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By Will 1 month ago, 2 Comments »
It’s here: Cricinfo TV.
2 Comments »Cricinfo banned from IPL
By Will 1 month ago, 5 Comments »
I’ve been in Southampton covering Hampshire’s first game of the season against the champions, Sussex, so have a few things to get off my chest or note down here. Yes, The Rose Bowl - comfortably England’s most characterless cricket ground is a world away from the razamatazz of the Indian Premier League. It won’t have escaped your notice that we, Cricinfo, are effectively banned from the IPL. That is, the organisers won’t give us accreditation so none of our staff are permitted entry (I believe), and nor are we allowed to use any of the photos that come from the agencies (some of whom are boycotting the event).
This is baloney, and a ridiculous own goal by Lalit Modi that smacks of arrogance and a clueless understanding of what the public want and how they consume their cricket news. Cricinfo has upwards of 10 million users, a large portion of whom - for an event of this scale - would be logged in to follow our IPL scorecards. Cut Cricinfo out, and the IPL shoot themselves in the foot.
It won’t actually affect how we operate - we are still doing ball-by-ball commentary, whose traffic must have been extraordinary for tonight’s crazy opening one-dayer - as Cricinfo’s editor, Sambit Bal, explains:
Sambit Bal, the editor of Cricinfo, described the restrictions as discriminatory and unjust. “We are a legitimate cricket media organisation with unmatched global credibility and we are asking no special favours,” he said. “We cover cricket with journalistic rigour and integrity. We are being denied our basic rights to cover a cricket event in a professional manner.”
However, Bal said Cricinfo’s editorial commitment to the tournament would not be affected. “Boycotting the IPL is not an option for us. Our commitment to cover cricket is absolute, as is our obligation to the reader. We are not blind to the significance of the IPL, which could be a seminal event in cricket. We will try to cover every game with the same rigour and depth expected of us.”
5 Comments »
Blogging from the boundary
By Will 1 month ago, No Comments; be the first!
A quick pointer in case you haven’t noticed. Nick Compton, James Foster and Will Smith are blogging their seasons with Cricinfo. They’re all really up for it, so have a read here.
No Comments »Under-19 World Cup
By Will 3 months ago, 1 Comment »
My colleague in Bangalore, George Binoy, is at the 2008 Under-19 World Cup in Malaysia. It’s always fascinating keeping an eye on which teams (Pakistan are always strong: they had India 9 for 6 two years ago) do well, and identifying future international prospects. Keep an eye on his tour diary and the usual comprehensive brilliance of Cricinfo.
1 Comment »New Zealand v England, 1st ODI, Wellington
By Will 3 months ago, 2 Comments »
England enter the one-day series against New Zealand not only in winning form, but as favourites. What on earth is going on? Me and my boss, Martin Williamson, will be covering the game on ball-by-ball and bulletin throughout the night at Cricinfo. Read Peter Burdon’s preview and join us over there for analysis and humour.
2 Comments »Ned Flanders uses Statsguru
By Will 4 months ago, 2 Comments »
Ned Flanders - aka John Buchanan - uses Cricinfo’s flagship geek-ahoy app, Statsguru. No great surprise I suppose, given that Buchanan makes Bill Frindall look vaguely hip and groovy. But it’s always interesting hearing it being used by coaches, and for what application.
2 Comments »Alert to all statto geeks
By Will last year, at the end of December, 3 Comments »
If you’re even remotely interested in cricket, chances are that there’s a lurking geek within you. Don’t worry - we’ve all got it and flaunt it. I notice that Cricinfo’s new statsguru, which has been under wraps for ages, has been let loose on you ‘orrible lot. It is a thing of total, unabashed brilliance…where you can find out such must-have things as the best five-fors conceding 10 runs or less, or spinners who have opened the bowling on the first day of a Test match.
Pub quiz masters: go forth and splutter.
3 Comments »England fight but falter
By Will last year, at the start of December, 7 Comments »
What a cracking day it was. My mate messaged me shortly after it, having only caught snippets, and was surprised at my post-match adrenaline. Today was Test cricket at its gnarliest, epitomised by Ian Bell and Matt Prior’s stand. They played magnificently and it took a genius, Muttiah Muralitharan, to dismiss them both. With them went England’s hopes of salvaging a draw (if not a win). Had the tail managed to wag, England were about 20 minutes away from the safe confines of a draw owing to the fading light…but it wasn’t to be.
It was fun on comms, too. In the last three hours we had a consistent 40,000 people reading the live scorecard. That’s a heck of a number, and several hundred emailed in to say hello. We had people from Warsaw, librarians in Warwick and a school-teacher with his feet up setting his pupils a long (and quiet…) test.
What made Murali’s day all the more remarkable was that he was wicketless for most of the day. Only on receipt of a juicy, shiny new ball did he strike, and how, with the crushing double blow of Prior and Bell.
Worrying for England, they only have three days in which to recover - and Matthew Hoggard won’t be part of their Colombo gameplans. Come on down, scattergun Steve Harmison.
What did you make of England’s performance? Or, for that matter, Sri Lanka’s?
7 Comments »Bodyline: 75th anniversary
By Will last year, at the end of October, 4 Comments »
This winter marks the 75th anniversary of Bodyline and my boss, Martin Williamson, has single handedly documented the entire thing. It is a task which ought to take about a month, or more, but somehow (and at a b**** of a time for him) he has squeezed it into seven days. It’s worthy of your immediate attention and really we ought to run a press release about it, but…there you go.
