When I was a schoolboy, we used to play a cricket game with a scorebook and two metal dice which you rolled to determine the outcome of each ball. It was my habit to ensure that Ted Dexter, aided and abetted by me at the other end and controlling the dice judiciously, invariably got a double century.

This game is a computerised version of that one. You can select your own teams or use the English/Australian ones provided. You can have automatic bowling and batting or do these yourself (fairly crudely) using the keyboard. You can also decide whether you want a limited-overs match or a full game.

The screen display represents a view from approximately the stands at the mid-wicket boundary, which becomes a close-up if you're doing your own batting. At the end of each over you get the bowling analysis, and at the end of each innings the full scorecard.

Although as a cricket enthusiast I approached the program with some eagerness, I rapidly found it not only dull but downright irritating: what is missing is the attention to detail which cricket fans love. If you're batting and you miss the ball, you're automatically bowled. There is no provision for extras, no column showing maidens in the bowling analysis, no fall-of-wickets on the final scorecard, no run-outs allowed. The bowlers don't change ends after each over and the Australian fast bowler Jeff Thomson needs a 'p'. I grew tired of the large number of sixes scored over the head of third man.

Attention to detail is also missing in other areas. There are no sound effects (why not the sweet sound of willow meeting leather or of the crowd applauding a fine shot?) and you need a magnifying glass to read the instructions.

Virgin got into the software business with a big splash and rapidly acquired a lot of dissatisfied customers. Judging from this offering, they still have a long way to go to improve.