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After numerous attempts at athletics and a few feeble excuses for football games, the latest sporty game for the BBC Micro comes from Audiogenic, under the title Graham Gooch Test Cricket.

It is packaged in a smart plastic wallet with clear instructions and some tips for playing the games. After loading you are asked to select your team from a list of famous, and nearly famous, cricketers. This is done before you select the number of players, so if you are on your own you have to choose your opponent's team as well.

Once your teams have been chosen, you have to decide between a limited overs match, where each side bowls a stated number of overs, or a full two-innings test match. The latter can last for over three hours, and without the option to save an uncompleted game, this is a very long time!

You are also asked if you wish to play in arcade or simulation mode; if you merely enjoy watching cricket then the latter is for you. If, however, you prefer to get a little more involved with the game then try arcade mode, where each player has to bat and bowl - this is very tricky and needs some careful practice.

All input can be joystick controlled, except when picking teams through a series of menus with a moving cursor. This is very frustrating if you don't happen to be using a joystick.

Overall, an original addition to anyone's software library. But with its little niggling problems - for example, unimaginative bleeps where sound envelopes could easily have been used - not one that I'll be spending my Sunday playing!

Richard Bellis