The 606v2 Ultimate Points Chaser Competition for the 70th Ashes Series

First topic message reminder :

With the opening Ashes Test only around a week away I thought we should get an Ashes competition underway – similar to the ones we did way back in 2011 and 2009 on the old BBC site. I thought they were pretty good fun with around 30 people involved at the time.

I'm trying to rekindle that sort of interest.        


Rules:

1.
Pick 2 (two) batsmen and 2 (two) bowlers from both Australia and England who you think will score the most runs and take the most wickets.
You get both batting and bowling points per innings so a bowler who scores runs has both batting and bowling scores added together.

e.g.
Warner, Smith, Starc, Lyon
Cook, Root, Broad, Ali

2.
Pick 1 (one) fielder from each team; excluding wicket keepers for most catches in the Series.
Can be a bowler (for c&b) if you want.

e.g.
Woakes, Handscomb

3.
Select the total number of catches, stumpings and run outs combined by each wicket keeper for each Test.
I will need your 2 (two) selected numbers in 24 hours prior to commencement of each Test match.
If a wicket keeper is injured then the replacement keeper's figures shall be used.

e.g.
Australia 9, England 8. Total dismissals 17

4.
Predict the overall 2017-18 Ashes Series result. Selections must be in before the commencement of each Test.

e.g.
Australia 3 England 2

1st Test: England
2nd Test: Australia
3rd Test: England
4th Test: Australia
5th Test: Australia


Scoring:

1.
1 point for every run scored by your nominated batsmen. Add together for each Test.
Bonus 20 points for 100 runs.
extra 25 points for 150 runs.
extra 40 points for 200 runs.
extra 50 points for 250 runs.
extra 60 bonus points for 300+ runs.

Note: the batting & bowling score bonuses accumulate so;

Batting:
100 runs = 120 points. A player scores 127 + 20 = 147 points.
150 runs = 195 points. A player scores 176 + 20 + 25 = 221 points.
200 runs = 285 points. A player scores 243 + 20 + 25 + 40 = 328 points.
250 runs = 385 points. A player scores 282 + 20 + 25 + 40 + 50 = 417 points
300+ runs = 445 points. A player scores 309 + 20 + 25 + 40 + 50 + 60 = 504 points.

Bowling:
20 points per wicket with a bonus 50 points for a 5-fer.
An extra 35 points for 6-fer, 40 for 7-fer, 45 for 8-fer, 50 for 9-fer.
An extra 100 bonus points for a 10-fer.

5 wickets = 100 + 50 = 150 points
6 wickets = 120 + 50 + 35 = 205 points.
7 wickets = 140 + 50 + 35 + 40 = 265 points
8 wickets = 160 + 50 + 35 + 40 + 45 = 330 points
9 wickets = 180 + 50 + 35 + 40 + 45 + 50 = 400 points
10 wickets = 200 + 50 + 35 + 40 + 45 + 50 + 100 = 520 points

Caught and bowled = 20 points for the wicket + 30 bonus points for the catch = 50 points on top of the bowling points.
An extra 25 points if your bowler gets a run-out in addition to the caught & bowled = 75 points

2.
Fielder catches: your nominated fieldsman earns you 25 points per catch. 25 points for a run out. Add them both for a 50 point "double play".

3.
Wicket keepers: I’ll rank your predictions from the actual scores at the time. Whoever guesses closest to the actual result receives 100 points, then descending down 5 points, so 95 points for the next closest guess, 90 points for the next, etc. If you chose the same scores as another member… then you'll both receive the same points. Next closest then receives 85, 80, 75, 70... depending on how many of us there are. 

4.
50 points earned at each Test in line with your overall Ashes prediction. Keep earning those 50 points until it goes right down to the wire…
If you guess all 5 correctly then a further 100 bonus points = 250 + 100 = 350 points.
Select the winning team for each Test.

*****

I’ll add up everyone’s scores a day or so after each Ashes Test is completed.

