ENGLAND'S ONE MAN ARMY'S 
INTERNATIONAL CRICKET CAPTAIN
ULTIMATE PLAYERS GUIDE 
v1.0 September 2004
v1.1 November 2004 - Added to Player Guide, Bits and bobs update
v2.0 August 2005 - Added Captaining England guide plus changes to Player Guide
v2.1 November 2005 - Added minor details
v3.0 January 2006 - New section - Editing Help. Added some more good players.
------------------------------
Notes:
> This guide is best viewed in Notepad or a similar program with a 'Word Wrap' 
  function.
> This guide is basically a copy of all the tips, cheats, and hints along with 
  the Player's Guide which can be found on The EOMA ICC Website 
  (www.geocities.com/eomaicc) for more informationas of September 2004. 
> Updates are logged above.
------------------------------
CONTENTS:
------------------------------

1. Game Details 
2. Introduction
3. ICC Players Guide
4. Captaining England
5. ICC Best Players
6. ICC Hints and Cheats
7. Editing Help
8. Miscellaneous Observations
9. Special Thanks and Links

------------------------------
GAME DETAILS
------------------------------
Name:     International Cricket Captain 
By:       Empire Interactive 
Price:    4.99 on the Xplosiv budget release, but I bet you could get it from 
          a boot sale for about 1 
Released: 1998

------------------------------
INTRODUCTION
------------------------------

The International Cricket Captain series started way back in 1998, when 
programmer Chris Child created a program for a cricket management game. The 
first of its kind, the idea took inspiration from the highly successful 
Championship Manager series, which puts the player in the shoes of a football 
manager.

Although there had been attempts cricket games in the recent past, ranging from 
International Cricket on the Super Nes and Brian Lara Cricket on the PC, Mega 
Drive and later the Playstation, ICC was groundbreaking in that it was the 
first cricket based game to move away from the traditional arcade format.

As regards to the management format, having played Premier Manager in the 
past on the Mega Drive, I knew the potential that management games could have 
in getting the games player to become addicted. Later I moved on to Champ Man 
2, before I discovered ICC in about 1999. Being a massive cricket fan, I got 
hooked on the game straight away. The fact that the game was quite tough didn't
matter to me - I found it incredibly addictive. 

1999 also saw a sequel to the original ICC. Boasting updated features and 
statistics, it looked set to be even better. However, being only 13, I could 
not afford another 25! The next edition of ICC I bought was the 2001 Ashes 
edition for the PSX. Athough largely an improvement on past editions, I don't
necessarily think that the game suits the console format. This is mainly due 
to speed - there are quite a few loading delays, but also memory, as it takes 
up a whole memory card! On top of this, the game does not record 50's and 
100's. Overall, though, the addictive nature remains.

Since then, I've bought the same version of game for the PC. Having read 
poor reviews in Games Master and Computer and Video Games magazines, I wanted
to see if they were correct. So, I snapped it up for 10 from Game in Wigan 
in 2002. I was pleased to see that the mags were wrong, game was as brilliant
as ever. However, all the while I kept going back to the original ICC for 
the PC. The editor had given the game a new lease of life, and the Internet 
around that time was booming with ICC mods. Sites such as Cricket Games were, 
and still veritable goldmines of cool stuff, and prove that loads of people 
still love the ICC series.

--------------------------------------------
INTERNATIONAL CRICKET CAPTAIN PLAYER'S GUIDE
--------------------------------------------

> TEAM SELECTION
 
Before you start the game proper, it is firstly worth considering which team
would suit you best. If you want to go all out for the best players, then 
Surrey, Yorkshire and Lancashire are your best bets. However the last of 
these is probably the best to choose if you don't want to lose players on 
England duty too often.  
 
Of course, if you have an allegiance to a particular county in real life, 
you'll end up picking them all the time! This is not really a bad thing, as 
player team skills seem to even out the longer you play through the game.

One thing that I have noticed from playing the game is that Glamorgan 
always seem to do well, so it might be worth a go with them. 
 
> PLAYER SELECTION
 
In the end, the quality of the players of your squad will dictate the 
balance of your team. Whichever team you choose, it is worth first studying
your players' career averages. Generally, for a batsman, 40 is a good county 
and 30 is a good OD average. For bowlers, 25 or below is excellent in both 
forms of cricket.
 
Of course, these figures should be treated as a rough guide, as quality 
may only be judged on most recent performances. This is where the recent 
statistics button is useful. However, since these figures are not available 
at the beginning of a season, there is a bit of guesswork required.

The figures also do not take into account bowlers' economy rates which are 
especially important in the one-day game. These must also be analysed - 
below 4 is excellent, 4.5 is good-ish and 5 is quite poor. The figures also 
vary slightly for International cricket, where quality of opposition is 
much higher. This means a batsman with an average of 38 in the county game 
may only be able to achieve an average of 25 in the Test arena. 
 
> MATCH CONDITIONS
 
On top of this, you'll have to develop a knowledge of pitch conditions 
based on past experience. For example, if the pitch is described as in 
'good' condition at the start of a match, it's likely to break up as the 
game wears on. Therefore, it may be wise to play a spinner, or even two. 
This is particularly important on the sub-continent when touring with 
England.
 
Otherwise, it would be advisable to play to your strengths - i.e., pick
your best players. If you've got four top quality seamers, play them 
along with an all rounder for one-day games, or even a part time bowler
for first class games. Star bowlers such as Darren Gough or Dominic Cork
should be the first on the team sheet, and the rest of the attack based 
around them. 
 
Secondly, it is important to consider the state of the outfield. Usually
it starts off slow or  very slow right at the beginning of the match. 
This means it's usually slightly harder to score runs until it becomes 
faster. coupled with the outfield is the weather, which may have the 
effect of dampening it, slowing it down, or drying it out, which would 
speed it up. Therefore, if your seam attack is good, and you're confident 
that the pitch will stay in good condition for a while it may be worth 
bowling first and attacking like mad in the hope of getting some wickets.

Don't worry if you lose the toss, though, because if you manage to bat 
through the majority of the first day without losing too many wickets,
then your batsmen can make hay whilst the outfield becomes good, and 
hopefully, the sun shines.

