Stick Cricket

Stick Cricket is an Adobe Flash cricket game website. The game was developed originally by Cann Creative, a company from Sydney, Australia. Cann Creative later partnered with Advergamer, a company from London, England to further develop Stick Cricket into an internet phenomenon. The principles of these two companies formed Stick Sports in July 2006 to expand their stable of free online sports games. Stick Cricket runs from any web browser which has the Adobe Flash player plug-in and Internet access. The website also publishes news and other articles about cricket. In Australia, the Stick Cricket website forms part of the Fox Sports (Australia) site, owned by News Limited [http://www.sticksports.com/b_stickCricket.php] .

"Source: [http://www.sticksports.com/b_stickCricket.php Stick Cricket: Backgrounder] "

History

The current version of Stick Cricket is version 7 [http://www.stickcricket.com/about.php] .

Current versions of Stick Cricket have human batsmen. However, the batsmen were really sticks before the Stick Cricket game was moved from the servers of Cann Creative to its own website. Other websites have a modified (usually outdated) versions of Stick Cricket, though some are now offline, for those feeling nostalgic.

Version 1

This version, which built the foundation for version 2 and was the first appearance of Stick Cricket ever, is extremely hard to find on the internet, but it can be found [http://games.download3000.com/play/stick-cricket here] .

Version 2

Version 2 appeared in 2 guises. There was the official version, which was on [http://www.mousebreaker.com Mousebreaker] , featuring 7 levels which you could play through as the England team. Another version, featuring a fictional Australian team, is also playable on [http://www.freeworldgroup.com/games/cricket2/index.html FreeWorldGroup] . This was the basis of the stick cricket world.

Version 3

Version 3 moved Stick Cricket to its [http://www.stickcricket.com current home] , where it has its own site. It also featured the ability to play with 12 teams, though the USA were replaced with a fictional team. There have been minor updates since then, such as the inclusion of 3 different modes: the Knockout Tournament, based on the ICC Champions Trophy format; the all-star slog where you try to get as many runs as you can in 10 Overs; and the Practice Mode, where you could practice 10 overs against a certain type of bowling.

Version 3.1

Version 3.1 added the world domination version, where you play the world's 8 best teams, and receive a password for each of the teams a player beats. You play as a Stick All-Star Team, which contains some of the best players in cricket's history. Also updated were the teams, so they had the most recent players in, and the rankings in accordance with the official International Cricket Council One Day International ratings.

Version 3.2

Version 3.2 was released on 21st July, and added new graphics in the main, and a new Head2Head Ashes game for the duration of the Ashes, which features a different stadium - Lord's, a different ball (red with seam) and different bowling actions to version 3.1. In general Version 3.2 added new graphics, including new balls where you can see the seam, and a new stadium. It also added new features around the site, such as office leagues, where there are some general leagues, and you can set up your own as well.

Version 4

The new version of Head2Head is based upon the ICC Cricket World Cup where people can join in to current matches and help their team win the Tournament.

Version 4.1

Version 4 contains live commentary for international matches (from The Twelfth Man), a new form of Stick Cricket called "Club Challenge," a gallery where visitors to the site can upload photos and other new features for the users and the game.

Version 5

The newest version was released on the 12th March 2007 and allows you to create your own Stick Cricket team, play in the World cup 2007 Super 8 Stage & play as the following new teams:

Bermuda, Scotland, Ireland, Netherlands, Canada and your own created team. You can also play with left-handers. Due to the death of Bob Woolmer the team representatives were all portrayed in a sombre mood with a black armband around their left arm until the 7th of April, 20 days after the death of Bob Woolmer.

Later on they replaced it with the T2 Super 8's. Which only had 2 overs a game. It launched around the same time as the Twenty20 world cup took place.

Also it is up to date with the latest ICC ODI rankings and there are now four different amounts of overs to play. These are: 5 overs, 10 overs, 20 overs and 50 overs. Note: In a 50 overs slog match registered members can save progress at intervals of 10 overs.

Version 6

Version 6 is very similar to version 5. The same teams are included but the Head2Head feature returned. The biggest change was the addition of a multiplayer mode.

Version 7

Version 7 was released April 18, and The World Domination returned, the forum moved to the stick cricket site and a new IPL game was released. The website was also totally redesigned. It is also now in widescreen.

