Over the coming weeks additional material will be added here to help you get the most out of the game

Quick Tips

Press Left Shift + F8 at any time to output an Almanac for the season.
Press Left Shift + F9 at any time to take a screenshot of the current screen.
On the match summary screen, hold Left Shift and click on a team name to go to that teams' screen.
Press SPACE during a match to continue play without needing to use the mouse
Right mouse click or press SPACE during a highlight to close the end the highlight

Game Walkthrough

Cricket Coach 2012 has various game modes, each of which will give you a slightly different experience.

Career mode - In this mode you select an international or domestic team (or opt to start unemployed), and move through a real life calendar. The game simulates both international and domestic cricket, as you move through the year different competitions and series will be played. When your team plays, you move to the match screen after picking your team. As well as playing matches, you will also need to manage your team, take part in player auctions, submit central contract lists and various other tasks related to your side.

International Series mode - In this mode you choose two international sides and a format of cricket (Test, ODI or T20) and run a series. You can choose to take part yourself, or you can allow the computer to simulate the series. During and at the end of the series various statistical records are viewable, relating to the series.

International Challenge mode - In this mode you can simulate one of three types of international tournament. Either a World Cup, a T20 World Cup or a Champs Trophy. The T20 World Cup is played over 20 overs, whilst the other two competitions are played over 50 overs. You can opt to run the tournament in the same country as the next real life competition will be played, or you can choose the hosts yourself. The game mode feels similar to the career mode, but with no other competitions running, and the game mode ends once the tournament has been played out.

Additionally Cricket Coach 2012 includes a comprehensive game editor. To enable you to customise the game in one of many many ways. The editor can be accessed from the game setup menu after you have chosen the database to play. Changes to the database are saved, but can be wiped if you wish to revert to the default database by deleting the '2012' folder in your 'My Documents\Cricket Coach 2012\db2' folder.

Match view

To move through a match in Cricket Coach 2012 you either click the bowl button with your mouse, or press the space bar. Some users may find that pressing the space bar allows for an easier and faster and potentially more enjoyable experience.

When bowling you will also need to click on the change bowler button at various points during the innings to select which bowler you wish to bowl the next over. When batting you will need to adjust the batting aggression of your batsmen, the batsman's aggression determines what sort of shots he will attempt.

Additionally when bowling you can choose the field, and determine in more detail what type of balls you would like your bowlers to bowl. Although default options are set which give a reasonably effective strategy.

The Cricket Coach 2012 match view is a detailed and complex place to be. For a start you have the option to choose what data you wish to view when moving through the match. The default view is a summary of the innings, with small icons for each ball at the bottom of the screen. To watch a ball click on the small icon. To view the scorecard for any innings click on the score on the top bar. To view data for the bowlers and batsmen click on their names.

The data shown on the bottom half of the match view screen can be changed by clicking on the dropdown listbox. You have various options, which are self-explanatory. Try each and see which feels most appropriate for the match situation you find yourself in.