The best batting conditions are when the pitch is good, the weather's 
sunny and the outfield is very fast. Bowlers will almost always be made to
 work hard in these circumstances, and the runs will come at a pace. 
Conversely, conditions are best for bowling when the pitch is turning, 
the weather's very cloudy and the outfield is slow. Often, winning the toss 
can be a huge advantage as the captain winning it can dictate the pace of 
the match. 
 
> BATSMEN AND BATTING
 
The team you have chosen should, ideally be be batting heavy. Otherwise,
you'll end up 75 all out with Mike Atherton stranded on 45 not out! In ICC,
every player has their own attributes including preferred scoring areas 
and favourite types of bowling to bat against. These can be useful when 
playing a more detailed version of the game. 
 
As a general skeleton of your batting line up, it may be wise to select 
two specialist openers at 1 and 2. These are more resilient players who can
 stick out the new ball bowlers for a bit. A quick note about openers, 
don't, whatever you do, put a pinch hitter like Glen Chapple or Dominic 
Cork in first like Lancs do in real life. In ICC, they usually fail, and
their form will fall as a consequence. At three, have a bit of a madman 
like Freddy Flintoff, Graham Thorpe or someone similar who'll knock a quick 
fifty before getting out. This'll give a good base for numbers four and 
five to come in and consolidate a bit.

Numbers four and five should be your best batsmen, like Fairbrother at
Lancashire, Hussain at Essex and Brian Lara at Warwickshire. These are the
crucial positions, as they  should, ideally, be your major source of runs 
throughout the season. Numbers 6 to 11 will be made up mainly of your all-
rounders and bowlers. Generally, it should be the case that from 6 onwards
that players are ordered by their batting average. You may also have to fit
your wicket keeper in here as well. The majority of keepers in the game are
pretty good batsmen with averages of around 25. Place these at 6 if you're
not playing an all-rounder. Of course, if you've got Andy Flower or Simon 
Willis, then all the better - play them higher up the order. 

All rounders can be extremely useful. Look out for young ones with ratings 
of 'Excellent' for both batting and bowling and snap them up at the end of 
the season. Then you can train them up to be very beneficial to your team. 
They may be able to dig you out of tough situations and get you a good few 
wickets. As for bowlers, don't rely on them too much for batting. Anything 
Darren Gough or Andrew Caddick may get act as bonuses (Note: some bowlers 
are quite good batsmen - look out for Peter Martin, Stuart Thomas and the 
like who sometimes achieve first class centuries!).  
 
Selection of batsmen may differ according to match conditions, type of 
match and quality of the opposition.
 
- Match Conditions

On a good or very good pitch, it may be worth selecting players with a 
preference to fast bowling because the computer team is likely to select 
mainly pace bowlers.

Conversely, when pitch conditions are 'good', it may be worth choosing 
batsmen good against spin, such as John Crawley because the computer team 
is likely to select a spin attack.  

- Type of Match

In first-class games, it is more suitable to select  more slow-scoring,
but good quality players such as Mike Atherton as there is more time 
available. In one day games, the batting line up is much more subject to
experimentation. It may be worth including a young player or two to build
up their experience levels. 

- Opposition
 
Before each game, research your opposition's batsmen. Are they much cop, or
are they in terrible form? Select your batsmen accordingly - choose
appropriate skill and experience in your team. When playing lesser
opposition such as Combined Universities or Minor Counties, you may be able
to afford to play one or two younger, rawer players to give some of your
mainstream players a rest. Watch out, though. Once I saw Scotland, and on
another instance Cheshire get through to the Semi finals of the C&G! 
 
> BOWLERS AND BOWLING
 
In ICC, bowling is much more complicated than batting. There are many 
different types of bowler which will suit different situations. However,
it's your bowlers' skills which are the first and most important factor 
in selection. Don't favour a young youth team graduate over a more 
experienced bowler, unless it is absolutely necessary. It may be a good
idea to blood your young bowlers in less crucial games. Remember, 
experience is an important factor in this game. Usually, a player will 
not pull out his best performances until he has played a certain 
proportion of matches, perhaps about ten games.

--- A good bowling attack - squad to aim for. ---
 
 Three Seam bowlers averaging under 28 for first team play. 

 Two more Seam bowlers averaging around 30. 

 One top quality spinner. (Average around or under 30) 

 One or two all rounders, perhaps a spinner. (Average around or under 30) 

 One or two youth team graduates as back up. 
-------------------------------------------------

Remember that though subject to much variation, this line-up would give you
plenty of options as well as back-up in case of crises. Of course, this is
by no means the only way to success - as you get more experienced at the 
game, you'll develop your own strategies based on the team you have 
moulded over the seasons. The bowling tips following, however, will be 
based upon the squad shown above. 

OK, down to business. Like batsmen, select bowlers on the quality of the 
pitch, and how you think the pitch may deteriorate. If the pitch is average
at the start of day one of a CC game, it may be worth bowling your spinner, 
as the track is likely to deteriorate fast. On the subcontinent, when touring 
with England, the pitchbecomes spinning by tea on the first day! Play two or 
perhaps one and a spinning batsman, such as Mike Atherton, in this situation.

If the pitch is good, you may want to play your top spinner and hope you win
the toss and bat first, thus giving him the chance to bowl on a worn pitch on
the last day. However, it may be worth selecting your spinning all-rounder 
alongside your seam attack to perform the same task. This will give your team
more batting strength in case you lose the toss and have to bat last.  
If the pitch is very good, it's a bit of a gamble as to whether the pitch 
will spin, so it's probably better to play a spinning batsman just in case. 
On the whole, though, your seamers should do the job.

Remember to link pitch conditions with the weather. A lot of sun means the 
pitch will bake and become conducive to spin. Lots of rain slows the outfield
down. When it's cloudy, bowl your seamers as they are likely to get some swing. 

Try to get a bowling attack to gel as soon as possible. If you are winning 
with a certain line-up, keep to it as much as you can. Obviously, though,
there'll be injuries and perhaps international call ups. This is where your
backup bowlers can come in handy - make sure you've got one or two top
quality bowlers and another two reasonably skilled ones, perhaps youth team
graduates. Make as little change to a winning attack as possible, though.

