The Night Watchman

The first round of the Pavilion Cup is over for Season 8 and it did certainly feel a lot lower key for this author then in seasons past. Maybe because for the first time I know I won’t be playing my best side to get as far as I can; my leagues are just too [...]

I was just thinking, we have 18 nations in FTP and they can be split into continental/regional level teams. What if we had a Asia XI vs Africa XI, or American XI vs Oceania XI etc, and which region would be the strongest? Which one would win the most matches?
Oceania XI
Oceania will be represented by two [...]

Tales of the Unknown vs Roke Island XI
Pitch: Hard  Weather: Hot
Result: Roke Island XI won by 9 wickets
MOTM: Caeser Hull (4/18)
Match Ratings: TotU: 150,381 Roke: 147,150
Worthington won the toss for and chose to bowl first, on what was expected to be a tough day for the bowlers. Tales of the Unknown got of [...]

These days youths get a bad rap. The days of the $600k capable 19 year old are receding firmly into the memory of even experienced veterans and increasingly having a top quality youth set-up is seen as an extravagance that can be ill afforded. This perspective – that the youth setup does not pay its [...]

“Two Story Town”
- a study into the values of a specialist keeper in FTP (part b!)
In Part A of the wicket keeper study, we looked at the real life dilemma of using a keeper who can bat against a batsman who can keep. And how this connundrum is mirrored in FTP, mostly due to us [...]

Well, after weeks of hard fought battles only two nations remained standing in Canada who had defeated Bermuda 13-2 and the UAE who had beaten the Netherlands 7-6 in a thrilling encounter last week. There was plenty of hype and intense moments before a ball was bowled when the moderator’s of the FTP forums said they would [...]

After two days of testosterone filled cricket, angry managers debating luck and tactics, we eventually got to day three of the tournament. With India and Canada facing the possibility of elimination from the tournament AB-Daveilliers South African side faced New Zealand at the Falkirk stadium. Sri Lankan assistant Foxy voiced concerns previously about the weather [...]

Group 1
Kenya U19 vs Australia U19
Australia needed to produce a positive effort and get a result on a turning pitch in order to realistically remain in the competition. It wasn’t going to be easy against a rampant Kenyan side who were still celebrating the victory against the Kiwi’s. With the toss won the Australians set [...]

Many a time, batting first or chasing is discussed in the forums and yet never are any real consensuses reached. Some pitches are said to be better to bat first, others bowl first, but such word of mouth is often not to be trusted. So, this article will examine a number of factors related to [...]

Day 1, game 1 and the mood in the South African camp is one of cautious optimism. Any game at the start of a tournament is a slippery fish and this game was no different. Australia, New Zealand and South Africa were all tipped to finish within the top 3 in the group but all [...]