You must have your selections in no later than 3 hours before the first ball is bowled in Brisbane on 23 November, a few hours before midnight next Wednesday/Thursday morning your time.

If a selected player gets injured or is dropped from the Test side, then you’ll have the opportunity to select a replacement player – before the next Test commences. This player doesn’t have to be the actual substitute player – it can be somebody already in the team.
However, you don’t receive any of their previous points – you must start accumulating points from scratch with them.

I'm tossing up with the idea that say by the 3rd Test, if someone wants to change a player, then they will have this window of opportunity also available to them.

Let me know if the scoring system is OK or needs to be tweaked or simplified then we can look at it.
I'll keep track on a spreadsheet... so starting thinking about your selections now and maybe start getting them in here by early-middle next week.

Good Luck!

Part 1
England - Root,Malan,Woakes,Anderson
Aussie - Khawaja,Smith,Starc,Hazlewood

Part 2 - Cookie

Part 3 - Australia 12, England 7

Part 4 - Australia 2 England 1

1.
root, bairstow, ali, broad
smith, warner, hazlewood, starc

got a feeling england may struggle bowling so gone for ali in the hope of getting extra batting points (if ive figured it out right that is)

2. cook, smith


3. Australia 8, England 6. Total dismissals 14

4. Australia 3 England 1

1st Test: Australia

1.

England - Stoneman, Bairstow. Woakes, Moeen
Australia - Warner, Handscomb. Starc, Lyon

2.

England - Vince
Australia - Handscomb

3.

Australia - 9
England - 6
Total dismissals - 15

4.

Australia 2-2 England

1st test - Draw

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:1.

England - Stoneman, Bairstow. Woakes, Moeen
...

Olly playing the percentages.  

Thanks for your picks lowlandbrit, Fernando, compelling and rich & Olly.
wisden - sent you a PM asking for your Overton replacement.

Nice morning here... blue skies, birds chirping outside... a small dog barking in the distance. Hopefully it will also be a fine day further north.

guildfordbat wrote:

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:1.

England - Stoneman, Bairstow. Woakes, Moeen
...

Olly playing the percentages.  

Putting faith in my guys Guildford that’s all

It was a cheap shot, Olly, but I knew I would get a hit.

Now, you'll know this - (in the UK anyway) BT Sport are showing the game live but is there a highlights programme as well? If so, where's that? Thanks.

Highlights on BT Sport only too I’m afraid - not aware of anything on BBC or C5 or Sky

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:Highlights on BT Sport only too I’m afraid - not aware of anything on BBC or C5 or Sky

Thanks for the confirmation anyway, Olly. Yeah, I would have preferred a separate channel concentrating on the highlights.

Thanks for all of your selections everyone.

In my excitement I forgot to look clearly at some of the selections... but now have noticed a few people missed the following:


wisden - a replacement bowler for Overton received Ball

Fernando - most catches from an Aus fielder (name of player) and the result of this 1st Test received Hazelwood / draw

CaledonianCraig - Aus bowlers x 2 and Eng bowlers x 2 (I've only got your batsmen) received Starc Lyon Woakes Anderson

Marky - a replacement for Ben Stokes (until he arrives... if he arrives) received Vince


I hope everyone is OK if we include these late additions/omissions considering there is still a long way to go in the series.

guildfordbat wrote:

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:Highlights on BT Sport only too I’m afraid - not aware of anything on BBC or C5 or Sky

Thanks for the confirmation anyway, Olly. Yeah, I would have preferred a separate channel concentrating on the highlights.

day off today so stayed up to the rain break, then watched the highlights at 12.30pm today without knowing what happened. worked quite well, the hard bit is not going on my phone

Interim standings after 1st Test, Day 2:

376 guildfordbat
324 wisden
317 Mad for Chelsea
310 Good Golly I'm Olly
307 Marky
304 superflyweight
293 jimbohammers
292 compelling and rich
290 Gooseberry
288 JDizzle
284 Dolphin Ziggler
265 alfie
257 LionsV2
255 The Loaded Dog
252 Duty281
251 Fernando
239 CaledonianCraig
238 Lowlandbrit
212 Azzy Mahmood
205 James100

Well done so far guildfordbat!  
Noticed there are significant swings in the standings throughout the course of the day so those close to the bottom... don't lose heart.
Still a long way to go! Anything can happen.
Please feel free to scrutinise... set up on spreadsheet so I just put the runs & wickets in and watch the numbers change.