Multiplayer

To take advantage of the community element of the Stick Sports stable, some of the game formats (such as the Premier League and Club Challenge games) have multiplayer elements. These aren't direct as a player cannot bowl in Stick Cricket, but rather the level of success of players competing as particular teams is charted. For example, in the Club Challenge, if you play as Lancashire and score 150 runs in total, then that score is added to all the others from players playing as Lancashire and compared first against all other English county teams represented and then against all the other world club sides.

http://www.stickcricket.com/gamemultiplayer.php

Objective

Stick Cricket is viewed from the facing batsman's end. Although it is always viewed from this angle it is possible to bowl, but this feature is currently only included in the 2 player version of the game.

The basic objective is to scores as many runs as possible, by the following:
* All Star Slog - Score as many runs as possible within a selected number of overs (5, 10, 20 or 50) against 'the best bowlers of all time'.
*Head2Head - Play in the current fixtures
* T2 Super 8 - Play 5 over matches to the win the 'Stick Cricket World Cup'. This consists of 8 top teams. You must win matches to top the league table.
* Challenge - Choose a club and score as many runs as you can for them from 10 balls. Every boundary (4s and 6s) gives you an extra ball.
* Multiplayer - Released on the 12th of December and is still in BETA. You can play against people from the other side of the world and it is super fast. You have 5 overs and you have a new addition to the game, bowling. You have a choice of deliveries which is very different to the old version of the game when you used the number pad.

Starting

When Stick Cricket loads, a welcome screenshot comes up. It allows a user to select a national cricket team. You can also choose what type of game you want to play. There's 5 , 10, 20 and 50 over matches to pick from. You have to be a member/ logged in to play 50 over matches then you can save every ten overs.

Shots

* Up, W - Forward drive and defend.
* Down, S - Duck: (especially from bouncers). Risk of being out LBW, if the delivery is not a bouncer.
* Left, A - Pull and hook, if full an on-drive, but often gets caught: Effective against all bowlers.
* Right, D - Cut, Cover Drive and Reverse Sweep (spinners only): Effective against fast, outswing bowlers but you are at risk of getting caught out at cover.

Bowlers

There are different types of bowlers:
* Fast - Shaun Pollock, Brett Lee etc.
* Inswing bowlers - Nathan Bracken, Makhaya Ntini, Sreesanth etc.
* Outswing bowlers - Shoaib Akhtar, Chaminda Vaas, Stephen Harmison, Zaheer Khan etc.
* Medium pace - Scott Styris, Munaf Patel etc.
* Slow Orthordox/Off spin - Muttiah Muralitharan, Monty Panesar, Harbhajan Singh etc.
* Leg spin - Shane Warne, Abdul Qadir, Anil Kumble etc.

Note: All players up to version 4.1 were right-handed, however with the creation of the new version on 12th March 2007, left-handed players are also available.

Each has their own weaknesses and strengths, however, many people have found fast bowling to be the easiest to face while spin considered to be the hardest, especially the leg spinners. This is because of impatient and inexperienced players trying to make a shot too early, forcing the batsman to mistime a shot, often resulting in the fall of a wicket. Outswing and inswing bowlers are seen as harder to face than pure fast bowlers as the ball does not always follow the initial line, causing inexperienced players to miss the ball with the wrong shot. The chance of getting out increases as the batman's individual score increases because the game is programmed to reduce the margin of error as the score advances.

In two play mode though, Medium bowlers are valuable because they can also bowl fast balls, if used correctly, they can be the most unpredictable bowlers around.

Head2Head Standings

These are the current Head2Head standings. Updated 28 March, 2008.

In the following tables:
*Pld = total games played
*W = total games won
*D = total games drawn (tied)
*L = total games lost
*Pts = total points accumulated
*W% = percentage of games won

These are the old Head2Head standings.

Mobile Phones

Stick Cricket has teamed up with Ian Botham, a cricketing legend to introduce Ian Botham's Stick Mobile on mobile phones. Go to [http://www.stickcricket.com The Stickcricket website] for more details.

Over By Over Commentary (OBO)

Stick Cricket launched its own Over by Over commentary during the 2005 Ashes series in England, and it usually covers all international games involving England and/or Australia. The concept of OBO commentary is somewhat similar to The Guardian's over-by-over commentary, with users encouraged to email in and converse with the commentary team. The over-by-over and other content on Stick Cricket is largely provided by the editorial team of SPIN magazine, the London-based cricket monthly.

