time of writing, 1946 at 38.16. His 113 (80) was briefly my highest score. He has thrice as many fielding dismissals as any other AXI player, 101 in 60 games. Sadly, he always seems to get run out.
Christopher Serter was the joint-best skill (26) bowler of my original squad. Being 23 and 33 pot didn’t help though, and once Ant Mitchell was pulled Serter was dispensed with. 14 wickets in 15 games at 30.
Courtney Brockman, 20, has been pretty meh as a specialist batsman. He just doesn’t really have a space in my lineup and isn’t prolific. With just 400 runs from 47 games at 11.11, I think he’s next off the cab to be removed from my side. 25/41 isn’t bad though. That is, if I ever get another good batsman…
Craig Aylmer served my side well as a senior batter. He hasn’t been quite as integral to my side as Shaffrey or Clift have been, but very helpful. 51 matches, 1622 runs at 40.55. He was replaced by a better player when he turned 30 just recently. He’s now a solid batting coach, just what I wanted. At one stage he had the three best AXI scores: 105, 101, and 99.
Ernie Mitchell played 2 matches, without a run or a wicket to his name. Was rather pointless but cheap Dev filler for a long while. Good captain.
Firoz Madan, 25, was my third seamer in the tutorial friendlies. He appeared in one more match before being cut.
Ghous Saadi, 16, has been a prolific club run scorer at the top of the order, with 1335 runs from 51 matches at 27.81. However, he has fairly low potential and not a long career ahead of him.
Isaac Loring is a prolific Dev wicket-taker, somehow. He’s a 21 skill, 40 pot 18yo late bloomer. I’m still not sure if he’s really a prospect, I’m kind of waiting for a good spinner on the TM or scouted. In 23 games he has 40 wickets at 19.45, albeit at over a run a ball.
Jackson Evans was my original wicketkeeper, but utterly meh.
Jan du Preez has come into my side as a senior batsman to replace Craig Aylmer, and in just his second match smacked 116, my second highest score. Should be an awesome performer for the club.
Jasper Davey is 23 and 38-skilled + trait seamer. Also being a 25-skilled batsman and relatively cheap, he’s a pretty awesome player to have in my side. In 7 games thus far, he has hit runs at 28.50 and 17 wickets at 9.71.
Leftie
John Weller was an okay middle-order bat and part-time keeper. But 24 and 30 pot.
Josh Sturgess was the best spinner of my original squad. Decent pot at 42 but 22yo. 9 wickets in 6 games at 25.78.
Juan Goliath has been a gun senior player for aXIa. 34 skilled LFS and great fielder. From 54 games he has a remarkable record with ball: 105 wickets at 15.75. The 24yo has underperformed with the bat for the club.
Ken Brindley briefly had a spot in my side, as a senior #6 bat. I soon realised that was an unwise choice and sold him off again, second try. His final innings for the club was a smacker: 57 (30).
Kurt Murdoch was given to me in my starting squad. The 19-year-old, whilst with only 41 bat potential, is likely to stay in my side for a fair while. This is partly due to him being a good future #6, partly because he’s one of the rare few good fielders in the club. Despite a bad start to his career, he has 1869 runs at 29.67, alongside 22 wickets at 15 as a rarely-used-anymore hax death bowler. He has considerably more outfield dismissals than any other of my players. His most notable innings was 100* (58) in a T20 game, albeit a bot bash. A favourite of mine, alongside Frost and Ludlow.
Liam Kotze, just 17, is a good all-round prospect as a late-innings bowler and batter. He’s not yet a serviceable batsman, but with the ball he’s pretty good. 69 wickets in 48 matches at 15.54. Sadly a bad fieldsman.
Mitchell Armstrong was somehow a hax 19/20yo 24 or 25 skill out of 32 pot #7 bat. He just so often delivered the perfect innings for the match situation. So he played 60 games, with 650 runs at 17.11, and only one fifty. He was quite bad in SOD matches though. Also a hax RFS and reserve captain.
Nicky Clift, 22, has been my best batsman. He has 2179 club runs at 42.73, scoring at a good a strike rate as well. He also has the club high score, 131 (99) in a bot bash. 15 wickets came from his mediums in 65 matches.
Pete Tennison was a high-potential seamer and good fielder… but 32 years of age.
Rhys Hurst was a Dev filler MOB, who played without success on occasion.
Now we come to the first of three big club prospects.
Richard Simmonds is a 44 pot bat. Not bad in the slightest for a scout, but his lack of fielding is a shame. A top-order bat of the future, he also has a bit of bowling in slow low-pot wrist-spin. Not a bad captain either, good stamina as well.
Rusty Frost is a favourite of mine, a decent all-rounder in my original squad. The Opener trait and 16 pot attack combined will be interesting. He’s quite the wicket-taker as well. In 88 matches the 17yo has 1637 runs at 20.21, including 10 fifties with a high of 66. He also has 110 wickets at 19.03 and bowls at a decent pace. I like him.
Shawn Dee is an 18yo starting squad batsman with 41 pot slightly skewed towards defence and shot selection. In 74 matches he has 1313 runs at 20.20. Not a bad player.
Shingirai Ndaba is an RFS off the TM. The hope with his is that 41 pot movement and the new ball spinner trait combine spectacularly. The 16yo generally has good potential, needs significant training however. He started off badly, but his record has gotten better: 43 wickets, 1WPM, at 32.84.
Steve Ludlow will be a legend for the club: 45 pot bowl, very quick, economical, good fielder, aggressive hax bat, plus late bloomer compensates for him being given to me at the age of 20. He has the most club wickets with 112 from 78 games at 20.29. With the bat he has twice hacked his way above 30.
Well, he must be one of the worst Dev keepers around, with Madani, Chung, Mthabela, and Mthombeni. But
Zac Chambers’ 41 pot bat skewed towards attack and 17 pot keep isn’t bad is it? He was scouted at a time where I desperately needed a Dev keeper. 10 captaincy great. One thing that is bad about him is he was given to me with horrible starting skills such that the game called him a bowler. 37 pot bowl not bad, lol.
All four of my main senior batsmen have been lefties, lol.
Will post about S28/CWC3 soon...