Cricket Captain 2023

Initially when I reviewed this I pointed out things I didn't like. Having played a further 18 hours, I want to revise the review. The game is fine to kill time. I put it on while I listen to podcasts in French because I'm trying to learn the language. But it is absolutely the most infurating game full of missed potential. In well over a decade the UI has not changed once. It's been the same since I played International Cricket Captain 3 on my PSP ffs. It's not changed one tiny bit. Little, basic things that I think should be standard or available aren't. There's no way to track how fast a bowler is bowling. There is no way to track how good they are at getting swing, or reverse swing, or bowling over 90, or actually doing anything to help train that bar "aggressive" or "defensive" bowling. I have a bowler who is "LF" - this is completely meaningless. Okay, he's fast - how fast? How fast does he bowl on average? Could I find another bowler who bowls quicker? Could I find a bowler who bowls not quite as quick, but is more proficient at getting swing out of the ball? Well, no, I can't do any of this. Because none of it is in the game. My best bet is to look at their bowling average and that's it. There is nothing at all in this game that gives you any indication of what a bowler is actually good at. Batters have "preferences" - but they're so vague and useless. "Slight back foot preference" - okay? So? I would much rather have a list of what kind of shots they're good at, what they're bad at, how their footwork is, where their technique could improve. But, again, the training is so completely useless and non-specific to anything. I can't train them in their footwork. I can train aggressive, off side, leg side, defensive. But, like... This doesn't help me figure out where they're good or bad or what needs work. I want to train my batters on what they're weak at but I can't because the game doesn't tell me. There are no attributes - so claiming "this batter has improved his offside batting" is pointless. How much has he improved? A lot? A little? The game essentially boils down to what length you want to bowl and how aggressively you want to bat. The "bazball" system is barely noticeable. Also, telling someone to keep the strike is completely pointless because no matter what you do they just don't ever bother. I just don't understand when you've got a sport that has so many statistics and intricacies in how it's played you put out a game that's so shallow every single year and demand more and more money for it. The fact that this game has been a series for over a decade and you still haven't even got the word "swing" in it anywhere is insanity.

I bought the very first edition of this game back in the late 90s and loved it. But the lack of development in the 25 years since is astounding. I still buy it every few years hoping for big improvements - and whilst the match engine may be better 'under the hood' - most things are still their same basic self and it is immensely disappointing. When bowling you still only have three options for length and three options for line - that hasn't changed since 98. There are still no attributes for players, no detail on player potential, only a very basic sense that training may be working (so and so has improved his keeping is about it). The animations on match highlights are still rudimentary - there's the addition of a reverse sweep this year but it still looks so dated. There's no sense of man management in the team - negotiations are simple and then that's it. No interaction with your players at all. There are so many basic frustrations too. You can't sort any columns on squad or record pages - ie sort by average, runs, wickets etc. Surely this would be very easy to put into the game. Everything seems to require one more click than it should. The depth of stats and players has improved no doubt. And you can now look at a players record by team - but there's no 'season by season' at a glace list of how a player has performed. No simple to way to guage how he has improved or otherwise. Overall another very disappointing game and a real lack of effort in developing it that goes back years. All from a very promising start a quarter of a century ago. If you've bought this game before, don't bother again.

I really don't understand this developer you have a good foundation and a good fan base why don't you improve the game or you wanna end up like FIFA? seriously do something useful youth development is near non existent I don't even know what the players improve and by how much its like throwing a dice if anyone knows how to take zimbabwae for example from 2 stars to 4 stars? is that even possible? I'm never buying this game again if it doesn't improve

Another year, another CC release in which we all have to say it's the same game with little development and, somehow, more technical issues. What is new is that the balancing is all over the place now. One day cricket has always been an issue in Cricket Captain because there simply has been no balance in aggression and bowlers, and now that's been transposed into long-form cricket to emulate "Bazball." The result being even the worst first-class sides will score at sevens and your bowlers don't matter. Add to that, no women's cricket (players still called "batsmen") even though its 2023, the same team selection as last time with top-order batters batting eight, no development in management and development of players, same issues as the game has always had - including running like you'd expect Cricket Captain 2013 to on Windows 11. Using smaller teams to try and bring them up is pointless and, like 2022, teams like Ireland and Zimbabwe in the international mode simply don't get generate new players. One positive, it's blue now, which means it's vaguely easier to read than the green, though the UI remains confusing (increase arrows being on the left will never be intuitive) and changes in layout mean bugs like the average overlay for bowlers staying forever is more common. Just... the same game with a database update that wears thin very quickly.

