In addition to the already-announced female players – the first for a cricket game ever – Don Bradman Cricket 17 expands on the solid foundations set down by its predecessor. The latest edition offers career mode, character creation options, improved bowling and fielding mechanics, improved commentary and new graphs and statistics.

For the first time, gamers will be able to give their players tattoos enabling them to recreate their cricketing heroes and local club into the game with complete precision for the first time. Importing cricket players from the previous Don Bradman Cricket title also allows a seamless transition to the new Don Bradman Cricket 17 game for veterans making the upgrade.

The Don Bradman Cricket Academy application (available now)  allows gamers to build their dream cricket team and get prepped for the big competition when the full Don Bradman Cricket 17 game launches. After downloading the Don Bradman Cricket Academy application, gamers will be able to create and customise their players with an unprecedented level of control.

The Academy will also give gamers a sense of what the final Don Bradman Cricket 17 will look and feel like with its new engine, as Big Ant Studios will continue to update the application in the lead up to the big release, including the addition of playable content.

“The fan response to this feature has been incredible; we’ve seen people do everything from recreate their local pitch that they play games on with their home club, right through to completely accurate recreations of some of the most famous stadiums that the international teams play in,” Big Ant CEO, Ross Symons, said. 

“The stadium creator was a major investment for us in terms of tech, and you can look forward to seeing it in other sports titles from us into the future.”

The stadium creator is a unique feature to Don Bradman Cricket 17, allowing players have complete control over the look and feel of their stadiums. From the size of the oval and stands, right through to the small details on the outside, such as coffee carts and turnstiles, players will be able to create any cricket field in the world using the toolset. 

Then, once the full game has been released, players will be able to seamlessly drop the stadium into their game for play. An upload & share feature will allow players to jump online to access the creations that others upload.

“The stadium is a critical part of the cricket experience,” Symons said. “The atmosphere in playing on a local field surrounded by people sitting on the grass is very different to that of playing in an arena like at Lord’s.

“Don Bradman Cricket 17 aims to be the most authentic cricket game ever created, and that meant that we wanted to make sure that people were able to recreate the aesthetics and atmosphere of the game, and what it means to them,” Symons added.

In other news, the Cricket Academy has recently been updated to feature playable practice modes for both batting and bowling, allowing players to get a full sense of what to expect from the main game in its release later on this year.

The release of Don Bradman Cricket 17 will allow cricket fans to get stuck right into their sport right in the heat of the season.