Cricket 26 - The Official Game of the Ashes | Game Brain

Cricket 26 - The Official Game of the Ashes Game Cover

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Cricket 26 - The Official Game of the Ashes is a single player and multiplayer arcade sport game. It was developed by Big Ant Studios and was released on November 19, 2025. It received mostly positive reviews from players.

Featuring the all-new Management Career, a bigger and better Pro Team, in-depth Ashes mode, and expanded control on and off the field from enhanced gameplay and in-depth strategies - Cricket 26 is The Ultimate Showdown. Every Decision Matters! The all-new Management Career has you take command – take a team to the top or the even harder job keep them there! Scout, recruit and develop players, bu…

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78%

Audience ScoreBased on 470 reviews

gameplay24 positive mentions

stability23 negative mentions

Significant improvements in batting mechanics, making shot timing, footwork, and shot selection more realistic and challenging.
Enhanced AI fielding near boundaries with realistic movements and diving catches, along with better bowling control features.
Improved graphics, animations, and immersive match presentation, including weather effects and a deeper career and management mode.

Persistent bugs and glitches, especially in AI fielding with slow reactions, missed catches, and illogical fielder behavior disrupting gameplay.
Poor commentary quality with inaccurate and repetitive lines, breaking immersion during matches.
High price point relative to the amount of new content and polish, with performance and stability issues such as crashes and unoptimized gameplay on some systems.

