Top 5 Cricketing Websites For The Aspiring Cricket Nut

A subjective list of digital destinations.

If you’re happy to just watch cricket and when not near a screen, just keep track of scores, then the best website for you is probably … Google. If it’s cricketing nostalgia, then you have YouTube. Of course you won’t know what you’ll get until you click on the video, but there are exceptions like R Ashwin’s channel.

But if you’re an aspiring cricket nut; who wants to watch, read, talk and breathe cricket, there are a bunch of options out there. These options cover either some, or all of these needs:

• Scores

• News

• Analysis

• Stats

• Great writing

• Nostalgia

• Insider stuff

So here goes, countdown style.

5. Broadcaster + board websites

If you want to catch the highlights of a particular match, or other specific videos, don’t head to YouTube or do a Google search. You’ll end up finding videos of news networks doing ‘videos’ stitched from photographs or featuring talking heads. Instead, head to the host broadcaster’s website (Hotstar and Sony if you’re in India). If that doesn’t work, look for the host board’s website (bcci.tv) or tournament website (iplt20.com). And if even that doesn’t yield results, go to the YouTube channel run by cricket boards (ECB or Cricket Australia for example).

4. Analysts/Statisticians on the web

We’re in the golden age of cricket statistics and match-up analysis, so if you like that sort of thing, there are a number of individual experts you can turn to. They either have websites, newsletters or Twitter handles that are worth following. Here are a few:

CricViz: They work with other teams, but their team of analysts is worth checking out. CricViz has a blog and you can follow the likes of Ben Jones and Freddie Wilde on Twitter.

Dan Weston: Analyst with interesting Twitter threads.

Kartikeya Date: Analyst with interesting commentary. Has a newsletter worth following and a Twitter handle.

Jarrod Kimber: Writer, audio and video host, raconteur. What’s not to like about this guy? Here’s his newsletter, Jarrod Kimber’s Sports Almanack.

3. Podcasts

There are lots and lots of podcasts around that are related to cricket. Here are three that I listen to.

- 22 yarns, featuring the effervescent Gaurav Kapoor
- 81 All Out, hosted by Siddhartha Vaidyanathan
- The Cricket Podcast, hosted by three cricket fans who like to both talk and joke cricket

2. Writers

There’s something about cricket’s unique ability to reflect life’s struggles. Which is probably why it brings out the best in writing as well. (Is cricket the only sport where a first-class cricketer — Samuel Beckett — won a Nobel prize for literature?)

Everyone has their favourite writers, so I’ll just add a few names that I like:

- Prem Panicker
- Sharda Ugra
- Rohit Brijnath
- Ramachandra Guha
- Amit Varma

1. Cricinfo and Cricbuzz

The big guys. Like the best all-rounders, they do everything well. They offer apps, a website, videos, excellent non-video live coverage which includes text-based commentary in English and Hindi, and lots of reporting. Cricbuzz is owned by Times Internet and Cricinfo by ESPN. (Its official name changed to ESPNCricinfo after the sports network bought them out.)

They’re both similar but I prefer Cricinfo, who also were the pioneers of web journalism (regardless of genre). They do everything Cricbuzz does, but better. Their features and countdowns are a cut above anyone else in the field, and they also do longform writing under The Cricket Monthly. Cricinfo is also home to the legendary StatsGuru and their innovative stats team launched context-specific Smart Stats in October 2020.

Obviously there are several other cricketing or sports websites out there for the cricket nut. Wisden.com would be on any list, but I left them out because they are not ‘all-rounders’.

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So what’s missing on this list? Is it diverse enough? Write here or reply back on email.

Note: I spoke to several reporters and cricket nuts for this piece. I’m no expert, but I am a former cricket producer and reporter. The last series I covered however was a lifetime ago: Pakistan’s tour of India, 2005 when I was with Headlines Today. In that series though, we attended a memorable press conference hosted by Lalit Modi at the Mohali stadium. In it, he presented his vision for the IPL. As it turned out, it wasn't just talk.)

Photo credit: Matt Dawson