Don't ever discard part time bowlers such as Michael Vaughan, Graeme Hick and
Mark Butcher. They can be particularly useful at times, picking up wickets 
when you're in a hole. If you can't break a certain partnership, bring one 
into the attack and bowl at leg stump on zero aggression. You'll be surprised
at how often this actually works! Even terrible bowlers such as Graham Thorpe
and Neil Fairbrother can pick up the odd wicket every now and then using this
tactic.

In fact, in the case of Mark Butcher, you can almost play him as a fourth or
fifth seamer alongside your main bowling attack, and with a bit of training,
he can be turned into more of an all-rounder and an England regular. See the
best players page for more info on Butch and other players worth looking out
for. 

> NEW PLAYERS
 
As the game progresses, the computer generated young graduate players become
more and more important as they increase in number in the database. It's hard
to judge their potential because the new player ratings can often be vague
and variable. You can do some things to find out how good they are - mainly
sign them for a season or two to check their performance. However, there
are other little hints the computer drops - are they included in the default
line-up at the start of the season? Do they go on winter tours with England?
Are their wages quite high? (see cheats page) If so, they are likely to turn
out as good players. Ensure they constantly have a training point or two when
they're on your books. 

You can also sign young players to save money you would have otherwise used
to buy more expensive established players. Remember to sign any players under
25 on three year contracts to gain full economy on them, as their performance 
is reviewed and a new salary calculated at the end of their contract spell.
If you sign  someone on a 1-year contract, you'll have to pay them a higher
wage if you want to re-sign  them next year. Signing them on 3-year deals
means their salary stays consistent throughout their spell.

> PLAYER FITNESS AND INJURIES

In an ideal situation, you'd want to stick to a successful line-up as much as
possible. This is, however, not always possible due to players being in poor
condition and injuries. Individual player condition is ranked out of 100.
In general, the lower the number, the worse condition the player is in.
Players over 35 are more likely to sustain injuries, and likewise players
under 25 are less likely.

You can do a number of things to regulate player condition. The first, and 
most popular would be to rest a player for a spell once his condition drops
below around the 88 mark. A resting player's condition will not drop, only
rise in number. There is, however, a problem with this - beside losing one
of your squad for a match or two, in-form players can lose their form when
not playing (see player form). Bring the player back once they're up above
90.

A second method, only applied by the strongest of county sides, is squad
rotation. This generally relies on the player having a large squad with a lot
of strong players. There's nothing stopping a smaller squad trying it to a
certain extent, though - 18 players might be enough if you've got some good
players. This method requires some flexibility, as you will need to base team
line-ups on players available on a game by game basis.

Play almost your strongest squad in the first few games before the league cup
qualifiers and England one-dayers come along. This intense period in the 
season means player condition drops like mad, so keep an eye out so as it
does not  drop too much, say, under 90. Put in some weaker players against
Combined Universities etc, replacing the more tired players in your team,
and you should still absolutely batter them. In the second part of the
season, after  the league cup qualifying stages, you could develop separate
strategies and player line-ups for one-day and four day games. Going out of
the League Cup early may not be such a bad thing, as those quarter and semi
finals later on sap your squad's energy. After all, there is more financial
benefit for a good finish in the County Championship than winning the League
Cup. 

> PLAYER FORM AND TRAINING POINTS

Like condition, player form is rated out of 100. However, because form can
increase or decrease a result of playing in matches, this ranking is set to
start out at 40, which can be translated as playing at 40% of the player's
maximum potential. The lowest point this can decrease to is one, at which
point the player is totally demoralised and completely out of form. I have
seen a player's form drop to zero, but I think this is another way of
expressing form to be 100% in the game, perhaps a glitch which can come about
due to player editing in ICEd. There are two ways to increase player form.
These are training and match experience. I think training, from experience,
is more effective, especially if the player is given two training points. If
a player's form becomes very low, that is, below 25, drop them from the team
and their form will gradually increase back up to 40, even if they are not
currently assigned any training points, though this will decrease the amount
of time it takes. If a player's form climbs above 70, then it is probably a
good idea to re-assign their training points to a player in poor form.

If you are England captain, make sure that before you leave on international
duty you take any training points off your county's England players and
re-assign them to non-internationals. This way you can make the most of the
training points feature, and county players will perform better  whilst you
are away.

Of course, you'll want to pick the players who have the best form rating.
However, you should always bear in mind that a good player will always be
better than a bad player in good form. The best way to keep a balance in
your team is to take your time, make deliberate, decisive decisions
regarding squad selection and constantly check back to the training screen.
There'll always be changes to make to your training regime, so review it
every week rather than every month when the screen loads up automatically.  

> END OF SEASON NEGOTIATIONS

At the end of every season, you'll get the chance to renew and terminate
contracts and buy new players. This, as you could imagine, is as much a
part of the game as team selection, training points etc.

First up is contract renewals and terminations. Go through each player
individually, looking at their career stats, but more importantly their
current ones. If you signed someone on a three year deal and they are
consistently underperforming (eg average under 20 for batsmen, over 35
for bowlers) and have done for the last couple of seasons, it is probably
better to get rid of them. However, bear in mind that good players have
bad seasons, and injuries can decrease overall player form. If expensive
players are of no benefit to your team, they are not worth keeping.

The subject of England internationals is an interesting one. When they do 
appear in the available players pool, is it worth signing them? Well, it
varies from player to player, but my advice is if you have the money to
spare, snap them up. In some cases, due to high cost, though, you run the
risk of pinning your hopes too much on them being fit all season, and your
13 other squad players will struggle to fill the gap left by them when they
are on international duty. On the plus side, the more consistent ones can
often win you matches and get you out of sticky situations.

Overseas internationals pose a similar dilemma, as some of their asking
prices can be ludicrous. Keep away from the really expensive players as
they never perform as well as you expect. Take the example of Sachin
Tendulkar, his skill does not necessarily live up to his average.
Exceptions to this rule are South Africans Kallis and Klusener, who 
more often than not deliver the goods if not batting, then in
bowling. Brian Lara is also the best batsman in the game, but often
has an off season or two. In the 2003 database on CricketWeb, Brian
Lara lives forever! He's also English, but can play only international
cricket after he leaves Warwickshire.

