Stumped!

[cnerd123]

ftr just on this, that isn't horrible IMO – especially given he's a strike rotator. A better option than bowling 3–4 BQ for 10 overs, but of course I'd say that. Daly is very very similar as a batter IIRC (finisher instead of strike rotator), he bats #8, and we're at the top of SOD 1.1

He's alright yea, but the top sides in EurAfrica have some legit all-rounders all the way down at 8.

 

[ataraxia]

Yeah on reflection #batdeep is very important when chasing in SOD. The Velociraptors have an #8 at #11, and used to have a Nat-level slogger at #8 ffs, and are obvs the best Stumped team ever. I should seriously consider batting first tbh, or getting a proper #8. But the point is that lacking in #batdeep isn't the worst thing in the world.

The whole importance of all-rounder thing has made me reconsider my plans for a future gud side – which currently involve three bad #9s from #8, and two part-timers. It kinda seems a bad strategy for this game, I guess I'll see how it plays.

 

[cnerd123]

It has cost me a few chases. I used to have Arif Jalal at 8 and he was so good. Attack skewed, good SS and obv very experienced.

 

[Charlie B]

I think I've just built a bad outfit. EurAfrica is cut throat. My side is more seam-heavy, but we get outplayed by other teams who prefer similar conditions, and then we also go and struggle on spinning wickets because all we have is Tim Chester.

Having said that, we've also lost 1 and tied 1 SOD league game this season that we really should have won, just ****ed up from winning positions. So luck is not going our way.

The Moooo game wasn't the first time this season we failed to defend a reasonable score against relatively weaker batting. It's happened to us in the SOD too. Danial Ahsan is a step down from Arif Jalal as a captain, so that's an issue, and we only have Ghani (13) and Chester (15) in the starting XI who have accuracies above 12! So I suspect we are not building enough pressure to defend scores. In fact 3/5 of my most accurate bowlers atm are in the Dev team lol. Rockall and Ashraf are two of those and have actually gone okay when I give them chances at senior cricket.

Also apart from Shahbaz, none of my batters have good stamina. So we're not getting anyone scoring tons. Heshan has 13 stam but is 29 year old keeper-bat. I can't put him in the Top 3 cuz it will wreck his fitness. This means lots of batters getting set and getting out.

We also do not bat deep. When I try to pick 3 bowlers + Ghani at 8, we bat deep, but then I need 10 overs of Ahsan and Younis which has not worked, especially defending scores. When I pick 4 bowlers then Ghani gets nosebleeds at 7 and our tail gets skittled - Bashir at 8 is a 27 skill batter, 8-10-9. Just not good enough.

Our experience levels as a team are kinda meh. 3 guys with 20 exp, Danial Ahsan with 19, Sampath 16, Samra 15, rest 13 or lower. I've got 7 guys who are between 21 and 24, and then Samra is 25. So in theory this group should get better with time. But the balance is all out of whack, and the skill distributions are not great.

It's tough to fix all this in incremental ways. I'm very tempted to just start selling off the pieces, build a bank balance, and look to invest in building a new better team. But with the way the TM is I feel that's not a wise move either! So all I can do is try to get the best out of this unit, hopefully save some money and avoid relegation, hope for some good YPs and keep an eye out on the TM for role players.

My Dev XI looks better, but are too raw. I've got a 13-19-12 opener with 19 stam, so he'll be great when he's ready, a 15-20-7 seamer with 20 stam who can plug up an end with the new ball, also has 12-3-17 slogging ability and 16 fielding. Naeem and Rockall, as mentioned, are high Acc bowlers who can already step up to senior cricket. So hopefully the future is a bit brighter. Just about survival now.

FHK are thriving tho. 2nd in SOD Div 2, 1st in T20 Div 1. Avoiding relegation in Dev so far. Will be a shame when this golden generation ages out.


EDIT: Wrote this rant before checking yesterday's result and seeing that we successfully chased down 345 with tons for Raun and Heshan

Points are still valid IMO

I enjoyed your rant! I'm sure you know that is not because i wish you any ill will: what i enjoyed was the eloquence of it, listening to some issues that i also have or not but can imagine and wonder about, and just that someone who is good at the game as you can still be fuming, head scratching and have such passion after playing the game so long - fills me with hope that i will still enjoy the game in a few years time! its all peaks and troughs in the end a microcosm of life

 

[SillyCowCorner1]

FHK killing Murad CC in R4 of the STUMPED CUP!

Tony Chung in his nervous 90s

 

[JOJOXI]

With Stumped back up nice for Laxman Yavatkar to get a hundred for Charminster in CWC7 earlier today. Yes The Merry Orangutans may have racked up 406/6 and yes they may have won by 198 runs but those are minor details! Rumour has it plans are in place to name one of the stands at Charminster after Laxman Yavatkar.


Early days but the TMOs and Jura CC looking well placed for a top 6 spot at a minimum. Would imagine 3 more wins would probably do it for both of them although they'll certainly have plans for a top 2 spot!

