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My tips for a successful fantasy cricket team

12th September, 2014
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12th September, 2014
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The Champions League Twenty20 is upon us and that means most of us will be playing fantasy cricket. While in Australia most of us will be praying that Channel Ten can get the Scorchers and Hurricanes matches on TV.

After months of playing fantasy cricket, I believe that I have adapted a decent game plan on how to top the fantasy tables and gain bragging rights over your mates.

So, pens at the ready and mind switched on. Here are my tips on how to be moderately successful at fantasy cricket.

Tip number one
Don’t always pick your favourites. This is the golden rule of any fantasy game. Even though you might love the way your favourite player can smash a ton or take wickets when he’s on song.

If they’re going through a rough patch it isn’t a great idea selecting them in your starting 11. A good example of this is England’s 2005 Ashes hero, Freddie Flintoff. Flintoff came out of retirement to play for Lancashire in the recent Natwest T20 Blast competition. Despite only playing three games for Lancashire he put in some satisfactory performances.

A good showing for someone who hasn’t played competitive cricket in about five years, however he wasn’t exactly setting the league on fire.

Tip number two
Do your research. It goes without saying. Ff you want your team to win, research the players. It might be a bit of a daunting idea finding out players that you have never heard of, but thanks to Cricinfo, it’s as easy as the game itself.

Simply type the name of the player you want to know more about. See how they’ve done in their recent outings, and write down your estimation on what kind of form they’re in.

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Tip number three
Look out for trading deadlines. You’ve got an all-star team. Your already bragging about how your going to win easily. But have you really selected the right team?

In fantasy cricket, you really don’t know, however checking what teams are playing is crucial to a successful campaign. In the upcoming Champions League, four teams – Mumbai Indians, Lahore Lions, Northern Districts and the Southern Express – will play each other in the qualifiers.

The four teams will play each other and try and make it into the group stages. This goes on from September 13 to September 17. So chances are that if a player who plays for the Perth Scorchers are in your team, it is most likely a waste of space. So be smart with your trades.

Tip number four
Go with your gut. A player is going through a bit of a slump in form. Your mates are trading him in for some unknown wonder kid who’s just scored a century on debut. You think about selling him but for some reason can’t. Why? Because you have a gut felling.

In tip one, I said if a player is going through a rough patch they’re probably not worth selecting. However, if you have a strong belief – and I mean a very strong belief – you should pick them.

Why? Here’s an example. It was the opening day of BBL 02 and I did not originally pick Aaron Finch in my team. Then something inside me told me not only to select Finch, but also to make him captain. It seemed like a really bad idea to many but Finch would go on to score a century and I was getting plenty of points.

Tip number five
Check your team everyday. Now you might say, “I’ve got better and more important things to do” but when you look at how much time you have in a day, if you can take a maximum of 15 minutes just to see how your players are doing.

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You will be very successful in your selections. Example. I had selected Rohit Sharma. However, I had a quick look at my team and found out that he will miss the tournament due to injury.

So they’re just some of my tips to a successful – or a pretty decent – fantasy cricket team. I hope these tips help you in your quest for imaginary cricketing glory.

So now all I have to say is, good luck and have fun.

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