Organisers
Ground and Slot Allocation Planner
Spread a fixture list across grounds and time slots so no side plays back to back.
Add the fixtures and the grounds, and set how long a side must rest between matches.
Scheduled
4
of 4 fixtures
Days needed
2
Grounds
2
Slots per day
2
Rest gap
1 slot
Beyond the calculator
Run the whole competition in Crickslab. Fixtures, grounds, officials and the table all sit in one place and update themselves.
- Fixtures and standings generated for you
- Grounds, slots and officials in one calendar
- Every stat from every match, kept for good
How this was worked out
- 1Capacity2 grounds x 2 slots per day = 4 matches a day
- 2Rest ruleno side plays again within 1 slot
| Day | Slot | Ground | Home | Away | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | Slot 1 | Main Ground | Alpha CC | v | Beta CC |
| Day 1 | Slot 1 | Second Ground | Gamma CC | v | Delta CC |
| Day 2 | Slot 1 | Main Ground | Alpha CC | v | Gamma CC |
| Day 2 | Slot 1 | Second Ground | Beta CC | v | Delta CC |
How the number is worked out
The formula
Place each fixture in the earliest slot where both sides are free and rested- slot
- A time window on a day. Two slots a day means a morning and an afternoon match.
- rest gap
- The number of slots a side must sit out between its matches.
The allocation is greedy rather than optimal. It produces a workable draft in a moment rather than a perfect one after a search.
A worked example: four fixtures, two grounds
Four fixtures among four teams, two grounds, two slots a day, and a rest gap of one slot.
- 1Slot 1A v B on the main ground, C v D on the second
- 2Rest gapall four sides must sit out slot 2
- 3Slot 3A v C on the main ground, B v D on the second
- 4Days neededslots 1 to 3 spans two days at two slots a day
All four fixtures placed across two days with the rest gap respected. Tightening the gap to zero would fit them into one day, at the cost of sides playing consecutive matches.
Rules and edge cases
The situations that change the answer, and the ones most calculators get wrong.
It will not double book a side and it will not breach the rest gap
Those two constraints are absolute. If a fixture cannot be placed without breaking one of them, it is reported as unplaced rather than squeezed in. A schedule that quietly puts a team in two places at once is worse than one that admits it did not fit.
A long rest gap needs far more days than people expect
With four teams and a rest gap of one slot, only one match involving any given side can run every other slot. Increasing the gap multiplies the days needed quickly. If the plan does not fit, the gap is usually the first thing to relax.
Greedy, not optimal
The allocation fills the earliest workable slot rather than searching for the best overall arrangement. That is a deliberate trade: organisers want a draft to adjust in seconds, not a perfect schedule after a long search. Expect to move a couple of fixtures by hand.
Travel and pitch preparation are not modelled
It knows about grounds and slots, not about how far apart the grounds are or how long a square needs between matches. If two grounds are an hour apart, treat consecutive slots on different grounds as unusable.
Frequently asked questions
Generate the fixture list first, then allocate it to grounds and slots with a rest gap so no side plays consecutive matches. This tool does the second step.
For tournament organisers
Hold the whole schedule in one place
Crickslab keeps fixtures, grounds, times and results together, so a change to one match is visible to every team, official and follower straight away rather than in a re-sent spreadsheet.
See tournament managementLast reviewed 17 August 2026. Playing conditions change, so if your competition uses a different rule, its regulations take precedence over anything here.