Thanks, LD, but as Sir Geoffrey might say, ''You don't win a contest like this in two days.''

guildfordbat wrote:Thanks, LD, but as Sir Geoffrey might say, ''You don't win a contest like this in two days.''

Aye, that's certainly true... but you have made a great start.
I put you in the Len Hutton category thus far.

How we stand after Day 3:

680 guildfordbat
631 compelling and rich
584 jimbohammers
581 superflyweight
554 alfie
552 Mad for Chelsea
544 Dolphin Ziggler
524 Gooseberry
519 Duty281
515 Fernando
511 Marky
502 Lowlandbrit
499 The Loaded Dog
481 wisden
458 Azzy Mahmood
441 Caledonian Craig
429 James100
387 JDizzle
384 Good Golly I'm Olly
368 LionsV2

Some of us have risen like balloons; others dropped like rocks off a cliff. Some more wild swings today... suspect there will be more to come.

Thank heaven for Smith !

At least ( for yours truly ) in the context of this competition . Less so from a partisan English viewpoint

You really shot up the ladder late today, alfie. You went from 12th to 5th in a matter of hours.

some other highlights:

Guildford has a 49 point lead on 680 points and retained 1st position 3 days in a row.

8th to 2nd compelling
7th to 3rd jimbo
6th to 4th superfly
12th to 5th alfie
11th to 7th Dolphin
9th to 8th Goose
15th to 9th Duty
16th to 10th Fernando
18th to 12th Lowland
19th to 15th Azzy

the rest of us remained even or lost positions.

alfie wrote:Thank heaven for Smith !

At least ( for yours truly ) in  the context of this competition .  Less so from a partisan English viewpoint  

If Smith had got 9 more runs, then you'd be on 588... collecting a further 25 bonus points. A bit like the Spanish Armada. Minus a thousand.
But your man Smithy would have also boosted guildford too - to 714!

oooohh im in the mix! hopefully closing the gap on guildford through runs for ali, bairstow and warner last night

alfie- hasnt everybody got smith? be surprised if they haven't. also presume the points i gained from starc everybody else will have

Compelling - I put too much trust in the locals (well, Alfie who is in Australia! ) and went for the first Test ending in a draw. That should see me start to crash and burn!

i had Australia in this one, although my 3-1 is looking a bit optimistic. cant see where we'll get a draw let alone a win!

As it stands at Day 4 close of play, we have:

991 guildfordbat
976 Compelling and rich*
895 Mad for Chelsea
851 superflyweight*
807 Gooseberry*

* if Australia wins, add 50 points
plus upcoming batting/bowling points from Day 5

Also don't forget the wicket keeping points. We've all over-estimated for this one.
Only a total of 5 (Aus3:Eng2) so far; so pending modes of dismissal this morning, it is looking like those extra points will be:

100 (10) guildford, Marky
95 (11) alfie
90 (12) James100, wisden, LionsV2, JDizzle
85 (13) superfly, jimbo, MfC
80 (14) Dolphin, Gooseberry, Lowland, compelling
75 (15) Olly
70 (16) Dog, Azzy
65 (19) Duty, Fernando
60 (20) Craig

I think we can all be greatly satisfied to see Olly doing so badly.

Well done so far, you living, breathing sausage

Olly was 4th at one stage then dropped down to 18th. Rallying back late yesterday to 16th.

