Rules for The Quest for the Cup: These rules allowed each manager to allocate 900 skill points for their squad to make each team potentially equal. This file has 4 parts: - Rules - Sample turns - Hints - Performance Points description Rules: - Each team plays every other team home and away. - Points are allocated as follows: 15 pts for a win 10 pts each for a tie 5 pts each for a draw 0 pts for a loss In addition bonus points can be achieved based upon 1st innings batting and bowling performances. These points are allocated as follows: Batting Points Runs scored Bowling Points 0 < 150 5 1 150 - 225 4 2 226 - 300 3 3 301 - 375 2 4 376 - 450 1 5 > 450 0 Using this system 10 bonus points will always be awarded for every test. - Each team has a squad of 16 players. - Each manager has 900 skill points to allocate between his players in the following areas: Batting, Bowling and Fielding. - Each player must have at least 1 batting point. - If a player is allocated a bowling type in your squad you do not have to allocate him any bowling points if you do not want to. Atherton is classed as a Leg Spinner but in most cases will probably be allocated 0 points as he rarely bowls these days. - Fielding points should be a multiple of 3 (if not you are wasting points). This is because they get divided by 3 in the computer program. - Batting points roughly compare to a players batting average. Thus a player allocated 35 batting points would expect to average around 35. - Bowling points roughly compare to a players bowling average taken away from 70. Whilst this may seem initially strange it is so that you can directly compare a batsman against a bowler. A 45 bowler (one with a bowling average of 25) is thus considered to be as good as a 45 batsman. - Fielding points are equated as follows: Poor Fielder 6 points Normal Fielder 15 points Slip Fielder 24 points Specialist Fielder 27 points Wicket Keeper 30+ points The table just shows the quality of the fielder and their respective values in the normal International Test Cricket computer game which does not have fielding points externally but did use these values internally. A fielder with 18 points will in general perform better than one on 15. Fielders do not have to be one of the above values but can be any multiple of 3 you like. Fielding points are used to calculate whether a catching chance will be caught. The difficulty of the chance is compared against the quality of the fielder. A good fielder stands a better chance of making the catch whereas a poor fielder may not even see the catching chance. The overall teams fielding points are used for shot stopping skills. A good fielding side will stop some scoring shots, turn some 2s into 1s, etc. A poor fielding side will concede additional runs, extra singles, 1s turning into 2s, etc. - No player may be allocated less than 30 points. - No player may be allocated more than 50 points in one area of expertise. - Proportion of 900 points used for batting, bowling and fielding is up to the manager as long as no more than 900 points are used in total. - Managers will not be able to see individual points allocation for other teams. - If a player fails to supply turn details a computer default team with default aggression levels will be used. - Players submitting their turns on time will be given a bonus skill point to allocate as they wish on their next turn. - Players submitting an article for the newsletter on time will be given 2 bonus skill points. A additional bonus point will be added for good articles dependent on the content of the article. Additional bonus point is awarded for adding humour to the articles, extra information not available from looking at the scorecards, general banter to other managers. Use your imagination. - For each turn the manager must supply the following information: - 11 players in batting order - Batting aggression* for each player - Bowling aggression* for each potential bowler - Team batting aggression* - Team bowling aggression* - Opening bowlers - Wicket keeper *aggression ratings are a value from 0 to 10 where 0 is very defensive and 10 is very aggressive. The default aggression value is 5. If any of these details are missing a default value or player will be assigned. - Optional information that can be sent with each turn: Comments for the 'Newsletter'. Whilst managers can easily email each other it is preferred that any comments be sent to me so everyone can read them. Please do not use abusive language. It can be used by all managers to send comments, boasts, challenges, taunts, newspaper reports, etc. Hopefully if enough people send comments it will be a fun part of the league. The 'Newsletter' gets sent out on the Wednesday. Bonus skill points are awarded for sending in articles. Any player currently not injured can have any of his skill altered up to by +- 3 points as long as none of the normal point rules detailed above are broken. If the alteration would break one of these rules it will be ignored. If you send in your turn file you will get +3 extra points to use, and if you send in that as well as a newsetter arcticle then you get another +2 points, totalling +5 for that round. Point adjustments are permanent and remain in effect until altered. Fielders can only be altered by +- 3. Total adjustments must add up to 0 unless bonus skill points have been awarded or skill points have been docked. - All tests will be played by the computer and there will be no possible interruptions for rain or bad light. Weather will be a factor but it will not rain. - Players may be injured. An injury will last 1, 2 or 3 weeks. An injured player can not be picked or have any point adjustments. - Players have a morale which starts initially at okay. There are 7 levels of morale and they adjust a players skill for that test by up to +- 3 dependent on his morale. Okay is 0, Rock Bottom is -3, High is +3. These skill adjustments will not be shown. It is up to the manager to gauge what a players current skill levels are. - A players morale can only be altered by playing a Test. If a player is dropped his morale stays the same and does not alter. - Players morale is altered based upon his own performance in the test. This is based upon the number of performance points he gets. - If a team wins