 

[Jarquis]

PPs flogged in the cup, sad.

 

[cnerd123]

FHK curbstomped ZCC in CWC7 yesterday, and Tony Chung absolutely wrecked his PFL in the Cup today. Really wasn't meaning to play my default XI!

 

[Charlie B]

I saw you drumming up support for the CWC on the stumped site Zo.r.ax - it will of course be good to have new blood here .... though I hope (maybe selfishly?) that it won't just be all the Top 10 team managers who play and win everything on Stumped already- I like the voyage of discovery in our little group with everyone having different angles and knowledge and ways they like to post or not - that might be unblanced by someone who has seen it done it and knows it - but i totally get we need to open the door wide

 

[cnerd123]

Ideally I get more CW members signing up for Stumped and not vice versa!!

 

[StephenZA]

Wish them all the best…after our CUP game in two days

Unfortunately for Mooo, TMOs came out to play today. Good first innings total gave Mooo a tough chase. Commiserations @SillyCowCorner1.

 

[ataraxia]

Lost T20, lost SOD, lost Cup, amidst an ongoing 8-loss streak, and AXI are back down from #11 to #25. Ah well, quite deserved for our luck to end because we're not top-class by any stretch! Still well set for next season – should be up in 1.1 * 3, which'll be cool (not for IGT though!)

 

[Charlie B]

Despite my normal OTT advertising could not even get a bid of $1k for Zondi - but 2nd time around he is on 32k and counting so i am glad i didnt just flog him between teams straight away and retire him , the TM can be very variable- guess that comes of our small pool of managers

 

[Charlie B]

Lost T20, lost SOD, lost Cup, amidst an ongoing 8-loss streak, and AXI are back down from #11 to #25. Ah well, quite deserved for our luck to end because we're not top-class by any stretch! Still well set for next season – should be up in 1.1 * 3, which'll be cool (not for IGT though!)

You reached 11 and the WR points are a curious ,mystery in how they r added and taken away - you will be back there soon in that Top 10!

 

[StephenZA]

https://www.stumpedgame.com/player.php?Player=237547

This man going for $1M is actually ridiculous... yes nice high actually skill numbers and still some potential. But a closer look at the record and you see he has never scored a 100 in SOD and only 1 in Dev... which is likely directly attributable to the very low stamina. Combined with low fielding and you realize you are paying $1M for a medium'ish decent player. Feels more like a $600K-$800K player max. Just an indication how nuts the TM feels at the moment. At least to me.

 

[Charlie B]

https://www.stumpedgame.com/player.php?Player=237547

This man going for $1M is actually ridiculous... yes nice high actually skill numbers and still some potential. But a closer look at the record and you see he has never scored a 100 in SOD and only 1 in Dev... which is likely directly attributable to the very low stamina. Combined with low fielding and you realize you are paying $1M for a medium'ish decent player. Feels more like a $600K-$800K player max. Just an indication how nuts the TM feels at the moment. At least to me.

I agree with you Stephen - with poor stamina he is not going to be lasting more than 80 ballss before the runs dry up and he becomes a liability when you wish to accelerate. Then of course he will struggle to recover if you need him for a 2nd match in the week.

Good defence but I'm with Zo.rax in regards SS being king and Attack being more flexible in its use than Defence. Add to that this guy has no characteristic (opener obv. would have been ideal) to match with his defence and is actually aggressive - add then his lowly fielding and you have a player that I wouldn't waste my hard earned cash on

Against that Dileep the bidding manager is 24 in the World and been around a decade , so he must know something (or has $20 million in the bank)

 

[Charlie B]

Just writing this before Free HK beat me in our DEV match !! (btw we both has a fairly grim 39k XPV so it looks like zo.rax is doing the same as where i am - see below!)

Jura have had a lot of success in DEV and got to Div 1 very early in our Stumped life. This was because we started our life with a bunch of 16 year olds and basically they were a rubbish senior side but with so much coaching and IGT slowly became a better and better Youth side. Now Jura CEV is crumbling as those youths are turning over and becoming 22 (and will in most cases make the cut and become decent senior squad players) - this means below them is a Youth factory which basically has a much better (but bit boring!) sustainable balance 2 x 16, 17, 18 , 19 , 20 and 21 - this is very good if you wish to play Stumped for years and bring decent players into your seniors but means your DEV side will always just be average if your focus is on IGT of your terrible 16 and 17 year olds (in terms of their ACTUALS) even though you are tempted sometimes not to play them and get a win!

I think you could win DEV pretty easily or at least stya in Div 1 permanently by buying up (relatively cheaply a load of 20 and 21 year olds who wont cut it at senior level but will do an amazing job at DEV level for 14 weeks) - if though (like me) you are 'greenhouse growing' your youth squad on a ''steady Eddie'', 2 or 3 of the same age for each year, then you could never compete against such a strategy. So i think it is probably likely Jura and Geese will settle down into a mid table mediocrity in DEV Div 2 (I probably won't be able to stomach being relegated to Div 3 and would have to intervene then) but otherwise the conveyor belt to Youth will mean we can never be that Golden Team that we had for a season or two of amazing 21 and 20 year olds at Jura!

