ESPNcricinfo
Type of site | Sports website |
---|---|
Available in | English Hindi Tamil Kannada |
Headquarters | Bangalore, Karnataka, India[1] |
Owner | ESPN |
URL | Official website |
Commercial | Yes |
Registration | Optional |
Launched | 15 March 1993[2][3] |
Current status | Active |
ESPNcricinfo (formerly known as Cricinfo or CricInfo)[4] is a sports news website exclusively for the game of cricket.[5] The site features news, articles, live coverage of cricket matches (including liveblogs and scorecards), and StatsGuru, a database of historical matches and players from the 18th century to the present. As of March 2023[update], Sambit Bal was the editor.[6]
The site, originally conceived in a pre-World Wide Web form in 1993 by Simon King, was acquired in 2002 by the
History
CricInfo was launched on 15 March 1993 by Simon King, a British researcher at the University of Minnesota. It grew with help from students and researchers at universities around the world. Contrary to some reports, Badri Seshadri, who was very instrumental in CricInfo's early growth, did not become involved in CricInfo until some months after its founding.[7]
The site was reliant on contributions from fans around the world who spent hours compiling electronic scorecards and contributing them to CricInfo's comprehensive archive, as well as keying in live scores from games around the world using CricInfo's scoring software, "dougie".[8] In 2000, Cricinfo's estimated worth was $150 million; however it faced difficulties the following year as a result of the dotcom crash.[9]
Cricinfo's significant growth in the 1990s made it an attractive site for investors during the peak of the
By late 2002 the company was making a monthly operating profit and was one of very few independent sports sites to avoid collapse (such as
In 2006, revenue was reported to be £3m.[10]
In 2007, the Wisden Group began to be broken up and sold to other companies;
As of 2023, Sambit Bal is the Editor-in-Chief of ESPNcricinfo.[14] In 2013, ESPNcricinfo.com celebrated its twentieth anniversary with a series of online features. The website awards the annual ESPNcricinfo Awards.[citation needed].
On 20 March 2023, ESPNcricinfo celebrated its 30th anniversary by an article from Sambit Bal, their Editor-in-Chief.
In 2000, Cricinfo was named title sponsor of the Women's World Cup.[15]
Popularity
ESPNcricinfo's popularity was demonstrated on 24 February 2010, when the site could not handle the heavy traffic experienced after Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar broke the record for the highest individual score in a men's One Day International match with 200*.[16][17]
Features
ESPNcricinfo contains various
Regular columns on ESPNcricinfo include "All Today's Yesterdays", an "On this day" column focusing on historical cricket events, and "Quote Unquote", which features notable quotes from cricketers and cricket administrators. "Ask Steven" is a weekly column, published on Tuesdays, in which Steven Lynch answers users' questions on all things cricket.[19] Furthermore, "The Light Roller" and "The Briefing" contain satire on cricket's recent events.[20][21]
Among its most extensive features is StatsGuru, a database originally created by Travis Basevi, containing statistics on players, officials, teams, information about cricket boards, details of future tournaments, individual teams, and records. In May 2014, ESPNcricinfo launched CricIQ, an online test to challenge every fan's cricket knowledge.[22]
In September 2021, ESPNCricinfo launched AskCricinfo, a natural language search tool to help in exploring cricket stats.[23]
The Cricket Monthly
The Cricket Monthly claims to be the world's first digital-only cricket magazine.[24] The first issue was dated August 2014.[25]
See also
References
- ^ "The A to Z of ESPNcricinfo". Cricinfo. 31 December 2018. Retrieved 13 March 2023.
- ^ Shetty, Rachna. "Timeline | Cricinfo at 20 years". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 2 August 2013.
- ^ "ESPNcricinfo at 20 years". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 2 August 2013.
- ^ "ESPN acquires Cricinfo". ESPNcricinfo (Press release). 11 June 2007.
- ^ "ESPNcricinfo / About Us". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 25 February 2017.
- ^ Sambit Bal. ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 2 June 2016.
- ^ "11.5 Million, Not Out". business.outlookindia.com. 13 June 2009. Archived from the original on 7 April 2014. Retrieved 2 August 2013.
- ^ Vishal Misra (11 June 2013). "One night in 1996– Ball-by-ball text commentary, the core of ESPNcricinfo's offering, was born out of adversity during the sixth World Cup". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 11 June 2013.
- ^ Weaver, Paul (16 February 2006). "Cricinfo ups tempo on turning clicks into cash". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 11 June 2010.
- ^ Weaver, Paul (16 February 2006). "Cricinfo ups tempo on turning clicks into cash". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 October 2021.
- ^ "Hawk-Eye ball-tracking firm bought by Sony". BBC News. 7 March 2011. Retrieved 7 March 2011.
- ^ "ESPN acquires Cricinfo.com". Business-standard.com. 12 June 2007. Retrieved 1 September 2012.
- ^ "ESPN acquires Cricinfo". Cricinfo. 11 June 2007. Retrieved 6 October 2021.
- ^ "Sambit Bal | Author Index | ESPNcricinfo". Cricinfo. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
- ^ Raf Nicholson (11 July 2013). "Cricinfo's own World Cup". Cricinfo. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
- ^ Bal, Sambit (25 February 2013). "Tendulkar breaks Cricinfo records". 'From the Editor' blog. ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 13 March 2023.
- ^ Hoult, Nick (24 February 2010). "Sachin Tendulkar's 200 breaks ODI world record as India crush South Africa". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 11 January 2022.
- ^ "Live 3D Cricket at Cricinfo.com". The Next Web. Archived from the original on 30 August 2011. Retrieved 22 January 2012.
- ^ Steven Lynch. "Ask Steven".
- ^ "The Briefing". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 1 January 2024.
- ^ "The Light Roller". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 1 January 2024.
- ^ "ESPNcricinfo launched CricIQ". The Hindu. 5 May 2014.
- ^ "ESPNcricinfo launches natural language search tool AskCricinfo service - Exchange4media". Indian Advertising Media & Marketing News – exchange4media. Retrieved 21 September 2021.
- ^ "About us". The Cricket Monthly. ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
- ^ "Issues index". The Cricket Monthly. ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
External links
- Official website
- History of the first decade of Cricinfo by Badri Seshadri, 26 September 2013
- CricInfo – How it all began by Rohan Chandran, 2013, with an insiders view of the who, how and what and comments by other pioneers. (Blog at WordPress.com)