It's just not in the game

EA Cricket 07
Buy from Amazon for £29.99

EA Cricket 07 is the latest offering from the Electronic Arts stable. While they have enjoyed considerable success with their other titles, there has been a feeling that their cricket offerings have not matched these high standards.

Sadly, Cricket 07 is another that disappoints. It is a solid, playable game that does what it says on the tin, but as with its predecessors it smacks of a missed opportunity. It looks startlingly similar to EA's last cricket release, Cricket 05, and plays like it too. The player graphics are awkward and cumbersome, with little or no definition between height and size. Brett Lee, for example, has a bottom like Darren Gough and a run-up that makes you wonder if he's been on a three-month bender before arriving on screen.

It is doubly disappointing as EA are capable of so much better. Anyone who has played one of EA's football releases will know what superb simulations of player movement and the realism they can produce, yet none of that is present here which seems to show where their priorities lie.

This is not to do the game a disservice. It is very playable and there are a host of new features designed to enhance the gameplay. The innovative 'Century Stick' batting control allows the player more control over foot choice and shot placement, although it is dependent on having a dual analogue joypad, indicating that the developers were more concerned with the Playstation 2 market.

There are the usual EA benefits, such as full licensing and player names, as well as commentary from Richie Benaud and Mark Nicholas providing a welcome throwback for those sick of Sky's banal coverage - even if at times they don't appear to be watching the same game. A host of tournament options present themselves, as well as the chance to replay the 2005 Ashes and the opportunity to see if playing Monty makes a difference on the present tour.

There is plenty to get stuck into, and the gameplay is passable, despite some fidgety bowling controls, but it is doesn't escape the usual Achilles' heels of cricket simulations. The game's market audience is the cricket lover, submerged somewhere in our quick-fix generation of computer game players. While strategy games are increasingly popular, the patience of the gamer will never extend to grinding out an innings that Paul Collingwood would be proud of, or hitting the same spot six times an over for 20 overs like Glenn McGrath.

Therein lies the problem, as a cricket game that produces a realistic simulation is quickly boring, yet one that descends into a slogfest is equally unappealing. It is a conundrum that EA struggles to solve and it is not difficult to go along at more than 30-an-over in the lower difficulty modes, while Test matches on higher difficulties are quickly tedious. In this respect it does not live up to the Brian Lara brand, the most playable over long periods.

There is a definite gap in this market to be exploited if someone can produce a game that is for cricket what the FIFA and Pro Evolution titles are for football.

With Cricket 07's release timed to capitalise on Ashes fever, England's submission at Adelaide has dampened public enthusiasm and there is not a great deal here to help restore it, even amongst the most ardent cricket fan.