Cricket (series)

The EA Cricket is a series of cricket video games published by EA Sports and designed for Microsoft Windows and PlayStation 2 platforms. Until now, 8 different games of the series have been released.

Games

Cricket 96

Screenshot of Cricket 96

Cricket 96 is a cricket game for the MS-DOS PCs that was released in 1995. The sequel to Super International Cricket on the SNES, it was developed by Melbourne House (as Beam Software) and published by EA Sports. It was released as Ian Botham's International Cricket 96 in Europe.

Despite featuring improved graphics, like its predecessors the game continued to forgo official team and player licensing, although many of the in-game players had recognisable real-life counterparts.

Cricket 97

Cricket 97
Developer(s)	Beam Software
Publisher(s)	EA Sports
Platform(s)	MS-DOS Windows
Release	EU: 1997
Genre(s)	Sports
Mode(s)	Single-player Multiplayer

Cricket 97 is a cricket game for PCs that was released in 1997. The sequel to Cricket 96, it was developed by Melbourne House (as Beam Software) and published by EA Sports. It was the final cricket game in the series to be developed by Melbourne House.

Compared to the previous game, the improvement in graphics continued with three-dimensional stadiums (though players remained rendered as sprites). Cricketing legends Ritchie Benaud and Ian Botham for the first time provided commentary and also featured in full motion video interludes. The game did not feature real player names as with previous games in the series (with real Australian and English sides appearing for the first time in the game's successor, Ashes Tour Edition).

A re-release of the game entitled the Ashes Tour Edition featured the English and Australian tour squads for the 1997 Ashes series.

Following the Ashes Tour Edition an update disc was released to include the New Zealand Cricket Team. This disc included official players, portraits and statistics from the New Zealand side at the time. This was intended to make Cricket 97 the most realistic cricket game on the market at the time.

Another re-release of Cricket 97 followed later with the release of Cricket Ashes Tour, with updated stats and players from the 1998/99 Ashes tour.

Cricket World Cup 99

Offered on PS1 platform

Cricket 2000

Cricket 2000 was offered for PC. The game featured Adam Gilchrist playing the pull shot on its cover art. Players could choose among most of the international ODI-playing teams, all of which featured real player names. The game featured many technical bugs, including that players could bowl virtual underarm balls that rolled along the ground to bowl the opposition out. The game was generally poorly reviewed, particularly because of its poor graphics, though one area the game excelled was in its commentary, which featured Richie Benaud and David Gower.

Cricket 2004

Cricket 2004
Australian Cricket Box Art
Developer(s)	HB Studios
Publisher(s)	EA Sports
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2
Release	PlayStation 2 PAL: March 5, 2004 [1] Microsoft Windows PAL: March 12, 2004 [2]
Genre(s)	Sports

Cricket 2004 is a 2004 video game based on the sport of cricket by EA Sports. The game was designed by HB Studios, known for their EA Rugby Series. It was released for the PlayStation 2 and Microsoft Windows.

Cricket 2004 features all of the international teams that played in the 2003 Cricket World Cup, all of the domestic teams of Australia and England.

The player can create their own players for Cricket 2004 and choose which team they play for. An Autoplay feature allows the player to skip 5, 10, 15, 20, 50 or 100 (4 and 5 day games only) overs, until a wicket falls, or to the end of the innings.

The graphics were awarded "Worst PlayStation 2 graphics" by IGN.^[3]

Cricket 2005

Cricket 2005
Developer(s)	HB Studios
Publisher(s)	EA Sports
Engine	Modified Madden 2005
Platform(s)	Windows Xbox PlayStation 2
Release	AU: 1 July 2005
Genre(s)	Sports
Mode(s)	Single player Multiplayer

Cricket 2005 is a video game based on the sport of cricket. Developed by HB Studios and released by EA Sports, it was released in July 2005 on Xbox, PlayStation 2 and Windows.

The game was released in three different region-based covers. Adam Gilchrist appeared on the Australian cover, Daniel Vettori on the New Zealand cover and Andrew Flintoff on the English cover. It was the last game to have all real player names.

Cricket 07

EA Sports Cricket 07
Developer(s)	HB Studios
Publisher(s)	EA Sports
Platform(s)	Windows, PlayStation 2
Release	AU: 14 November 2006 UK: 24 November 2006
Genre(s)	Sports, Cricket
Mode(s)	Single player Multiplayer

Cricket 07 is a cricket simulation computer game developed by HB Studios and published by Electronic Arts under the label of EA Sports. It is available for Windows and PlayStation 2. The game was released in the United Kingdom on 24 November 2006 and in Australia on 14 November 2006. The cover art for Cricket 07 features England and Lancashire cricketer Andrew Flintoff, and the Australian release cover pictures The Ashes urn with the Australian and English flags behind it. It is notable that to date, this is the last cricket game published by EA Sports.

In-game screenshot of Cricket 07, showing a ODI match between Australia (in green) and Namibia (in blue)

Cricket 07 features a number of game types, including limited overs matches (50, 20 or 10 overs), 4-day first-class matches and full-length test matches. The player may select different pitches and different weather conditions in different venues.^[4] Several international venues are available, including Lord's in England and the generic version of Eden Gardens in India. The venues vary in conditions and pitch type, and these can be changed by the player.

The game gives players the option of entering different international and national contests, including full seasons and tournaments.

Expanded features of Cricket 07 include improved player control and easy stroke play, along with the introduction of the Ashes section. There was also an addition on commentary as Mark Nicholas joined Richie Benaud.

EA Sports lost the licensing for most of the teams for Cricket 07. Only Australia, England, South Africa and New Zealand licensed player names and kits. All other team names are generic, however can be edited in the Team Management option or with a roster. Also, Australian players are blended into World squads of 2005 ICC Super Series, but all the names are generic.

References