How It Works
Spin, draft your Big Bash XI, then win all 12 games of the season.
The Idea
Spin a random Big Bash club and season, pick one player from the squad that played that season, and repeat until your XI is full. Then your team joins the Big Bash as a ninth club and plays a full season: 10 games, then the finals. Finish in the top two, win the Qualifier and the Final, and you go 12-0.
The Team
You fill an XI on the ground: five batters, an all-rounder, a keeper and four bowlers. Every player is listed for at most two roles, the ones he played in the Big Bash: an all-rounder fills the All-Rounder spot and his main job, batting or bowling. Only a player who both bats and bowls can play the All-Rounder spot.
The Season
Every side plays 10 games: you play every club once and two of them twice, and the clubs play out their own fixtures, so the ladder is a real one: 2 points for a win, then net run rate. Every club fields its best ever XI from every season since Big Bash 01 in 2011-12. Scores are runs and wickets, and every game has a winner: a tie goes to a Super Over.
The Finals
The top four make the finals, the way the Big Bash plays them today. 1st plays 2nd in the Qualifier, and its winner goes straight to the Final. 3rd plays 4th in the Knockout, and its loser is out. The Qualifier’s loser then plays the Knockout’s winner in the Challenger for the other place in the Final. From the top two the title is two wins away, from 3rd or 4th three.
The Modes
| Mode | How you draft | Ratings | Wildcards |
|---|---|---|---|
| Classic | Spin a club and season, pick 1 player from that squad | Shown | 1 of each with a free CAST Profile, 2 of each with CAST Pass |
| Hard | Classic spins | Hidden until your XI is full | Paid only, one of each |
| Pack | Rip open 6 packs of 6 cards, then pick your best XI from what you pull | Shown | Immortal Picks only |
Pack cards come in five rarities: Elite, Green, Blue, Silver and Bronze. Hard Mode has its own leaderboard, so pure cricket knowledge gets its own ranking.
Wildcards
- Reroll: bin the current spin and get a fresh club and season.
- Reveal Ratings: show the ratings on the current list when they are hidden.
- Remove Player: take one player out of your XI and draft that spot again. If your XI is full, you can still use it before you lock in.
- Star Key: your next spin has a player rated 93 or more (Classic only).
- Immortal Pick: choose one of three Big Bash Immortals, the greats of the Big Bash, and he joins your XI at 99.
Wildcards come with a free CAST Profile. Guests see them locked until they sign in. CAST Pass adds a second of each, a Star Key every day, Substitute (move a player already in your XI into another open spot he can play, once a Classic season) and Custom Seasons (pick your era and hide the ratings in Classic). Hard is Hard Mode: no free wildcards for anyone, CAST Pass included, but you can use one of each a season from your Vault or buy it on the spot.
Run It Back
Just missed out in Classic? A Run It Back runs your finished season back with one loss turned into a win: a lost Final first, otherwise your closest regular season loss. Once a season. A season run back shows a boost mark on the leaderboards, and a run-back 12-0 still counts as a Perfect Season.
The Rules
- Every player can only be picked once.
- Picks are final, unless you use Remove Player.
- Your team rating is the average rating of your XI.
- The season is simulated from your team rating: the stronger your XI, the better your chances every week, but upsets happen, especially in the finals.
- Your best season in every mode goes up on today’s, this week’s and the all-time leaderboards, with Perfect Seasons and your longest streak.
Where the Ratings Come From
The player pool covers every Big Bash player since Big Bash 01 in 2011-12, from the ball by ball records of every Big Bash match on Cricsheet (cricsheet.org, used under the Open Data Commons Attribution License). Every rating is an editorial opinion of The Cast Patrol, built from runs, strike rate, wickets, economy, keeping and a player’s best seasons, with a hand check on the greats. They are debatable. That is the point. They are not official Big Bash ratings and may differ from any other source.
Spot something that looks wrong? Let us know and we’ll check it.