Re signing players new season

[giallo]

Hi guys
newbie question
when bidding for new players at start of new season do you re sign those that are only available for 100% of season or sign the best regardless of how available they are ?
I’m playing Leicestershire career and wanting to understand best way going through seasons.

[Wilted]

I'd never go for players with less than ~70% availability otherwise, you'd spend a good part of the season without your best team and a few extra losses can mean missing out on finals. My squad will always include a couple of backup internationals, which always have 100% availability, especially specific roles such as all-rounders and openers since they are harder to replace with domestic players.

Also before heading into the offers page, I check the international fixture to make sure my key internationals won't clash in the latter third of the season. It's no point having the best internationals in your squad if they won't play finals or return just in time for finals, but have zero form.

[giallo]

Thanks for this ! Some good info there
I have been signing two overseas players for bowling currently but reading your post regarding a good solid domestic or youth opener,they are hard to find.

[Chris_]

For overseas players lately I've been retaining 1 world class bowler and 1 batsman. Typically I sign them when they're young and just getting started at 100% availability, and if they perform well I keep them each year. Both my current pair fluctuate in availability; some seasons they're around 80%, others down at 60%. I have enough squad depth that I'm happy to cover when they're away, as they're stars when available. It's also painful when you let a star go due to availability only to see a competitor sign them and play them against you the next season! A big factor though is that as I maintain stats over my career I like to keep the same players as long as possible to try for new records etc.

I used to only sign/retain overseas players with 100% availability but that meant changing almost every year and that's not how I like to use players.

If one of my overseas stars is below 60% availability I might look at signing a backup in the 3rd overseas slot for their role, if someone with promising quality is at 100% and low salary, but usually I just use domestic players for this.

For ENG players (as I play English County) I know they're going to be away more than available, especially if they play multi-formats and have low % availability. I'm happy for them to stay in the squad as their salaries are paid but I count them as a bonus when available rather than relying on them and make sure I have enough squad depth without them.