Cricket Coach 2007 - Review by Stuart Connellan

This summer Midas Interactive released Rockingham Software's Cricket Coach 2007. When I see the £9.99 price tag the first thing that goes through my head is that the game can't be very good otherwise they would have charged more. I am delighted to say that this game is much better than I thought it was going to be. Buy Cricket Coach 2007 on the PC Now

I did have a few issues getting the game started, for some reason the game didn't want to play using a windows vista machine, however after trying all of the different start options I managed to work out that the windows sidebar was causing the problem. Once that was switched off the game worked fine.

The game comes supplied with “made up” sound alike players (Michael Vaughan is Michael Vorn etc) and that does become annoying after a while. However, the game does include an editor so you can change them but with over 3,700 players from over 100 teams it wouldn't be an easy task. Thankfully there is a much better solution. All you have to do is visit cricketcoachgame.com and you can download a real surnames database. It really is a simple operation and full instructions are provided to aid the changes. Once you have the real players names the game becomes much more enjoyable.

The first thing you will notice when you start playing the game is how much it looks and plays like Football Manager from sigames, this isn't a bad thing at all just ask any football fan to name the best football manager game and the comparison is a positive one.

Everything related to cricket is included in the game from Central Contracts for the international players to injuries and more stats than you could imagine.

Your job is to pick the best 11 players from your squad, pick the field, plan your tactics, change the bowlers, set the batsmen's aggression and keep your eye on the weather.

You don't actually play the matches yourself it works in a very similar way to Football Manger. You have a choice of match scorecard views and you can decide how many 'highlights' you want to watch - ranging from every ball to just the wicket taking deliveries or none at all.

You have a choice of playing in career mode or to play a 1 off international match. International match mode is fine if you don't have long to play however career mode is where the heart of the game lies.

Buy Cricket Coach 2007 on the PC Now

The manual is provided on the cd and because of this I didn't actually read it before I started playing! (I did check to see if it had advice on playing with windows vista but no advice was given. The game screens are simple and clear and it is quite easy to work out what needs to be done before clicking the continue button. During Play there were a few times when I wished I did have a real printed manual to refer to but Midas obviously decided that they could sell the game for less if they didn't have to produce a printed manual.

The first thing I did when I started playing the game was to sign a couple of players that I would love to see playing for my local team, Nottinghamshire, so in came Australians Ricky Ponting and Brett Lee. Both players went straight into my starting line-up in the first class game against Essex. I won the toss and decided to bowl first - my first mistake of the game; opening the bowling with Ryan Sidebottom and Brett Lee. I was expecting to bowl them out nice and cheap.

Essex declared during the morning session of day 2 and with the score 587 for 4 we were already on the back foot. Surely I'd get close if not past the Essex score in my reply? Nottinghamshire were bowled out for 248! Essex enforced the follow on and repeated the bowling performance bowling me out for less than 300 and inflicting a heavy defeat on the new manager.

The game is incredible value for money and the live database on the website is a superb and un expected bonus (free). You can update your game with the latest details at any time. Highly recommended, the game will bring you hours of fun and hits the competition for six!

Menu   Home Series 1877 - 1928 Series 1930 - 1980 Series 1981 - 2007 Profiles Australia Profiles England Records Bodyline Links   Valuations Shop Book Reviews Blog   Contact Us               Cricket Coach 2007 - Review by Stuart Connellan   This summer Midas Interactive released Rockingham Software's Cricket Coach 2007. When I see the £9.99 price tag the first thing that goes through my head is that the game can't be very good otherwise they would have charged more. I am delighted to say that this game is much better than I thought it was going to be. Buy Cricket Coach 2007 on the PC Now   I did have a few issues getting the game started, for some reason the game didn't want to play using a windows vista machine, however after trying all of the different start options I managed to work out that the windows sidebar was causing the problem. Once that was switched off the game worked fine.   The game comes supplied with “made up” sound alike players (Michael Vaughan is Michael Vorn etc) and that does become annoying after a while. However, the game does include an editor so you can change them but with over 3,700 players from over 100 teams it wouldn't be an easy task. Thankfully there is a much better solution. All you have to do is visit cricketcoachgame.com and you can download a real surnames database. It really is a simple operation and full instructions are provided to aid the changes. Once you have the real players names the game becomes much more enjoyable.   The first thing you will notice when you start playing the game is how much it looks and plays like Football Manager from sigames, this isn't a bad thing at all just ask any football fan to name the best football manager game and the comparison is a positive one.   Everything related to cricket is included in the game from Central Contracts for the international players to injuries and more stats than you could imagine.   Your job is to pick the best 11 players from your squad, pick the field, plan your tactics, change the bowlers, set the batsmen's aggression and keep your eye on the weather. You don't actually play the matches yourself it works in a very similar way to Football Manger. You have a choice of match scorecard views and you can decide how many 'highlights' you want to watch - ranging from every ball to just the wicket taking deliveries or none at all. You have a choice of playing in career mode or to play a 1 off international match. International match mode is fine if you don't have long to play however career mode is where the heart of the game lies. Buy Cricket Coach 2007 on the PC Now   The manual is provided on the cd and because of this I didn't actually read it before I started playing! (I did check to see if it had advice on playing with windows vista but no advice was given. The game screens are simple and clear and it is quite easy to work out what needs to be done before clicking the continue button. During Play there were a few times when I wished I did have a real printed manual to refer to but Midas obviously decided that they could sell the game for less if they didn't have to produce a printed manual.   The first thing I did when I started playing the game was to sign a couple of players that I would love to see playing for my local team, Nottinghamshire, so in came Australians Ricky Ponting and Brett Lee. Both players went straight into my starting line-up in the first class game against Essex. I won the toss and decided to bowl first - my first mistake of the game; opening the bowling with Ryan Sidebottom and Brett Lee. I was expecting to bowl them out nice and cheap. Essex declared during the morning session of day 2 and with the score 587 for 4 we were already on the back foot. Surely I'd get close if not past the Essex score in my reply? Nottinghamshire were bowled out for 248! Essex enforced the follow on and repeated the bowling performance bowling me out for less than 300 and inflicting a heavy defeat on the new manager.   The game is incredible value for money and the live database on the website is a superb and un expected bonus (free). You can update your game with the latest details at any time. Highly recommended, the game will bring you hours of fun and hits the competition for six!   Maybe I should get reading the manual before it's too late in the season! Buy Cricket Coach 2007 on the PC Now   Back to Book Review Index   334notout.com blog: Deep Fine Leg - Latest Posts © 334notout.com 1999 - 2008