People can always rely on the digital frontier to bring the best alternative to things. For instance, waiting for the next big cricket league can be agonizing. The 2023 Cricket World Cup finished last month while smaller international leagues are not always comparable to the World Cup in scale.
A simulated cricket league (SRL) is the answer to such waiting woes. SRL is an example of fantasy sports, a particular simulation entertainment. Unlike real-life cricket, SRL is always available year-round.
Understanding Fantasy Sports
Before getting into SRL, let’s read a bit about fantasy sports. Fantasy sports is a game activity people play on the internet-based virtual realm. Players use imaginary teams and players in simulated leagues, not the real ones. But, players play these themes and players based on their real-life stats.
Because of that, while the teams and players’ stats are real, the games are fictional. It gives the ability for players to simulate games and have unpredictable results. Each fantasy team then collects the results and analyzes them to determine the winner.
The first fantasy sports league was a golf league by Wilfred “Bill” Winkenbach in the 1950s. Participants can choose professional golfers and compare their game results in the league. It paved the way for future fantasy sports leagues despite its failure to catch attention.
After the internet became commonplace, the possibility of popularizing fantasy sports became higher. ESPN launched its first Internet-based fantasy baseball game in 1995. Institutions and leagues have begun implementing their versions of fantasy sports since then.
The Virtual Cricket SRL
The SRL is only one example of one of the most popular fantasy sports. Like other fantasy sports leagues, SRL is about cricket games in the virtual space. In this league, prominent cricket teams from everywhere take part in more than 200 games. After 200 games, the system analyzes the teams’ performances to determine the winner.
SRL also takes player drafts and transfers into account. The reason is to make sure SRL becomes as realistic as possible. Elements including club matchups, roster chemistry, and player performances are important as well.
However, SRL does not include weather changes, injuries, and lucky strokes when calculating the results. The reason is it only tries to emulate cricket performances and not the accidents. Simulating possible accidents will only derail the simulation of the players’ best performances.
The nature of SRL means that prominent real-life teams can lose in the league. For example, Australia can lose against Pakistan in the 2023 Cricket World Cup SRL. Although Australia is the real-life winner of the World Cup, it’s not always the case in SRL. Because injuries and weather accidents are not included, every national team can show their best performance.
By having their best performance, teams that lose in real life can win the SRL and vice versa. This unpredictable nature makes everyone addicted to SRL, such as bettors. As the best cricket bookmaker in India, Sportsbet continues serving Indian bettors. With its top-of-the-line services, bettors will have their passion for cricket betting satisfied.
SRL’s T20 Format
SRL simulates real-life cricket leagues such as the Caribbean Premier League and the T20 International. All these leagues use the Twenty20 (T20) format when playing. What is the T20 format?
T20 is a format where cricket games take place for 2.5 hours. This format is very popular because it’s shorter than previous cricket formats. Past cricket formats can take up to 7.5 to 8.5 hours per match. Spectators don’t want to spectate that long to see who’s going to win.
When cricket leagues become more popular, the T20 format becomes the norm for these leagues. Prominent leagues such as the Caribbean Premier League, Indian Cricket League, Big Bash League, and Twenty20 Cup use the format.
Experts said the T20 format makes cricket more bombastic and enjoyable to watch. With the shorter duration, cricket athletes can become more focused on playing. Likewise, spectators will become more inclined to watch more cricket games because of the T20 format.
The format’s impact is significant that even countries with no cricket culture become interested in cricket. In 2021, countries such as Brazil, Germany, and Thailand began embracing cricket on a national scale. This development is interesting, considering how soccer is more famous there than cricket.
What is certain, however, is that cricket will continue to grow in the future. With the increased attention to cricket, we can only guess which country that’ll become interested in cricket.
