Entry now open for the GTCC Fantasy Cricket League 2022!
The Great Totham Fantasy Cricket League is back for 2022! It’s time to pick your dream team & compete to win the grand prize! To enter costs £10 per team, with 1 team allowed per player. Half entry fees will go towards the club, while the remainder will be allocated towards the prize fund. Points will only be scored for performances in our 1st, 2nd, 3rd and Sunday team league games. Unfortunately, performances in Junior Games, Cup games, and any friendlies will not count towards a player's overall score.
Just like in 2021 you've got £55m to spend on 11 players, you must pick at least 1 player from each position, and you can have a maximum of 5 batters; 5 bowlers, 3 all-rounders, and 1 wicketkeeper. Each week you will have one free transfer, additional transfers are permitted but this year the cost has increased to 25 points per transfer. If at any point in the year you want to completely change your team, you can use your wildcard. This will allow you unlimited transfers for 1 week only. Players will change in value throughout the season based on performances. Giving your more, or potentially less (but never lower than £55m) money to spend.
Choose your captain wisely, as they will score double points for you each weekend, and remember to use your Triple Captain chip, to score triple points! We've refreshed the player list this year, with 15 new players available, as well as changes to the position & price of some of the existing player list.
As there is nearly 100 players available to build out your squads with and with so many players to choose from, it only feels fair to give you a little run-down on who I think will do well this year. The cheapest players this year start at £1m, while the most expensive are a whopping £8m. I'm going to start at the bottom & work my way up.
£1m
You might wonder why on earth you'd want to buy a £1m player? Surely they must be so cheap for a reason? While there is an element to that thinking, buying a cheaper player frees up the budget to spend on your big hitters, so there are benefits to owning these players even if they won't score you as many points as a more expensive player. Of the 21 £1m players, none played regularly last season. So perhaps we should pick on potential? Jacob Brock made his Sunday debut last year & looked composed and confident before someone ran him out (wasn't me I promise); Pete Quartermaine took two wickets last season for the Sunday side, but does love a duck; meanwhile, Billy Boom (a powerful left-handed bat & handy bowler) is being touted by Joe Davis as the next big thing - could a third-team debut be on the cards? For me, one to keep an eye on is Simon Tabb. Loves a midweek T20 & used to be a regular on a Saturday. If we see him return to the league sides he'd offer brilliant value for money. (Following an update from Stuart Pearson on how much Mr Tabb is likely to play in 2022 - his price has increased to £3m!)
£2m
Much like the £1m range, but with a bit more experience. Colin Davis, once he's back from Cyprus in June may interest some, but I've got my eye on Max Clarke & Harry Gilbert. Max's unerring accuracy should bag him plenty of wickets in the 3rd XI this season, rumours of an injury to Jess Pugh may leave an opening bowling spot alongside Danny Kennedy. Harry Gilbert was much improved with the bat in 2021 and I expect that to continue - also a regular on a Sunday for those who love double Gameweek players.
£3m
At £3m you'll find club legends like Barry & Kev Mays, Peter Willingale, and current chairman Richard Dickenson. I think there will be some questions marks about how many games each of these play this year, so I'd be looking to spend £0.5m more and pick up one of Jacob Slater or Ed Vale. Ed has been impressive in winter training & over the indoor season, meanwhile Jacob showed promise last year with the bat. I expect both of those to score regular points throughout the season, with the potential for a big hall as Ed looks for his first senior Michelle Five-for, and Jacob his first senior fifty.
£4m
Some excellent value to be had at the £4m mark. 2nd XI opening bowler James Wheeler picked up the most points of the players in this bracket last year. Rumours of a full season return from Chris Pearson could see him pick up bags of points. Jess Pugh has more than doubled in price since her breakthrough season last year where she took 18 wickets, but you'd still be hard-pressed to leave her out of your side. Owen McCausland will either be 1st choice spinner in the 2nd XI, or 4th choice in the 3rd XI, but will be a regular double Gameweeker with lots of potential for points.
£5m
Anyone priced above £5m is above the average price you can spend on a player. So the more of these you want - the more budget enablers you will need! After Tom Wheeler topped the wicket charts in the 3rd XI last year he's been bumped up to the £5m mark. Expect him to have a bigger role in the 3rd XI with the bat this year too. Paul Marks come in as the most expensive wicket keeper at £5m. Dan Quartermaine has been reclassified as a batter for 2022, will we see fireworks from him in the 2nd & 3rd XIs?
£6m
Just the 4 players in this bracket, All Rounder Sam Yeates; Bowlers Olly Kendall & Jonny Hewer; and Batter Liam Jones. Questions may surround how much Liam will be available with his wedding coming up in the summer. Would not be surprised to see Olly Kendall break more records in the 3rd XI this year, fitness & age may play a part here though. The King of Braxted Sam Yeates will be consistent in the 2nd XI, but will take teams apart in the 3rd XI if he's not a part of Stuart Pearson's plans. The return of Jonny Hewer to regular Saturday cricket is also a massive boost for the 1st XI.
£7m and above
You can just about squeeze all of these players into your team, but you'd need to have 5 £1m or £2m players to fill out your squad. Joe Davis; James Pook; Harry Cooper; Ollie Cheeseman; Sam Bowen; were the top 6 points scorers last year each with over 450 points. Expect this to continue in 2022. Joe Davis & James Pook are the highest valued players at £8m. Meanwhile the dominant Harry Cooper is just behind them for £7m. How can you pick between them? Ollie Cheeseman was the club's leading wicket taker. I think the best strategy is to pick two or three of these 5, any more than that will make selecting the rest of your squad very tough.
My finals thoughts, I'm going to leave you with the players who I think will score the most points in each position:
Batter: Liam Jones (£6m)
Bowler: Olly Kendall (£6m)
All Rounder: James Pook/Joe Davis (£8m) (this one really is too close to call!)
Keeper: Paul Marks (£5m)
And the best budget enablers (<£5m) for each position:
Batter: Jack Ridge (£4.5m)
Bowler: Jess Pugh (£4.5m)
All-Rounder: Chris Pearson (£4m)
Keeper: Tim Logue (£3.5m)
Click This link to enter your team now!
Good luck & enjoy the season ahead! #GTCCFamily
