Celebrating the most intense and long-standing international test cricket rivalry, the game launches in time for the unique double header Ashes Series that takes place in England and then a few months later in Australia.

Other game modes will reflect all the nuances of the international game across its many formats whilst truly capturing the passion and excitement of live matches. National rivalries, venues and player personalities are perfectly captured in the most advanced simulation of the sport yet, as participants fight for the pride of their nation in either solo play or with up to three friends in local multiplayer matches or take on the world online.

Tim Woodley, Senior Vice President Global Brand & Marketing for 505 Games, said: “It is hugely disappointing that 505 Games has had to make this announcement today. We all had high hopes of bringing out a stellar cricket game during the first leg of this unprecedented Ashes year. But the fact of the matter is, we took a long hard look at the game as it stands and decided it simply wasn’t good enough in its current state. It was simply not worthy of the Ashes name.

“Unforeseen issues which developer Trickstar faced in latter stages of development have meant that they have been unable to do the requisite amount of polishing and fine-tuning which any game needs. We owe it to ourselves, to our licensors, the ECB and Cricket Australia, but most of all to the dedicated cricket fans and gamers to put our best foot forward.

“It is small compensation that we have the benefit of a second Ashes series in this unique cricketing year which affords us further time to work on the game and get it right for the return leg. We are confident that the time between now and the second Ashes series will be enough to add the final polish we believe the game needs. We are committed, as we always have been, to releasing a great game and we are doing everything in our power to ensure this is the case.”