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Cricket in a new light
By Will last year, at the end of October, No Comments; be the first!
I won’t deny that leaving Cricinfo’s brilliant editorial team was a difficult decision, nor that it has been an odd experience to now be a user rather than someone actively involved in the writing. My role now, among others, is to help all ESPN’s sites become even better from a production side of things – such as their ranking and prominence in Google and co. (SEO, for those in the know, is one of my main tasks), as well as using social media to market the sites and engage with our mostly very loyal readers.
So, my personal relationship with Cricinfo has changed, and it’s only since leaving that I’ve really realised just how much cricket there is. That’s not entirely true, though: it was obvious that the quantity played was increasing year on year as we had more and more matches to cover live. But now, when I look at the site as a fan, it’s abundantly clear that there is too much being played, and I honestly don’t know how it – cricket the business; cricket the enterprise, if not cricket the sport – can be sustained.
I’ve quite enjoyed the Champions League from what little I’ve seen. Domestic teams from all over the world taking on eachother is great entertainment, but feels like the last dregs of water being wrung from a twisted flannel. There seem to be no gaps between series, each of them spilling over one another, blending seamlessly into one, sometimes hellish, melee. The distinction between seasons no longer seems to matter. Teams touring England arrive earlier and leave later, exposing the authorities and players to the haphazard early and late summer weather which often curtails play and keeps spectators at bay. Television rules the roost. Day-night Tests will happen soon, and solely to drive up yet more revenue because the authorities believe more people will come through the turnstiles after work. They may be right, too.
Even Kevin Pietersen, the thoroughbred sportsman and athlete, has admitted that his time out through injury has been a blessing in disguise.
He, in fact, is an interesting case in point. It was only four years ago that he made his debut, and with it came the skunk haircut, the bombastic interviews, the unquenchable thirst to prove people wrong; the outrageous talent and desperation to succeed (and to be loved by his adopted country). Before his injury, however, there was a jadedness to his personality, a tired and sullen look from a player who’d leap like an idiot whenever he reached three figures. Is that maturity? Perhaps. The injury certainly quelled his enthusiasm. But he’d lost something – that zip, and sparkle. The comparisons with Viv Richards, which seemed increasingly apt two seasons ago, now sounded as foolish and reckless as some of his strokeplay had become.
It wasn’t long ago that the big series – India v Australia, for example – were anticipated months in advance. We’d mark it on our calendars, check the TV listings and, on the day itself, remain glued to Cricinfo to see how it panned out. Now, though, there is no time for a build-up: series jostle against one another like sardines in a tin. And the players themselves, well, some of them burn out, most pick up an injury or two (a blessed relief in some cases), and the fans too are left exhausted and disinterested.
India and Australia are about to play another of those ridiculously extended seven-match series. It ought to be wonderful entertainment, but it comes mere days after the Champions League Twenty20, a series which hasn’t attracted the crowds the organisers expected. Here’s what Siddarth Monga has to say:
Three Australian players, representing New South Wales in the Champions League, will reach Vadodara on Saturday afternoon, having finished their final late Friday night and travelled about 1100 km north-west, and start a match at 9.00 am on Sunday. That could have been the fate of three more Australians, had Victoria won their semi-final, or of a couple of Indians had one of the IPL teams made it that far.
All this cricket is great for us, of course. Cricinfo’s traffic continues to soar as more and more people rely on the internet as a natural source of entertainment, not just a luxury for office workers. And while this series will doubtless have plenty of intrigue and entertainment, it seems implausible that come the seventh match we won’t be exhausted or bored by the whole thing, beginning yet another inquest into the future of 50-over cricket and the quantity being played.
No Comments »Things
By Will last year, at the start of October, 7 Comments »
I left Cricinfo three weeks ago to start a new job, still at ESPN, looking at social media, community, and other areas in how we can innovate all our sites (Cricinfo, Soccernet, Racing Live, Scrum … and a new one coming soon). After a three-week break, I get going tomorrow. I’ll still be involved with Cricinfo on a production basis, and will hopefully do some writing on the side from time to time – if I can find the time and a publisher, maybe even a book! – but it’s time for a change.
I still want to maintain this blog for a year or so, but it’ll never be as prolific as it was pre 2005, partly because I don’t have as much time and partly due to the evolution of blogging and the way people consume their news and banter. Time is the main reason; to keep people reading, you need to give them a reason to read, and more often than not that reason is the reliability, frequency and expectation of content. That’s something I’m hoping to achieve for ESPN, so there may be more whimsical thoughts on similar things here.
There may be some contributory writers here from time to time – that’s where I see it going – but I imagine I’ve reached the autumn of this particular blog, in its current format. So keep reading, keep subscribing, and things will be drip fed as and when something exceptionally ridiculous happens in the world of cricket. Moreover, keep reading Cricinfo, which may not yet be the biggest sporting website, but it’s certainly the best – led by ambitious and creative people and, editorially at least, is a match for any publication out there.
7 Comments »For rugby fans: the new Scrum.com
By Will 2 years ago, at the start of October, No Comments; be the first!
Shortly before ESPN aquired Cricinfo, they snapped up Scrum.com, run by the peerlessly-enthusiastic Graham Jenkins. We Cricinfo bods have been swapping our whites for the oval ball in the last few days to help with its relaunch, and it’s now live. Congrats to Graham and co.
No Comments »Cricinfo acquired by ESPN
By Will 3 years ago, mid-June, 4 Comments »
In case you didn’t know…
4 Comments »“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.”
