A handy tool for helping fantasy cricket managers identify runs of games for their fantasy players.
Sunday 12 April 2009
Wednesday 1 April 2009
IPL 2009 Preview: Deccan Chargers
One of the favourites in IPL 2008 but disappointed and ended up with the wooden spoon. Installed as the rank outsiders this year. Really tough to recommend any of their players. maybe Symonds if he does not go off with Australia and stays for the duration, and Sharma and Gilchrist are around 3-1 to take batting honours for Deccan Chargers.
Key Players: Rohit Sharma, Adam Gilchrist, Herschelle Gibbs, Andrew Symonds
Ins and Outs: Deccan Charges Ceased all ties with Shahid Afridi and placed Gibbs up for sale, who was unsold. They released former India all-rounder Sanjay Bangar, and signed Queensland all-rounder Ryan Harris due to Darren Lehmann. In the auction, the Deccan Chargers bought Fidel Edwards for $150,000, and Dwayne Smith for $100,000. They also added six new domestic players, T.Suman and Abhinav Kumar are two batsmen,bowler S.M.Shoaib from the Hyderabad, team signed after their consistent performances on the domestic circuit, M.S.Bisla, a Wicket-Keeper from Himachal Pradesh and two fast bowlers from Punjab, Jaskarandeep Singh and H.S. Bansal.
Batsmen
Chamara Silva retired as a Sri Lanka interntional and only 29. Right handed aggressive middle order batsman and avereged around 30 in ODI.
Herschelle Gibbs 35 year old South African and was the first player to hit 6 sixes from one over in any form of International cricket. The hard hitting right hander has also been known to enjoy the odd betting and smoking scandal.
V.V.S.Laxman Indias' Very Very Special right handed bat averages around 30 in ODI. Plays well against spin due to his supple wrists. A point which may've been broached by Afridi last season when stripped of his captaincy.
Venugopal Rao Young Indian one dayer. Along with Sharma, was one of the few successful Deccan Chargers players of IPL 2008. Made 365 runs in 14 innings, containing 3 fifties at a strike rate around 125. Also hit 16 sixes and 26 fours in last seasons the tournament.
Rohit Sharma 21 year old Indian ODI and already with more than 37 games under his belt since 2007. Averages around 28 as a middle order batsman. One of the leading run scorers in the 2008 IPL season with 404 runs at an average of 36.72.
T.Suman Indian dmestic all rounder.
Abhinav Kumar Right handed Indian domestic batsman.
Dwayne Smith hard hitting right-handed batsman and bowls medium pacers. Probably the most nimble of the West Indians in the field. ODI averages are 15 with the bat and 37 with the ball.
Scott Styris 33 year old New Zealand short format specialist. An all rounder in his 2nd year of a 3 year contract with the Deccan Chargers.
Ryan Harris Common garden variety Australian domestic player. Signed at request of Lehman.
Wicket Keepers
Nuwan Zoysa Thirty something Sri Lankan left handed seamer averaging around 30 in ODI, and like, Vaas, an aggressive lower order batsman.
Pragyan Ojha Some have stated that the Chargers' spinner Pragyan Ojha will be their major asset because of his recent performance in all forms of the game. Averaging around 19 with the ball in Twenty20.
M Sarveesh Kumar 20 year old Indian medium pacer.
H.S.Bansal Newly acquired quick Indian paceman.
Jaskarandeep Singh Another newly acquired Indian pace bowler.
P. Vijay Kumar Young Indian domestic bowler.
S.M.Shoaib Newly signed Indian bowler who's been talked up on several Indian blogs.
D.Kalyankrishna Indian right arm medium fast bowler who's also a useful batsman down the order.
Labels: Fantasy Cricket, Indian Premier League, IPL 2009
IPL 2009 Preview: Royal Challengers Bangalore
One To Watch: Jesse Ryder
Kevin Pietersen (Captain) England international attacking right handed switch hitter. Averages 46 in ODIs and the most expensive player in IPL who could be more expensive if he calls himself up to bowl some spin as he did when England captain. Will miss games due to England committments.
Robin Uthappa Right handed batter who made the highest score of any Indian debutant (86) in his first ODI. Averages 42 with the bat, and 27 with his usual medium pace in ODI.
