1st July & still nothing!! :(

[Scritty]

Bit of an update from us, still working hard on getting the game ready for release this month. We've been working on improving the SA/SL provincial/inflated ratings problem, so although there won't be a major overhaul for 2011 with regards to new features as mentioned before, though there are some new features, we are also trying to make sure the database is much better this year.

Reading between the lines (the comment above and the fact we are now midway thorugh July with no feature list published) I'm beginning to worry that ICC2012 might just be a database update and a 2D graphics polish.

@ Sureshot - Your comment above is as close to saying "we have no meaningful new features" as any developer gets without actually spilling the beans

Really hoping this isn't the case. There are a lot of great games around as we approach Autumn, and a £20 database update is not going to be a priority for me.

I suppose the killer will be a records/stats update or the return of the ability to import your own player photos - but that's just me with my "selfish" head on. I'd accept any positive movement as long as it was at least a meaningful and worthwhile step forward.

But a straight database update or changes so minor they add nothing/very little to gameplay, will not see me dipping into my pocket this year - for the first time ever.

Put us out of our misery SS and tell me I'm reading your post wrong.

Scritty

[Scritty]

There are some pretty exciting up and coming cricketers from the SA franchise teams, but none from the provincial competitions.

It was the best move the SACB could have made.

England with so many counties and the skillful players so diluted between them does not offer the challenge.

The way UK players get around this is by simply not playing County cricket at all.

Strauss has only played 9 county FC games since his England debut 8 years ago. That's about 1/2 a season of domestic FC cricket in 8 years.

KP has yet to play a FC game for his current county, and only played 3 for Hampshire in 4 years.

With Counties now full of old men and teenagers in the UK, the future of English cricket is very bleak.

Watching weak side "A" beat even weaker side "B" in the current round of t20 games is proving very dull viewing. You can count the number of class/possible future test English qualified players playing T20 in June 2011 on the fingers of 2 fingers.

No more pace men coming though. The first thing the commentator says every single game is;

"I think this is a pitch where you are looking to take the pace off the ball"

Oh goody.. another diet of third string spinners and second rate 72mph seamers then. They'll certainly cut the mustard at international level some day.
Batsmen can't play pace or real turn - but they don't have to.
We don't even get the cream of international players over here for the money. No Ponting, Steyn, Chanderpaul, Tendulkar, etc.

By 2016 England will be back at the bottom of the pack again after the current crop of players move on.

We should follow the SA system and trim down to 6-10 FC sides.

Scritty

[Themer]

I actually disagree completely Scritty but its off topic anyway.

[Isura]

Indeed.

Bit of an update from us, still working hard on getting the game ready for release this month. We've been working on improving the SA/SL provincial/inflated ratings problem, so although there won't be a major overhaul for 2011 with regards to new features as mentioned before, though there are some new features, we are also trying to make sure the database is much better this year.

Is there improvements to player generation? I played to 2050 with SL and they produced only 1 test class spinner in 40 years.

[Graham_5000]

@Themer

Do you disagree with Scritty about the English or the South African domestic standard?

[Graham_5000]

I watch a lot of county cricket and I think this season, the championship is a little down on overseas talent, meaning English players are not exposed to greats like they are in normal years.

There are some prospects like Finn though. I think there are more quality young bowlers in SA though.

[Themer]

I disagree with him on his points it would be for the good of English cricket to remove and of the current county sides. Especially as at the moment there are numerous good looking prospects coming through which goes against his implication that after the current crop of England players go we will suddenly be struggling.

[Sureshot]

Reading between the lines (the comment above and the fact we are now midway thorugh July with no feature list published) I'm beginning to worry that ICC2012 might just be a database update and a 2D graphics polish.

@ Sureshot - Your comment above is as close to saying "we have no meaningful new features" as any developer gets without actually spilling the beans

Really hoping this isn't the case. There are a lot of great games around as we approach Autumn, and a £20 database update is not going to be a priority for me.

I suppose the killer will be a records/stats update or the return of the ability to import your own player photos - but that's just me with my "selfish" head on. I'd accept any positive movement as long as it was at least a meaningful and worthwhile step forward.

But a straight database update or changes so minor they add nothing/very little to gameplay, will not see me dipping into my pocket this year - for the first time ever.

Put us out of our misery SS and tell me I'm reading your post wrong.

Scritty

We've already said it's not what we would call a major new version, that is no new leagues, etc. There's more than just a DB update and I think there's other features in 2011 that will go down well. Player photos isn't in this year. Wait until it's out before judging 2011 all I'm doing is trying to convey what 2011 will be. I think we'll have Features announced fairly soon.

