Ian Botham's Test Match

Ian Botham's Test Match is a video game in the sports genre and published by Armchair Entertainment Pty Ltd. originally released in 1984. It is currently playable on Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, BBC Micro, Electron.

Ian Botham's Test Match is a cricket game for one or two players that can be played with a keyboard or joystick.

The player can choose between 'armchair cricket' mode, in which the game provides the names of all team members, or 'personal team selection' mode, in which the player enters the names of his own team.

At the start of the game, the player is given a cricket field on which the bowler, keeper and two opposing batsmen are already placed. The player then places nine fielders around the field, ready for the first over. The fielders are placed by moving the fielder's icon around the field with the arrow keys and pressing 'Fire' when the player is in the correct position.

Bowling: Before any turn begins, the player selects the type of bowler, which can be fast, medium, spin or bouncy. Once this is done, the player presses the 'Fire' key and the game positions the bowler behind the wicket, takes a run and bowls a ball. This is repeated until the over is completed.

Batting: In a single player game the computer will start as the batting team. When the player is batting he must select where he wishes to hit the ball that has just been bowled. This is done by holding down the 'Fire' key while pressing the number keys to select a direction. The directions can be changed at will until such time as the 'Fire' key is released. The ball should be hit at the last possible moment to obtain maximum force.

Throwing the ball: Once the ball has been hit, the player has the opportunity to select a fielder to chase the ball to try to prevent it from reaching the boundary. If the ball touches the running fielder or any of the stationary fielders, it is caught or thrown to the wicket in an attempt to run out the batsman. Fielders may change positions at the start of each over. Appeals for dismissal of, for example, leg before wicket (LBW), are not automatic, as appeals may be rejected by the umpire.

It is possible that we have multiple downloads available when different versions exist.