As many of you will have seen via the article comments over the past 24-hours, the FFS UEFA site – which is run by an enthusiastic group of loyal FFS community posters – has set up an Fantasy Premier League tournament based on a cricket format modelled on the ICC Champions Trophy.

Already, substantial interest has been shown in the tournament and as a result, we offered to create this article for those Fantasy managers keen to take part, or perhaps just puzzled as to all the recent comment chatter. Hopefully, this article will make it make it easier for those participants to find and converse on the subject.

We’re also keen to collect all future talk of the tournament under one article. We’ll feature this article at the top of the site to make it easy to find so please limit discussion of the ICC tournament to this post from this point on.

Just to be clear, this is not a Fantasy Football Scout supported tournament and we won’t be on hand to answer queries or clear up issues associated with it – we’ll leave that to the UEFA Council guys.

For those taking part, the very best of luck. As a Scotsman, though, all this is beyond me – I even had to google the acronym “ICC” for clarification.

Having spoken to the guys behind the game earlier this morning, though, we have been given kind permission to recreate their post advertising the game in full below:

Managers!

We’ve been privileged to organise several cups and leagues for the benefit of the FFS community. You’ve experienced a variety of football-themed competitions ranging from the Euro’s to the Champions/Europa League to the First Division Leagues.

We’re at a special juncture here at FFS UEFA. For the first time in the history of Fantasy Football, we’re introducing an FPL-based head-to-head cup, themed on a cricket competition.
Ladies and gentlemen, presenting to you – the FFS ICC Champions Trophy 2013, in partnership with FFS UEFA.

Who is it for?
All posters of the FFS community. The cricket lovers would take more interest to it, but it’s open to everyone.

Cricket? What the hell is going on? How does it work?
There are 8 teams in total. Each team has 12 players each.

A team’s total in a particular gameweek is the sum of the top 11 players FPL scores in that GW, which means the lowest scoring FPL player becomes the 12th man for the team.

Then, two teams go head-to-head and the team with the higher runs scored wins the particular clash.

When does the tournament run?
The tournament runs from GW33 – GW38, according to the real Champions Trophy format.

Where can I find more details on this tournament?
The tournament will be run on the linked spreadsheet . So be sure to bookmark the link and become familiar with its geography. On FFS UEFA, you will find this Cup under the “International” menu.

What’s unique about this tournament?
This game is aimed to bring out the “team” element to the fore, just like how it works in the real world. A team’s success isn’t dependent on one player alone after all.

As much as it’s a team game, leadership is so crucial. Each team will be led by a captain and a vice-captain, guided by a coach.

The coach is the know-it-all, who will answer any questions you may have during the course of the tournament. He will also have frequent strategic discussions with the captain. The coach is also the link of every team with FFS UEFA. They have been chosen by FFS UEFA for their valuable understanding of the game.

The captain is the face of the team. He is the one who scouts the players (including vice-captain) for his team. He has the ultimate power to pick his final squad – he may even decide to disallow the coach from playing in his squad. During the tournament, the captain also has the power to replace a team player with the consent of the coach. Also, in the case of a tie in a particular clash, the captain’s FPL score is the tie-breaker. The respective captains have already been picked by each of the 8 coaches.

The vice-captain will deputize for the captain in his absence and share his responsibility where apt. Every captain has either already or will be picking their vice-captains.

Live Scorecards by Pratik – Over the course of the gameweek, you will have the chance to view the live scorecards of each team (similar to Scorecast for the leagues). This is brought to you by the official scorer-cum-umpire-cum-player of FFS ICC, Pratik. More updates on this will follow.

Team Threads – Each team will also have a team thread on the FFS UEFA website. You can use this to tell us more about your team’s make-up, make any press conferences, discuss your team strategies, taunt opponents, discuss your FPL moves. Basically anything with an objective to enliven the team spirit. Feel free to speak to the coaches regarding this, as they all have access to the team threads.

This is how you can join a team – Introducing the Scouting Period
The Scouting period for the teams runs until April 1st. Basically it’s a period when each team will be scouting for players (along with their FPL IDs). The squads will then be announced on 2nd April.

You can also approach a captain, vice-captain or a coach to join the team of your interest. If you check the squad page, most of them have linked their Twitter or Email IDs. You will notice a few teams have signed a a few core team players already. So if you’d like to express your interest, the time is now!

Here’s the best part. There are no rules for the scouting period. You have no obligation to keep your word after signing for a team. It’s the biggest benefit for you as a a player – enjoy the open market. As long as you let your captain/vice-captain/coach know within 31st March, you’re good. For example, you can transfer to Australia if you find their offer/team more interesting, despite signing for England earlier.