DEV then to me does not reflect the greatness of a manager- that is their performance in OD and T20. I guess you can do the same trick to a degree in Senior Cricket (The Wild Geese , or as they were appropriately called at first - ''The Buy Ins'' 'has early senior success by buying cheap actual bats and bowlers with experience of 34 - 36 actual, for probably all in about $100k for a full XI). We got the initial boost to our Div 4 and 3 performance but then found we had no youth growing to replace them and that they weren't good enough or young enough to promote us (or even allow survival) in Div 2

I think that in general if you would bide your time for 10 Stumped years you could build up a big war chest and then just blow it like a stink bomb in one glorious season or two and challenge for the very top- Someone who is running a team for the year on year would never compete against a manager who wanted to blaze off in glory for a season or two and therefore spend $10 million on buy ins and wages that they could not sustain afterwards - I wouldn't want to do that now - but maybe it becomes a temptation after you play a long time and reach the glass ceiling of the sustainable route

Just some rambling thoughts on Stumped!

 

[cnerd123]

I find finances very hard to accrue, unlike Battrick. A competitive 3 format Div 2 side will usually just break even between wages and sponsorship/gate revenue. Slight profit perhaps.

That's where you need to be really smart in building value-for-money sides. Players with high value at low wages. They're tough to find tho.

A small 16 to 18 player squad helps, but then you're risking season-ruining injuries or PFL hits, while also having to field a lot of Dev players in all your senior games. Gets tough.

I always like 22 players until I'm eliminated from the cup, at which point I go down to around 20 players, which means 2 Dev players in every XI. But maybe I need to back my youngsters more (with ZCC specifically) and hope we do enough to stay up while churning a profit.

The 1 up 3 down system is so brutal.

 

[StephenZA]

Stating the obvious, but this is a finance management game more than anything else... I`ve definitely made a better job of it with TNT (for now!) than I did with the TMOs. But you need some luck with your scouting to actually get anywhere decent long term. Particularly as a new manager. Managers that have been going awhile and have managed to get a bank together are definitely in the better position. Also the difference between the different regions is quite stark at times.

TMOs have less money and are struggling more than I feel they should, but I`ve also had a bit of bad luck in game. TNT as a still developing team have accrued decent monies at this stage and I`ve been much more judicious in what and when I`ve bought. They are likely to surpass TMOs in a year or so. I think 21/22 players for a fully developed squad is about correct and you need at least 2 if not 3 dev players capable of playing first team. Although that also hurts a bit because experience is such a strong important skill within stumped (to strong imo), quite often overriding actually basic skill abilities. (Ncanana taught me this lesson)

I have seen some decent bargains in the past. Not so much right now, it does feel like everything on the TM has got silly expensive, which I did not observe when I first started 18+ months ago. I keep hoping it will quiet down, but has not yet. I have thought about strategies to try make more monies but still testing, and its all long term ideas. Think it may help manage finances better. We shall see. What scares me the most is that there has not been many great players on the TM and they go for $8M+... and high quality players are not les than $2.5M. Few teams can compete for those monies and it feels frequently like that money just gets passed around the top teams at the moment, and does not seem to go down to the lower ranked teams.

/rambling thoughts!

 

[Charlie B]

Stating the obvious, but this is a finance management game more than anything else... I`ve definitely made a better job of it with TNT (for now!) than I did with the TMOs. But you need some luck with your scouting to actually get anywhere decent long term. Particularly as a new manager. Managers that have been going awhile and have managed to get a bank together are definitely in the better position. Also the difference between the different regions is quite stark at times.

TMOs have less money and are struggling more than I feel they should, but I`ve also had a bit of bad luck in game. TNT as a still developing team have accrued decent monies at this stage and I`ve been much more judicious in what and when I`ve bought. They are likely to surpass TMOs in a year or so. I think 21/22 players for a fully developed squad is about correct and you need at least 2 if not 3 dev players capable of playing first team. Although that also hurts a bit because experience is such a strong important skill within stumped (to strong imo), quite often overriding actually basic skill abilities. (Ncanana taught me this lesson)

I have seen some decent bargains in the past. Not so much right now, it does feel like everything on the TM has got silly expensive, which I did not observe when I first started 18+ months ago. I keep hoping it will quiet down, but has not yet. I have thought about strategies to try make more monies but still testing, and its all long term ideas. Think it may help manage finances better. We shall see. What scares me the most is that there has not been many great players on the TM and they go for $8M+... and high quality players are not les than $2.5M. Few teams can compete for those monies and it feels frequently like that money just gets passed around the top teams at the moment, and does not seem to go down to the lower ranked teams.

/rambling thoughts!

I was nodding to 90% of your 'relevant' rambles!