End of season review - the first winner
The inaugural first season of Cricinfo Cricket Manager is now complete on the Cricinfo game server
One particularly successful manager in the first season was "theblackbag", also known as Martin Waterman, who won the Manager of the Season award for finishing top of the manager table. We interviewed Martin about his season and views on the game.
Martin: It's a bit of a long story - embarrassing actually. Let's just say that it came from a very drunken end of season tour in Prague... I wish you'd asked something else!
M: Do you mean the life I used to have before discovering Cricket Manager? The one where I used to spend quality time with my wife, going to the cinema, eating out, or just relaxing in front of the telly. Or time with my mates drinking out or playing snooker. Or time when work hours were spent working and sleep hours spent sleeping. Well, I guess I also find time to keep a few Sunday League football teams running too.
M: Very, very rarely. Football has always been my participative sport and since picking up a permanent knee injury a few years ago, I've had to retire to the snooker table. Mind you, the footy team is getting on a bit so we've started discussing re-inventing ourselves as an occasional cricket team. We're planning our first game later in the summer (we need to build up to it you see).
M: England & Gloucestershire.
M: Freddie Flintoff & Jack Russell. Although Graham Gooch was the main man when I was growing up, it was Jack Russell who really got my interest up.
M: I started playing it during Beta testing, so was there from the launch. I think I found out about it from a link on the Cat Games site.
M: Oodles and oodles of luck. To be honest, I was very fortunate not be given a team in the highest division. Being one division below meant I probably had a few less really decent teams to pit my wits against. Then apart from grasping the key tactical points, I think the key was building a squad of players, each of whom had `decent' attributes, as opposed to a team with a few stars and many hangers on.
M: I replaced 19 of the 20, mostly on the cheap. I tried avoiding the high `overalls' and concentrate on those with a range of decent attributes. Some of my best batsmen are rated no more than 54 overall!
M: It's difficult to identify any one aspect as a favourite. The whole game has been very well designed. It's easy enough to pick up and play yet complicated enough to keep your mind well occupied when working out how to beat the next team. I like the competitiveness of pitting yourself against others around the globe, and against yourself! Coupled with the camaraderie of the forums.
M: A couple of good players won't win you anything, build a decent squad rather than an exceptional team.
M: They're simple - to win the league, to win the Managers table, to win the Elite Cup and to win the Champions Cup! But I'm not greedy so 3 of the 4 will do...
M: Just to wish every one of them the very best of luck for this and coming seasons. Aside, of course, for those up against me in the league and cups!