For a brief moment yesterday afternoon, compelling overtook guildford... who then wrestled the lead back again late in the day.

Wondering whether we should allocate points for wooden spooner (100), 19th (50) and 18th (25) places... just to compress things up.

Flipper, you know a bit about ranking scores and scaling things up. Does that sound like a fair thing?

The only problem I can see that if other players (for the last 3 on the table) start to fire in the next 4 Tests... but then the 100/50/25 would be up for grabs at the end of each Test.

The Loaded Dog wrote:Olly was 4th at one stage then dropped down to 18th. Rallying back late yesterday to 16th.

For a brief moment yesterday afternoon, compelling overtook guildford... who then wrestled the lead back again late in the day.

I like the way you make it sound as if I'm doing more than sitting in an armchair!

guildfordbat wrote:

The Loaded Dog wrote:Olly was 4th at one stage then dropped down to 18th. Rallying back late yesterday to 16th.

For a brief moment yesterday afternoon, compelling overtook guildford... who then wrestled the lead back again late in the day.

I like the way you make it sound as if I'm doing more than sitting in an armchair!

I can almost see the sweat on your brow as you turn to Mrs Bat from the comfort of said armchair and ask:

"Are you making another pot of tea, dear?" and "No, I haven't seen the cat..."

The Loaded Dog wrote:Wondering whether we should allocate points for wooden spooner (100), 19th (50) and 18th (25) places... just to compress things up.

Flipper, you know a bit about ranking scores and scaling things up. Does that sound like a fair thing?

The only problem I can see that if other players (for the last 3 on the table) start to fire in the next 4 Tests... but then the 100/50/25 would be up for grabs at the end of each Test.

Never change rules of a system once in place and active, someone will sue you. Or complain

yeah im doing well, sod the peasants at the bottom

Dolphin Ziggler wrote:

The Loaded Dog wrote:Wondering whether we should allocate points for wooden spooner (100), 19th (50) and 18th (25) places... just to compress things up.

Flipper, you know a bit about ranking scores and scaling things up. Does that sound like a fair thing?

The only problem I can see that if other players (for the last 3 on the table) start to fire in the next 4 Tests... but then the 100/50/25 would be up for grabs at the end of each Test.

Never change rules of a system once in place and active, someone will sue you. Or complain

Sure, they'll remain as is.  

Just to clarify some other rules...
You only get 25 run out points from your nominated fielder or bowler. No one had nominated Lyon for his... so no points awarded to anyone.
Wicket keeper catches/stumping/run outs don't count for 25 point catches.
Only the total combined caught behinds, stumpings and run-outs for the wicket keepers per Test. So far 5 in total.

Standings afer 1st Ashes Test, Brisbane:

1173 compelling and rich
1118 guildfordbat
1083 superflyweight
1047 Mad for Chelsea
994 Gooseberry
986 Dolphin Ziggler
972 alfie
958 Caledonian Craig
947 Marky
926 The Loaded Dog
924 Lowlandbrit
893 Good Golly I'm Olly
889 jimbohammers
875 JDizzle
864 Duty281
856 wisden
833 AzzyMahmood
782 LionsV2
777 Fernando
742 James100

Average score: 932

Congratulations to compelling & rich for his late surge across the line in first place.    

At one stage I thought guildford was unreachable. Then it was neck and neck for a while between him and compelling & rich.
Good solid gains by superfly and MfC... who both burst through the 1000 points barrier... and Gooseberry only 6 points away followed by Flipper!
Then it's alfie; calmly lying in wait... ready to make his assault in Adelaide.
Craig and Olly rising strongly back up the ranks too.