Ross Taylor Useful New Zealand right handed bat averaging 38 in ODIs.
Jesse Ryder New sensation and explosive opener for New Zealand in ODI already averaging 40 with the bat. Bowls some useful medium pace and has the potential to be a huge hit in IPL 2009 if he stays off the Castle.
Wasim Jaffer 31 year old Indian right handed opener.
Manish Pandey Indian U19 middle order batsman.
Wicket Keepers
Mark Boucher Veteran South African keeper who has conditions to suit.
Shreevats Goswami Indian U19. Hard to see getting a game with a fit Boucher.
All Rounders
Jacques Kallis Veteran South African all rounder with a batting average of 45 in ODI. Named leading cricketer in the world in 2008. Hopefully he can improve his stats at home, without sacrificing his team.
Dillon du Preez Saffer domestic bowling all rounder who averages around 18 with the bat and 24 with the ball.
Roelof van der Merwe South African domestic player and short format specialist. Bats in the middle and delivers right arm spin.
Cameron White Australian short format specialist averaging 24 with the bat and 30 odd with the ball in ODI. His legspin is no longer effective, and considered more of a batting allrounder.
Virat Kohli Aggresive middle order Indian U19. Chucks it down medium pace.
Praveen Kumar Indian bowling all-rounder who's seen his medium pacers user in 23 ODIs.
Balachandra Akhil
Bowlers
Dale Steyn out-and-out fast bowler capable of swing bowling at speeds in excess of 150 km/h. ICC 2008 Test Cricketer of the Year with a bowling average around 29 from 25 ODI for South Africa. The bookies favourite to take most wickets in IPL 2009.
Nathan Bracken Left arm swinger and veteran of over 102 ODI for Australia concedding just 22 per wicket on average.
Anil Kumble Veteran spinner and former Indian captain. Retired from internationals in 2008.
Tinu Yohannan Indian domestic player who's got 3 tests and ODIs under his belt and an expensive rate.
Ranganath Vinay Kumar Indian domestic medium pacer who's also useful with the bat.
Pankaj Singh Indian quickie who plies his trade in the domestic league.
Labels: Fantasy Cricket, Indian Premier League, IPL 2009
IPL 2009 Preview: Kolkata Knight Riders
Ricky Ponting Ozzie captain with over 10,000 test and 11,000 ODI runs. A living legend and won nearly everything going. Not expected to play after ruling himself out in order to devote time to the Australia squad.
Brad Hodge is another Australian international who's a right handed middle order batsman and useful off spinner at domestic level.
Aakash Chopra Thirty something 10 time former Indian opener. Hard to imagine how he'll go with his very defensive batting style. Maybe he'll sign copies of his book between overs.
Debabrata Das Promising U19 Indian right hander.
Cheteshwar Pujara Another promising young Indian right hander. Hit 3 triple centuries within a month during the domestic season.
Wicket Keepers
Brendon McCullum Aggressive batter who opens for New Zealand in one dayers. Smacked the worlds biggest ever Twenty20 score of 158 not out in the opening match last season.
Morne van Wyk 30 year old who'se played 6 ODI for South Africa.
Wriddhiman Saha Young Indian domestic player who featured 12 times in 2008 IPL.
All Rounders
Sourav Ganguly(Captain) KKR captain and icon player. Over 11,000 runs and 100 wickets in international one dayers for India. Lost his shirt at Lords.Laxmi Ratan Shukla late 20s Indian domestic player with 3 ODI caps. Steady middle-order batsman and medium-pace bowler.
Chris Gayle The West Indies captain bats left handed and bowls right arm spin. Averages 41 with the bat and 33 with the ball in ODI.
Mortaza The Narail Express is a bowling all rounder and star in the Bangladesh team.
David Hussey Australias' Little Mr Cricket scored 319 at 29 in his first IPL season. More of a batsman, and his off-break bowling has been expensive in the past.
Moises Henriques Born in Madeira, Portugal, and moved to Oz. A genuine all rounder and considered to be one of the best young talents in Australian cricket. Made his debut for Oz in a T20 game earlier this year and signed for $650,000.
Angelo Mathews Young Sri Lankan batting all rounder.
