Hello and welcome to the season preview for the GTCC Fantasy Cricket Competition. At the time of writing we have 24 teams entered - we’re aiming for 30 minimum so if you haven’t entered yet, please do consider joining.
For those who don’t know how the game works - we’ve priced each Batter; Bowler; All Rounder and Keeper at GTCC, and all you have to do is select the 11 you think will score the most points over the season. A player will score your team points for each run they score; each wicket they take; every catch or run-out they complete; and so forth. There are bonus points for personal milestones, like 50s and fiver-fers. Players can also lose your team points for ducks or getting hit around the park. Each week you can select your Captain who will score you double points - so choose wisely!
Your team must meet all selection criteria (Max 5x batters, Max 5x bowlers, Max 3 All-Rounders and 1 Keeper) and you are limited to a £55million budget. Once the Game has started, you have 1 free transfer each week. If you need to make more than one transfer in a week, you are free to do so, but each additional transfer will cost you 20 points! If your team really needs changing, you can activate your Wildcard and receive unlimited free transfers but for one week only!
Remember, if anything I’ve said in here has made you change your mind about your team - you have unlimited transfers until the Gameweek 1 Deadline!
The Premium Picks
These guys will really eat into your budget, but they’re this expensive for a reason. Harry Cooper (£8.5m); Ollie Cheeseman (£7m); Joe Davis & James Pook (£7.5m) and Paul Marks (£6m) are the most expensive Batter; Bowler; All Rounders and Keeper in the game.
Let me just throw some stats at you. In 2020 Cooper was the third highest run scorer in the club behind only Joe Davis & James Pook. The last time he wasn’t in the top three was all the way back in 2014, and he still scored 500+ runs that season. In 2019, the year we won promotion to the Premier League, Harry blitzed 943 runs at a strike rate of 142! He’s £3m more expensive than the next most expensive bat and for very good reason.
In 2020 Cheesy took his 350th First Team wicket having been the Premier 1s spinner since 2007. Over the last 10 years, only once has he taken less than 20 wickets in a season, which was last year, and he missed most of that to spend time with a new lady friend. Cheesy has been to every training so far this year and has been looking in fine form. The key question won't be how many wickets he takes, but rather how many games he plays. There is more competition at the top in the bowler category, and Sam Bowen is only £0.5m cheaper, but I’ll talk about him later.
Having gone toe to toe as the highest point scoring players for most of 2019, it is no surprise that Joe Davis (1209 points) and James Pook (914 points) are joint most expensive all-rounders. Which one do you pick? Can you squeeze both in? Joe is clearly the favourite so far, finding himself in 92% of teams to Pooky’s 29% - but Pooky was the highest run scorer at GTCC in 2020, and second highest (behind Rob Hewer £5.5m) in 2019. Joe’s bowling seems to be giving him the edge at the moment having taken 29 wickets to Pooky’s 9 last year. It will be an interesting points battle between the two, and I expect them to score very similarly.
Finally for the Premiums we move to Paul Marks (£6m) as the most expensive keeper. FUGA only played 4 games last year, so there’s not much to talk about there, and the previous year we won’t mention either as the entire 1s squad struggled in a difficult Premier Division. Fugs finds himself in the 2s squad to start 2021 having been replaced by Dan Allen (£5m) in the 1s. Fuga was captain of the 2s in 2017, scoring 247 runs at an average of 49. A return to this kind of form will not only see him pushing for his spot back but also see him enter a lot of Fantasy Teams. The keeping slot so far proving the most varied to choose from, with each player being in at least 1 team, and nobody having a clear majority.
The Value Picks
To fit as many of those Premium Picks in as you can, you’re going to need some players who will score you points, but won’t break the bank. I’ll do my best to find those diamonds in the rough for you all costing £3.5m or less.
My first value pick is Tim Logue (Keeper £3m). “No-byes” batting record is nothing to shout about, having never hit a fifty and a top-score of 34. It is the nickname that gives away why I think Tim can be a reliable value pick to save you money. As the 3s keeper, Tim will take several keeping dismissals and will likely score more runs that his record suggests - a move to the top of the order may help this. He’s told me he’s aiming for his first fifty this year, so I’m punting on him for now and so are 33% of other teams.
There is not much value in the All-Rounder options, all players here can both bat and bowl and so are priced accordingly! Ryan Kennedy (£3.5m) for me offers the best value for money here, but I’d be looking to potentially get some of the bigger hitting all-rounders in.
Jess Pugh (£2m) narrowly edges out Tom Wheeler (£3.5m) for my Best Value Bowler. She opened the bowling for me at Tillingham away last year and blew away their top order with pace and bounce. Tillingham had their Division 6 side out, Jess will be playing most of her cricket in Div 10. I would not be surprised to see her in the top 5 leading wicket takers for the club this year. Tommy Wheeler only missed out here as he’s £1.5m more expensive. Honestly, I’d have both.
