International Cricket

International Cricket by Lambourne Games is the granddaddy of dice rolling cricket replay games. It’s been around since the 80s when computer games were a mere twinkle in the eye of the likes of Trip Hawkins and co, and today maintains a strong following with lots of new Player Cards, add-ons and a very active online forum.
International Cricket (or IC) is a game for both lovers of cricket and lovers of replay sports games in general. It captures almost every element of the complex and rich games of One Day and Test Cricket, excelling particularly in the longer form of the game.
Be warned, though!
IC requires a substantial investment in time and effort from those who play it. Test Matches can take 10+ hours of play time and lots of stamina because, if you manage to play the full five days, you’ll be rolling a handful of dice upwards of 4000 times per game. And, there’s a LOT of book keeping required.
If that sounds too daunting, stop reading now and go buy yourself a computer game like Cricket 2007 or International Cricket Captain.
If on the other hand, this sounds like gaming nirvana and you’ve got supple wrists and sharp pencils, then I recommend you keep reading.
Inside the envelope
When IC first arrives in your letterbox it’s something of a pleasant surprise. The envelop is big, it’s heavy and it’s full of good stuff in the form of rule books, tables, charts, Player Cards and a big handful of six sided (or normal) dice, referred to from this point on as d6.
In addition to the core game you can purchase a lot of different add-ons. My advice when starting out is to at the very least also purchase the optional World Wide Weather Charts. These add dramatically to the richness of the game, especially Test Matches.
Like all good replay games Player Cards are at the heart of IC.
Owzat, the publisher of the game, and designer Terry Goodchild go to great lengths to include all the Player Cards you might need in the basic set, and they are continually updated and supplemented with some excellent special editions. These include many of the All Time Great Test Teams of the past, the 2005 Ashes series and the famous 1946 Victory Tests, among others.
The Player Cards need to be cut out when you first get the game (a sharp knife and metal ruler are recommended). Each card captures the skill, personality and flair of each batsman, bowler and wicket keeper.
In addition to the batting and bowling ratings provided for each player, there are other ratings such as fielding skill, part-time bowling stats, Captaincy rating (Vaughan in the 2005 Ashes series is a 3, but in 2004 was only a 1), and whether the batsman is an opener or not.
Because the game uses both batsman and bowler cards to determine the result of a ball being bowled, instead of an initial dice roll to determine which card is read (as is the case in games like Strat-o-Matic) IC accurately represents the battle between bowlers and batsman of varying quality.
How the Player Cards work
The Player Cards have 11 numbered rows ranging from 2 – 12, which coincide with the result of 2d6. The quality of balls and shots are placed on each row next to the numbers and are placed depending on the % chance of the player bowling the ball or hitting the shot listed.
As every good gamer knows, you have a 2.78% chance of rolling a 2 or a 12 with 2d6, and a 16.67% chance of rolling a 7. Using this system enables IC to replicate the skill level of each player from the best to the worst.
As an example, in the 2004 card set (which I received when I first got my game), Shane Warne had a 38.89% chance of bowling a good length ball and a 25% chance of getting the ball to turn sharply. He had only a 25% chance of bowling a bad ball.
Compare this to pre-Ashes 2005 glory Simon Jones, who’s good to bad ball ratio was only 50% to 47.23%. This ratio changed dramatically after the Ashes in 2005.
Each bowler bowls a sub-set of the 12 possible ball types (Short, Good Length, Overpitched, Yorker, Bouncer, Swing, Lift, Movement Off Pitch, Well Flighted, Long Hop, Full Toss, Turn) depending on the type of bowler they are, and the skill of each can be represented by modifiers to these balls. This means that someone like Warne gets a high modifier for turn of -3, while 2004 Giles only got a -1.
Sounds about right!
Batsman have a similar system, although specific shots aren’t listed on their Player Card. Instead there is an odd collection of letters from A though to H, with three additional options – Big Hit and X or Z (the later two usually mean the batsman has fluffed the shot) and these correspond to shot played on the Batting Mode Charts (explained below).