gameplay
78 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
31%
65%
4%
Gameplay improvements in this latest cricket title include more challenging and immersive batting and bowling mechanics, enhanced fielding AI, and deeper career and management modes, making it the most complete simulation from Big Ant Studios to date. While many praise the smoothness, customization options, and vibrant atmosphere, some criticisms highlight lingering bugs, inconsistent animations, and occasional gameplay glitches that detract from polish and realism. Overall, despite some rough edges and a steep price tag, the gameplay is widely regarded as fun, rewarding, and a notable evolution over previous iterations.
- “The atmosphere of the Ashes is captured well, with solid presentation, commentary, and gameplay mechanics that make batting and bowling feel rewarding.”
- “Arriving just in time for the 2025/26 Ashes, Cricket 26 is Big Ant’s most complete simulation yet, largely thanks to the long-awaited addition of a deep management career mode and significantly tighter fielding mechanics that finally fix the lethargic AI of previous titles.”
- “The gameplay feels incredibly smooth, batting has more weight and timing, and bowling finally feels truly tactical.”
- “Cons: incomplete game, poor fielding AI, glitchy implementation of rules/scoring, female commentary is broken (e.g., gets 2/3 calls completely wrong), lack of documentation/explanation on game mechanics.”
- “The gameplay is a disaster, lag, stupid AI, and the reaction time of a 4-year-old kid.”
- “Completely disappointed with gameplay. I had this issue in Cricket 24 as well but I thought it would be fixed at least in 26. I am playing in arcade mode. The issue is with gameplay: I'm checking edge mechanism of game; I put all edge meter good, ok, poor to 100%. Still, when I play good timing shots, I'm not getting edges. We don't have this issue in 22; if we put all edges to 100, every ball we touch will be edged in Cricket 22, and if I play poor shots all the time, I'm just missing the ball completely. Cricket 22 is a better game than this in terms of gameplay. I am completely disappointed. Bowling marker 100 has no impact; it's always late.”
graphics
71 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
31%
65%
4%
The graphics in the game have seen notable improvements over previous editions, offering more realistic player models, smoother animations, and enhanced stadium visuals, especially at night. However, some users report inconsistent quality, with blurry textures, minor bugs, and crowd visuals needing refinement, making the overall graphical experience better but still not fully polished or up to current top-tier standards.
- “Stunning graphics with new additional shots and bowling actions.”
- “The graphics look ultra-realistic which gives an immersive feeling.”
- “The graphics are incredibly realistic, making every stadium, pitch, and player look lifelike.”
- “Graphics are super bad even though I have a powerful PC; 60 dollars wasted, don't get this game.”
- “Graphics are blurry and not up to today's standards.”
- “The graphics are a letdown compared to the promo shots.”
stability
23 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game suffers from frequent glitches, bugs, crashes, and stability issues such as frame rate drops and malfunctioning AI, impacting gameplay and server performance. Despite these problems, many users acknowledge it remains enjoyable and expect improvements in future updates. Overall, stability is a major concern but not game-breaking for most players.
- “The game is expensive, and has a wide range of glitches—name it, and the game would not disappoint you.”
- “On field glitches need to be fixed and the physics need to be better; also at this moment the bouncers hitting players' bodies and stamina and confidence bars have literally almost no impact on gameplay.”
- “A lot of glitches while playing a match (invisible ball, bowler running from crazy wide angles, wrong directions, lot of cutscenes are shown in incorrect directions of the player, batsmen standing on the same side, etc.).”
optimization
9 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
34%
33%
Optimization has seen some improvements with better graphics and more stable frame rates compared to previous versions, along with helpful performance feedback after matches. However, several users report persistent lag, blurry visuals, and overall poor optimization, indicating that significant enhancements are still needed.
- “There are slight improvements to everything and performance report from the coach after each match was a great touch.”
- “Nice graphics and performance improvements.”
- “Performance is much better, I am getting stable frame rates (Cricket 24 used to have FPS drops for some reason).”
- “Very worst even 5060ti not enough for this unoptimized lagging game.”
- “Not optimized, lag, horrible anti-aliasing, everything blurry.”
- “Lots of optimization is required and also game feels like copy of Cricket 24; nothing improved.”
music
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
Users find the game's music repetitive and lacking compared to previous cricket titles, noting the absence of memorable or licensed tracks that once enhanced the atmosphere. They appreciate the trailer's song and wish it were included in the game to improve the overall audio experience.
- “They have a nice song in the trailer, but in the game, there is some repetitive music.”
- “Previous big Ant Studios cricket games had nice songs and music, just like FIFA games; this one lacks them.”
- “Even Don Bradman Cricket 14, a 12-year-old game, had some amazing music in the menu.”
- “Somehow they made the atmosphere worse - I think it's the lack of licensed music or any music, just some repetitive tone noise that plays all over.”
- “Also, the trailer song should be inside the game; that song is nice.”
- “Also, the trailer song should be inside the game; that song is nice.”
atmosphere
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
60%
60%
The atmosphere is generally praised for its sharp animations, lighting, and immersive commentary that enhance gameplay, especially in advanced levels. However, some users feel the lack of licensed or varied music and repetitive audio detracts from the overall ambiance. The crowd and tour atmosphere notably contribute to a grounded, engaging experience.
- “The atmosphere of the Ashes is captured well, with solid presentation, commentary, and gameplay mechanics that make batting and bowling feel rewarding.”
- “Animations, lighting, atmosphere — it all feels much sharper and more alive.”
- “The buildup, the commentary flow and the tour atmosphere pulled me in more than I expected.”
- “Somehow they made the atmosphere worse - I think it's the lack of licensed music or any music, just some repetitive tone noise that plays every over.”
- “Ironically, I only experienced proper, grounded crowd atmosphere back in Cricket 24 when I reached Australian first-class level.”
- “The atmosphere of the ashes is captured well, with solid presentation, commentary, and gameplay mechanics that make batting and bowling feel rewarding.”
grinding
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Grinding in the game is a significant part of the career mode, often feeling slow and tedious, especially during early domestic competitions and pre-game training. While the developers have clearly worked hard to ensure a smooth overall experience, the repetitive nature of grinding can impact player enjoyment.
- “Most of my time is spent deep in career mode, grinding away in the early domestic competitions, trying to scrape together a few runs and not get absolutely cleaned up first ball.”
- “Pre-game training mechanic is token at best, and tedious at worst.”
monetization
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The monetization is widely criticized as a greedy cash grab, with users frustrated by the introduction of microtransactions and in-game gambling, especially given the game's high price and repetitive, subpar content.
- “This game has been recycled again and again; the only difference is that there are more bugs and now microtransactions.”
- “If they sold their games for a reasonable price around the $50-60 mark, you'd maybe be able to appreciate the subpar gameplay and engine more. But at that price, it just feels like a sloppy cash grab from a greedy company who is now also trying to sneak in microtransactions and in-game gambling.”
story
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Users find the story aspect lacking, noting minimal improvements and numerous bugs in career modes. They suggest adding a dedicated story mode to enhance engagement and interest in the gameplay.
- “I play mostly career mode but there is no improvement from past games. It still has lots of bugs and needs improvement in both career modes, which were very simple. At least they need to include a story mode, which would create more interest in playing career modes.”
humor
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor is mostly lighthearted, with some amusing bugs that add unintended comedic moments. While these issues are not game-breaking, they may be addressed in future updates.

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5h Median play time

12h Average play time

3-27h Spent by most gamers

*Based on 3 analyzed playthroughs

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Frequently Asked Questions

Cricket 26 - The Official Game of the Ashes is a arcade sport game.

Cricket 26 - The Official Game of the Ashes is available on PC, Windows, Xbox Game Pass, Cloud and others.

On average players spend around 12 hours playing Cricket 26 - The Official Game of the Ashes.

Cricket 26 - The Official Game of the Ashes was released on November 19, 2025.

Cricket 26 - The Official Game of the Ashes was developed by Big Ant Studios.

Cricket 26 - The Official Game of the Ashes has received mostly positive reviews from players. Most players liked this game for its gameplay but disliked it for its stability.

Cricket 26 - The Official Game of the Ashes is a single player game with multiplayer and local co-op support.

Similar games include Cricket 24, Cricket 22, Don Bradman Cricket 17, Don Bradman Cricket 14, Ashes Cricket and others.

Cricket 26 - The Official Game of the Ashes

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