So, go and delve. There’s a history, a dummy’s guide; a timeline and diary and a whole load of photos.
There’s enough there to keep you occupied for hours. It goes without saying that no site or newspaper has covered the history of Bodyline this deeply or broadly, so it should be instantly bookmarked.
Congratulations Martin.
4 Comments »‘Sezen is start with in some days’
By Will last year, mid-October, 1 Comment »
We get the oddest of requests at Cricinfo…
its a [name deleted] (sunny) playing cricket for zahir shah cricket club(R).i am a fast bowler & middle order bats man.
i want to playing cricker for ur club in 2007. i know sezen is start with in some days. please if u give me chance….?its my owner.if u have no chance than u reffer me any club for good cricket this sezen. waiting to ur good responce.
I hope he found what he was looking for.
1 Comment »Cricket commentary on your mobile
By Will last year, mid-October, No Comments; be the first!
Meant to note this down last week and forgot. We’re now doing commentary for mobile phones - and it’s really brilliant. I know it’s a bit sycophantic to praise Cricinfo’s services but, let’s face it, we do rock - and this is really very cool. If you’re away from your PC, just download this program and you can keep an eye on our accurate (yet irreverent…) commentary on your phone. It’s quick and free.
No Comments »What a difference a year makes
By Will last year, at the start of September, 10 Comments »
Have a look at this. It’s Cricinfo from today, September 1 2007.
Now then. When you manage a site as popular as Cricinfo, it’s especially important we keep our headlines fresh, sharp - and above all, accurate. So when I noticed a colleague had altered the clusters and changed the top headline to “Ruthless,” it struck a chord. Ruthless? This England? Really?
But, in this series at least, they are and they have been. And who’d have thought it after the utter shambles of last year? What a difference a year can make.
10 Comments »Sambit Bal on Test Match Special
By Will last year, at the end of July, 8 Comments »
Pretty cool moment for us today when Sambit Bal, our editor, was invited onto Test Match Special during the tea interval of the 2nd Test at Trent Bridge. Jonathan Agnew knows and likes Cricinfo, but it was nevertheless oddly exciting to hear him be so amazed at how Sambit (and us) manage to produce a site of such breadth and depth. Anyway, it might be online if you fancy a listen - check TMS’s site.
8 Comments »2007 Cowdrey Lecture
By Will last year, mid-July, 2 Comments »
Have you read this year’s Cowdrey Lecture, delivered by Christopher Martin-Jenkins’? Hmm, thought as much. Well you really ought to, not least because this year marks the first time in its brief seven years that it hasn’t been delivered by a professional cricketer. And it is fascinating.
I confess not to have read it all, yet, but am working my way through it and finding myself nodding all too frequently. Pleasingly for me and my employers, he mentions Cricinfo (and, revealingly, by name and not “the cricket website Cricinfo” as we are so often called. Clearly the brand hasn’t extended that far yet…) while raising a very good point about the access to, and interest in, county cricket.
Cricinfo recorded 29 million page views from 7.5 million visits to county cricket alone in 2006 - and has already had 19 million this season so, despite the rain, they expect the figure to be exceeded. Obviously because a great many people want to find out the latest scores. Sadly, if they are on the move in their cars they can listen for them in vain; and when they are given it often seems to be as a breathless afterthought following the big story that Scunthorpe’s millionaire chairman has denied rumours that their controversial manager Bruno Boscovic is going to be sacked. Or, more to the point, some utterly mundane comment by Jose Murinho such as he thinks that Chelsea have the players to win the Premiership. What a surprise. The media has been conned to a dangerous extent – if you value the variety of life - into becoming a sort of spin machine for the all-pervading, all-powerful Premiership. Also into the belief that it can’t be of interest if it’s not on television.
Regular or past readers will know of my near-hatred of football, and it is primarily for this reason: that it consumes so much media attention, undeservingly so. But hey ho (Flint), that’s the way of the world.
The lack of fast bowlers also come under Christopher’s scrutinous gaze - and he reveals that changes are afoot to decrease the boundaries. My boss and I went to The Oval earlier in the season and I was absolutely shocked at the shortness of the boundaries. Cynics argue that they are brought “in” from their original position in order to maximise the chances of sixes, increase the number of runs scored in a day and generally get the game finished as quick as possible. The evidence is damning too.
But there is a tremendous amount to be thankful for in the contemporary game – in many respects the standards are higher than ever. There are some magnificent batsmen in world cricket and some magical spinners too. The fielding is sensationally good. It is the fast bowlers who are in short supply in the current phase of a game that has always evolved. In the eternal struggle to find that essential balance between bat and ball what we need is a determined effort to lengthen boundaries – happily both the MCC World Cricket Committee and the new ICC Cricket committee are agreed on that but there is no evidence yet of boundaries being stretched to the furthest practical limits on all grounds as they should be.
Do give it a read, and offer your thoughts of the points he raises.
2 Comments »Cricinfo acquired by ESPN
By Will last year, mid-June, 3 Comments »
In case you didn’t know…
3 Comments » « Previous Entries“Growing our business in the online world is vital for us to serve sports fans,” said Russell Wolff, managing director of ESPN International. “Cricinfo is a tremendous property with a great fan base and it will be a strong addition to ESPN.”
Explaining the decision, Mark Getty, director of the Wisden Group, said: “Cricinfo has developed into a significant cricket brand in its own right, combining huge global popularity with strong commercial success. ESPN is a major sports broadcaster and international rights holder and will provide the perfect environment for Cricinfo to further realise its enormous potential.”