The sequence of play
So the sequence of play is, roll two sets of 2d6, one set for the bowler and one for the batsman to generate the quality and type of ball bowled and the quality of the shot the batsman attempts. I say attempts, because as you will see the batsman is not always successful in playing a shot.
Once you’ve rolled the dice and read the Player Cards, you then refer to the Batting Mode Chart, a simple to read card which contains 12 small tables, each of which refers to the ball type bowled (i.e., there is a table for a short ball, one for a Yorker, one for good length, and so on).
There are a number of Batting Mode Charts, depending on the style of play the batsman is playing. These are Shutters Up, Defensive, Normal, Looking for Runs and Hitting Out.
While you will mostly bat on Normal, there are times when you will opt for the more aggressive or defensive cards. Using the aggressive Batting Mode Charts will result in increased runs, but a greater risk of getting out, while the more defensive charts have the opposite effect, fewer chances of being out, but a slower run rate.
Most outcomes of a ball bowled, such as whether the batsman is out or how many runs they score, are resolved on the Batting Mode Char. However, occasionally you will need to refer to one of the additional charts included with the game. These charts cover circumstances such as Byes, Leg Byes, Extras, Special Events, Edged Chance, Batsman Struck, Ball in Air, False Shot, Run Out and Appeal and Out Charts.
In addition, the quality of the ball bowled or shot played can be affected by other factors such as weather, the condition of the pitch, the age of the ball, and so on.
In fact almost all the minutia of cricket is contained in the elegant rule system and while it may sound complex it really is very simple and after a few overs it becomes second nature to roll the dice, check the charts and record the result.
What about fielding?
The philosophy of the game focuses on playability, minimal record keeping and simplicity. While this is a great strength, it leads to one of the great weaknesses of the game – the lack of detailed fielding.
Fielding in IC is abstract rather than detailed.
There is no board to set a field on, so you cannot nominate where specific players are fielding. Instead you can set a field in one of the three abstract modes – normal, aggressive or defensive.
The effect of these modes are triggered by certain dice combinations and can effect the quality of a ball or shot. If the field is set aggressively the chances of going out are marginally greater, but the batsman’s ability to get more runs in greatly increased. The reverse is true if the fielding in set defensively.
While each Player Card has a fielding rating for catching and throwing, all you can do with this is nominate at the start of the game as to whether a field is either close up or an outfielder. The system does allow you to nominate one player who is very good at fielding in each area as the key fielder, which increases their chances of being involved in catches or run outs.
That aside, the system of determining who fields a ball is random, and there is a strange anomaly of occasionally having the player who has just bowled a ball also taking a catch deep in the outfield. There are simple workarounds to this, but it all feels a bit “bolted on” and no where near as elegant as the rest of the rules.
So, fielding works, no question. But it is disappointing.
Field settings are one of the key elements of cricket, and one of the great joys of watching cricket is seeing how individual bowlers change the field to suit how they bowl, or how the batsman is batting. It’s a constant ebb and flow.
I can only image that the reason games like Strat-o-Matic manages to replicate fielding so well is because the game designer was working with a more or less predictable number of field settings.
Cricket is played on a 360 degree field with dozens of potential positions. Players move around constantly, depending on the state of the game, so it would be hellishly difficult to simulate this and keep the game from becoming too complex and/or tedious to play.
Having said that, if only Terry could work out how to do it …
:-)
Conclusion
IC does a superb job of balancing the complexity of cricket with the playability of a classic sports replay game. While there is a LOT of dice rolling, that is not a negative and pretty much what you should expect from a game that takes about a third of the time to play as a real Test Match.
Add to this the amazingly active community and the commitment to continuing to create new Player Card sets and you have a compelling and addictive game that you’ll play for years to come.
To buy a copy of the game and some optional extras like the Worldwide Weather Charts (highly recommended) go to http://www.owzatgames.com/.