Developers seem to be resting on their laurels, no real improvement or significant change compared to previous editions, unfortunate that this is the only cricket sim available on the market. Lots of aesthetic changes, including UI and look of match engine but still functions as it has in previous years. Feels like a slog to play, not sure what the dev team are getting paid for but with this game being at £25.00, they're stealing a living. Again another glorified DLC presented as a brand new edition of a game, very disappointed.

Again, It's Ok. I bought every game for 20 odd years but stopped after 2020 to leave it a few years to get the benefit of more "updates". The three year gap hasn't seen any massive changes to the game though the T20 sim is better. I haven't had every batter in the last 2 overs get out first ball as used to happen with too much regularity back then. I've also noticed a new shot in the match engine. A reverse sweep or pull? I only really have 2 gripes. One technical and one to do with the game itself. Technically, the selection of line and length when bowling has been unnecessarily messed up with now a 3 click toggle "outside off, off, middle" you have to toggle through them same with full, length and short of a length. You can't just click on the line and length any more. Not sure why they've done that - unless it's to make it easier for the Ipad conversion? Either way - I'm not a fan The bigger issue is the same as always. It's basically still the same game. The match engine tweak makes it a better gameplay experience than 2020 but other than that it still has the same daft issues and lack of progress. I've long since given up thinking this game will ever add new features or game elements. After 20 odd years it's clear the devs don't have the resources. But some issues are still irksome and probably could be removed without having to make a whole new engine. Overseas Players They say "100%" availability. Then they all get picked to play for their nations. In just the second year of my first game 4 of my 5 overseas player (and I only give them a contract if their availability is 100%) has gone to play for their nation in the T20 world cup or a test match. What is more annoying is that of the 5 (2 FC, one FC replacement and 2 T20 players) only one of them had ever played international cricket before. It seems that spending budget on overseas players is far too much of a lottery. The last gripe has nothing to do with the game but with English cricket. About half way through the season all your good players go and play The Hundred and you get nothing for it IRL teams do get compensated as the recent report on the massive losses (9 million UK£) the Hundred has accrued points out. The report detailing the losses makes clear that the 9 million lost does not include compensatory payments made to counties, which they say would add about 1.5 million more over the 2 years it has run so far. Hmmm makes you wonder how they have managed to gift profits to small clubs around the country based on The Hundred profits. How do you profit share when you have made a 9 million loss? What profit are they talking about. Seems to me if they never even did the Hundred they'd have (at least) 9 million more they could give to small clubs and grass roots cricket? I don't know. Maybe maths is confusing for the EWCB. Glad I'm not their accountant. Anyway, as a once every 3 or 4 years purchase it's just about thumbs up. For the second largest spectator sport in the world. This being the only and by default best simulator of that sport is a pretty sad state of affairs. But that's where we are.