In the bowling department, Shaun Pollock, Shane Warne and West Indian
pace pairing Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh usually perform well. 
However, I can't remember if it's possible, but it's worth checking
England's opponents for the forthcoming season. Don't, whatever you
do, sign an international from this nation. Don't sign Muralitharan 
after the first season, for example, because you'll pay his wages
but he'll be on international duty for all of the English season!
This means he's a waste of good money. Instead sign someone from
another country. All other nations other than England's opponents
play each other during the winter period, so you won't have this problem. 


---------------------------------------------------------------------
CAPTAINING ENGLAND - Strategies for the International Game
---------------------------------------------------------------------

The ultimate test in International Cricket Captain is leading your 
country in an International season. Here are some useful hints to help 
you through that gruelling Ashes Test and One day international series. 

Right. You've got your work cut out to get the 100 points you need to
become England captain. It'll take a while to achieve, and quite a lot
of work, but follow the Ultimate ICC players guide and your chances
will be dramatically improved. 

Alternatively, become England manager right away by entering your name
as Alec. The downside to this is that you have to be called Alec for
the rest of the game. Obviously, if your name actually is Alec, then
this is no problem at all, really. Also, it's more fun and satisfying
to earn your right to become the national captain without cheating.
Moral decisions out of the way, becoming number one in the world
rankings is no easy task. Once you've got there, however, the hard
work is mostly over and it's usually quite easy to stay there. 

Typical International Season:
-----------------------------  

Home                              Away 
Three One Day Internationals      Five Test Matches* 
Five - Six Test Matches*          Five One Day Matches 
 
*Exceptions to this guide are Tests against Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe,
which take the form of a one or three match series. One dayers are
unchanged.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Winter Tour Season 1998-1999: The Ashes
---------------------------------------
 
In ICC, the first major international tour for the England boys is
against the Old Enemy - the Aussies. Player selection will obviously
depend on current form and so on, but following is a rough guide to
a fairly successful squad. 

Batsmen:        Selection from: M Atherton (o), M May (o), M Butcher 
                (o) J Crawley, G Hick, A Stewart, E Smith (o) (younger
                backup opener), G Thorpe, N Hussain 
Wicket Keepers: One or two from: S Willis, R Russell, M Speight 
All Rounders:   From: I Austin (believe me, he's good), A Hollioake, 
                R Croft (Spinner #1)  
Bowlers: From:  D Brown (first name on sheet) D Cork, A Fraser,
                A Caddick, P Tufnell (Spinner#2), P Martin, D Gough 

Further additions to this list would be in-form players who, for
example, top the bowling or batting averages for the season, and
perhaps some good young players. However, this may be a bit too much
of a risk in the first winter tour - wait until new players have had
a season or two of county experience before they make the step up to 
international level. 

England 1st Choice XI
 
1   MA Atherton (c) 
2   MR May 
3   AJ Stewart 
4   GA Hick 
5   GP Thorpe 
6   AJ Hollioake 
7   SC Willis (Wk) 
8   DR Brown 
9   ID Austin 
10  D Gough (1) 
11  ARC Fraser (2) 

It's my experience that Atherton never does as well as you expect -
his skill level is around an average of 35 rather than 40. However,
it's still worth picking him because he's the best opener in England.
Michael May does surprisingly well too - but only for a while. He
tends to get found out against stronger international sides. Butcher,
as is well documented, can become a world class all-rounder. It might
be worth giving him the reserve opener slot just in case - don't forget
to give him a batting and a bowling training point, though. Finally, 
Ed Smith is only 20 at the beginning of the game and already has 
an average of 44. He can, with a bit of nurturing, become a mainstay
at the top of the England order. 

The England middle order can be quite weak, as was seen in the
corresponding real life Ashes series. Put Stewart in at three, as
a 'safety net' if the openers fail - in the game, he's classed as an
opening batsman. The number four slot can fall to Hick or Crawley, the
latter being more effective against the spin of Shane Warne. I suggest
Hick, however, on the count that he can stick around and make big
hundreds, so you need to give him time. Five has to be Thorpe, taking
the cake from Hussain, who misses out due to lack of experience. 
 
Number six, for tests at least, goes to Adam Hollioake. A top batsman who
can bowl a few balls as well ensures you don't go into the first Test with
just four bowlers. Seven goes to the wicket keeper who has to be Simon
Willis. May not be great all the time, and perhaps needs a bit of
experience, but I'd still be inclined to pick him on raw potential alone.
Number eight needs to be Dougie Brown, who is a top quality bowler who can 
wield a bat with some respect. Numbers 8-11 are changeable depending on 
conditions.  
 
Stick Ian Austin in at 9. He's a top wicket to wicket bowler who is very
economical. The only thing against him is lack of international experience,
but I'd overlook this. Darren Gough gets my vote at number 10 and Angus
Fraser completes the line-up. These two highly experienced, top class pace
bowlers open the attack with some force. On wearing pitches, you may want
to consider replacing Austin with Croft or Tufnell to give a spin option,
otherwise, give Atherton one or two overs if the pitch starts to turn.
 

MATCH TACTICS
 
However, it's not a cake-walk against the Aussies. From 1-11, every player
is high quality, backed up by the team averages: 
 			
					Test Averages
  Player Name		Bat   50  100   Bowl   wkts 5w 
  Matthew Elliott (o)   48.11 4   2     -      -    - 
  Michael Slater (o)    47.41 10  7     4.00   1    -
  Mark Waugh            41.33 28  11    36.32  41   1 
  Steve Waugh           49.67 34  14    36.17  80   3 
  Mark Taylor (o)       41.89 34  15    26.00  1    - 
  Ricky Ponting         38.07 3   1      4.00  2    - 
  Dean Jones            46.55 14  11    64.00  1    - 
  Ian Healy (wk)        26.98 18  3       -    -    - 
  Michael Bevan         29.73 6   0     23.30  27   1 
  Greg Blewett          40.60 7   4     69.25  4    - 
  Glenn McGrath          3.93 0   0     23.46  155  8 
  Shane Warne           14.46 2   0     23.95  264  11 
  Paul Reiffel          22.34 3   0     26.38  91   5 
  Jason Gillespie       12.29 0   0     22.20  32   2 
  Michael Kasprowicz     8.00 0   0     31.14  14   1 
 
It's best to take your time and formulate plans to each batsman or bowler
by looking at their averages, strengths and weaknesses, then assessing how
successful you have been by looking at their match stats. For example, you
might assess how good an attacking off stump line is to Matty Elliott by
looking at how many plays and misses were made. Check wagon wheels to see
where runs are being scored and set fields in accordance. In short, be
careful and use all resources at your expense. What makes a good player
great is the ability to make the right decisions in accordance to the
situation. 


