Hand cricket
- Pick your side, the opposition and the level: Club, County or Test. Each side plays its real T20 XI.
- Call heads or tails. Whoever wins the toss chooses to bat or bowl.
- Each ball, you and Oddsworth each show a number from 1 to 6. Different numbers: the batter scores their number. The same number: the batter is out.
- 3 overs and 3 wickets an innings. The side batting second needs one more run than the first made.
Call it
0.0 of 3 overs
Power over: evens only, runs doubled
- Played
- Won
- Win streak
- Best score
Hand cricket explained
What is hand cricket?
Cricket played with one hand, a favourite in school playgrounds across India and the rest of South Asia. Two players show a number with their fingers at the same moment. If the numbers differ, the batter scores theirs. If they match, the batter is out.
How does Oddsworth pick its numbers?
It remembers what you show: the numbers you use most, and what you tend to show after each one. When you bat, its bowler aims at the number it expects from you. When you bowl, its batter keeps away from it. At Club level it barely uses what it knows. At County it acts on it about half the time. At Test level it starts from the best mix of numbers for the match situation and leans on any habit it spots. Show the same number every ball and you’ll be out inside an over at County or Test level.
Can you beat Test level?
Only with luck. Each ball is a guessing game whose best answer depends on the runs needed and the balls and wickets left, and Test level plays that answer: it covers the numbers worth most to you just often enough that none of them pays better than another. No choice of numbers wins on average against it, and any pattern in yours makes things worse.
Why do the players matter?
At Club and County level, every player carries our T20 batting and bowling ratings. The better Oddsworth’s player is than yours, the more often it acts on its read of you. Jasprit Bumrah bowling to a tailender reads him most balls; a part-time spinner bowling to Suryakumar Yadav rarely does. The bulbs beside each name show how good they are.
Who should bowl which over?
When you field, you pick the bowler for each over, and nobody bowls twice. The stronger your bowler is than their batter, the less often Oddsworth’s batter sees your number coming at County level. Many keep their best bowler for the last over of the chase.
What is the power over?
Once an innings, when you’re batting, you can take the power over at the start of an over. In it you can only show 2, 4 or 6, and every run counts double: 4 for a 2, 8 for a 4 and 12 for a 6. With three numbers to cover, the bowler gets you out far more often. It pays when you need runs fast, less when you’re cruising. Oddsworth takes its own too: at Test level when the odds favour it, otherwise in its last over.
How do you beat Oddsworth?
Be hard to read. Spread your numbers, avoid habits such as following a 4 with a 6, and change your pattern when your meter drops. Numbers picked purely at random get you out one ball in six, whoever is bowling.