Alright, let's review this absolute ♥♥♥♥-show of a game. I've been playing since the first one, however many decades ago that was, and yes, for those wondering - it's the exact same game with squads updated, but it is so, so flawed and predictable. First, off, start new game, choose difficulty. V. Easy, Easy, or Normal. None of it matters, you will get the same results and the fact that other management sims like Football Manager, Championship Manager, Out of the Park Baseball, etc, do not have options such as "easy" and "normal" should tell you how out of touch this development team is. Select your youth intake. The button to increase wages is on the left and the button to decrease the wage is on the right. Same on all menus. If you want to go up, click left, if you want to down, click on the right button. Basic human knowledge and evolution discarded by this development team as they reinvent what we expect on a basic level. Utterly shocking and irritating, and again, should tell you all you need to know going forward. Matches: Whether you want to bat aggressively or defensively, none of it matters in county cricket, expect the same score regardless of how you play. Just the speed of how you get there will vary. Expect roughly 80-runs per session and 2 wickets on average to drop. What's that, you're 96-1 after the first session. Don't fret, you're losing two wickets within the first 3 overs of the following session. Oh, you're 247-3 after Day 1. Don't worry, you're losing your next 4 wickets for a total of 9 runs and you will be all-out for 286. Tail-enders will miss the ball 4-times in one over before being bowled the first ball of the very next over. Put up a decent score of 538 for a first innings - expect at some point for the opposition to be 360-3 and that match is a draw. Bowl first and get the opposition out for 245 - your team no matter what you do will be out by 170 and you're probably going to lost if it doesn't rain for an entire day. Get the opposition down to 57-5 - their 6th wicket will put up a partnership of 180 and that match is a draw. Two of your batters put up a partnership of 140 when the session ends or it rains - they will both be out within the next 5 overs. Two of your batters put up a great partnership but one gets out - the other is being bowled within 2 overs. Expect an injury to one of your fast-bowlers or opening batsmen every game - never the opposition batters (just yours). You decide to play ultra-defensive to see out a game - expect one of your opening batsmen to be run-out or caught trying to smash it for 6 within the first 3 overs of the innings. And all that is just the county games. The one-day games are no better. Bat first and break a team record by getting 410 runs. You'll get beat by 4 wickets. Bat second and bowl them out for 190, and your team will be all-out for 140. Fact is, every session begins with you losing a wicket. Every rain interruption results in a collapse from your batsmen. Your score is limited because if your top-order goes well, your middle-order just collapses and your tail-enders have no idea how to hold a bat. It's the same nonsense every year. Poor UI design that ignores the basic, the same commentary, the same gameplay, no innovation of training, no innovation of stats, and honestly, just a lazy game. It's like results are pre-defined and I'm just there to click on things. But I will continue to play it.

Definitely a decent game that you can get a lot from, especially considering Childish Things is a small independent company, so I do recommend, but would probably give a neutral review if I could. It does have a few problems, but with a few tweaks I think it could be brilliant. Firstly, the match engine. The new 'Baz-ball' inspired system makes FC + Test games actually rather enjoyable compared to previous versions and for noticeably more realistic, however I think it's maybe just a bit too easy to score at 5 or 6 rpo, especially for the AI, who seem to pull it off just as well if not better than the real thing sometimes. The problems start when looking at the limited overs match engine where most games are won at the toss, even though the games are played over the course of a few hours rather than a few days and there is not much change in the pitch over the course of the match. Every other T20 game it seems an AI batter scores 75 off 20 with a few 25 run overs when half my bowling attack plays for England, and the batter has an average of 25 and a strike rate of 130 in his career. Sure, it's not impossible, but it feels far too common, and despite me trying with my best batters, I can rarely get one high scoring over without being dismissed. Also, it would be great to be able to manage multiple teams at once if their schedules don't clash or the teams are affiliated. For example, managing a team in the UK with an Apr-Sep season and NZ team with a Oct-Mar season, or, if women's cricket were to be added, managing the team that shares your ground for the Hundred or the Charlotte Edwards cup, or the various T20 teams in different tournaments that compete under the same franchise/identity, such as Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL and Sunrisers Eastern Cape in the SA T20. Less important issues are: batter preferences seem to not affect wicket taking much. Again, not a massive thing, but it never really seems to make much of a difference where I bowl, or what pace I bowl. Clarity on my fast bowlers' speeds would be nice as well. My final pet peeve is the name pool. I am in 2047 and still commonly seeing youth players with very old names such as Graham, Keith, Gary, Derek and Ian, names that are rarely (if at all) seen in cricketers even now. It's not a significant problem, as you can edit player names, but I imagine it would take a while to edit every single one of these, but would not take much time for Childish Things to change the youth player name pool, although I may be wrong. On the other hand, this is my absolute favourite game to play with something else on in the background. It's easy to understand, and repetitive without becoming boring. The contracts section at the end of a season is surprisingly engrossing, and the new world rankings are a great addition, especially when your players are at the top. As someone who is relatively new to this series of games (I have only played 2021 and this), I can see the lack of change between iterations, and it would definitely be nice if players didn't catch the ball whilst facing away from it as the ball flies through their neck into their hands, but overall I don't mind the menus and animations, as everything is easy to find, completely functional and not overly complicated. It's a relatively simple game but nonetheless very enjoyable and has endless potential

I am playing cricket captain since long time , Last year i have skipped , But bought this year , Much improvement in AI and presentation , Feel like the real score many other mode to play

Only for true cricket fanatics