How It Works
Spin a nation and a year, draft your Test XI, then win all 12 Tests, the semi-final and the final.
The Idea
Spin a random Test nation and a year from 1980 to 2026, pick one player who played Tests for that nation that year, and repeat until your XI is full. Then your team takes on all 12 Test nations, each fielding its best ever XI. Win all 12 Tests, then the semi-final and the final, and you go 14-0. A draw breaks it, just as a defeat does.
The Team
Your XI is the Real XI: five batters, an all-rounder, a keeper and four bowlers (BAT, AR, WK and BOWL). A player fills the spots his role allows. A batter fills BAT, a bowler fills BOWL and a keeper fills WK. The All-Rounder spot takes only a player who both bats and bowls, so a keeper who bats can play BAT or WK but not AR. If he can fill more than one open spot, you choose where he goes.
The Tests
You play every Test nation once: Australia, England, India, South Africa, New Zealand, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, West Indies, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Zimbabwe and Ireland. Each one picks its best ever XI from every era, the Immortals included, so Bradman, Sobers and Hobbs are all waiting. Every nation plays its own Tests too, so the table is a real one, on the World Test Championship’s points: 12 for a win and 4 for a draw, then wins, then runs.
The top four play the semi-finals (1st v 4th and 2nd v 3rd), and the winners meet in the final. Knockout Tests are always played to a result.
The Modes
| Mode | How you draft | Ratings | Wildcards |
|---|---|---|---|
| Classic | Spin a nation and year, pick 1 player from that list | 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 9 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 nation and year.
- 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 95 or more (Classic only).
- Immortal Pick: choose one of three Immortals, the all-time greats of Test cricket from before 1980, 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 run) 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 run from your Vault or buy it on the spot.
Run It Back
Just missed out in Classic? A Run It Back runs your finished run back with one Test turned into a win: a lost final or semi-final first, otherwise your closest round robin defeat, or with no defeats your first draw. Once a run. A run that is run back shows a boost mark on the leaderboards, and a run-back 14-0 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.
- Every Test is simulated from your team rating: the stronger your XI, the better your chances, but upsets and draws happen.
- Your best run 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 Test player from the ten spun nations who played Tests from 1980 to now. Every rating is an editorial opinion of The Cast Patrol, built from each player’s Test record (batting average, runs and hundreds; bowling average, strike rate and wickets; keeping dismissals), era context and peak ability for his role. Test records are from ESPNcricinfo’s Statsguru and Wikipedia, names from Wikidata. They are debatable. That is the point. They are not official ICC rankings and may differ from any other source.
Spot something that looks wrong? Let us know and we’ll check it.