Cricket Captain 2020

New game, same old problems I've found the same problems in CC2020 as in previous versions. Changes to bowling do nothing, around the wicket, over the wicket, short, full or yorkers, teams with 5 star ratings inexplicably collapse all out for 113 against 4 star opposition, playing defensively does nothing apart from reducing scoring rates, players who are supposedly some of the best in the world get out when batting defensively and yet when the AI bats in the same condition they score double hundreds as non of the bowling changes work. I can understand if the teams were mismatched say one team was 3 star playing a 5 star team but when both teams are 5 stars and yet only the player controlled bowlers are useless and the batsmen throw their wickets away despite playing defensively.  I hesitated in buying 2020 but reading some glowing reviews I took the plunge. I've played it for 7 hours and I'm already done with it. Until we have more advanced controls or some indicators why my bowlers are doing nothing and yet the opposition bowlers rip my batting line up to shreds even though the teams are supposedly evenly matched I'm done with it.

Exactly the same as 19, don't waste your time or money on this garbage. No changes to match engine or animations, the game feels slow and lethargic, not even updated the grounds like Headingley, absolute joke and they have the audacity to charge people for this absolute garbage game. Even on very easy the game feels impossible to play realistically, players like Smith, Azam, Stokes and Kholi feel absolutely rubbish. Still no actual tactics in the game same old bullsh*t training that does nothing and we have no way of seeing how players develop (get better or worse). Added the "100" in the English domestic system but no real names so whats the point in that. People who are giving this game anything over a 1/10 are brain dead or bots. DO NOT BUY THIS CRAP. Update: This game is still a waste of time.

I finally decided to upgrade from the 2016 version but could not be more disappointed. The animations have not updated at all over the four years and so you see the same shots and dismissals. The only new animation I have been able to see is run outs at the non strikers end. This means if you play enough, you know what animations are out straight away. There is no way to see player stats and so this makes personalised training useless. Form means its pointless playing a one star bowler or batsmen even if they performed superbly in the last series. However this all pales next to the shocking ai. In ODI's you cannot ask your batsmen to score at over a run a ball as they will get out instantly. Instead players will only be able to hit at a strike rate over 100 if they are settled but this will take a crazy amount of time. Instead of 300 being the par which it seems to be in real life, your team will always struggle to 250 as batsmen just cant come in and play aggressively from the outset. As England I had Buttler come in and I tested by having him aim for a strike rate of 7 from the get go in every match. He averaged 8 over a whole year. Opposition batsmen do not have this problem at all. Number 10's and 11's will come in and hit 30 from 10 balls without a problem in the death overs. This is the exact same in all t20's. Batsmen just cant play aggressively from the outset but its so easy for the opposition. You could post a good total against a weak team and they will happily go at the desired run rate until either winning or getting bowled out. The top aggression bar for batsmen just doesn't work. Asking a batsman to go at 14 runs an over will result in 5 dot balls followed by a wicket every time. This means when games are affected by rain and you suddenly need 12/14 runs an over, you will never chase it. But again the opposition will happily go at this rate when chasing DLS affected scores. Teams also seem intent in chasing big scores in the last innings of the test. If you set an opposition 370 to chase on the final day, they will go for it. I have had so many batsmen score run a ball centuries when they should be playing for the draw. This is the same for my own batsmen. When set a total that could be achieved at 5 runs an over, ask a batsmen to bat at 2 runs per over and he will get out slogging a spinner having made 20 from 12 balls. Also Bangladesh and Afghanistan seem crazy overpowered over the years I have played them, chasing down decent scores with so many overs left. Essentially the only real difference from the 2016 version is the updated player database and the introduction of a few new competitions. The ai is actually better in the 2016 version. A real waste of money and so disappointing.

