International Cricket Captain 2006 – Kevin Pietersen Speaks
But doesn’t speak as much as we’d like.
SPOnG spent a rather enjoyable afternoon at Lords yesterday hanging out with the guys from Xplosiv. Lords is of course the spiritual home of cricket and we were fortunate enough to run into none other than taciturn cricketing super-celeb Kevin Pietersen, as well as sup Pimms whilst watching our wonderful Metropolitan Police’s cricket team enjoy a game.
So whilst SAS-masked thieves and robbers were no doubt running wild on the streets of Camden Town as their local bobbies were enjoying a game of glorified rounders, we heard a bit about the forthcoming Xbox 360 and PSP versions of International Cricket Captain, the game we were there to see the PC version of. The game is out later this month and we can safely say is pretty much an essential purchase for any self-respecting cricket fan.
The strutting young Pietersen, who’s website you can see here follows in the footsteps of a number of former cricket stars who have endorsed previous International Cricket Captain games, including Andrew Strauss, Nasser Hussain and Graham Thorpe.
Most of those other players, SPOnG seems to remember, seemed to be a lot chattier than Pietersen. But perhaps being silent is his special trick to lure the ladies into thinking he is deep. It certainly worked with supermodelling poker pimp Caprice, and it is just unfortunate that we lost our nerve and chickened out of asking him about the blonde bombshell’s cheeky bedtime antics and instead talked to him about his videogame.
Away from Caprice-inspired filthy fantasies and back to the game itself. For those who don’t know too much about this celebrated series, it’s basically like Football Manager, but for cricket. It’s a management sim in which you lead your own cricket team on the road to glory, with the BBC’s well known cricket commentator Jonathan Agnew doing the honours on the mike.
And if you want loads of new features, you got it. Here is the full feature list in full, listing all the features in this fully-featured Cricket management game:
We also found out that International Cricket Captain will be making its way onto Xbox 360 and PSP next year, featuring a brand spanking new 3D match engine and handily coinciding with the 2007 Cricket World Cup. So for those critics who often liken management sims to playing a ‘game’ of Microsoft Excel, it seems the series is going to appeal to a much wider audience of home console and handheld gamers in the future, in addition to the PC hardcore.
We'll bring you the 'full' Kevin Pietersen interview next week, and watch out for our International Cricket Captain competition too, where you'll have the chance to snag a copy of the game and some Pietersen-signed bats and merch.
So whilst SAS-masked thieves and robbers were no doubt running wild on the streets of Camden Town as their local bobbies were enjoying a game of glorified rounders, we heard a bit about the forthcoming Xbox 360 and PSP versions of International Cricket Captain, the game we were there to see the PC version of. The game is out later this month and we can safely say is pretty much an essential purchase for any self-respecting cricket fan.
The strutting young Pietersen, who’s website you can see here follows in the footsteps of a number of former cricket stars who have endorsed previous International Cricket Captain games, including Andrew Strauss, Nasser Hussain and Graham Thorpe.
Most of those other players, SPOnG seems to remember, seemed to be a lot chattier than Pietersen. But perhaps being silent is his special trick to lure the ladies into thinking he is deep. It certainly worked with supermodelling poker pimp Caprice, and it is just unfortunate that we lost our nerve and chickened out of asking him about the blonde bombshell’s cheeky bedtime antics and instead talked to him about his videogame.
Away from Caprice-inspired filthy fantasies and back to the game itself. For those who don’t know too much about this celebrated series, it’s basically like Football Manager, but for cricket. It’s a management sim in which you lead your own cricket team on the road to glory, with the BBC’s well known cricket commentator Jonathan Agnew doing the honours on the mike.
And if you want loads of new features, you got it. Here is the full feature list in full, listing all the features in this fully-featured Cricket management game:
· Player Database: comprehensive and up-to-date 2006 database featuring statistics for every first class cricketer in the test playing nations each with their own unique strengths and weaknesses.