For a very active forum about this game and others from Lambourne, go to the Home of British Sports Replay Gaming at http://forums.delphiforums.com/HOBSRG/
International Cricket by Lambourne Games is the granddaddy of dice rolling cricket replay games. It’s been around since the 80s when computer games were a mere twinkle in the eye of the likes of Trip Hawkins and co, and today maintains a strong following with lots of new Player Cards, add-ons and a very active online forum. International Cricket (or IC) is a game for both lovers of cricket and lovers of replay sports games in general. It captures almost every element of the complex and rich games of One Day and Test Cricket, excelling particularly in the longer form of the game. Be warned, though! IC requires a substantial investment in time and effort from those who play it. Test Matches can take 10+ hours of play time and lots of stamina because, if you manage to play the full five days, you’ll be rolling a handful of dice upwards of 4000 times per game. And, there’s a LOT of book keeping required. If that sounds too daunting, stop reading now and go buy yourself a computer game like Cricket 2007 or International Cricket Captain. If on the other hand, this sounds like gaming nirvana and you’ve got supple wrists and sharp pencils, then I recommend you keep reading. Inside the envelope When IC first arrives in your letterbox it’s something of a pleasant surprise. The envelop is big, it’s heavy and it’s full of good stuff in the form of rule books, tables, charts, Player Cards and a big handful of six sided (or normal) dice, referred to from this point on as d6. In addition to the core game you can purchase a lot of different add-ons. My advice when starting out is to at the very least also purchase the optional World Wide Weather Charts. These add dramatically to the richness of the game, especially Test Matches. Like all good replay games Player Cards are at the heart of IC. Owzat, the publisher of the game, and designer Terry Goodchild go to great lengths to include all the Player Cards you might need in the basic set, and they are continually updated and supplemented with some excellent special editions. These include many of the All Time Great Test Teams of the past, the 2005 Ashes series and the famous 1946 Victory Tests, among others. The Player Cards need to be cut out when you first get the game (a sharp knife and metal ruler are recommended). Each card captures the skill, personality and flair of each batsman, bowler and wicket keeper. In addition to the batting and bowling ratings provided for each player, there are other ratings such as fielding skill, part-time bowling stats, Captaincy rating (Vaughan in the 2005 Ashes series is a 3, but in 2004 was only a 1), and whether the batsman is an opener or not. Because the game uses both batsman and bowler cards to determine the result of a ball being bowled, instead of an initial dice roll to determine which card is read (as is the case in games like Strat-o-Matic) IC accurately represents the battle between bowlers and batsman of varying quality. How the Player Cards work The Player Cards have 11 numbered rows ranging from 2 – 12, which coincide with the result of 2d6. The quality of balls and shots are placed on each row next to the numbers and are placed depending on the % chance of the player bowling the ball or hitting the shot listed. As every good gamer knows, you have a 2.78% chance of rolling a 2 or a 12 with 2d6, and a 16.67% chance of rolling a 7. Using this system enables IC to replicate the skill level of each player from the best to the worst. As an example, in the 2004 card set (which I received when I first got my game), Shane Warne had a 38.89% chance of bowling a good length ball and a 25% chance of getting the ball to turn sharply. He had only a 25% chance of bowling a bad ball. Compare this to pre-Ashes 2005 glory Simon Jones, who’s good to bad ball ratio was only 50% to 47.23%. This ratio changed dramatically after the Ashes in 2005. Each bowler bowls a sub-set of the 12 possible ball types (Short, Good Length, Overpitched, Yorker, Bouncer, Swing, Lift, Movement Off Pitch, Well Flighted, Long Hop, Full Toss, Turn) depending on the type of bowler they are, and the skill of each can be represented by modifiers to these balls. This means that someone like Warne gets a high modifier for turn of -3, while 2004 Giles only got a -1. Sounds about right! Batsman have a similar system, although specific shots aren’t listed on their Player Card. Instead there is an odd collection of letters from A though to H, with three additional options – Big Hit and X or Z (the later two usually mean the batsman has fluffed the shot) and these correspond to shot played on the Batting Mode Charts (explained below). The sequence of play So the sequence of play is, roll two sets of 2d6, one set for the bowler and one for