Ajit Agarkar Quick bowling all rounder with 190 odd ODI for India.
Iqbal Abdullah
Sachin Rana
Bowlers
Ajantha Mendis Young Sri Lanka international spinner who won the 2008 Emerging Player of the Year award at the LG ICC Awards. Should be utilised to the max after being overlooked last season.
Ashok Dinda Indian domestic bowler and returned some of the most economical bowling in last years IPL.
Murali Kartik Indian left arm spinner with a bowling average of 44 from 37 ODIs. Not the most economical. Also a useful low order batsman for Middlesex at county level.
Ishant Sharma Young Indian Fast bowler with 17 tests and 27 ODI under his belt. On the rise, and Kolkata Knight Riders will be hoping he comes up trumps with the ball.
Charl Langeveldt 34 year old ex Saffer international with his best days behind him. Should find the going easier at home.
Mohnish Parmar
Labels: Fantasy Cricket, Indian Premier League, IPL 2009
IPL 2009 Preview: Mumbai Indians
Key Players: Sachin Tendulkar, Sanath Jayasuriya, Duminy and Dwayne Bravo
Batsmen
Sachin Tendulkar(Captain) Iconic Indian right handed batsman. Probably the greatest batter ever. Averages over 44 for ODI, and opens the batting for Mumbai Indians. Third favourite with the bookies to take top batting honours for IPL 2.
Jean-Paul Duminy Top order South African averaging 37 in ODIs. Should find home conditions to suit. Occasionally bowls some off break.
Mohammed Ashraful Bangladesh top order batsman and will need to prove himself after being signed for IPL 2 this season.
Shikhar Dhawan Indian domestic player who was signed from Delhi Daredevils.
Saurabh Tiwary Indian U19er who bats in the middle.
Jaydev Shah Indian domestic player who's a new singing for Mumbai Indians.
Ajinkya Rahane
All Rounders
Sanath Jayasuriya Opens with Tendulkar and veteran of over 400 ODI games for Sri Lanka and probably the greatest ODI player ever. Will age finally catch up with the Master Blaster.
Ryan McLaren Fringe South African squad member. Took a hat trick in the English Domestic Twenty20 cup last season. Should find his home conditions to suite.
Dwayne Bravo West Indian genuine all rounder in his second season with Mumbai Indians. Averages 24 with the bat and goes for around 30 with the ball.
Graham Napier England domestic player plying is trade with Essex. Specialises in short format, and came out of no where in the 2008 season, breaking nearly ever Twenty20 batting record going. Can he keep it up? The England selectors don't think so.
Kyle Mills Pacey New Zealand right armer who can score quick runs at the end. New acquisition for the Mumbai Indians this season, and they paid $150,000 for his services.
Abhishek Nayar Hard hitting Indian domestic player. Bowls medium pacers.
Jude Singh
Wicket Keepers
Pinal Shah Indian U19 keeper. Occasionally opens the batting, but prefers to be lower down the order.
Luke Ronchi 2nd choice Ozzie wicketkeeper despite being born in New Zealand. Has ability to score runs quick, and will be interesting to see how often he fills and non-Indian spot.
Yogesh Takawale
Bowlers
Harbhajan Singh Indian spinner with over 185 ODI conceding around 32 runs per wicket. Well favoured at betting rank 3 to take top bowling honours.
Zaheer Khan Thirty something Indian left arm fast medium who can swing it both ways. Over 200 ODI wickets at an average of 26 runs per wicket and holds the test record for batting at 11. Around third favourite to take top bowling honours in IPL 2.
Lasith Malinga 25 year old Sri Lankan fast slinger completes an awesome bowling attack for the Mumbai Indians. Averages 25 in ODI.
Dilhara Fernando Another Sri Lank quickie with over 130 ODI averaging around 30 per victim.
Dhawal Kulkarni Indian domestic quickie.
Rohan Raje
Chetanya Nanda
Rahil Sheikh
Labels: Fantasy Cricket, Indian Premier League, IPL 2009
IPL 2009 Preview: Delhi Daredevils
2008 semi finalists and should go close again with the introduction of the big hitting Warner. Icon player Virender Sehwag has been huge in the recent tour to New Zealand. A heap of batting in the Daredevils side. Probably why the bookies have installed them as second favourites this time around.