It'll be better than 2010, whether you think we've done enough or not isn't for us to decide, but as said it doesn't really matter as we couldn't have done any more due to various restraints this year, we've not been twiddling our thumbs. In fact it would have been quite easy, I think, for us to have just said "Nope, we've got too much else on, let's just update the DB" it's one of the reasons why we are a bit later releasing this year as we wanted to make sure the features we have been working on will be in.

I think the new features are meaningful and I do think people will say "yes, 2011 is a step forward" but we are disappointed that various circumstances mean it's not going to be the major new version we wanted to release, people don't seem to think it but we do want the same things from the game you do, unfortunately it's just been one of those things that for various reasons we've not been able to implement all of them.

[dancingmongoose]

No new leagues, you must be joking!

[Scritty]

I disagree with him on his points it would be for the good of English cricket to remove and of the current county sides. Especially as at the moment there are numerous good looking prospects coming through which goes against his implication that after the current crop of England players go we will suddenly be struggling.

I'm not sure these guys (Like Hales,Chopra, Ballance etc) are really very good at all.

As for bowling. Other than the current England team, the leading bowlers this Summer are. Rikki Clark, Andre Adams, Glenn Chapple and a young guy from Northants who bowls about 77mph called Jack Brooks and maybe Harris from Glamorgam (who also bowled under 80mph when I last saw him).

I don't see any of these guys with an England future. Worse - if your a batsman with a high average then these trundlers and old men are the best bowlers you got your runs off - meaning they aren't worth that much either

With retired ex test players going to seed over here, the EWCB has swapped a lame but inoffensive Kolpak sytem for the;
English County System Retirement Home for Ancient Overseas Players

Watching Andrew Hall rumble in and be called "the class opening bowler for Northants" last night as he put another probing 72mph half volley down at some kid who couldn't hit a barn door with a banjo at the other did not fill me with hope for the future.

England may have a bigger population than many other test playing sides, but we have fewer cricket lovers than all but West Indies and New Zealand, less talent in terms of quantity and quality coming through.

A barely adequate batsman will look good and get a decent average against
the poor standard of bowling we have in County cricket. But I don't think that makes him a good batsman - just one who is lucky to be playing when English cricket is full of poor bowlers.

Woakes? An England prospect? Perish the thought!

Scritty

[ab5ides1]

@ Scritty, he did take the best ever ODI bowling figures for England.... Just saying.

[Graham_5000]

I remember the days when you would have Akram and Donald playing every year for Lancs and Warwickshire!

[Chewie]

I would argue that speed is not necessarily everything

[Chasjs]

I'm not sure these guys (Like Hales,Chopra, Ballance etc) are really very good at all.

As for bowling. Other than the current England team, the leading bowlers this Summer are. Rikki Clark, Andre Adams, Glenn Chapple and a young guy from Northants who bowls about 77mph called Jack Brooks and maybe Harris from Glamorgam (who also bowled under 80mph when I last saw him).

I don't see any of these guys with an England future. Worse - if your a batsman with a high average then these trundlers and old men are the best bowlers you got your runs off - meaning they aren't worth that much either

With retired ex test players going to seed over here, the EWCB has swapped a lame but inoffensive Kolpak sytem for the;
English County System Retirement Home for Ancient Overseas Players

Watching Andrew Hall rumble in and be called "the class opening bowler for Northants" last night as he put another probing 72mph half volley down at some kid who couldn't hit a barn door with a banjo at the other did not fill me with hope for the future.

England may have a bigger population than many other test playing sides, but we have fewer cricket lovers than all but West Indies and New Zealand, less talent in terms of quantity and quality coming through.

A barely adequate batsman will look good and get a decent average against
the poor standard of bowling we have in County cricket. But I don't think that makes him a good batsman - just one who is lucky to be playing when English cricket is full of poor bowlers.

Woakes? An England prospect? Perish the thought!

Scritty

I must've missed Cook scoring a double hundred every other game against poor division 2 attacks when he played the first few Championship games for Essex this season then.

[Themer]

Exciting bowlers: Woakes (not sure how you can't say he's a decent prospect especially after how he did against Australia and how he's gone this year in FC) , Harris, Meaker, Briggs, Shahzad, Finn, Roland-Jones, Payne
Keepers : Ballance, Bairstow
Batsmen : Stokes, Hales, Vince, Hamilton-Brown, Root, Northeast
Allrounders : Borthwick, Rashid

Obviously alot won't make it but there is definitely alot of talented youngsters holding their own out there. I'd go as far as saying England have the best group of youngsters coming through together than they've had in many years.