BOWLING
 
A bit of good luck always helps. Hope that you win the toss more often
than not on very good pitches, but try not to panic if you don't - make
good use of the new ball by giving all your pace bowlers a go with it.
Remember to vary your attack, especially if you're struggling with Waugh
and Slater in a 200+ partnership. Check batters' preferences as you would
in county matches and keep your eye on bowlers' stamina levels - you don't
want to injure Darren Gough by bowling him into the ground. 

Use session breaks to recuperate then come back fully fit and ready to
attack for a few overs with your quicks. The batsman settled rating
decreases during breaks, and resets to nought at the end of the day.
Use this to your bowlers' advantage. There are less overs per session
in test matches so bowlers, if rotated sufficiently, should be fresher
than in county games. Constantly change from level five attack to level
zero defence, from pace to spin, and occasionally from full-timers to
part timers. 

Don't discount the value of part-time bowlers - they can be very useful
as something different at the end of a session or a day, and the better
ones can snaffle some wickets for you. Mike Atherton in the skeleton
team above would be a good spinner to bring on when things are getting
tight. He can also, as first choice spinners can, rush through a few overs
leading up to the new ball. Remember to be moderately defensive in your
field settings though, preferably in proportion to the skill of your
spinner. 


BATTING
 
Batting is hard. In many ways, it's tougher than bowling against the
hostile Aussie attack - Glenn McGrath is the ultimate miser and Warney
can turn the ball on any wicket. You ideally want to win the toss and
bat, bat bat in the Australia because the weather is superb and the 
wickets are great Test match pitches. Even if it's a bit cloudy, still
bat and get the runs on the board. The only exception is very cloudy
weather where you may want to bowl first and really attack with your
new ball bowlers and take advantage of overcast conditions. 

In Tests, defend on batting levels zero (Atherton) or one (May, Butcher
etc.) for the first hour or so to see the shine off the new ball. Pick
up the pace in the hour leading up to lunch by moving up to two batting
marks. Move one batter (Athers) back down to one mark just after lunch
and gradually raise to two when fully settled and three for half an hour
before tea. If you've still only lost one wicket, attack after tea on
two marks at first and three when settled. If a part timer comes on,
consider pushing up to three or four marks and make use of the locking
aggression feature. Ideal situation at the close of play on a good wicket
would be 260-3. 

Of course, this is assuming everything goes smoothly. Losing wickets
changes everything - look to defend on two marks until fully settled
then raise to three. Bat in partnerships with one man attacking on
three marks and one going steadily on two (preferably a less attacking
batsman). When you get down to the all rounders with an established
batsman, go as normal but look to start attacking when numbers 10 and
11, or perhaps when 9's in if you have an extended tail. This means
three or four marks. If a rabbit's in at 11, give your established
batter five attacking marks. 
 
The ultimate first innings score is 500+ which gives you loads of runs
to attack like mad for a bit. This doesn't happen often against
Australia, though - perhaps once a series if you're lucky. In my
experience, 375 puts you in a good position providing you deliver in a
solid bowling performance. Don't worry too much if you only get 300, but
definitely worry at 200 or less. Batting first means you can apply 
the pressure bowling on the final day if the match goes that far. 
 
Same principle applies batting in the second innings - but be careful not
to collapse as often happens when playing quality test sides.
If you lose a couple of quick wickets, consolidate for a while defending
and increase aggression only when settled. Treat your tailenders as the
rabbits they are and keep them at oneor two aggression marks - never go
up to three unless you want to perish! A good second innings score is hard
to judge - remember not to be rash and don't be too disheartened with a
second innings lead of just 200. Don't forget your opponents will have to
bat on a 4th or 5th day pitch which is usually spinning. 


INJURIES
 
Injuries can be killers with regards to your team performance. When on
tour with England, it's not too bad, with reasonable breaks in between
Tests. Usually all players are at 100% fitness level for every game
due to week long rests. However, thoughtless over-bowling and long
batting stints mean injuries can, and often do, occur though with a lot
less frequency than in county games. Maximum injuries at any one time
usually limit to two, but this can still be greatly detrimental to your
team. Try to replace like for like if you can - opener for opener,
batsman for batsman, keeper for keeper etc. to attempt to achieve
some sort of consistency. This means it's all the more important to
select the right men in your touring squad. Ian Austin can be replaced
with Cork and vice versa, Willis for Russell, Gough for Caddick etc.
However, the occasion may warrant the selection of inexperience as the
most preferable option. Don't worry too much about this but try and
protect them a bit because you're not sure of their potential. 
 



---------------------------------------------
BEST PLAYERS IN INTERNATIONAL CRICKET CAPTAIN
---------------------------------------------

Who is THE best player in International Cricket Captain? Well, the
answer is that it doesn't really matter. The point is that you should
have a whole team of good players in order to achieve. After all, it's
no good having Brian Lara when all of your other batsmen average under 
25. Following is a list of the best players in ICC using the default
database which I have experienced. Also available on the EOMA ICC Site
- examples of career stats taken from games I have played.
 

Mark Butcher (Opening Bat). Usually available at start of 2nd Season.
             Will become consistent performer for your team if trained.
             Can bowl also. Quite cheap  

Alex Tudor   (Bowl). Another one available early. Good young player -
             can be trained up to be a good strike bowler.  

