Last year, I was unsure as to whether to recommend Childish Things’ latest instalment in the Cricket Captain saga, and gave it the benefit of the doubt. This year, I feel as though I can comfortably recommend it. Naturally, it’s not totally free of problems, but it feels as though the user experience has taken a solid step up in 2024. I’ll start with the good stuff, unlike last year.
Firstly, it’s worth talking about the sound overhaul. Daniel Norcross provides a much needed refresh to the commentary booth, with his undeniable charisma seeping through in his lines. I understand the criticism of some of his lines being recycled from the previous cycle but I don’t think that should necessarily be a problem. As much as I enjoy listening to Jonathan Agnew on TMS, his commentary was showing its age and this is a welcome refresh. I must admit I am slightly disappointed with how many lines are still using he/him pronouns - this likely means women’s cricket is a long way off being a feature in the game. This is understandable, given Childish Things is a small company, but I feel like it would have shown ambition to have more gender-neutral lines and would save time and cost if work to bring women’s cricket into the game was undertaken in the future. I personally play with commentary off most of the time, and as such I have really appreciated the game sound overhaul in matches. One of the things I disliked previously was that when a batsman played and missed there would be no noise from the players. This has changed, and the new sounds make a big difference. The same goes for cries of catch when a shot is miscued, and the variations in appeal shouts where there are several different options. Off-season coaching is also a great addition and is very useful.
Another area where there has been a step up is the match engine, especially the AI’s batting. We all love Bazball, but the engine that it inspired last year was erratic and often unrealistic, especially bowling against the AI in first class who were intent on recreating prime Ben Stokes every game. This year, it’s a marked improvement. I’d say the 50 over engine is nigh-on perfection in all honesty. Aggression is very possible for the user with a fair amount of risk, I’ve had a couple of centuries at 120 with my better aggressive players. The AI batting is realistic and balanced, with strike rate typically akin to the batter’s aggression, with the odd incredibly fast innings in there, but these have been appropriate to both the player and the situation for me so far. The 20 over engine is much more balanced than last year, and work has definitely been done to reduce the significance of the toss which is much appreciated. The user’s aggressive players now often score faster than the selected strike rate on a good pitch, making it much more doable for the user to play out high scoring innings, as opposed to last year where it was virtually impossible without incredible luck. It skews slightly the other way, with defensive or averagely aggressive players sometimes having innings under a run a ball against the user’s command, but that’s not uncommon in real life (especially when it’s a tricky pitch), so no complaints here. The first class engine and AI are more balanced than last year, and I am glad to see that Bazball-esque innings are not extinct, but are less common and often attempted in a situation where it is needed to try to win a match that looks set for a draw. The AI typically scores at a realistic run rate of just over 3 or so and accelerates against my less economical bowlers, often ending up at 350-400 after 110 overs (if they get that far) on an even pitch, with the state of the wicket having a moderate influence on the scoring rate - I have no problem with this and think it is how it should be.
My one real qualm with the game is that the user scores at a very slow rate in first class. In my experience, I often struggle to score at above 2 runs per over, and it’s not uncommon for me to reach the 110 over mark under 250 runs, thus garnering 0 batting points from a possible 5. Even my players with an aggressive style in first class struggle to reach a strike rate of 50. I feel as though this is to do with the batting mechanics, which rely on a player being settled making it easier to score runs quickly. It’s a realistic system in concept and it works, and I have no complaints once a batter is fully settled, however it takes too long to get settled, given it’s very risky to not start an innings on one of the two lowest aggression options - often just moving up one level within the green can get a batter dismissed instantly if they’re not at least 50% settled, and can’t move into the yellow without being fully settled. In the first session of an innings, I am lucky to reach 80 runs without a wicket, regardless of the pitch. In a season where I skipped none of the games, I scored 11 batting points all season and finished fourth. This was prevented from being the worst tally in the league by the team finishing bottom, with most getting at least twenty and everyone above us achieving double what we had batting-wise. Overall though, this isn’t the end of the world, and it doesn’t overshadow the work done on the engine which I think has been very beneficial overall and a marked improvement on last year’s game.
That’s it for meaningful problems & the review for prospective buyers ends here. If it’s your first CC game, I recommend it, and think it’s worth upgrading if you’ve got an older game and have the money spare; the new sounds and well balanced match engine make this a solid step up over last year’s game. I’m going to mention my ideas for improving the youth and contract systems below, but I wouldn’t say it is a problem worthy of factoring into your decision to buy the game or not. I’m just mentioning this in the hope this gets seen by someone at Childish Things who can implement these relatively simple changes to bring it to modern standards. Let's hope!
First, I don’t think that players promoted from the youth team should be in their 20s, and most should be <19. The vast majority of 21/22 year old county cricketers these days have been on the scene for 3 years at least, ESPECIALLY given the one day cup’s current status as a glorified development competition. Additionally, I still think the name pool needs to be modernised and expanded. I’ve noticed that the really old-fashioned names like Gary and Graham have seemingly been removed which is good, but would appreciate more names being added to counteract this. I also think that each team should get at least two or three youth players generated per year, because it can make the budget system less meaningful if you only have one player come through. This would also help to populate the game as I’ve been finding the players out of contract to be fewer than previous years with only 1 player remaining in each of the domestic and youth categories after 5/10 rounds a few years in. Another idea I have to help populate the game is for a select number of players from the game’s university teams to be available to sign on contracts in the youth system each year, as these players are quite meaningless in their current state, given they are generated fresh every year for one preseason match and then never feature again with no way to view/sign them. This is the same with players from associate nations who are generated fresh for each LO tournament once the current players retire, with none playing domestic cricket anywhere in the world. This is opposed to real life with players like Bas de Leede, Josh Davey and more playing domestic cricket for overseas clubs whilst not being a designated overseas player due to the nation they represent not having Test match status. I'd also suggest adding the ability to negotiate with players outside of the contracts window and being able to view your club's full youth team but appreciate they're likely too much to ask.