· New world cup structure included for every four years, including West Indies 2007
· Online play included as standard
· New fixtures, including the six year test championships
· Powerplay included in One day Internationals
· The Match Screen: play and watch individual matches. Allows the player to change tactics on an over by over basis whilst selecting the highlight level for watching the action.
· Full English Domestic Season including: the twenty over cup, the county championship, the national league and one-day cups.
· Full international calendar of test matches and one-day internationals.
· The World Cup every four years including West Indies 2007.
· The Match Screen: Play and watch individual matches. Change tactics, select the highlight level for watching the action and view detailed stats and graphs of all the action.
· Transfers: Improve your squad by offering contracts to experience, youth or overseas players.
· Team Selection: Can you find the perfect team? Who's in form and who's out? Was that young fast bowler's 7 for 12 a flash in the pan or have you found gold?
· Groundsman: Instruct your groundsman to prepare a pitch tailor made for your attack.
· Playing Conditions: Bounce, wear, weather and light; vary from fixture to fixture, and change during individual matches.
· Coach and Physio: A key player injured or out of form? Book him in for a session with the Coach or Physio.
· Line and Length: Set a line and length for your bowlers. Select a full length or a bit of short-pitched stuff to get up the noses of the tail-enders. Find the right tactics to exploit the weaknesses of each batsman.
· Field placements: Study the batsman's shot graph and adjust the field to cut off their favourite stroke or catch those nicks.
· Aggression: Guide your batsman to build an innings and hit out to punish the tired attack.
· Two Player: Have you built an invincible county side? Play them against a friend's. Captain any of the Test playing nations and compete in a Test or one-day series.
· World Rating System: Rates every test bowler and batsman.
· Test match and One Day International championship tables: Take your team to the top of the world.
· New world cup structure included for every four years, including West Indies 2007
· Online play included as standard
· New fixtures, including the six year test championships
· Powerplay included in One day Internationals
· The Match Screen: play and watch individual matches. Allows the player to change tactics on an over by over basis whilst selecting the highlight level for watching the action.
· Full English Domestic Season including: the twenty over cup, the county championship, the national league and one-day cups.
· Full international calendar of test matches and one-day internationals.
· The World Cup every four years including West Indies 2007.
· The Match Screen: Play and watch individual matches. Change tactics, select the highlight level for watching the action and view detailed stats and graphs of all the action.
· Transfers: Improve your squad by offering contracts to experience, youth or overseas players.
· Team Selection: Can you find the perfect team? Who's in form and who's out? Was that young fast bowler's 7 for 12 a flash in the pan or have you found gold?
· Groundsman: Instruct your groundsman to prepare a pitch tailor made for your attack.
· Playing Conditions: Bounce, wear, weather and light; vary from fixture to fixture, and change during individual matches.
· Coach and Physio: A key player injured or out of form? Book him in for a session with the Coach or Physio.
· Line and Length: Set a line and length for your bowlers. Select a full length or a bit of short-pitched stuff to get up the noses of the tail-enders. Find the right tactics to exploit the weaknesses of each batsman.
· Field placements: Study the batsman's shot graph and adjust the field to cut off their favourite stroke or catch those nicks.
· Aggression: Guide your batsman to build an innings and hit out to punish the tired attack.
· Two Player: Have you built an invincible county side? Play them against a friend's. Captain any of the Test playing nations and compete in a Test or one-day series.
· World Rating System: Rates every test bowler and batsman.
· Test match and One Day International championship tables: Take your team to the top of the world.
We also found out that International Cricket Captain will be making its way onto Xbox 360 and PSP next year, featuring a brand spanking new 3D match engine and handily coinciding with the 2007 Cricket World Cup. So for those critics who often liken management sims to playing a ‘game’ of Microsoft Excel, it seems the series is going to appeal to a much wider audience of home console and handheld gamers in the future, in addition to the PC hardcore.
We'll bring you the 'full' Kevin Pietersen interview next week, and watch out for our International Cricket Captain competition too, where you'll have the chance to snag a copy of the game and some Pietersen-signed bats and merch.
Read More Like This