Dimitri Mascarenhas (Bowl). Similarly to Tudor, a good young player 
             who can be trained to average about 25.  

Ashley Giles (Bowl). Good bowling all-rounder. Available 3rd-4th season
             if at all. Never gets picked for England.  

Scott Willis (Keeper). Snap this guy up when you can! Best English Keeper
              - have two back-ups though - often called up.

Paul Nixon (Keeper). Good keeper, still quite young. Becomes available
             quite late on, though.  

Owais Shah (Bat). Can be used as a decent back-up batsman when players
             are called up. Quite cheap, too. 

Ben Hollioake (All-rounder). The younger of the Hollioake brothers,
             and the better bowler of the two. Good young acquisition.
             RIP, mate. 

Adam Hollioake (All-rounder). Tougher to get, the batting Hollioake
             usually becomes an England regular. One of best batsmen
             in England.   

Scott Ellis (Bowl). Ah yes, now down to the business! Ellis becomes a
             quality player - get 'im as soon as you can! 
 
John Crawley (Bat). Hard to get unless you're Lancs. Quality player.
             Be warned, though, may become an England regular!   

Jimmy Ormond (Bowl). Any bowler who can achieve more than 1000 wickets
             in a career could certainly be classed as successful.
             Buy him ASAP 

John Lewis (Bowl). Similar to the bowlers mentioned above, Lewis often
              becomes one of England's best bowlers.   

Dougie Brown (Bowl). Has potential to be England regular. Bats as well,
             getting you out of some tough situations. 
 
Ed Smith (Opening Bat). Begins the game with an average of 40. Best
             opener in England? Averages 35ish over his career. 


>OVERSEAS PLAYERS

Brian Lara (bat). The best batsman in the game. A bit expensive, 
             but worth it. Warning: tends to have one or two off seasons. 
 
Matthew Elliott (Opening Bat).  Best overseas opener in the game. 
             Consistent. Quite reasonable wage. 
 
Ricky Ponting (Bat) The second best batsman in the game? Along with 
             Bevan. Doesn't come along often, though. 
 
Andy Flower (Keeper). Brilliant batsman and keeper. Excellent addition 
             in at number six in the order. 
 
Dale Benkenstein (All-Rounder). Becomes available quite early. Use 
             mainly as batsman who bowls a little bit for best results. 
 
Jacques Kallis (All-Rounder). If he doesn't perform with the bat, he'll
             have a good match with the ball. Very useful, but a bit 
             expensive.   

Lance Klusener (All Rounder).  Like his countryman Kallis, useful with
             both bat and ball. Gives you extra batting strength and a
             world class bowler.   

Sean Pollock (All Rounder). Very good bowler who can get you a few runs
             also.    

Shane Warne (Bowl). Leg spinners have an advantage in ICC. Warne can get
             you wickets on any track, not just turning ones 


Other good players to look out for:
 
Kevin Dean Bwl
Will Kendall Bat
Zachary Morris Bwl 
Phil Weston Bat 
Melvyn Betts Bwl
Alamgir Sheriyar Bwl 
Ian Sutcliffe Bat 
J Hewitt Bwl 
Glen Chapple Bwl 
Vikram Solanki A/R 
S Stubbings Bat 
Kevin Dean Bwl 
Chris Silverwood Bwl
Dougie Brown Bwl
Mal Loye Bat
Ronnie Irani A/R 
Robert Croft A/R 
Ian Austin A/R

Worst Players in International Cricket Captain
 
There's a number of players in ICC that are simply not worth bothering
with - don't even try to train these guys up! Often they'll only achieve
moderate averages, so only use them as backup if totally necessary.

AM Dobson Bwl
MJ Hoggard Bwl
Depesh Patel Bwl
Floyd Reifer Bat/Wk
Jamie Grove Bwl
James Averis Bwl
Martin Saggers Bwl
Andy Flintoff Bat
   
--------------------------------------------------
HINTS AND CHEATS FOR INTERNATIONAL CRICKET CAPTAIN
--------------------------------------------------

CONTENTS:

Win the toss every time
Be England Captain from start
Go 'keeperless
Super Players
The ICC Editor
When All else fails...
Judging Player Ability
Make them declare
Judging Player Ability No.2
Judging Player Ability No.3

---------------------------------------

 Win the Toss Every Time 
This is probably a bug in the game which was unnoticed in testing. You
can choose whether you want to bat or bowl at the toss screen by pressing
[Enter] or [Escape] respectively. 

 Be England Captain From Start 
Not really a cheat, cos it's in the manual, but anyway, you can take on
the England captaincy immediately by starting a new game and entering
'Alec' as your name. 

 Go 'Keeperless 
Try this out. In a one-day game, play a specialist batsman as a wicket
keeper. It may sound strange, but it kind of works - they never concede
byes or drop catches! This is particularly useful later on in the game
when there is a distinct lack of wicket keepers around. Note: this doesn't
work in first class games, you just get smacked about. 

Update: I have since discovered that this only works in Auto-played one
day matches. At the time of writing this cheat I was assessing the
effectiveness of the auto-play option.

 Super Players 
A bug in the game has lead to a rather strange phenomenon commonly known
as 'Super Players'. These dudes rock, because they never get out except
for run outs. Almost always taking the form of a wicket keeper, they can
be distinguished by their stupidly high batting averages and not out rates.
Personally, I don't like them, because it takes the fun out of building
up a player's skill level. However, it is worth keeping an eye out on the
new players screen for wicket keepers. You never know... Alternatively,
you could simply download a game with a super player from
www.cricketweb.com, or create one using the ICC Editor! 

 The ICC Editor 
It's a cheater's paradise! ICEd allows you to change in game details
such as player names and dates of birth, career stats and base ability.

Transfers can be made and player nationalities changed. You can
even create super players! Download The ICC Editor now from the
EOMA ICC Site.

 When All Else Fails... 
In the close season, you may not be happy with the outcome of some of
the contract negotiations. It is possible to go through this process
again by switching the computer off before the 'saving game state' box 
appears prior to the playing of the winter matches. This is also useful
in that any players who retired at theend of the season will be back in
your team, and may not retire this time round! 

