Managed to get a couple of hours playing today. (Should have been working, but hey). General feedback:
1. REALLY like the batting. I dug it on DBC14, but this just feels cracking. Hard to explain, but one of things that's always felt missing from cricket games - and it might be just in my head - is the 'weight' of the shot. As in feeling like you are a big guy swinging a wooden bat against a ball that could hurt you - it's often felt too light and easy. The only game I felt nailed it before was BL/SW99, but this has got it.
2. There still seems like some difference in pitching when bowling a wrong-un compared to the stock delivery, but it feels less pronounced than in the previous update. Having played around with this for a while, it looks like the difference in pitch has a lot to do with the revs on the ball - when bowling a leggie or a googly with no revs, they pitch in more or less the same place.
It could be that the revs and the drift will be the 'tell' when batting, which is quite cool. It seems a lot easier to over-compensate than in the previous update, too, so it's easier to land two deliveries in the same spot, even if they're turning in different directions.
3. The only thing I wonder about is the amount of swing - once you use the skilled bowlers, you have to REALLY compensate for how much the ball moves. I was trying to bowl a few Akram toe crushers, and the amount of swing had me aiming practically sideways! It definitely felt like quite a difference when playing outswing as a batsman, where the ball moved but not as much.
Also, just to add my entitled 'I want it' to the thread, it'd be awesome to be able to choose the pitch type (green, grassy, old, dusty) or the age of the ball (0-15 overs, 15-30, etc) in the nets at some point, though I understand if that's not possible!
Anyway, other than that this game is already bad-ass. Can't wait to give it a proper go in a match!