One to Watch: David Warner.
Ins and Outs: One of their best players from IPL 2008, Shikhar Dhawan, was transferred to Mumbai in place of Ashish Nehra. Pakistans Asif and Shoaib Malik will not play in IPL 2009. Englishmen Paul Collingwood and Owais Shah are the new faces in the team.
Batsmen
Virender Sehwag (Captain) and Icon player. 30 year old Indian and icon player whose one the best ODI players in the world. Right handed batter delivering a useful leggie with over 87 ODI wickets. Could be misclassified as a batter in some games. Bang on form after clobbering the fastest ODI century for an Indian recently. Installed as the favourite to grab the most runs. Should have a huge tournament and a price tag to boot.
Owais Shah 30 year old England International. Right handed high order bat and sometime deliverer of off spin. 270K signing for 2009, and one to consider depending on England commitments.
Gautam Gambhir 27 year old Indian left handed opener. Installed as 2nd favourite by the booking to hit the most runs.
Tillakaratne Dilshan 32 year old Sri Lankan hard hitting right hander and spinner.
Mithun Manhas 28 year old Indian domestic wicketkeeper-batsman. Played 6 games last season and also had a go bowling, returning 3 wickets in one match.
AB de Villiers 25 year old Saffer international keeper. Averages around 37 in ODIs and could be shortlisted for your wicket keeper spot.
Dinesh Karthik 23 year old Indian wicket keeper and right handed middle order batsman. Kept wicket and a strike rate of 135 odd last season.
Bowlers
Glenn McGrath 39 year old former Ozzie quick bowler.Daniel Vettori 30 year old New Zealand captain, spinner and useful batter. Could be worth a look if classed as a bowler in any games. Installed equal favourite to be the most economical bowler.
Dirk Nannes 32 year old Australian domestic left arm fast medium bowler. Did a stint with Middlesex last county season and failed to impress. Holds a dutch passport. On your ski's son.
Vijaykumar Yo Mahesh 22 year old Indian Under 19 medium fast bowler, and if played bats at for the U19s.
Ashish Nehra 29 year old Indian international left arm fast bowler. Averages 31 in ODIs, and played for Mumbai Indians last season.
Amit Mishra 26 year old Indian international leggie. Averages around 33 in ODIs and took a hat trick last season against Deccan Chargers.
Pradeep Sangwan 19 year old Indian U19 Left-arm fast-medium who's useful with the bat. Was first pick in the draft last season. Should be cheap in most games and one to watch.
Labels: Fantasy Cricket, Indian Premier League, IPL 2009
IPL 2009 Preview: Chennai Super Kings
Key Players: Hayden, Raina, Dhoni, Flintoff, Muralitharan
Ins and Outs: Acquired Flintoff for $1.55M, Thilan Thushara ($140K) and George Baily for $50K.
Batsmen
Matthew Hayden 37 year old opener who recently hung up his bat for Australia. Holds the high score record for an Australian in both tests an ODI. Third favourite to take top batting honours, and should go close if he completes the full series of games.
Michael Hussey Australia's Mr Cricket was ranked best ODI batsman in the world in 2006 and has averaged 56 in over 100 ODI. Currently out of form, the left hander may not play IPL 2 after recent press statements.
Suresh Raina Young Indian left hander who also bowls some useful right arm spin. Averages 35 in ODI and hit 61 not out in Twenty20. Could be one to watch and is the same price as Hayden to top the Chennai Super Kings batting.
Subramaniam Badrinath Fringe Indian domestic right hander with both bat and ball. Averages 36 with the bat in Twenty20.
George Bailey is a right hander who's plied hi trade in the Australian domestic leagues.
Murali Vijay Right hander who's one test for India saw him opening with Sehwag.
Abhinav Mukund Indian U-19 who's the youngest player in IPL. Averages 60 in first class games.
Arun Karthik Another young Indian right hander.
Ankit Gupta
Wicket Keepers
Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain) Indian captain and ranked number 1 ODI batsmen in the world. Averages just under 50 in ODI and is on the 6th line in the betting to take top honours with the bat.
Parthiv Patel Young 5 foot nothing Indian backup keeper. Still managed 20 tests and 14 ODIs. Hard to see getting a game if Dhoni stays fit.