 Judging Player Ability 
Aside from averages, it is possible to see how good a player is by looking
at a player's expected wages. Over 40,000 is Good, 50,000 is very good
and 60,000 or more is awesome. In new graduate players, 22,000 is very
good, 24,000 is excellent whilst 15,000 is utter garbage. 

 Make them declare 
Got this one from the PC Gamer tips section of the Cricket Games site.
Works quite well, too - can turn a certain draw into a win. If you're
bowling on the final day of any first class match, bring on a crap bowler.
It might sound a bit contrived, but usually the computer will declare after
carting them around a bit! This can be to your advantage - do it when the
opposition's about 100 runs ahead for a chance to win. 

 Judging Player Ability No. 2 
Following on from the looking at player wages tip, check at the beginning
of a new season the default line up suggested by the computer. I don't know
if this is always your best team line up, but if a new player is included
in the squad, then it's worth developing him. I once discovered a 21-year
old batsman who went on to make a double century and an average of about
42 in his first season using this tip. 

 Judging Player Ability No. 3 
The 'Excellent' new player rating seems to be subject to much variation.
It seems to me from playing the game that the better a squad is performing
as a team, the higher quality young graduates are likely to be. Whilst
it's not possible to check which county people in the new players pool
come from, you can be pretty sure that if you completely dominate a season
winning most things, you're going to produce one, or even two excellent
rated graduates. 

--------------------------------------------------------
Editing Help
--------------------------------------------------------

--------------------------------------------------------
EOMA INTERNATIONAL CRICKET CAPTAIN
--------------------------------------------------------
EDITING TIPS			     v 1.0 January 2006
--------------------------------------------------------

- When altering data in files, remember to back them 
  up first. If this fails, you can always reinstall 
  or copy original files back from the ICC installation 
  disk.

- All of these editable files can be found in the 
  directory where you installed ICC, most probably:
  C:\Program Files\Empire Interactive\
  International Cricket Captain.

--------------------------------------------------------
PLAYER PHOTOS
--------------------------------------------------------

- Remember to save in the appropriate format, that is, 
  256 colour bitmap. Other formats cause the game to 
  crash or the image to be scrambled.

- There are, in general, two ways to edit player photos:

 i}You can use an image editor to create a new one or 
   replace or edit existing ones. Image Size: 60 x 70 
   pixels, 256 colour bitmap. Save to the Photos file
   within the ICC directory in the format:
   PLAYER SURNAME (SPACE) PLAYER INITIALS
   eg. Read CMW.bmp

ii)Use the ICC Editor to select a new photograph for a 
   particular player. Choose from the database the
   player you wish to change the default photo for
   then select [Photo...]. Select the new photo using 
   the browser.

- For player photos, you can generally get a better 
  quality of image if you sacrifice colour and go for 
  greyscale. You can achieve this through way of an 
  image editor such as Photoshop. 
  (Image>Mode>Greyscale)

- Note: it is also possible to edit the default new 
  player photo. This can be found in the gfx folder of 
  the ICC directory.

--------------------------------------------------------
GROUNDS
--------------------------------------------------------

- It might be a good idea to darken the desired image 
  so that the white text shows up better on top of it 
  in the game.

- To change the default international venues, select
  the new international ground photo from the Ground
  folder in the ICC directory, download a new one from
  a website or choose one you have made yourself and
  replace the files named 'England1', 'England2' etc.
  You can also do this for any of the other
  international grounds (West Indies, Australia etc.)

- I think that the number following the country name 
  indicates the order in which the grounds are used.
  For example, If Old Trafford is 'England1', then the
  first Test match in a home series is always played
  there. Not 100% sure on this though.

- You can also add new grounds for teams not already
  represented in the grounds folder. 
  It is possible to create a new ground photo, for 
  example, for Holland and name it Holland.bmp within 
  the Grounds folder. This background will now show up
  when you play Holland away in the cup. Try not to 
  put too many images in your Grounds directory, 
  however.

--------------------------------------------------------
EMBLEMS/BACKDROPS
--------------------------------------------------------

- Pretty much the same principle as with editing player
  photos and grounds, be wary to save the emblems as
  256 colour bitmaps when you're done, however.

- It is possible to edit in-game backdrops, opening up
  a wide range of possibilies for new game design. 
  These do, however, take a little more time to design
  well.

--------------------------------------------------------
NAMES
--------------------------------------------------------

- It is possible to edit the default names files within 
  the game. These are the files used when the game 
  generates names for new players, and are listed as 
  follows:

  = Name =         = Description =
> f_eng.lst        First names for new English,
		   Australian, West Indian Players.
> n_eng.lst        Surnames for new English, Australian,
                   West Indian, New Zealand and 
                   Zimbabwean players.
> n_ind.lst        Surnames for Indian Players.
> n_pak.lst        Surnames for Pakistani Players.
> n_sa.lst         Surnames for South African Players.
> n_sl.lst	   Surnames for Sri Lankan Players.
> n_wi.lst	   Surnames for West Indian Players.

- To edit, simply open the desired file in a text editor,
  Notepad is probably best. Replace existing names with 
  new ones.

- The number at the head of the file is the number of
  names listed within it. The game will probably crash
  or irregularities may occur if these don't correspond,
  but I don't know because I haven't tried it.

---------------------------------------------------------
ICED - The ICC Editor
---------------------------------------------------------

- ICEd allows you to change many aspects of the game.
  Here are some tips to help you out.

- Seriously think about using the 'Copy From...' button
  when assigning skill levels to players as the pre-
  defined skill levels (Good, Excellent etc.) are very
  unreliable. They keep making players super batsmen,
  which is not what you want when making serious
  databases.

- When creating a new database, do not change any county 
  names. This will cause the game to crash at the team
  selection screen. You will need to edit the eng98 file
  in order to do this. You also cannot create databases
  from saved games (.cap files).

- Replacing a player's photo overwrites the existing one
  saved the photos file, so remember to back up first.

- For some reason, the default database has missed out 
  some player nationalities, resulting in them not being 
  present in the game. They are all overseas players, 
  found in the other section and are listed as follows.