It's Ok. Giving it a thumbs up because it's the best ball by ball simulator (as opposed to arcade game) out there It really has no right to be the best. It is slow, the UI is clunky the 3D match engine is an eyesore, the customisation options are fewer than the series had 22 years ago when International Cricket Captain first released. It has no meta game to speak of. Stats are still hobbled. Every few years a few more are revealed but a lot are not in the game. Ball by ball. In play. The actual match engine is pretty good. You can see turn, swing, bounce etc. (though the characters batting and bowling are so badly animated you have to divine this information from watching the ball - not the lego-faced players) There is no meta game to speak of, and this is where the game really show lack of progress. Player development is a black box process. The very little control you have is skill training in one of several batting, bowling or fielding disciplines - then wait. They may improve, they may not. The evidence even if you analyse what stats there are is minimal. There is no "Coach" to give you feedback. Batsmen can't develop shots and bowlers cannot develop balls. IRL this is a big factor and major talking point "He's added the knuckle ball and reverse swing to his repertoire" or "He's learned to play the scoop, reverse pull or dab to 3rd man" The game doesn't do this. 6 or 7 years in when all or most of the players are regens the game loses its personality. What little investment you feel in your team diminishes still further as "Generic Regen 331B" pops up. In the past you could add your own images to personalise the game. That should have been a feature that was built on. Long term play of this type of game relies heavily on you getting attached to your players. Instead they removed that feature and have not added any other way of personalising players (Name change has always been in) Players cannot develop a whole new skill. (as opposed to element) IRL Steve Smith - Specialist leg spinner in the 2nd 11,. Hardly gets a bowl these days and when he does... it isn't very good Stuart Broad the opening batsmen for Leicestershire 2nd team became an MF bowler who rarely holds a bat since being grilled by Varun Aaron. Jadeja - Middle order specialist batsman Kevin Pietersen - Offspinner Plucky off spinner Graeme Hick became a specialist batsman who happened to score 130+ FC centuries. Craig White was an off spinner as well who cheesed of Darren Gough when it turned out he could bowl faster than him. In ICC after 20 odd years of almost yearly updates none of this is reflected. If you see my profile you can see I have every game in the series since it came to Steam. I also have several on my Ipad (cross save is nice) I have every other version on disk. Plus my PSP The two things I would prioritise (If i was developing this game) would be stats and customisation. Stats are getting there - but slowly. I know there are issues with player image copyright. Fine. But let us add our own Secondary considerations would be a simming mode to quickly set up and play long periods for "what if" purposes and one I put as secondary - because the devs will probably never do it - is an editor. I would love to play the IPL or Big Bash on stream or Youtube the day before the games. Get involved. Put it on my Cricket Facebook page (almost 7,000 followers) but the players in the teams are entirely wrong and there is no realistic way to correct that. So I don't bother. https://www.facebook.com/cricketmetrics That's a lost opportunity for the developers. Free marketing. A second chance to gain sales when a big tournament like the IPL is coming up. But without them releasing a team correcting patch (which they did try once - but but it was quite wrong by the time the tourny came around) there is no point doing it. No one is interested in a Twitch or Youtube stream with the wrong players in the teams. So thumbs up. Because it is the best ball by ball cricket game there is. As I've said before though. It shouldn't be. Cricket deserves some competition in the cricket sim market. ICC 2020 is not 22 years better than the original ICC. It's not really 5 years better. Small dev team or not. Out of the Park Baseball went years with a 2 man dev team - Mainly a German called Markus Heinsohn and one part time assistant adding major features with every annual update. Worldwide Cricket is a hugely bigger sport than Baseball. Anyway. thumbs up. Just about. Please do something with it soon though Chris. A database update and a new international competition are the real meat of every update, and that really isn't enough. I think you must know that. Both these annual additions feel a bit cynical really. I suspect the reason for no database editor is so you can sell the updated database you provide with each new version as a major selling point. The new international league increases your market size. How many people play the FC league of other nations? A few i'm sure, but for most it's not really that interesting. It's a way of increasing your market size. Paying for you to update the database that users should have been able to do 20 years ago - and allowing you to market the game to new regions of the planet each year isn't really a good enough reason to keep buying a very similar game every year.

I have loved this series for such a long time but the lack of development has really taken it's toll! I think i have played every version since 2001 but the UI hasn't changed it this is the same version with an update roster, with a couple of minor tweeks I do hope every year we some some decent development - this market is for the taking if someone does a good cricket management game to rival this

This game has a special place in my heart because way back in 2004 or 2005 I used to play the demo version of International Cricket Caption. I vividly remember how only 2 test matches were available to play as England back then and ...I probably played this game for hundreds of hours even then. Yea, the demo version. I wasn't a very demanding kid. So anyway At that time I never expected the franchise to last till 2020 but here we are. I'm pretty happy with the game in its current form. Sure DRS would make it a lot more fun and I hope the developers add it in the coming years. Another thing I'd like to see is more field injuries. It'll make the game more realistic.

Its the same game as cricket captain 2001. With an updated database. And i really dont think there is any level of control you have over the game and the actions of the players in it. There is no variations, or life to the players or their skillset. Unplayable for more than 2 hrs at most.

This game is simply a crickets almanac, there is no game play what so ever. If you chose easy mode you win the vast majority of games if you choose normal you draw most games and guess what choose hard, lose most games...it doesnt matter if you have the best players in world cricket playing for your side or all the ones that only ardent supporters know about from their local clubs. utter rubbish. How this game francise has been going for so long amazes me. very very very poor please dont waste your money.

The match engine is ridiculous, I've seen some ridiculous scores regularly from tailenders, which is just unrealistic (30's/50's). Make it easier for the player to amend fields, without having to manually click to get a pop-up during the match. Also why call it normal mode when it is the hardest setting? Seems silly. Reward the player. I'd like to see actual player profiles which rate the player's abilities, all we get at the moment is a vague description of what they're good at but no indication of how good - having to rely on batting/bowling averages (especially when this is heavily influenced by form) can be a bit of a lottery. The menu system is poor, and the squad window is one of the most un-interactive squad viewers I've seen from a sports sim game over the past 20 years. I guess all I would like it is Football Manager equivalent for cricket. Thanks for the experience Cricket Captain 2020 (the last title I had was Cricket Captain 2001: The Ashes on PS2) and to be honest the game is exactly the same with updated squads. I actually have fond memories of that game, and this version has killed any enthusiasm for supporting this franchise any longer until a major-rehaul of the game is undertaken, or a competitor appears and takes the mantle as the premier cricket manager simulator (which shouldn't be too hard).

bro this game is fire