My last value pick is the batters - Jacob Slater (£3.5m) would be my punt here. Goochy (£3m) has built him a net in his back garden, so he’s been practising all winter and you can really tell the difference in training. I’m expecting a breakthrough season for the youngster as he finds his feet in the 3s.
The Consistent Scorers
I want to offer my opinion here on the players who I think you can put in your team and forget about. They may not score big hundreds each week, or demolish teams with 5+ wicket halls. But I think they will score regularly and consistently, often playing 2 games a weekend.
Ben Ridge (£6m) leads the way for me here. The Robot has got his batting and bowling AIs installed and looks in fine form scoring 97 runs in two innings and taking 3/17 so far in 2021. Unless any updates are required, Ben will most likely play 2 games each weekend for the whole season, and so long as his brother doesn’t run him out, has a great chance to score his first 100.
James Wheeler (£3.5m) was the talk of Frinton last year when they accused him of applying suncream to the ball after bowling their two premier bats with viscous inswinging yorkers. Expecting consistent returns in the 3s this year with the ball, potential for a call-up to the second team, and would expect him to be ever present on a Sunday.
I think all I need to say is that Jack Ridge (£5.5m) loves cricket. The only thing stopping him from playing two games a weekend will be rain. He’ll open for the 3s and the Sundays and will do a good job at it too. Don’t be surprised to see him turn his arm over for the 3s either as he chases 50 third team wickets - and as captain so nobody can tell him otherwise!
Feast or Famine
In 2019 Rob Hewer (£5.5m) scored 930 runs for the club, including 8 fifties and 5 ducks. It was very much a feast or famine season for him. The disrupted 2020 was his first year as 1s skipper, and I’m sure he’ll be looking to make his mark on the team with big runs this year.
When Sam Yeates (£5m) arrived at the club, the thoughts were he was a hard hitting batsman. It turns out he’s a very handy spin bowler too. This combination led to big scores in 2019 (highest of 147 in Gameweek 4), but also some low ones with a couple of ducks and the potential to go for runs on a small Braxted ground. A best of 6/23 in 2019 is more than a good enough reason to consider him.
Until he became chairman, there was an argument that Dicko’s best contribution to the club was bringing David Foxhall (£3m) along from his hockey club. Foxy blitzes the ball around the park whenever he plays and looks a cut above the rest, an imperious 155* for the 1s v Ingatestone his highest score. The key being when he plays, prepare for Feasts when he’s available, and famines when he’s not.
This is probably a bit harsh on Sam Bowen (£6.5m) but he’s without a 1st XI five-fer since 2018. He has taken 40 1st XI wickets since then, so could easily fit into the previous category and he does regularly take wickets with the new ball. Consider this famine one of 5-fers than wickets, as it’s very rare he won’t return! With his brother’s defection to Maldon, Sam will be looking to drag the Bowen name back into the good books with wickets & runs!
The Wildcards
My wildcards are players who are all currently in fewer than 15% of teams, and that I believe should be higher. Don’t be surprised to see these guys appear in more teams throughout the year.
It is a well known fact that when Stuart is captain, Chris Pearson (£5.5m) opens the batting and the bowling. He may have been missing for the last few years, but those hooves will undoubtedly be clipping together as Rhino comes up the hill for 10 overs straight on the first game of the season and 13% of teams have already backed him.
When James Hay (£5.5m) left to study cricket at university he was an off-spin bowler who had just taken 38 wickets and topped the wicket taking chart of 2019. Since his return, he’s been remodelled as an opening batsman, and I’m not really sure what’s going on with his bowling. There’s potential for points if he returns to the form of 2019, but in the meantime his glorious on-drive should rack up points in the 3s. Only 4% backing so far, definite opportunity for more.
When you realise Drew Whiting (£5.5m) has the highest number of ducks per innings in the club, you begin to understand why the only person to pick him so far is himself. However to Drew’s credit he scored 225 runs last year without a single duck, perhaps the tide has turned? A brutal 87* against Maldon showcased what he is capable of in the middle order and I would not be surprised to see more innings like this throughout those season.
How could you have left them out?
That’s about all I’ve got time for, but I know what you’re thinking. Pooky what are you doing leaving X out? Well this is all just my opinion - maybe I’m trying to mislead you so that I have a better chance of winning? Who knows? So I’ve given you a short list of players below, who I think could be great picks, but that I just didn’t have enough time to talk about.
Dan Quartermaine (£6m), Olly Kendall (£5.5m), Josh Chadwick (£5m), Tom Hawkridge (£5m), Rob Mutton (£5.5m), Issey Croft (£4.5m), Liam Jones (£6m), John Chadwick (£5.5m); Danny Kennedy (£4.5m), George Baron (£5.5m).
So, make sure you take your time, select wisely, and remember to use your transfer each week. A player can’t score you any points if they’re not playing! Keep an eye out for our squad lists each week which go live on Twitter and Instagram at 12pm every Friday to help.
Best of luck!
Pooky - 2nd place 2019 (after leading for 15 weeks)
