Cricket 07 this November

By Tom Bramwell Published 12 September, 2006

Analogue batting, more.

Electronic Arts has announced Cricket 07 for PS2 and PC will be released in November - and in the meantime it's keeping some dirt in its pocket to shine up a new shot system to allow for more versatile batting.

Called "Century Stick", the new control system involves using the left analogue stick to select a front of back-foot stroke, while the right stick allows you to line up shot timing and direction. Power is determined by how far the stick is moved, while the face-buttons you press determine the loft of a shot or whether you advance down the track and, obviously, the real-life batsman's inherent skill plays a part in whether he sees success with the shot.

Developer EA Canada is also opting for a new "more natural" behind-the-stumps camera, and is making big noises about authenticity in general. There'll be broadcast-style visuals, with commentary from Mark Nicholas and Richie Benaud, along with a full Ashes campaign in the "3-mobile Series Down Under", complete Australian State and English County tournament schedules, Limited Overs games and a fully-licensed Twenty20 option. You'll also find that you're wielding equipment from the likes of Gray-Nicolls, Puma, Slazenger, Kookaburra and Gun & Moore, etc.

Other new features include a picture-in-picture display with shot timing gauge, running assistance indicator and radar, and on-the-fly "Dynamic Field Positioning" and "Quickswitch" systems for adjusting the field and bowler's line of attack without a break in play. On top of that, a "Quickplay" cricket setting lets you alter the game's pace and difficulty, going for quick-and-simple Twenty20 or slow-and-difficult five-day tests.

You can see how the game's shaping up in the first screenshots of the PC version.

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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