Udal and Aymes Interview

Hi Shaun, Adrian. First up - you’ve spent some time with

the games designers of Brian Lara International Cricket

2007 today - how’s the game looking?

Udal: the game looks great. It’ll be a fantastic follow up

to the first one.

Aymes: Yep, I’d agree, it’s looking fantastic.

Which parts of the game were you particularly impressed

by?

Aymes: On the whole every part of the game has been

impressive from the character graphics to the stadiums.

Udal: Yes, for me, the graphics and players faces were

amazing

How did you come to be involved with the game and what have you been doing with the games designers?

Aymes: My good mate Rod [Cousens - Codemasters CEO] invited me to the offices of Codemasters to have a look at his very impressive set up and we’ve spent the day analysing each aspect - from fielding positions to batsmen diving in correctly.

Udal: Me? I’m sponsored by Codemasters - the number one producer of computer games!

We’ve had a few people ask questions from our forum who are obviously frustrated cricketers - can you help? They need your advice! ‘Rippa Mate’ asks, “My batting in cricket isn’t so good - what is the secret of making a brilliant batting innings?”

Udal: How you start your innings is crucial...

Aymes: For me concentration is key; to start with you need to get used to the pitch and the conditions then you can access how you are going to play. Remember to play each ball on its merit, get yourself a good base and platform with which you can then begin to build a long and powerful innings.

Udal: Don’t make mistakes early on and play to your limitations.

‘Rippa Mate’ also asks, “I’m also an off-spinner and I’m not very fast. How can you get lots of speed on the ball as well as some decent spin?”

Aymes: The art of the off spinner is to vary his pace with out the batsmen recognising it, the main art is to be able to get the ball to drop very quickly, this is achieved by the bowler being able to let the ball go from the same spot on each delivery but varying the pace of which his arm moves just before release.

Udal: Spin the ball up; get it above the batsman’s eye line.

Another forum question - “As experienced cricket players some of you may have played at youth level. I am 14yrs old but can only bowl 55-60mph, have I any chance of being a quick (or even reasonably paced) bowler when I am older - any advice would be great?”

Udal: You have time on your side so don’t worry and don’t try to bowl too quickly too soon - it will come naturally!

A question for Shaun: which batsman would you most hate to bowl to?

Udal: Lara or Tendulkar - easy!

A question for Adrian: where there any hard bowlers for you to keep to? If so who were they and why were they more difficult than other bowlers?

Aymes: Normally the better the bowler the easier they were to keep to because they bowled decent lengths and line. In England with the quicker bowlers the ball would wobble about after it had beaten the bat which would make the job harder; also Shane Warne bowling around the wicket into the bowlers footmarks...the ball would not always behave as he had intended which would obviously make the job harder.

In the new game you can now advance down the track to bowlers - who in your opinion are the best players in world cricket to use their feet to dominate the bowling?

Aymes: When I started I would say it was the Indians - Tendulkar and Sidhu were fantastic at it, Brian Lara of the West Indies, and more recently the Aussies; Ponting, Hayden and Lehman standing out.

Udal: I agree - for me, Lara, no question.

In the new game you can also master the sweep and the reverse sweep - what is your opinion of sweeping as some players get criticised for sweeping too much in the modern game?

Udal: Sweeping is very hard to bowl to...

Aymes: Personally, I think if it’s used to manoeuvre the field or to keep pressure on the bowler and as long as it is a shot you practice and has scored you runs and been part of a big innings...

Udal: Yeah - if they can play it well and control the shot, of course.

Aymes: I have no problem with it.

‘Rippa Mate’ again - “Who do you think is the most entertaining cricketer in international cricket at the moment and why?”

Udal: Flintoff on song, or Shahid Afridi...

Aymes: I suppose the obvious choice for me would be Kevin Petersen - he’s scored runs against all the odds on many occasions. However, because of his position in the side I would go for Adam Gilchrist who also scores very quickly but has played for longer and he also has to keep wicket.

‘The Boy Jenkins’ enquires, “Having seen so many of the world’s wicket keepers over the last few years who would you rate as the best of those currently playing in the world, and who should be England’s first choice?”

Aymes: No one really stands out as the best wicket keeper in the world like Jack Russell used to do, if it included batting it would be Adam Gilchrist...

Udal: Agreed. Gilchrist, and for me Read is the best with the gloves.

Aymes: Yes, on wicket keeping alone I would have to go with Chris Read for England.

Finally, the ICC Cricket World Cup 2007 is included in the game - how do you think England will perform in the World Cup - and do they have a chance of winning it next spring?

Udal: Too much rests on Flintoff and Pietersen in my opinion.

Aymes: Every team has a chance...however I think England will be hard pushed unless all of their bowlers are 100% fit.

Udal: They have a chance but need to find form very quickly.

Gentlemen - thank you very much for your time and your answers!

"Brian Lara International Cricket 2007’s looking fantastic!" - Shaun Udal and Adrian Aymes Interview