Using the stats produced by the special point scoring formula with bonuses added, the players ratings look like this:

241 Smith
151 Starc
139 Lyon
124 Warner
122 Cummins
118 Ali
114 Handscomb (the 4 catches probably helped his score too much. Olly cleaned up with 100 points though!)
107 Broad
101 Bairstow
87 Bancroft
86 Hazelwood (score is a bit harsh, he bowled consistently well for his 4 wickets... deserved more perhaps?)
86 Root
85 Vince
85 Malan
80 Stoneman
76 Marsh
70 Anderson
59 Cook
43 Paine
37 Woakes
35 Ball
11 Khawaja

Looks about right. Credited Lyon 30 points for his run out which puts him in 3rd place ahead of Warner and Cummins.
Only 3 England players in the top 10... one can see who has been productive and who needs to lift their game.

do we pick new players for second test or is those we pick for the whole series? if so bairstow better not get sent home!

got the two best england bowlers and 3/4 top scorers overall is what got me up there. only one place to go now!

compelling and rich wrote:do we pick new players for second test or is those we pick for the whole series? if so bairstow better not get sent home!

got the two best england bowlers and 3/4 top scorers overall is what got me up there. only one place to go now!

Keep the same players.

If Bairstow was to be sent home before Adelaide then you are allowed to select a replacement player.

Hi LD - I take it you'll want predicted wicket keeping dismissals and result for the second test.

I'll start things off with:

Australia 5 England 4. Total 9.

Australia to win (hope I'm wrong but fear this Test is coming round too soon for England after Monday's heavy loss).

My attempt to get off the bottom of the pile...

Australia to win again

WK - Aus 6, England 3, total 9

Australia win

England 4, Australia 5, total being the sum of those

England win.

Wicket-keeping dismissals:-

England 5 Australia 4

do i need to back up my prediction of 3-1 or can i go against it and say Australia for the rest of the tests and play safe? if England stand any chance i would have thought it needs to be this day nighter

guildfordbat wrote:Hi LD - I take it you'll want predicted wicket keeping dismissals and result for the second test.

I'll start things off with:

Australia 5 England 4. Total 9.

Australia to win (hope I'm wrong but fear this Test is coming round too soon for England after Monday's heavy loss).

Hi guildforfbat, yes, thanks for getting the ball rolling.

compelling and rich wrote:do i need to back up my prediction of 3-1 or can i go against it and say Australia for the rest of the tests and play safe? if England stand any chance i would have thought it needs to be this day nighter

Needs to be in line with your overall prediction of 3-1... so you have the option to go either way for this next one, compelling.
If you select England to win in Adelaide, then it will leave you with 2 x Australia and a draw for the last 3 matches.

The Loaded Dog wrote:

compelling and rich wrote:do i need to back up my prediction of 3-1 or can i go against it and say Australia for the rest of the tests and play safe? if England stand any chance i would have thought it needs to be this day nighter

Needs to be in line with your overall prediction of 3-1... so you have the option to go either way for this next one, compelling.
If you select England to win in Adelaide, then it will leave you with 2 x Australia and a draw for the last 3 matches.

think i will have to then, this is our best bet (or the draw is if the pink ball dies a death)

England to win

England 8 Australia 6

Australia win.

WK - Australia 7; England 2

I'm in a slight predicament too. Tipped Aus 4-0 but where to allocate the draw?

I originally intended it to be in Brisbane... so now I have to decide between the other 4.
So close to using my draw for Adelaide but I think it might come later.

Australia to win

Australia 7 England 6

Think I'll go for Perth and Melbourne for the draw.

Australia to win.

England 6 Australia 5

Aus 6 Eng 4

Needs to be England win.

WK - Six for YJB and Four for TP

Its pretty unlikley to be a draw on what should be a seamers pitch both for pace and movement. Neither side looks especially solid in batting, and England will capitualte to pace at some point.

Im going Aus to win
Keepers Aus 5 Eng 4

Thanks everyone.

Still waiting for:

wisden
Lions - I've heard you've been sin-binned... can you PM me your picks? I've got your "Aus 3-1" overall but I need to know your pick for Adelaide.
Azzy
MfC
Marky
Fernando
Olly

Australian team remains unchanged; England still to confirm their final XI