Retro Replay Review

Gameplay

Allan Border’s Cricket delivers one of the most in-depth cricket simulations available on home computers of its era. From the moment you select your international side and customize player data, you’re thrust into the heart of a traditional summer pastime. Whether you opt for a Test match with two innings per team or a brisk limited-overs contest, the game offers enough strategic depth to keep both newcomers and veterans engaged.

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The three skill levels—Amateur, Professional, and World Class—provide an adjustable challenge curve. Beginners can dip their toes in Amateur mode, where basic controls and forgiving bowling accuracy help you learn without frustration. As you step up to Professional or World Class, bowlers become more precise, batters require pinpoint timing, and every decision—choosing to go for a risky lofted drive or nudging the ball into the gaps—matters profoundly.

Batting in Allan Border’s Cricket is all about timing and shot selection. A simple control scheme lets you play a variety of strokes, from defensive forward presses to aggressive cover drives. Bowling demands a careful placement of the on-screen cursor to set line and length, followed by a speed or spin adjustment depending on your bowler’s specialization. The Leg Before Wicket (LBW) rule can be toggled off—an excellent feature for those still wrestling with cricket’s finer points.

Fielding is largely automated, but your positioning choices matter. You can set attacking or defensive fields before each ball, influencing run rates and wicket-taking opportunities. While you won’t be manually diving to save that final boundary, the AI does a credible job of reflecting your tactical settings. Together, these mechanics create a satisfying flow: bat, bowl, set fields, and react to the evolving match situation.

Graphics

Visually, Allan Border’s Cricket embraces the limitations of early ’90s hardware while making clever use of sprites and simple animations. The cricket pitch is rendered in a clean top-down perspective, with subtle color variations to distinguish the outfield from the bounce area. Player sprites aren’t hyper-detailed, but they’re instantly recognizable and animate smoothly through batting strokes and bowling run-ups.

Stadium backdrops feature stylized crowds, boundary ropes, and even basic advert hoardings, adding atmosphere to every game. Day–night transitions aren’t present, but weather effects like overcast skies are hinted at through palette shifts. These small touches underscore the game’s attempt to capture the ambiance of real cricket grounds from Lords to the MCG.

User interface elements—scoreboards, run-rate displays, and mini-maps showing field placements—are clear and unobtrusive. While modern gamers may find the visuals blocky by today’s standards, at release these graphics struck a solid balance between playability and immersion, ensuring that nothing on-screen distracts from the core action.

Story

As a sports simulation, Allan Border’s Cricket doesn’t follow a traditional narrative arc, but it does offer a form of storytelling through its match progression. Each series you play becomes its own saga—from thrilling last-wicket stands to Test series defences. The “story” is written ball by ball, with momentum shifts, heroic innings, and bowler duels creating their own drama.

The inclusion of licensed cricketers from multiple countries gives the game a sense of authenticity. You aren’t just playing generic teams; you’re facing names you know, replicating real rivalries. Whether you’re leading Australia to victory under the watchful gaze of Allan Border himself or pitting England’s quicks against the West Indies’ batting line-up, each encounter feels like its own chapter in cricket history.

Customization options—editing player names, swapping talent between teams—mean you can rewrite history or dream up new dynasties. Want to see a World XI dominated by emerging stars? Go ahead. This degree of creative freedom adds a meta-narrative layer, as you craft your own legacy across multiple seasons.

Overall Experience

Allan Border’s Cricket stands out as a comprehensive homage to the sport’s nuances. It respects cricket’s traditions by faithfully simulating Test match pacing, while also catering to the fast-paced excitement of limited-overs encounters. The ability to toggle LBW, set skill levels, and fine-tune teams makes it as approachable for curious newcomers as it is rewarding for seasoned strategists.

Despite its age, the game’s core strengths—solid mechanics, license-backed teams, and thoughtful match customization—have aged well. If you’re looking for a retro cricket experience that captures the sport’s strategic depth and iconic moments, this title remains a worthy pick. Just be prepared for a learning curve if you’ve never played a cricket simulation before.

In an era when few developers tackled cricket with this level of care, Audiogenic’s Allan Border’s Cricket helped cement the sport’s place in the gaming world. Eight years after their debut with Graham Gooch’s Test Match, they delivered a sequel that expanded options, sharpened gameplay, and brought the gentleman’s game to your computer desk in all its stately glory.

Retro Replay Score

7.2/10