  = Name =	        = Nation =
> GB Hogg	   	Australia
> AM Stuart		Australia
> DN Erasmus		Zimbabwe?
> TR Gripper		Zimbabwe
> DJR Campbell		Don't Know
> ACI Lock		Don't Know
> S Kip			Don't Know (Sweden?)
> SH Armstrong		Don't Know
> Theo Blake		West Indies?

- Some players have no assigned Nation, but play for a
  county. These are:

 = Name =		= Nation =
> TH Hansen		Sweden
> JAR Blain		Scotland (already assigned)
> AP Van Troost		Holland

- These players disappear from the database after their
  county contracts expire. To keep them in the game, 
  assign them a Test Nation nationality (eg England).

- Assigning a player to play for a minor county does not
  mean they go to play for them. In fact, they disappear 
  from the database. If you want to create a player for
  say, Scotland, first sign a Scotland player to a county
  using the club information window. Next, assign the 
  player the desired attributes. The player is not
  eligible to play for England unless you set his country
  to this now. You don't have to, but deleting him from
  the database now (set club and country to nothing)
  means he still plays for Scotland.

- Some photographs, from my experience, are not backwards 
  compatible. This means photos made for ICC 2002 will
  become scrambled when used in earlier versions. Correct
  me if I'm wrong. 

- Set a player's county contract to 20 and they will never
  leave a club, that is, unless you terminate their 
  contract in the game. 

------------------------------------------------------------
USING ICED TO CHEAT
------------------------------------------------------------

- To sign an overseas player for more than a year, first
  sign the player you want in the negotiations. Play the 
  winter matches. Now exit and load up the saved file in
  ICEd. You can now change the player's contract length to
  be as long as you like.

- Leg spinners are rare in ICC. This is because they have
  a slight knack of being more successful than 'regular'
  bowlers. With the editor, you can assign as many as you 
  want.

--------------------------------------------------
Miscellaneous Observations
--------------------------------------------------
 
ICC is a very detailed game. There's hundreds of different calculations
taking place all the time, and lots of things to say about the game. Here's
just a few of the things I noticed whilst playing ICC... 

Overseas players figures - have you ever noticed how some overseas
bowlers have really high bowling averages later on in the game? Personal
bests are mad as well - Olonga 9-342, Vorster 9-369 etc etc etc. Must
be some sort of bug in the random score generation.

Why oh why oh why is there a serious shortage of wicket keepers in this
game? It's not just in England but abroad as well. In the end, keepers
are a rarity and scores seem to skyrocket with byes. To solve this problem,
I have created an EOMA Wicket Keeper Database, which is available now from
the EOMA ICC Site. (www.geocities.com/eomaicc)

Since I first wrote the above comment, I came across a situation on one of
my saved games where in about the season 2015 ten new wicket keepers
became available in one year. And they were all rated 'excellent'! This
is probably a script written into the game's code which regulates the
number of English Wicket Keepers. found this strange because this had
never happened to me before in the game. As it turns out, none of the
keepers were super batsmen (see below), but they were actually pretty
competent.

Whilst playing ICC, I have never come across a 'super batsman' which
occurs 'naturally' during the course of a game in an English season.
However, they definitely do exist. When you get to about 2015, check out
the list of players' averages, looking out especially for West Indian
wicket keepers. You may find some with stupidly high averages and 15
hundreds in 20 innings.
 
At the start of the game, you'll notice that the minor counties teams,
Ireland, Scotland and Holland never win in the cup games, at all. Well,
this tends to change as the game wears on. As I mentioned in the
player's guide, I have seen Scotland and Cheshire advance as far as
the semi finals of the league cup. That's just mad! The cause of this,
however, can be easily predicted - in most cases it is due to major
county teams becoming worse. Teams which consistently fail to win
anything will be left with little cash, and so are unable to buy any
players of substance. As a result, their rubbishy youth team graduates
are no match for the experience of the Combined Universities!

------------------------------
SPECIAL THANKS AND LINKS
------------------------------

Thanks to Stejinz for his help and support of the EOMA ICC site.
Thanks to Cricket Games and Cricket Web for reference points to check 
the hints and tips.

www.cricketweb.com - Cricket Web - all things to do with cricket, including
scorecards, photos and cricket related games.

http://forum.cricketweb.net/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=30&f=21 -
ICC Forum page at CricketWeb

www.cricketgames.com - Cricket Games - Hints, tips, reviews and downloads
for cricket related games.

www.cricinfo.com - Wisden Cricinfo - Ultimate cricket site with archives,
news and tons of other stuff.

www.cricket-online.org - Live scores, stats, news and more
www.ECB.co.uk - Official site of the English Cricket Board. 
www.howstat.com - Superb source of cricket related statistics. 
www.news.bbc.co.uk/sport  BBC Sport - Latest news, plus hundreds of photos. 
http://cec.wustl.edu/~rhl1/accc/ - Armchair cricket championship! Cool game. 
www.sportinglife.com/cricket - Latest news and scores. 
www.cricketarchive.co.uk - Cricket based statfest! 
www.canadacricket.com - Cricket in the maple leaf country. 
www.channel4.com/cricket - Get jargon busting with Simon Hughes. 
www.cricketeurope.org - Cricket news from all around Europe. 
www.cricnet.com  Sky Sports Cricket Site.

Other Sites designed by Kej Products:

www.geocities.com/stejinz - Kej's Games Hell - Cool games to download.
http://lightningseeds.batcave.net - Guitar chords for Lightning Seeds 
                                    Songs
(Note: above site is still available at this address, but for a better
version visit: www.geocities.com/seedschords)

www.totallyhonest.batcave.net - Stejinz's mad comedy sketch show site.

www.geocities.com/lowrystudy - A College Art Project.

--------------------------------------------------
ENGLAND'S ONE MAN ARMY'S 
INTERNATIONAL CRICKET CAPTAIN
ULTIMATE PLAYERS GUIDE 
v2.1 November 2005
------------------------------
Written By Dan Farrimond
------------------------------
E-Mail Dan, England's One Man Army at eomaicc@yahoo.com
www.geocities.com/eomaicc for more information
------------------------------
