New Ashes cricket game set for release

A new cricket video game will be released later this year to coincide with the Australian Men's and Women's Cricket teams battling it out against England in the battle for the Ashes on foreign soil.

The new game will be called ‘Cricket 19 - The Official Game of the Ashes’ and will be available on Xbox One, Playstation 4 and Nintendo Switch in the lead-up to the Specsavers Ashes series in England in the middle of the year.

Following up from the popular Ashes Cricket in 2017, Big Ant Studios will again work in conjunction with Cricket Australia and the England & Wales Cricket Board to develop the new video game that promises to be more realistic than ever before.

"Big Ant Studios did a superb job in creating an authentic and realistic cricket simulation with ‘Ashes Cricket', and we're thrilled to be working with them again to bring ‘Cricket 19' to Australian fans," Cricket Australia's Executive General Manager for Fan Engagement Anthony Everard said.

"With a remarkable level of authenticity and all-new features that we know fans will love, we're sure Cricket 19 will provide the definitive cricket gaming experience as Australia's elite teams take on the old enemy in the UK."

New features to be added to Cricket 19 include a scenario mode, which allows users to recreate historical matches and then share them online to challenge other players around the world.

Enhancements to the AI when batting and bowling are also available with Cricket 19, while the game will allow gamers both single player and multiplayer use anytime and anywhere for the first time via the Nintendo Switch.

Big Ant CEO Ross Symons is excited by the upcoming release and believes gamers will be suitably impressed by the new features available on Cricket 19.

"We have the most active and passionate community. Many of our players logged thousands of hours with our previous cricket titles, and Cricket 19 is very much built on the experience of those players," Symons said. 

"Whether you're looking to enjoy a 20-year cricket career that takes you from the club level to captaining the national team, re-create an ODI or IT20 series or take part in the Ashes, or just bash some balls around with friends, Cricket 19 has you covered."