Australian commentaries are led by The Bunyip and Tom Rose. English commentaries are led by the Third Umpire and Alex Kemp. Since the OBO started in 2005, various readers have vied for the title of No 1 emailer. Steven Ellans and Chris Cooper were early leaders but, more recently, Aussie ex-pat Andrew Shaw is the most regular emailer: on average he emails his one-line messages every five overs. The most interesting thing about Andrew is that he lives in Botswana.In September 2007, Rob Smyth joined the Stickcricket over-by-over team from The Guardian newspaper's website, a major coup for the Stick Cricket website. Rob Smyth's first over-by-over for stickcricket.com was the England-India game in the World Twenty20. His commentary attracted the largest ratings the site had had for any over-by-over since the 2007 World Cup final, despite the game being a dead rubber.Rob Smyth, who is also the main author of 'Is it Cowardly to Pray for Rain?', the over-by-over account of the 2005 Ashes, also took over the chief writer duties in Stickcricket.com's sister magazine, SPIN, in October 2007.

tick Football

To coincide with the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Stick Sports released [http://www.stickfootball.com/ Stick Football] , also an Adobe Flash game.

Game Modes

*All Stars: You can pick any club they have. Teams include A-League Teams, English Premier League Teams, UEFA Champions League 2006-07 Teams and 2006 FIFA World Cup Teams. You then play against the "All Stars". If registered, scores are submitting to "My Stats" and the "Hi Scores" list.
*World Cup: You can play as any of the teams that made it to the 2006 FIFA World Cup. With that team you then play in a World Cup mode. If registered, scores are submitting to "My Stats" and the "Hi Scores" list.
*Champions League: You play through the Champions League with any of the teams that made the group stage of the UEFA Champions League 2006-07. If registered, scores are submitting to "My Stats" and the "Hi Scores" list.
*Friendly: Play a match. You can play with any of the teams from the other sections including All Stars.
*Premier League: Play as your favourite Premier League club and help your team up the league! (updated every match day)
*A-league: Play as a A-League team of your choice and help you team up the league. (updated at the end of every round)
*Leagues: Create your own leagues or cups (you must be a member to do this)

[http://www.stickfootball.com/ Official Stick Football Website]

tick Baseball

The latest Stick Sports game mode is [http://www.stickbaseball.com/ Stick Baseball] .

Game Modes

* Training: A training mode that replicates Spring Training. You can have batting practise as well as play out a scenario where you are a slugger trying to get on a team. Great way to learn the game!
* All Star Slug: All Star Slug is like All Star Slog in Stick Cricket. You can use teams from the 2006 World Baseball Classic. It's a harder match and scores will be saved in the high scores section. You can play 1, 3, 6 or 9 innings matches against the All Stars.
* Home Run Derby: Home Run Derby is a home run hitting game. You play on behalf of your favourite Major League Baseball club in an effort to win them the "Stick Sports World Club Championship" each week. It has a high score chart listing in the Hall of Fame for the "Biggest Hitters". You also have a record of your most home runs and longest streak in the "My Stats" section of site if you are registered.
* World Domination: In the World Domination mode, you must beat all 30 of the teams in Major League Baseball. The teams are ordered by the 2006 draft order. After each stage you receive a password so you can continue your conquest!

[http://www.stickbaseball.com/ Official Stick Baseball Website]

tick Speedway

The Stick Sports team also has a mini game called [http://www.sticksportsspeedway.com/ Stick Speedway] . The game was created as a promotion for [http://www.kingswithwings.com/ Kings With Wings] , a rag-tag band of racing mavericks trying to create a Sprint Car team with no experience.

Game Modes

It currently only has one game mode. Top down Sprint Car racing on an oval dirt track. You get 5 laps to try and record your fastest lap time. The game has an extremely small margin for error between skidding off the track and crashing into the middle, to the extent it is possible to miss the middle of the track by a matter of millimeters and still find yourself flying off at the side.

[http://www.stickspeedway.com/ Official Stick Speedway Site]

ources

*Stick Cricket [http://www.stickcricket.com/]

External links

* [http://www.stickcricket.com/ Official Stick Cricket Website]
* [http://www.stickfootball.com/ Official Stick Football Website]
* [http://www.stickbaseball.com/ Official Stick Baseball Website]
* [http://www.stickspeedway.com/ Official Stick Speedway Website]
* [http://forum.sticksports.com/ Official Stick Sports Forum]
* [http://www.sticksports.com/pressOffice.php Official Stick Sports Limited Press Office]