Cricket 26: PS5 Review – Brilliant Core, Broken Launch

A recent deep dive into Big Ant Studios' latest cricket simulator, Cricket 26, on PlayStation 5 reveals a title brimming with potential, yet simultaneously hampered by pervasive technical issues and underdeveloped new features. While core gameplay shines brighter than its predecessor, Cricket 24, numerous bugs and crashes mar the experience, raising questions about its readiness despite four post-launch patches. Gaming enthusiasts are now scrutinizing whether Big Ant can rectify these significant flaws to deliver the definitive cricket simulation fans crave.

Core Gameplay: A Significant Step Up

Cricket 26 impresses with substantial improvements to the on-field experience, notably distinguishing itself from the messy launch of Cricket 24. Players report a distinctly smoother feel, with enhanced lighting and player models that truly "pop." Input responsiveness is notably snappier, and fielders exhibit a far greater awareness of the game, a stark contrast to the "dawdling doofuses" of the previous installment.

• Batting: Feels significantly more responsive and natural, whether utilizing arcade-style buttons or the intuitive dual-stick controls. Players can now consistently direct strokes with accuracy, a marked improvement over Cricket 24's often predetermined shot outcomes. The challenge remains engaging, with realistic inside and outside edges keeping scoring runs absorbing without immediate need for slider adjustments.
• Bowling: While core delivery types remain consistent, the introduction of wind effects adds a thoughtful layer of strategy. An on-pitch arrow indicates wind direction and strength, influencing swing or the trajectory of lofted shots. Unique bowling actions, such as Nathan Lyon's signature flick or Jofra Archer's explosive run-up, enhance realism and impact shot timing. However, the anticipated wobble seam and knuckleball deliveries are notably absent.
• Fielding: Substantially overhauled with less delay in return throws and dynamic new catching animations, including dives and slides. Fielders display a heightened level of alertness, executing relay throws and boundary tap-backs more realistically.

Technical Troubles Plague the Pitch

Despite the promising gameplay foundation, Cricket 26 is riddled with technical shortcomings that severely detract from the experience. Reviewers encountered frequent game crashes, sometimes multiple times per match, transforming initial pleasant surprises into frustration.

• Crashes: Regular game crashes, particularly during longer play sessions, making sustained engagement difficult.
• UI Glitches: Scoreboards with placeholder graphics (e.g., The Hundred scoreboard resembling "MS Paint").
• AI Anomalies: Unrealistic AI behaviors, such as opening a test match with a barrage of short deliveries or even having a batsman open the bowling.
• Fielding Quirks: A problematic slow-motion runout system often directs throws to the unintended end, and wicketkeeper behavior can be erratically inconsistent, from missing clear stumping chances to executing "superhuman" catches.
• Umpire Decisions: Infuriating instances of incorrect "not out" decisions with no option for player challenge.
• Commentary: Inaccurate and often nonsensical commentary from otherwise respected cricket luminaries.
• Rain System: An abrupt Duckworth-Lewis system that can prematurely end matches, declaring a winner even when only one team has had a chance to bat.

Underwhelming New Modes: Ashes & Management

Cricket 26 introduces two key new modes, the official Ashes series and a management career, both of which are criticized for being "half-baked" or "slapdash."

The Ashes mode, despite its official branding, offers little distinction from simply creating a custom series. It lacks practice matches, features generic training mini-games, and includes press conferences plagued by factually incorrect questions and generic responses. A "team confidence" meter exists but is nebulous, inconsistent, and appears to have no measurable impact on gameplay. Optional match objectives can also swing wildly from realistic to absurd.

The new management career mode is deemed superficial. Players cannot manage budgets, hire coaching staff, or influence in-match tactics beyond basic team selection. Simulation results lack generated highlights, relying on "dry" text-based reports. Critically, the mode fails to account for national team duties, allowing international stars to play domestic matches, and suffers from its own set of bugs, including a frequently failing training menu and crashes when finalizing lineups.

Licensing Landscape & Missing Features

On the licensing front, Cricket 26 includes all but one of the 10 IPL teams, a positive step. However, players still rely on community creators for Indian and South African squads, and New Zealand's Dream11 Super Smash competition has been "ditched entirely." The "Pro Team" mode retains its microtransaction-riddled card collecting, featuring a new "Centurian" mode currently displaying a "Coming Soon" message, leaving its content a mystery.

Big Ant's Patching Promise: Enough to Save the Game?

Big Ant Studios has a track record of post-release support for its cricket titles, and Cricket 26 has already seen four patches for its PlayStation 5 version within its first week post-launch (as of the review's publication date of November 20, 2025). While the reviewer expresses a willingness to tolerate current "rough edges" due to the strength of the core gameplay, pessimism lingers. The lingering issues of Cricket 24, which still exhibited significant bugs even after two years of patching (e.g., missing player facial textures), cast a long shadow over the future of Cricket 26.

The Verdict: Unfinished Brilliance

Cricket 26 presents a challenging and entertaining "bat-on-ball" experience when it functions as intended, elevating it above recent series entries. However, its "countless glitches and bugs," even post-patches, make it prone to frequent breakdowns. The underdeveloped or inaccessible new modes mean it is "far from being a must-have upgrade for fans of Cricket 24 in its current form." Ultimately, Cricket 26 is likened to a talented but raw prospect: capable of "genuine brilliance in bursts," yet undeniably a "work in progress" not yet ready for the top tier. The PlayStation 5 version received an "Okay" score of 6.