Batman attacks: Hands-on with Brian Lara Cricket

Ah cricket, lovely cricket, and the soft summer sound of leather against helmet. Yup, another cricket season is upon us and for followers of flannelled foolery, this one promises to be one of the most exciting yet as old enemy Australia arrives for what could be the closest Ashes series in years.

This season also marks another welcome return as well as Brian Lara International Cricket sees a much loved series resurrected to contest a virtual Ashes series of its own against EA's officially licensed brand.

The prospects indeed are immense, with the seasoned old pro going up against the young pretender and we've already brought you the first interview on Brian Lara's return with Game Designer Justin Forrest.

Now we're finally ready to check out actual game code itself and on initial viewing we have to say things look extremely promising for the batman's return. From the outset you get the impression that Brian Lara's Cricket has been made with an obvious affection and appreciation for both the original series and the real-life game.

There's a wealth of excellent cricketing options to explore, including classic teams and legendary players to unlock, some excellent renditions of the world's favourite stadia, and just about every conceivable competition, tournament and player you can imagine - even down to historic double wicket games. Heck, you can even scan your own ugly mug in using EyeToy on the PS2 version and captain England to glorious victory over the Aussies (well, we can but dream).

However just like the real thing, it's time spent in the middle which really counts and as you stride boldly out to the crease, BLIC certainly doesn't disappoint. As you'll see from our latest screens, the graphics are commendable, but what you strikes you right away is that the gameplay - the core strength of the original series - is absolutely spot on.

There's a very intuitive feel to the batting, so on easy mode you're soon pinching the odd cheeky single, then nicking the odd two, before confidently cracking a few balls for four. You can pick from either ground, lofted or defensive strokes with your buttons, which combined with a simple push of the joystick to give you a full range of strokes. But just like the real thing, timing is everything and later on batsman's confidence levels also come into play.

Bowling, although it more or less follows the regular system for cricket games, does present some interesting innovations, with special balls like the flipper for spinners, or the yorker or surprise bouncer becoming available for quicker bowlers as bowlers' confidence levels grow.

So overall what do we make of our first innings with Mr Lara? Well we'd like to have spent a lot more time at the crease but we have to say on initial inspection, the prospects are more than promising. The original series' appeal reached out way beyond traditional cricket fans because it was simply such a highly playable and intensely satisfying game, and it looks like this latest version will certainly tick all those boxes.

However there's also plenty of depth and options to enjoy for the die-hard cricket fanatic and so BLIC looks like it will have the cricketing credentials to satisfy both hardcore and more casual gamers. It will also undoubtedly be intensely satisfying in multiplayer - another of the original series' big strengths.

The other big contender this summer is EA's long-running officially licensed Cricket franchise, but on this showing it better look to its laurels, as it seems the batman is well and truly back.

We'll have more on Brian Lara International Cricket as it goes head to head with EA's Cricket 2005 as the glorious summer ticks onward.

John Houlihan