This was my childhood dream come true.
Facing the great Jimmy Anderson.
Heart pumping, he approaches the crease, bowls, and beats me all ends up.
I'll get him next time.
And I can because this isn't real life – it's the Howzat batting cage at Gravity MAX in Stratford.
Tucked away outside Westfield shopping centre, the venue offers almost every game experience you can think of.
Arcade games, crazy golf, and even go-karting.
Cricket has been added to the offer in the last few weeks and as a big fan, I had to give this a go with a friend.
The staff were really friendly and quickly got us set up.
There are five game modes to choose from and we started with T20.
This is a straightforward replica of the format, with competitors taking it in turns to face an over at a time.
You can choose as many overs as you want (up to 20) and the difficulty ranges from beginner to world class across five levels.
We tried all of them and there is a noticeable difference so we'd recommend only trying levels 4 or 5 if you are a keen cricketer.
But there is definitely plenty of fun to be had no matter how good you are.
The lower difficulties give you time to hit the ball and there are different sizes and weights of bat to make it easier or harder depending on your ability.
Survivor is a competitive game mode that pits you directly against other players.
Failure to score the most runs in an over sees you lose a life.
Lights on sees you try and hit as many targets as you can within a certain number of balls which really tests your hitting accuracy.
One of the games allows you to put the bat down and test your fielding skills.
Catch and throw sees balls fired at you – we realised how bad we are at catching – before throwing at a particular target to score.
If you've really got the urge to test your batting, World Cup mode gives you two overs to face computer-generated legends such as Anderson, Dale Steyn, and Shane Warne.
Jofra Archer fired in a 76mph ball that I barely even saw!
All in all, we had lots of fun and there is definitely enough variety to fill an hour slot that we tried.
The options in difficulty and equipment means that all ages and abilities can find something to suit them.
If you enjoyed Sixes Cricket – which we went to once before it went into administration last year – then this is very similar and you will have a great time.
Throw in a decent food and drink offer and plenty of other games to try, and this is a good option for the summer holidays or a night out with friends.
Just make sure you keep your eyes on the ball!
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