the batsman to generate the quality and type of ball bowled and the quality of the shot the batsman attempts. I say attempts, because as you will see the batsman is not always successful in playing a shot. Once you’ve rolled the dice and read the Player Cards, you then refer to the Batting Mode Chart, a simple to read card which contains 12 small tables, each of which refers to the ball type bowled (i.e., there is a table for a short ball, one for a Yorker, one for good length, and so on). There are a number of Batting Mode Charts, depending on the style of play the batsman is playing. These are Shutters Up, Defensive, Normal, Looking for Runs and Hitting Out. While you will mostly bat on Normal, there are times when you will opt for the more aggressive or defensive cards. Using the aggressive Batting Mode Charts will result in increased runs, but a greater risk of getting out, while the more defensive charts have the opposite effect, fewer chances of being out, but a slower run rate. Most outcomes of a ball bowled, such as whether the batsman is out or how many runs they score, are resolved on the Batting Mode Char. However, occasionally you will need to refer to one of the additional charts included with the game. These charts cover circumstances such as Byes, Leg Byes, Extras, Special Events, Edged Chance, Batsman Struck, Ball in Air, False Shot, Run Out and Appeal and Out Charts. In addition, the quality of the ball bowled or shot played can be affected by other factors such as weather, the condition of the pitch, the age of the ball, and so on. In fact almost all the minutia of cricket is contained in the elegant rule system and while it may sound complex it really is very simple and after a few overs it becomes second nature to roll the dice, check the charts and record the result. What about fielding? The philosophy of the game focuses on playability, minimal record keeping and simplicity. While this is a great strength, it leads to one of the great weaknesses of the game – the lack of detailed fielding. Fielding in IC is abstract rather than detailed. There is no board to set a field on, so you cannot nominate where specific players are fielding. Instead you can set a field in one of the three abstract modes – normal, aggressive or defensive. The effect of these modes are triggered by certain dice combinations and can effect the quality of a ball or shot. If the field is set aggressively the chances of going out are marginally greater, but the batsman’s ability to get more runs in greatly increased. The reverse is true if the fielding in set defensively. While each Player Card has a fielding rating for catching and throwing, all you can do with this is nominate at the start of the game as to whether a field is either close up or an outfielder. The system does allow you to nominate one player who is very good at fielding in each area as the key fielder, which increases their chances of being involved in catches or run outs. That aside, the system of determining who fields a ball is random, and there is a strange anomaly of occasionally having the player who has just bowled a ball also taking a catch deep in the outfield. There are simple workarounds to this, but it all feels a bit “bolted on” and no where near as elegant as the rest of the rules. So, fielding works, no question. But it is disappointing. Field settings are one of the key elements of cricket, and one of the great joys of watching cricket is seeing how individual bowlers change the field to suit how they bowl, or how the batsman is batting. It’s a constant ebb and flow. I can only image that the reason games like Strat-o-Matic manages to replicate fielding so well is because the game designer was working with a more or less predictable number of field settings. Cricket is played on a 360 degree field with dozens of potential positions. Players move around constantly, depending on the state of the game, so it would be hellishly difficult to simulate this and keep the game from becoming too complex and/or tedious to play. Having said that, if only Terry could work out how to do it … :-) Conclusion IC does a superb job of balancing the complexity of cricket with the playability of a classic sports replay game. While there is a LOT of dice rolling, that is not a negative and pretty much what you should expect from a game that takes about a third of the time to play as a real Test Match. Add to this the amazingly active community and the commitment to continuing to create new Player Card sets and you have a compelling and addictive game that you’ll play for years to come. To buy a copy of the game and some optional extras like the Worldwide Weather Charts (highly recommended) go to http://www.owzatgames.com/. For a very active forum about this game and others from Lambourne, go to the Home of British Sports Replay Gaming at http://forums.delphiforums.com/HOBSRG/