Gamers rarely get to hear the thwack of virtual leather on willow these days. But in the midst of a huge summer for cricket in the UK, with the World Cup followed by an Ashes series, Australian developer Big Ant Studios has stepped into the breach.
Cricket 19 has a great career mode that lets you work your way up from club cricket, or take control of an established pro. In each game, you can either control your player alone or their entire team. There are playable scenarios from famous real-life games, and a welter of editing tools that let you design your own custom competitions, bats and cricket grounds.
It looks basic in comparison with better resourced sports games such as Fifa, but at least its licensed players recognisably resemble their real-life counterparts. An official licence for the Ashes covers all the England and Australia men’s and women’s players, but players from all other countries have fictional names and random faces.
If you can get past the visuals, Cricket 19 impresses on the pitch. Its control system is exemplary, offering fine control and all the funky deliveries and shots that any bowler or batsman could desire. You can choose between button-based batting, and waggling analogue sticks in a manner that’s vaguely suggestive of real cricketing. In a first for a cricket game, the AI is decent, too. Computer-controlled batsmen play to match conditions, exercising caution at the start of a 50-over innings, for example, before teeing off later on, bringing increased opportunities for your bowlers to strike.
The game launched with at least one egregious bug, but happily it’s been fixed. Sadly, the commentary remains laughably awful, but, despite that, this is comfortably the best cricket game yet made. Like the sport itself, it is modest, yet dignified.
• Cricket 19 is out now; £39.99