All Rounders
Andrew Flintoff The injury prone Englishman was top price auction player at $1.55M. Averages 32 with the bat in ODI, and a miserly 24 with his fast right hand deliveries. Top of the betting to be the most economic bowler in IPL 2. You could probably get a few bob on him winning the last in the pedalo.
Jacob Oram New Zealand all rounder. Another right handed bowler who bats south paw. Looks like he's pulled out of IPL2.
Albie Morkel South African all rounder and Twenty20 specialist. Home conditions should suit, and middle of the pack for tournaments top batting and bowling honours.
Thilan Thushara Sri Lankan short format specialist who's a bowling all rounder.
Napoleon Einstein Fuck me what a name this young Indian under 19er has. Buy him for his name alone.
Vidyut Sivaramakrishnan Domestic Indian bowling all-rounder. Bats at 11.
Ravichandran Ashwin Another young domestic Indian bowling all rounder.
Joginder Sharma Indian bowling all-rounder who's played 4 ODI.
Viraj Kadbe
Selvam Suresh Kumar
Shadab Jakati Indian domestic left hander and spin bowler.
Bowlers
Muttiah Muralitharan 36 year old Sri Lankan spinner who holds the record for most wickets in both tests and ODIs. One of the favourites to take the most wickets and be the most economical bowler.
Makhaya Ntini The first black South African test player. Averages 24 with his fast ball in over 172 ODIs. Playing at home, so conditions should suit. Lock your woman up though.
Manpreet Gony Indian right armer who chucks it down medium pace. Played 2 ODI.
Sudeep Tyagi Young Indian domestic player who's been in the team since inception. Didn't get a game last season.
Lakshmipathy Balaji Indian ODI medium fast right armer. Took the first hat trick in IPL 2008.
Palani Amarnath Fast Indian first classer.
Labels: Fantasy Cricket, Indian Premier League, IPL 2009
IPL 2009 Preview: Kings XI Punjab
Key Players: Shaun Marsh, Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara, Ravi Bopara, Yuvraj Singh, Brett Lee
Batsmen
Mahela Jayawardene 31 year old Sri Lanka capatain and right handed bat. Averages low 30s and a nimble fielder having one of the highest run our ratios for ODIs.
Yash Gandhi young Indian batsman.
All Rounders
Yuvraj Singh (Captain) Icon 30 year old averages 37 with the bat and 39 with the ball for India in ODI. Smashed 6 sixes off one Stuart Broad over in 2007 and made the fastest fifty ever in Twenty20, off just 12 balls which is the fastest 50 in any form of international cricket. Bookies rate him to be the bet Kings XI batter.
Ravi Bopara 23 year old English all rounder. Scored a double century in the English one day game last season. Beware of England commitments.
Irfan Pathan 24 year old Indian up and comer, and played over 100 ODI. Won ICC Emerging Player of the Year in 2004.
James Hopes 30 year old Ozzie all rounder averaging 20 with the bat and 32 with the ball in ODI.
Uday Kaul young Indian domestic keeper/batsman. Can't see him getting a game with a fit Sangakkara.
Vikram Raj Vir Singh A rare genuine fast bowler from India. Played 4 tests and 2 ODIs.
Ajitesh Argal Quick Indian U19 player and was amn of the match in the U19 World cup final.
Sreesanth Indian medium pacer with over 40 ODIs under his belt. Appealing.
Labels: Fantasy Cricket, Indian Premier League, IPL 2009
Tuesday 31 March 2009
IPL 2009 Preview: Rajasthan Royals
Rajasthan Royals
The inaugural champions are a best price 9-1 with Bet365 to retain their crown. The least favoured side in 2008, is once again led by Warne. Graeme Smith best odds to be the Royals top batter at 2.2 and 23-1 to be the top tournament batter. Shaun Tait is 3rd favuourite at 16-1 to be the tournaments best bowler. Having 3 South African players could be a big advantage for the Rajasthan Royals.
Key Players: Shane Warne, Shane Watson, Morne Morkel, Yusuf Pathan, Graeme Smith.
Ins and outs: Pakistanis Sohail Tanvir, Kamran Akmal and Younus Khan are out. Tyron Henderson, and Shaun Tait in.
