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Play · Captain your nation

Set the field

Place nine fielders. Then watch a real batter's real shots fly into your field. Beat a standard captain's field and you win.

Today's batter

One batter, 30 balls, one field. The same for everyone today.

Road to gold

Pick your nation. Two group matches, a crossover, then a medal match, as at LA28. Each match is ten balls from each of their top three batters.

How it works

  • Drag your nine fielders. The keeper and bowler stay put. Each fielder takes the name of the position he is nearest.
  • The rules apply: no more than five fielders outside the inner circle, as in overs 7 to 20 of a T20.
  • Read the scouting report. Where he scores, how often he goes in the air, his favourite shots.
  • Bowl. His real shots from T20 internationals fly where they really went. A fielder on the line stops it; a fielder near where an aerial shot came down catches it. Sixes can't be stopped.
  • Par is a standard captain's field on the same balls. Every wicket counts as 10 runs saved. Matching par is not enough: to win a match you have to beat it.

Where the data comes from

  • Every ball is real. Each one is a shot from a men's T20 international, from Cricket Connect's ball-by-ball data: where the ball went, how many runs it made, and whether it went in the air. When a ball lands, the game shows which match it came from.
  • The scouting report comes from the same batter's other matches. Two thirds of his matches build the report; the other third gives the balls you face. The two never overlap, so the report can't tell you the answers.
  • The fielding positions are real. Each name sits where fielders actually stood in these matches, separately for right- and left-handed batters.
  • The target is a real field too. It is what the most common T20 field in the data concedes on exactly the same balls.
  • How a ball is stopped or caught. We know where each ball went and whether it was in the air, but not its exact path or height. So a fielder within about three metres of the ball's line stops it, and one within about nine metres of where an aerial shot came down catches it. Sixes can't be stopped. It is a simplification of real fielding.
  • We tested it. On 9,859 balls never used for scouting, a standard captain's field took about twice as many wickets as a random field and gave away fewer runs. Where you put your fielders matters.
  • The bowlers in the story are real, with their real economy in the last five overs. The balls you face were bowled by all kinds of bowlers.