How fantasy cricket points work: a plain-English guide

Updated: 12 November 2026 · Yorker11

Fantasy cricket turns a real match into a points table. You choose eleven real players before the toss, and each one earns points based on what they actually do in the game. The details differ from game to game, but almost every scoring system rewards the same kinds of contribution. If you understand those, you can read any scoring table in a couple of minutes.

Yorker11 does not run fantasy contests and does not recommend any platform. This guide explains how scoring generally works so you can understand the cricket better. Values below are illustrations, not the rules of any specific game.

The building blocks

Batting. Points for every run, with extra points for boundaries (fours and sixes) and milestone bonuses at 30, 50 or 100 runs. Many games also take points away for a duck, usually only for players who are not specialist bowlers. In T20 and ODI formats there is often a strike-rate bonus or penalty once a batter has faced a minimum number of balls.

Bowling. Points per wicket, usually worth many runs' worth of batting points, plus bonuses for haul milestones (three, four or five wickets) and maidens. Some games also award points for bowled and LBW dismissals, because the bowler did it without a fielder's help. White-ball formats usually add an economy-rate bonus or penalty after a minimum number of overs.

Fielding. Points for catches, stumpings and run-outs. Wicketkeepers collect a lot of these, which is one reason a keeper who also bats in the top order is valuable.

Appearance. Many games give a small number of points simply for being named in the playing XI. That is why picking a player who ends up not playing is so costly: you lose even the base points.

An illustration

Imagine a game with these made-up values: 1 point per run, 1 bonus per four, 2 per six, 25 per wicket, 8 per catch. On those numbers:

• A batter who scores 45 off 30 balls with five fours and one six earns 45 + 5 + 2 = 52.
• A bowler who takes 3 for 28 and holds one catch earns 75 + 8 = 83, before any haul or economy bonus.

The bowler wins comfortably, even though the batter "had a good game". The exact values in your game will be different, but this pattern of wicket-takers outscoring mid-sized innings appears in most scoring tables.

Captain and vice-captain multipliers

Most games ask you to name a captain and a vice-captain. A common convention is that the captain's points are doubled and the vice-captain's are multiplied by 1.5, but check your game's rules. With multipliers like these, your captain choice usually matters more than any other single decision. A captain who scores 80 is worth 160; one who scores 10 is worth 20. Our captain and vice-captain guide covers how to make that call.

What this means when you pick

1. Favour involvement. Players who bat in the top four or bowl their full quota get more chances to score. A number seven who may face five balls, or a part-time bowler who may bowl one over, is a gamble.
2. All-rounders give you two routes to points. A genuine all-rounder who bats in the top six and bowls their overs can score through either discipline.
3. Format changes the maths. Strike-rate and economy bonuses matter in T20s; milestone bonuses and long bowling spells matter in ODIs and Tests. See T20 vs ODI vs Test selection.
4. Conditions change who gets the chances. A dewy evening can make the second innings easier to bat in. A dry, turning pitch hands more overs to spinners. Our venue guides collect these conditions for this season's grounds.

Read the rules first

Before you use any of our analysis, open the scoring table of the game you play and note three numbers: points per run, points per wicket and the captain multiplier. Most other decisions follow from those.