Very high scores in Australian first class games

[Donners]

Playing as Victoria on normal difficulty, version 16.52.

I'm three seasons in, and first class scores are strikingly high.

The bowling average for my players across the three seasons is 45.71 (373 wickets for 17051 runs), and the batting average is around the same.

There were only nine results from 30 games in the competition in my most recent season (compared to 26 in the real-life competition last season).

I'm playing the same as I did in Cricket Captain 14 - nothing special, varying from 4 to 2 bars of aggression depending on the conditions and how settled the batsman is - and have decent bowlers, but scores are much higher for both sides.

From the number of draws in AI games, it seems it is not just me.

Anyone else noticed this?

[Michael H]

I've not played a save in Aus yet - are the pitches generally flat?

[Donners]

I've not played a save in Aus yet - are the pitches generally flat?

Yes, even on the fourth day they're usually no worse than two red bars.

I wonder if being day-night games has an impact too - don't often get heavily cloudy conditions.

[Sureshot]

Taking a look now, FYI I got the last 5 seasons of real life data

2015-16
5 draws in 30 matches
2014-15:
6 draws in 30 matches
2013-14
12 draws in 30 matches
2012-13:
6 draws in 30 matches
2011-12:
8 draws in 30 matches

I'm only using group matches in the above.

[Sureshot]

Chris and I have been working on the balance of this and there's an update to pitches in Australia in the patch that has just gone live on Steam.

In my testing with these changes it's now pretty close and we're much happier with this. Please give us your feedback Donners when you've had a chance.

[Donners]

Thanks for that.

I ran a new game with the patch, same team and playstyle.

Overall FC batting average of 38.44 and bowling average of 38.04.

Maybe still a bit high, and there were 14 draws in the competition.

However, that's a lot lower than the same year on my previous attempt (43.85 and 52.52 respectively, with 21 draws) and lower than two of the other three seasons which I played pre-patch.

I'll keep at it and see how it looks after a few more seasons.

[Sureshot]

I did have a 14 draws in a season too (although there were 12 in real life in 2013-14). My experience was that we're at least within a game or two (on the high-side, marginally), but the change is definitely better. It's a delicate balance.

Keep us informed, we're aware of this and want to get it as close to reality as possible. We've also idenfitied a couple of things we want to do for all domestic systems going forward with regards to this balance. Which should help everyone.

[Donners]

Sorry for the delay; I got a bit frustrated and stopped playing for a while.

I have completed four seasons with Victoria post-patch to provide a comparison with the four seasons pre-patch.

Playing on Normal difficulty, with a pace-friendly home pitch.

Results as follows:

2016 Batting pre-patch - 43.85. Batting post-patch: 38.44
2016 Bowling pre-patch - 52.52. Bowling post-patch: 38.04

2017 Batting pre-patch - 34.92 Batting post-patch: 39.92
2017 Bowling pre-patch - 39.28. Bowling post-patch: 35.37

2018 Batting pre-patch - 46.72. Batting post-patch: 38.22
2018 Bowling pre-patch - 47.50. Bowling post-patch: 39.52

2019 Batting pre-patch - 34.47. Batting post-patch: 35.17
2019 Bowling pre-patch - 43.73. Bowling post-patch: 40.84

Overall Batting pre-patch - 39.32. Batting post-patch: 37.73
Overall Bowling pre-patch - 45.24. Bowling post-patch: 38.29

There has certainly been an improvement.

However, it is still well above real life. For instance, the Victorian Sheffield Shield batting average for 15/16 was 32.58, and the bowling average was 26.13.