Ashes Cricket

Were The Ashes still a case of Australia turning up and taking home the title in all but name before a ball has even been thrown, one suspects Codemasters might not have been quite so keen to pick up the license.

However, with England seemingly making the series something of a contest again, interest on this side of the globe is renewed and, it has to be said, Ashes Cricket is the perfect game to complement this fresh faced fever.

Easy does it

Indeed, just a few minutes of play time is enough to prove that impressing newcomers is what Ashes Cricket is all about.

This isn't really a game designed to appeal to aficionados (although the Ashes Cricket's varying level of difficulty can be tweaked to serve most audiences), but rather one to showcase the basics of the sport to those who might have picked up an interest when scanning the headlines on the back pages.

It is, however, something of a rehash. Bar the odd tweak graphically, Ashes Cricket is Jump Games's ICC World Twenty20 re-dressed. Naturally, rather than taking on the world's best, only England and Australia are available to play here, but that doesn't stop the game offering up options aplenty.

As well as one off matches in Quick Play, you can also tailor the tournament itself to suit your needs, including both the number of overs and even the number of venues.

Over and (not) out

It is the matches themselves that excel, however.

As in the aforementioned ICC World Twenty20, though you can disable many of the aids (by default, when batting Ashes Cricket automatically positions you and determines the direction of your return), as things stand your primary concern when batting is timing the swing of your bat.

Get it right and you can quite happily knock up fours and sixes all over the shop, though Ashes Cricket doesn't shy away from catching you out should you get a little slack and thwack it straight towards a fielder.

Bowling is a little trickier, success coming from one or two strategies – throwing a series of awkward balls so the overs fly by, or pitching it so your opponent has little option but to hit it into the most crowded sector of the field.

Indeed, don't be surprised if you find yourself in a winning position fairly early on. If Ashes Cricket has one weakness, it's that – even with the aids switched off – it's a little too easy.

But when winning is so much fun, you can't really blame Jump Games for wanting to revel in the sweet smell of success a little longer than it ought to.