Cricket Captain 2021 review: A loyal cricket friend during lockdown

ED KRARUP reviews the latest instalment of the classic management series

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Cricket Captain has been a loyal friend to many over the past 18 months.

The game structure is engaging and asks players to dive in, whether on Windows, Mac, iOS or Android. The latest, 2021, version of the game is broadly similar to previous editions but as the saying goes: ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’.

Childish Things have improved elements of the game to make the gameplay more realistic. In shorter formats, players have a greater control over the batsman’s aggression with more bars added. The same changes have been made to bowling aggression too, with an extra level of control available.

Super Overs are the big addition to this year’s offering while international sides compete in the Test World Championship and ODI World Championship (not to be confused with the World Cup, this tournament determines who qualifies for the World Cup). Jonathan Agnew’s commentary, as ever, provides a nice touch.

The English 100 Ball Competition – whose name can’t be used in the game for licence reasons – is included as it was last year and is a helpful guide to understanding how its real counterpart works with regards to rules and restrictions.

^{More human-like decision-making by the computerised opposition is one of the big changes to the 2021 game}

The draft and domestic player contract stage is fun. As players get further into the future they really can mould their county how they like. One frustration with previous versions of the game was the availability percentage for overseas players was sometimes inaccurate, meaning players spend a big chunk of budget on an overseas star only for them to be unavailable due to international fixtures. That issue has been fixed, with an indication of whether a player will likely participate in a white-ball tournament shown.

The game has become more similar to its football management counterpart in that users tend to play a career, rather than just one tournament or competition. This is aided by the ability to switch teams both domestically and internationally so users can be offered jobs and challenge themselves in different environments.

While the fundamentals and appearance of Cricket Captain 2021 haven’t changed much in recent editions of the game, what is admirable is the attention to the small details that the user might not see or notice. Updating all player stats is a mandatory but still difficult task.

But it is improvements to the computerised opposition, making their decision-making more human, that cements Cricket Captain’s title as the most realistic cricket management game out there.

Cricket Captain 2021 is available to download on Steam for Windows, the Mac version is available through the App store or Play Store and App Store for iOS and Android