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Newspaper Fantasy Competitions

Telegraph's Fantasy Cricket - For 2002 and later years please see our Review in the Internet Games section.

Also see FSN19 for an interview with Jed Pitman who runs Telegraph Fantasy Cricket.

The Telegraph's 2001 fantasy cricket competition is only open to residents of the UK, Isle of Man, Channel Islands and the Republic of Ireland who are aged 18 or over (Juniors have a separate league). The game has an entry deadline of 9 May 2001 and can be entered by post, telephone or on the internet. The cost of entry is £2.50 plus an extra £1.50 if you wish to use the internet to carry out your transfers. First prize is a super 10-day holiday for two to watch a Test match anywhere in the world, 2nd prize £2,000 and 3rd gets £1,000. The top Super League receives £5,000. Super League teams cost between £5 and £3 per team (plus the £1.50 for internet transfers) depending on how many teams are entered - minimum 5 and if 15 or more then £3 each - and the chairman receives a fortnightly points update and league standings for the league.

With well over 100,000 teams expected to be entered, the competition will be hard fought. Transfers are limited to 12 for the season (season ends on 16 September) and there is the complication of double points for Test matches and One Day Internationals but many test players will have an enforced rest from county cricket. Pick 5 batsmen, 1 all-rounder, 1 wicket-keeper and 4 bowlers with a total rating of 26 or more (each player has a rating from 1 to 5). Points scored are doubled for your selected captain (who can be changed no more than 4 times). The points scoring week runs from Tuesday to Monday and transfers during a week are only effective from the midnight on the Monday.

FISO's factors to consider include:

1. Good batting pitches are the main homes of Surrey and Northants. Notts have excellent new outfield covers which should ensure more play than normal during the English summer. Some counties have suffered badly with the floods earlier this year.
2. The favourites for honour this year are Surrey, closely followed by Lancashire and Yorkshire.
3. With the game starting a few weeks into the season, you have a chance to study early season form which is always very important. Bearing in mind 1 above, a couple taking the eye earlier on are G Blewett of Notts and M Ramprakash of Surrey.
4. The 2 test series between England and Pakistan is from 17 May to 4 June, the One Day Triangular Series takes place between 7 June and 23 June and the Ashes from 5 July to 27 August.