Cricket Captain 2020
Cricket Captain 2020 is the perfect companion if you are missing live matches, as the hugely anticipated season is disrupted. With the incredibly exciting 2019 World Cup and the fiercely fought Australia tour of England, a legion of fans have been attracted to the sport. The inaugural 100 ball competition promised to provide great entertainment for those new converts, and the first test-match championship was well under way. After canvassing our players, we have decided to create the 2020 season as it was originally intended, in all its glory.
Rain delays in one-day and 20 over matches have been introduced, including the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern system to calculate run-chase targets. There are also extensive additions to the database, including additional season by season player records.
The new 100 ball competition in England has been added, including updates to the match engine, AI and stats systems to accommodate the new format. Updates to domestic systems around the world have also been incorporated, including major changes to the competitions in Australia, South Africa, Bangladesh, Pakistan and India. Captains will also be able to switch between domestic teams in different countries for the first time.
Cricket Captain 2020 also features a full database update (over 7,000 players, including every historical international player), with improved player ability generation, using data from every form of cricket and with input from a team of researchers around the world. The database provides the attention to detail that the series is famed for.
Cricket Captain is unrivalled in cricket management simulation, and Cricket Captain 2020 improves the series once again. Put your tactical expertise to the test in the number one cricket management game.
Key features for 2020 include:
- Rain delays in one-day and 20 Over matches: introducing the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method for the first time in Cricket Captain.
- Improved weather simulation for all match types: including more realistic weather patterns, and extra time to recover lost overs.
- The new 100 ball competition in England: a brand-new format, played between eight city-based teams.
- Updates to all domestic systems and 20 over leagues: play updated domestic leagues in South Africa, India, England, Australia, West Indies, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and New Zealand.
- Ability to switch teams between countries: play a full career mode, switch between teams across domestic systems.
- Improved player generation system: using data from every form of cricket combined with input from a team of researchers around the world.
- Improved match engine: with updates to bowler AI, spin bowler ability in limited over matches, and batsman scoring rates.
- Current/last competition stats: see details of current and last competition stats for all formats.
- Historical scenarios: Play in Classic England test series vs West Indies or Pakistan.
- Tournament Modes: Play in stand-alone One Day or 20 Over World Cups. Create your own World XIs, All-Time Greats and Custom Match Series.
- New database: full database update with over 7,000 players.
- Internet game: improved reliability and more teams to play on-line.
Steam User 26
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.
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.
Steam User 7
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.
Steam User 2
Look to get the game when it is on offer. If you bought the series in the past - it will feel the same, but at least you get updated rosters.
I hope they push the boundaries more when they make 2021.
Steam User 9
Cricket Captain 2020 is great. I can list pros and cons but at the end off the day I enjoy spending my free time playing the game.
Steam User 12
Yay! The annual release of my favourite cricketing game is here once more. More solid updates to the game engine in this one, but I particularly like the inclusion of rain delays for short-form matches along with the duckworth lewis system. That just mixes things up a bit, I think, and keeps you on your toes.
Steam User 3
Suitable for any true Cricket lover
Steam User 8
Decent game, much improved on previous iterations.