The 13th Cricket World Cup is underway, as is the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 Dream11, offering scores of prizes including signed memorabilia, vouchers and tickets to next year’s men’s T20 World Cup in the United States and West Indies. 

Here’s how it works and how to get ahead. 

The parameters on how to select players is not very strict. You are given a budget of 100 credits to pick your 11 players, with each player costing anywhere between nine and 11 credits. 

In your XI, you can have up to four players listed as wicket-keepers, between three and six players listed as batsmen, between one and four players listed as all-rounders, and three and six players listed as bowlers.

You select a captain, who scores you double points, and a vice-captain, who multiplies his points by 1.5. You cannot pick more than seven players from any one of the 10 teams. 

In the course of the 48-match tournament you are able to make a whopping 145 changes to your team: 135 in the group stages and 10 in the knockouts. Essentially, you have three changes per match. 

One point per run scored, with a bonus of one for a four and two for a six (ie a boundary four gets you five points, and a six gets you eight). Upon reaching a half-century, a batsman accrues a bonus of four and upon reaching a century, it’s eight. If one of your batsmen makes a duck, three points are lost. There are also bonus points available for a rapid strike rate. 

A wicket earns 25 points, with an eight-point bonus if dismissed bowled or leg-before. If a bowler picks up four wickets, they get a four-point bonus, and a five-fer brings an 8-point bonus. Maiden overs will be rare, but bring a four-point bonus. Bonuses are also available if a bowler has an excellent economy rate, but points will be lost if the bowlers are expensive. For instance, if they travel at above nine runs an over in an innings, it’s minus six points. 

It’s eight points for a catch, and an extra four points if a fielder takes three catches in an innings. Stumpings are worth 12, as are direct-hit run-outs. Run-outs that are not direct hits are worth six. 

Who has the opportunity to face the most balls, and therefore the opportunities to score the most runs? Openers followed by No3s. Stack your batting line-up with those based higher up the order. They are also likely to deal in boundaries with the field up in the powerplay, too. Think beyond the obvious openers too. Could New Zealand’s Rachin Ravindra be an option? He is listed as an all-rounder (cost eight) but it looks like he will be shoe-horned in at the top of the order, and is in great form.