every player who played has his morale raised one level. - If a team loses every player who played has his morale lowered one level. - These rules may be added to at any time by me. - All decisions made by me are final and can not be altered. - I can not be held responsible for mistakes although I will do by best to rectify any that I make. Tests can not be replayed. Sample Team File - sent once at beginning of league Manager of Squad 1 Player Name Bat Bowl Field Opener 1 39 15 = 54 Opener 2 34 12 = 46 Opener 3 30 9 = 39 Middle 1 40 15 = 55 Middle 2 34 12 = 46 Middle 3 32 12 = 44 Middle 4 29 9 = 38 Keeper 1 17 36 = 53 Keeper 2 10 24 = 34 AllRounder 1 17 29 12 = 58 AllRounder 2 15 19 6 = 40 Bowler 1 6 42 9 = 57 Bowler 2 5 40 9 = 54 Bowler 3 4 37 9 = 50 Bowler 4 3 34 6 = 43 Bowler 5 3 30 6 = 39 Total 318 + 231 + 201 = 750 Sample Turn File Manager of Squad Aggression Point Adjustment Bat Bowl Bat Bowl Field Player Name 1 Opener 1 5 +3 2 Opener 2 5 3 Middle 1 6 4 Middle 2 6 5 Middle 3 7 6 Keeper 1 7 -3 +3 7 AllRounder 1 8 3 8 Bowler 1 8 4 -1 9 Bowler 2 9 5 10 Bowler 3 9 6 11 Bowler 4 10 7 +1 Team Aggression 5 5 Opening Bowlers 10 & 11 Wicket Keeper 6 Opener 3 -3 The samples are just samples, you can allocate your points however you like provided you do not break any of the points rules. You can play any players (not currently injured) and do not have to play a certain number of each player type. Please stick to the format above and do not alter it. If you alter it I have to edit your turn first. Do not use Tabs or use an editor that compresses spaces to tabs when loading/saving. Doing so means you turn columns arrive misaligned. If you are using a mail editor that allows you to select fonts only use Courier or a mono-spaced font. Sample Newsletter article (this was a real article sent in by a manager). Zimbabwe Press Release - October 8th Zimbabwe coach, Andy Malcolm, finally broke his silence on the teams awful showing against the Pakistan side today after days of talks and discussions with the players. Motivation has been the key word after the side showed a distinct lack of interest in the slaughtering at the hands of Pakistan. "We deserved to lose," said Malcolm, "We showed no spirit, no fight, no ambition. And that game meant a lot to me." Malcolm was talking about the fact that Pakistan were managed by Samuel Newman, a bitter rival of Malcolm's from university. "He out-fought us, out-played us, out-planned us. Just beat us up in every phase of the game." was Malcolm's comments on Newman. "But we'll be back, this team has potential, and I feel by no means are we the worst team in the league, just take a look at the West Indies. My tip for the title is Pakistan or Australia. Pakistan look formidable." When asked to comment on any individuals, Malcolm said "Brandes showed he can bowl a bit, and we had them in a hole at 88-3 and 168-4 in the first innings, but Inzamam is something else. I've never seen anything quite like that. But, our batting stunk up the place. In fact, they are going to have to close Karachi stadium down for a few years to defumigate the place." Zimbabwe return home for week 2 to face England, in what promises to be an interesting match up. End of Press Release. Hints: - Try to go for a balanced squad. Allow for the chance of injuries. - Do not have too many superb players. If they get injured for a while you could have a problem. - Do not have too many all rounders as they use a lot of points. - Do not neglect fielding. It is a vital skill in the game. A poor fielding team will not only drop catches but will also concede more runs. A good fielding side will catch more chances and also stop more scoring shots. - Do not have a superb bowling attack but a poor fielding side, better to have a good bowling attack and good fielding side. - If you have a strike bowler bowl him aggressively. He may concede runs but he will open the bowling every day and take the new ball so stands the best chance of taking wickets. - Do send in newspaper reports, taunts, etc. they add an extra element to the league. Performance Points: In the International Test Cricket PBEM players are given a performance rating for each Test played. The number of points scored effects a players morale. It also allows the manager to see which players do consistently well. It is also possible to lose points! Batting When batting a player scores points for: - Each run scored - Each 4 scored - Each 6 scored - Being Not Out at the end of an innings The amount of points scored depends on the quality of the bowler. Hitting a 6 off Ambrose will score more points than a 6 off Atherton. - Each 50 scored in an innings When batting a player loses points for: - Scoring a duck. The amount of points lost depends on the skill of the batsman. A player with a batting skill of 40 will lose more points than a player with a batting skill of 5 The points scored or lost for batting are used to calculate a players current batting rating. Bowling When bowling a player score points for: - Each wicket taken - Each maiden bowled The amount of points scored depends on the quality of the batsman. Bowling Lara will score more points than bowling McGrath. - 5 wickets in an innings - 10 wickets in an innings - 10 wickets in a test When bowling a player loses points for: - Each no-ball bowled - Each wide bowling - Wicket less analysis The amount of points lost depends on the number of runs conceded. Figures of 0-137 will lose more points than figures of 0-11. The points scored or lost for bowling are used to calculate a players current bowling rating. Fielding When fielding a player scores points for: - Each catch - Each run out - Each stumping (Applies to wicket keeper only) When fielding a player loses points for: - Each dropped catch - Each missed stumping - Each bye conceded (Applies to wicket keeper only) The points scored or lost for fielding are used to calculate a players current fielding rating. When calculating a players batting, bowling and fielding ratings a complex formula is used. It takes into account previous ratings with most importance attached to recent performances. If a player has played less than 5 tests his ratings will be dampened. A player does not have a true batting. bowling or fielding rating until after his 5th test.