Brian Lara goes online

By Tom Bramwell Published 23 November, 2006

On Xbox 360 and PC.

Codemasters has revealed that Brian Lara International Cricket 2007 will offer online play on both Xbox 360 and PC when it arrives next March.

On Xbox 360, you'll be able to set up multiplayer tournaments including leagues, exhibition matches and warm-up games, as well as the ICC World Cup 2007 and the ICC Champions Trophy 2006. Up to 16 players will be able to compete in a tournament, with options for up to eight spectators per game, too.

As well as leaderboards that chart a player's skills, achievements will allow them to show off by hitting centuries and winning on every ground in the game. Or if you just like talking a good fight rather than actually doing one, Codies reminds us that Xbox Live voice chat is a good place for "sledging" - cricket's version of smack-talking.

Meanwhile, the PC version will mirror many of the online options in its console counterpart, with the added benefit of LAN match support, and the PS2 offering will "feature a variety of multiplayer options for up to four players".

You can check out some new Lara shots elsewhere on the site.

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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Comments (24) Latest comment 5 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • snick #1 5 years ago

    i hope they don't oversimplify it like the xbox version. I want full control over my fielders, not just hit buttons when told to.

    online will be sweet though, hopefully there'll be the ability to save a game tho, test match could last an awfully long time.

  • #2 5 years ago

    Golf > Cricket

  • gazareth #3 5 years ago

    I hope they're going to release a realism patch that updates the game so that your best spin bowler and potential matchwinner is inexplicably dropped for someone who *might* score you an extra 20 runs.

  • sport #4 5 years ago

    online 'Ashes' FTW!!!

  • jonsaan #5 5 years ago

    I can't WAIT. Lets get it on.

  • polymorph #6 5 years ago

    Yeah its cricket, the second worst sport in the world(after rugby)
    Who cares??

  • afray #7 5 years ago

    @gazareth: lol

    Hope the AI improves and there's an option to auto play innings, if you don't fancy batting or bowling.

  • billythekid #8 5 years ago

    And they'll also let you pick a wicket keeper that can't catch but *might* score another 20 runs.

  • TheMoonRat #9 5 years ago

    Well, perhaps people who *gasp* have a different opinion than you?

  • AcidSnake #10 5 years ago

    Indeed! Curling is far and wide accepted to be much worse!

  • kmittal82 #11 5 years ago

    Always wonder why cant they get player faces and stances/bowling actions accurate (all other sports game do it). Also, it would be good to see for once the tail enders actually struggling to score runs rather than being the top scorers.

    Hopefully they will use the 360's CPU for something more than graphics upgrade... oh wait, the game needs a major graphics upgrade!

  • Hullfire #12 5 years ago

    Look. If you don't like cricket, stop spamming these comments and go away you insufferable w@nkers.

    Lara on the PS2 was very enjoyable despite its flaws, which became more and more prevalent the longer you played it. My brother and I spent many a drunken 8pm-4am night recreating the Ashes series on full Test mode, and I'm looking forward to doing it all over again on the 360.

    Providing they fix even some of the niggles, this will definitely be dropping through the letterbox come March.
    Edited by 2 at 23/11/06 @ 16:30

  • sport #13 5 years ago

    Yeah its cricket, the second greatest sport in the world(after rugby)
    Who cares??


    Fixed. Don't mention it.

  • kmittal82 #14 5 years ago

    I agree mate. Certainly good, but lets hope they can get the right tweaks.
    In any case, beats the horrible horrible product known as Cricket 07 by EA!! *shudder*

  • posh_geordie #15 5 years ago

    Post deleted at 18:45:04 02-01-2012

  • neuroniky #16 5 years ago

    I'm a sucker for obscure sport titles (well, obscure by italian standards)...
    ... can anybody reccomend me a site where I can find a detailed explanation of cricket, not only of the rules, but of the tactics involved and so on?

  • posh_geordie #17 5 years ago

    Post deleted at 18:45:04 02-01-2012

  • Hullfire #18 5 years ago

    posh_geordie: Can you confirm whether it has one vs one over Live? What about two vs. two?

  • trailofdead #19 5 years ago

    I think I read somewhere that players will still have fake names in Test/exhibition mode (like the last game) but you won't be able to edit them.

    Any confirmation geordie?

  • green_nifta #20 5 years ago


    You can play world cup and champions trophy 'warm-up matches' with the real players, which are your basic exhibition matches

  • GamerAddict #21 5 years ago

    Ooooooooo online cricket, all that I'd hoped for in the previous Brian Lara :) I really hope Codies manage to pull this off.

    However, Codies are gonna have to put SO much effort into getting the online as lag-free as possible!! Can you imagine being bowled out at a crucial stage because of lag?! It'd be a nightmare!!

    Also, I really hope that they sort out other gameplay problems,
    - fielders always throwing to the wicketkeeper's end
    - no stumpings
    - improved AI...i.e. you get a huge total, AI don't just knock it about for 1's, 2's and dot balls!

    I can do without real player names and faces as long as they get all of the above sorted!! Its all about gameplay over licences as Pro Evo has proved year after year ;)


    Just before an online match, are you gonna be able to decline playing for stress-related illnesses?? :)

  • Talha #22 5 years ago

    Like it or not, one fifth of the world's population is addicted to Cricket. That makes it even more paradoxical that every Cricket title so far has reeked of a low budget. all the problems - control issues, horrid graphics, zombie-like players - stem from that one limit.

    Hey guys, build a good cricket game and they will come. just like Golf - how many of us play golf in real life?

  • posh_geordie #23 5 years ago

    Post deleted at 18:45:04 02-01-2012

  • GamerAddict #24 5 years ago

    @posh

    All sounds good. BLIC05 was a fantastic game, really good to see it return to the market. There were annoying glitches, the biggest I listed in my previous post. So its good to hear that they've been addressed for the sequel.

    As I said before though, I know u can never get it perfect, but I really hope lag issues don't spoil playing this online!

  • kmittal82 #25 5 years ago

    Another thing on the wishlist would be simulating a "high pressure" situation.

    New batsman in, get your field all in close, forcing the batsman on the back foot and make errors (bat-pad, edges etc.). This was "sort of" implemented in the lats game, but a more sturyd approach to this would be good.

    Even though there was a "confidence" meter for batsmen in the last game, it didnt really do much. I think that was a great feature, and seeing a good implementation of it would be awesome.