Minden hits the spot

The annual cricket game working bee is in full swing, but along the way I’ve had time to play around with some of the better cricket games in my collection. This end of year break has been punctuated with some Subbuteo with my pal PLG (ok, only half an hours play – it looks more beautiful than it plays!), Pavilion Cricket (some interesting ideas, esp. in the area of fielding), International Cricket (a bit of a dice roll fest, but always enjoyable) and my new favourite, Minden Playing Card Cricket.

Late last year I was lucky enough to get hold of the complete Minden game – Basic, Advanced, and a full set of Advanced Player Cards. The game plays out overs rather than individual balls but there is still some scope for hat-tricks, collapses, etc. This morning Jeff Thompson of the 1977 Aussies managed a hat trick against the Poms … he tore through their line up with only the late, great, Bob Woolmer showing any kind of resistance (with a tiny tail wag from Derek Underwood).

Once you get used to flipping cards with Minden rather than rolling dice, the game is  incredibly satisfying and as far as I can tell, accurate…and, dare I say it, it’s fun. I’ve enjoyed the sheer drama it can create, which is greater than any other game I’ve played.

And, you can burn through a full Test Match in just a few hours.

As always, I continue to find slow gaming – rolling dice, pushing pencil, adding stats – way more satisfying than booting up the computer and playing a computer game (although I must concede that Rockingham’s Cricket Coach is pretty good, as is Childish Thing’s International Cricket Captain).

Back to the deck.