Cricket 20-20 allows you to play one-off limited overs matches and 20-20 tournaments. It proves to be one of the slickest mobile cricket simulations around.
In Cricket 20-20, you can choose to play as any of the so-called 'test playing' international teams, and have the option of assembling the starting XI yourself from real life players (albeit with their names changed slightly for licensing purposes). To help you pick your team, you can view stats and profiles of every player in the game.
Batting and bowling controls in Cricket 20-20 are all done via the numbers on the keypad, with a wide range of different shots and approaches available. When you're the fielding team you also have the option to set field positions, choosing from defensive or aggressive formations, or customizing the set-up yourself. I love the attention to detail in Cricket 20-20, and the fact that you can view scorecards, bowling stats and run evolution graphs mid-game.
Not only does Cricket 20-20 score very well in the gameplay stakes, it also looks gorgeous. Player sprites are well rendered, animation is fairly authentic, and I adore the animated cut scenes that appear when you hit a boundary or take a wicket. One slight flaw I found is that when a no ball is called you often don't actually see the bowler's approach, which is a rather strange glitch.
To get such a wonderful sports sim as Cricket 20-20 for free though, you have to make a small compromise. Although you don't have to pay a penny for the game, it will only run if you install the bundled 'Adtronic' application. This is an advertising platform that sends banners to your phone. No ads appear in the game itself, but instead they are sent when you receive incoming calls or text messages.
As 10cc would have summed it up: we don't like Cricket 20-20 - we love it!
