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[mattw]

I've recently been made captain for my midweek team for this coming season and as it's only a small village cricket club we've never really had selection issues before, however we have started to grow in numbers slightly and we've got a squad of about 16 players now.

Due to only having about 11 or 12 players usually turning up for games, picking the team to play has been fairly simple in that whoever turns up plays as we do not have any selection process as the team has been mainly made up of pub cricketers. However towards the end of last season, sometimes we had the whole squad turning up for games which made it awkward to tell people that they were not playing due to x person turning up before them. Which sometimes it has caused the odd person to sometimes get annoyed by this after rushing their ass off to get the ground on time after finishing late at work or something like that.

We play on Wednesdays and start at 6:30pm however sometimes due to people getting stuck in traffic/staying late at work/something cropping up, some of the players do not know they are going to be late until an hour or so before the start of the game - so pre selecting the strongest squad might not always be possible, as then others may make other plans and therefore can not make it to the game if someone drops out.

Some of the guys do not have time or have their phones on them in the day - so getting them to text me whether they are running late/cant make it(if a pre selected squad is chosen) may not always happen and therefore we could be left short - so I was just wondering what else I could do, so that there aren't any issues with extra players turning up and getting annoyed that they aren't playing as we want to keep our squad as big as possible so we are never short on numbers.

Some of the ways I have thought of sorting this is;
- Keeping it how it is and run the risk of losing squad members, but keeping the tradition and in all honesty at it's fairest as then we're likely to get 11 players on the field for the start of the game.

- Getting everyone to text me by a certain time the day before the game to let me know whether they can definitely make the game or not - then I know what sort of numbers I'm looking at which then I can select the best squad out of the available players however we will need a 12th man just incase someone drops out on the weds. However there may be issues with people turning up slightly late, or people not texting me and just showing up on the day...

- Having a yes/maybe/no system from the previous week where those that can guarantee that they will be there for 6:15 or earlier will be in the squad and then the maybes will be a 'first come, first serve' basis until we are just about to start where if someone from the yes section hasn't turned up then someone from the maybe section can play. Issues with this, is everyone could say Yes or Maybe - leaving it awkward for selection and then becomes whoever turns up plays.


Any other ideas welcome, or any possible tweaking - thanks.

(ps, we're not exactly a serious cricket side but one thing I will be doing before the season is to figure out what direction everyone wants to go in - as if we want to get promotion it's imperative we have the strongest team available which then I will have to pick and choose on selection, or if the general consensus is to just enjoy it - then it would be best to have a squad rotation so that everyone gets equal chance to play.)

[uknsaunders]

You pick a team based on whoever said they can turn up on time. If you have 11 that say yes, fine. If anybody drops out you go to the maybes. Midweek cricket can throw up the odd delayed person so as long as the maybe's know they may be called up then it should work smoothly.

[smilley792]

Pick your best 11 send them a message,

If any drop out replace them.

Next week, pick the xi that played week before first.

If anyone drops out replace them.


That's what we do for indoor, 6 allowed squad of 9. No one grumbles

[mattw]

Most of the time, no one minds as it's just an excuse to have a couple of beers in the sun - however it's just been the odd occasion where it has caused a bit of anger.

The only problem with selecting the best XI, is we have one lad who would be in the Starting XI - however his dad who played most of last season isn't the best cricketer and he shouldn't be in the starting XI, however as they always turn up early his dad played a lot last season but lets just say he's a specialist fielder - so my worry is that if I tell him that he isn't playing but his son is, then this could cause them both to drop out...

[ajmw89]

For week 1, pick your team on who is available, trying to be loyal to those regularly available last year.  Weeks 2 onwards, previous week's team gets priority but have 2 or 3 on "standby" for dropouts

[MD2812]

What about sending a team sheet out with numbers including your reserves.

Then if Dave'scar breaks down on the way to work so he won't make the game that evening he can text you to let you know, and he can also text Mick who is on the reserve list so Mick knows ASAP as well.

Then Mick can confirm with you he's available?

Means if you're in meetings so can't pick your phone up, the ball can start rolling in the background

[Rob580]

What about sending a team sheet out with numbers including your reserves.

Then if Dave'scar breaks down on the way to work so he won't make the game that evening he can text you to let you know, and he can also text Mick who is on the reserve list so Mick knows ASAP as well.

Then Mick can confirm with you he's available?

Means if you're in meetings so can't pick your phone up, the ball can start rolling in the background

What about if he doesn't have anyone called Dave or Mick?

[GarrettJ]

if i turned up to a midweek match to be told i wasnt playing i'd be a little annoyed.

You have to select a playing 11 and then 2 reserves who can play if someone drops out during the day. Usually the 2 reserves are the lads that are keen as mustard to play but not the greatest cricketers. To reward them i put them close in aon the off and on side and tell them they have 2 jobs. 1. to stop the ball and try to stop quick singles and 2 to encourage the team and the bowler and try to annoy the batsmen. They feel part of the team and get a lot of the action ...... mostly the ball flying past them. No sticking them at fine leg as 1 they will get annoyed and 2 if they miss the ball its 4. If they dont get a bat or bowl they are usually very happy to have been in the thick of things.

I also stick them in bat higher up if we are going to win at a canter. I have been known to open up with one of them before. they usually get a few streaky runs or get out very very quickly. No harm done to the team.

[Manormanic]

yeah first thing to say is your current way of doing things seems very contrived, to the effect that no one is really sure who it is who is playing at any one time.  I think you need to pick a team a few days in advance, and have a couple of players on standby for drop outs, having fist got people into the idea that they need to make every effort to attend on time.

[gdb19]

I'd agree with manormanic, pick your side plus reserves and hope people can make it or let you know in advance if not. The most important thing I think is to be consistent, last year I skippered our midweek side and sent out a selection policy pre-season so everyone knew how we'd run things (although this was perhaps more important for us as we have a number of short term secondees over from India each summer who are all keen to play so its difficult to fit them in alongside regular players). This covered not only picking the team but the approach I took to try to give everyone a go instead of being ultra competitive.

Make it clear to everyone up front and hopefully there will be less aggro during the season.

[mattw]

Cheers guys, I think we all have the same conclusion - It's rare that we have all 16 available, but numbers are always sparse at the start of the season due to football and other things - so it would be good to reward those playing at the start of the season.

[ProCricketer1982]

I'm always in favour of rewarding the loyal guys before the lazy ones. The guys who turn up to training, are available for all games etc should be first on the team sheet. The lazy ones (usually mr ego), whilst probably up here skill wise is just there for the easy ride and at the amateur level you don't need them tbh. Let them go be mr big fish somewhere who wants a team full of egos

[Manormanic]

Indeed - if there are players who commit then back out, just don't pick them - its the guy who doesn't turn up and switch their phones off when you try to find out where they are who ruin it for everybody!