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There can't really be much to beat a good international cricket match. The sound of leather on willow, the comfort of a deck chair in the sun and a beer tent that is open all day - pure luxury. So how does this make a transition to your trusty computer? Well, like all team sports simulations it is difficult to allow just one controlling player to take on the tasks usually handled by a full team. The two alternatives are to give the opportunity to pick an overall strategy and then let the minions get on with it or to give complete control over just one or two players at the centre of the action. It is the second of these two alternatives that is used here.

It is possible to play either a full two innings test match or a cut down limited over game. Having made the choice you are then presented with a list of potential players from whom you must pick your squad. It wasn't very clear how much effect your selections were going to have on the final outcome but it seems like a good idea to pick Botham at least, seeing as he is the only world class player England really have when he isn't being banned for some minor indiscretion or other.

The game provides two game types that are chosen at the very start, either simulation or arcade. In the first the joystick is used to influence how attacking the bowling/batting should be. In the arcade version you actually control the timing of the batting strokes or the speed and timing of the bowling. The speed is determined in true Daley Thomson's Joystick Destroyer style according to how fast you move the joystick from side to side. I guess most cricket fans will go for the more sedate simulation mode.

In play the view is sort of 3D looking up the pitch with the bowler closest to you and the batsman ready to receive at the other end of the wicket. The wicket keeper and slip fielder are also shown in the view but the rest of the fielding side are obviously hidden away behind the screens.

A count at the top of the screen shows how many runs have been made in the current over and at the end of an over the current batting sides figures are shown along with the fall of wickets. After a short delay the bowler's figures are shown and you then have the opportunity to change the bowler. It is a good idea to do this every now and again so that a bowler doesn't become too tired. In limited over cricket each bowler has an over limit as one would expect.

How can a cassette offer the attractions of test cricket? It is impossible to capture the atmosphere of a match in a little box.

Audiogenic have done a better job than I would have guessed possible but it is more like watching than playing in a game. Your control over the actions are limited, even in arcade mode. There is plenty of scope for improving the game. Another view of the wicket after the ball has left the bowler's hand, a decathalon, joystick-waving effort to simulate running and free sandwiches (with the crusts cut off) would all have helped.

Still you can't do worse than England this season.

Only the English could be so enthusiastic about a game as contrived as cricket. A "proper" game lasts three days, giving the weather more victories than most teams. Still the more you follow the game the more addictive it becomes.

The Audiogenic simulation is accurate in that respect, it is addictive, and I found myself wishing I knew more about the real game. Who should go in as a wicket keeper? Who makes a good slip?

The production is reasonably good, at first I thought that the display used mode 0 but looking again it proved to be Mode 1 made to look chunky. I normally prefer Mode 1, but given the Amstrad has five shades of green it may have been better to opt for lower resolution and use more colours.

For a non-cricket fan this is an interesting, playable game. If you know about and enjoy cricket it is a must.

Simulations are always a bit of a let down, there's nothing to compare with the real thing. But as far as they go this is probably about as good as you are going to get for cricket. The Graham Gooch tie-in is all very well but I'm not sure that it is really going to have that much effect on how well it sells.

If the game is considered purely on its merits as just that - a game - then it is quite good. At first it seemed a bit dull but it's the sort of thing that creeps up on you until you find yourself trying to bowl out the other side even though you've got other more pressing things to do.

"Just another five minutes and then I'll give up", turns into a game that lasts a couple of hours.