Interesting Fact: Former Big Brother winner and Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty is one of the clubs owners.
Batsmen
Graeme Smith is the 28 year old captain and left handed opener for the South African team. Opened the batting in 2008, and set to continue. He's one of the favourites to take the top batting honours. You can get him for 3.5 at Stan James to be the Rajasthan Royals top batter.
Yusuf Pathan is a 26 year old Indian ODI and Twenty20 specialist. Hard hitting right handed batsman and part time offbreak bowler. He's down as 3rd favourite in the Royals line up to grab top batting honours.
Swapnil Asnodkar 25 year old Indian domestic hard hitting right handed attacking opening batsman. Called up to an Indian emerging players tour to Israel in July 2008. Second favourite to take top batting honours at Stan James. An emerging player, and probably priced low in most fantasy games.
Robert Quiney - 26 year old Australian domestic cricketer. Left handed middle-order batsman. Now how many games will he play?
Lee Carseldine is a 33 year old Australian domestic all rounder. Left-hand batter and medium pacer. The all rounder will probably be misclassified as a batsman in most fantasy games. But how many games will he get to play?
Mohammad Kaif is a 28 year old former Indian ODI. Recalled to test squad in 2008. Middle order batter.
Niraj Patel 28 year old Indian domestic left-handed middle order batsman.
Ravindra Jadeja 20 year old Indian U19 middle order batting all rounder and and slow left-arm orthodox bowler. Called up to the Indian squad for the ODI series against Sri Lanka in January 2009.
Dinesh Salunkhe 27 year old Indian lower order right handed batter. Never played 1st class cricket. Shot to fame when he was chosen as 'Man of the Series' in the first season of Cricket Star, India's first-ever cricket talent-hunting reality television show. His prize was a scholarship with Leicestershire County Cricket Club for the 2007 English cricket season. During this period, Salunkhe played in some games for Leicestershire Second XI. Upon returning to India he was signed up to play for the Air India cricket team.
Wicket Keepers
Mahesh Rawat 23 year old Indian domestic keeper and right handed batter.
All Rounders
Shane Watson 27 year old Australian international all rounder. Right-handed batsman and a fast medium bowler. IPL 2008 man of the series. One to get.
Tyron Henderson 34 year old South African domestic T20 all rounder specialist. Right-handed batter and fast-medium chucker. Sold for $650,000 at auction. Which saw a fierce bidding war between the Royals and Delhi Daredevils which resulted in him being sold for $550,000 more than his base price of $100,000. Holds the record for the most wickets taken in Twenty20 cricket.
Dimitri Mascarenhas 31 year ODI English International all rounder. Right handed batter and medium-fast bowler. Holds the record for most runs for England in an over in a One Day Internationals with 30.
Siddharth Trivedi 27 year old Indian domestic all rounder. Right handed batter and chucks down medium pace. Could make his full international bow in the near future after a string of stunning displays in the IPL. Has been called up to an Indian emerging players tour to Australia in July.
Bowlers
Shane Warne (Captain) 39 year old former Australian International and probably the greatest leg spin bowler in the history of cricket. Useful lower-order batsman, Warne also scored over 3000 Test runs, and he holds the record for most Test runs without a century. Take any tips or offers of smokes. Avoid the baked beans and pizzas.
Shaun Tait 26 year old Australian international. Right arm fast bowler and considered one of the fastest bowlers in the world. Delivers the ball with phenomenal speed, at around 150 km/h, and occasionally faster. Sometimes erratic and can be expensive. 375,000 at auction. 17-1 and 3rd favourite in the betting to take the most IPL wickets this season.
Shane Harwood 34 year old Australian domestic player. Right-arm fast-medium and has represented Australia in 3 Twenty20 Internationals.
Morné Morkel 24 year old South African right-arm fast bowler with "genuine pace" right-arm fast bowler .
Munaf Patel 25 year old Indian International Right arm medium-fast bowler
Sumeet Khatri 19 year old Indian domestic Slow left-arm chinaman bowler.
Anup Revandkar 21 year old Indian domestic Right-arm fast bowler.
Labels: Fantasy Cricket, Indian Premier League, IPL 2009