Past week has been a good mixture of joy and sorrow for us at cricketernews.com. First the good news - we launched an AJAX based cricket score card, called Livescore Beta. This beta version has the most minimalistic features right now, but expect much more in the next month or so. Now to the events that made us spend a couple of sleepless nights. Due to a combination of hardware and software troubles the site first could not bring you the latest news. Things worsened over time and the site completely went down. We have made necessary fixes and the site is back up.
Sorry for the inconvenience.
- cricketernews.com team
Saturday, March 17, 2007
Monday, March 12, 2007
Milestone reached on the eve of World Cup 2007
Today we reached a milestone - CricketerNews.com went live with next generation Live score card - Livescore Beta, thanks to efforts of our developers. This score card has various features like the dynamic run rate graphs, runs scored in previous overs, etc. It also offers quick access to player's profile and other score details without refreshing the whole page. We hope this will enhance the user experience to a large extent.
We all must have enjoyed the opening ceremony of the World Cup 2007. Let this spirit continue throughout the world cup.
www.CricketerNews.com :)
Send in your valuable feedback(s) to contact@crickternews.com
We all must have enjoyed the opening ceremony of the World Cup 2007. Let this spirit continue throughout the world cup.
www.CricketerNews.com :)
Send in your valuable feedback(s) to contact@crickternews.com
Up, alive and kicking
Our hosting provider fixed the issue on their end. The site has been up and running for the last 21 hours. Sorry for any inconvenience.
- Cricketernews.com team
- Cricketernews.com team
Sunday, March 11, 2007
Hosting service down
Our site (cricketernews.com) has not been accessible for sometime since Sunday, March 11th.
The problem is not with us but with our hosting service provider. We are in touch with service provider and hope they get around to fixing the issue soon. cricketernews.com apologizes for the inconvenience.
The problem is not with us but with our hosting service provider. We are in touch with service provider and hope they get around to fixing the issue soon. cricketernews.com apologizes for the inconvenience.
Saturday, March 10, 2007
Australian team - 2003 vs 2007
Here is the chart for comparision. Please arrive at your own conclusions. And btw, Glen McGrath did not play twice in the 2003 World Cup (though he ended up taking Sachin Tendulkar's wicket in the 2003 World Cup Finals)
Two cricketers and a World Cup
Rahul Dravid and Jacob Oram come from different worlds. One is from a cricket crazy city(Bangalore) of a cricket crazy country and the other is from a country where cricket needs to compete with other sports for the top slot. In one country cricket is a religion and in the other, its a mere sport. But these two cricketers made news last week for reasons that are completely non-idiosyncratic.
Last week CNN-IBN interviewed Rahul Dravid. After the interview, quite a few eyebrows were raised among those who follow Indian cricket. Rest of the media picked it up and ran with the story, or a version of it. There was quite a bit of noise in the blogosphere as well. In the interview, Rahul Dravid simply did not say what people expected him to say. He simply refused to be told that he was the center of the world. He refused to take himself more seriously than he needed to. He refused to share the belief that all his life's hard work (and that of his teammates') culminates with World Cup 2007. All of it, while maintaining the typical composure and assertiveness. In that interview with CNN-IBN, a couple of things struck with me. First - "Its not modest, its just the way I feel about it" line. And then the "Life goes on after the World Cup" line. Quite uncharacteristic and gutsy for an Indian captain about to lead his team in the World Cup. Or for that matter, uncharacteristic for any captain from the sub-continent. With 2 weeks to go, the last thing the captain wants, is to sound as though winning the World Cup is less important than anything else - a n y t h i n g e l s e.
Around the same time, Jacob Oram was talking about amputating his finger in order to play the World Cup(Thank God he didn't have to and hopefully no Cricketer has to). Remember again that Jacob Oram has never had his effigy burnt. He will never have to see his house mobbed due to one bad performance. In his country unlike Rahul Dravids', cricket is simply not that big. But still he wanted to play the World Cup so badly that he was ready to go under the knife. Was it worth the prize ? Only Jacob can answer. Because, like Rahul Dravid, ONLY he knows the answer. Because, like Dravid, only he could measure his success.
Well, tale of two cricketers - each with a big heart.
Last week CNN-IBN interviewed Rahul Dravid. After the interview, quite a few eyebrows were raised among those who follow Indian cricket. Rest of the media picked it up and ran with the story, or a version of it. There was quite a bit of noise in the blogosphere as well. In the interview, Rahul Dravid simply did not say what people expected him to say. He simply refused to be told that he was the center of the world. He refused to take himself more seriously than he needed to. He refused to share the belief that all his life's hard work (and that of his teammates') culminates with World Cup 2007. All of it, while maintaining the typical composure and assertiveness. In that interview with CNN-IBN, a couple of things struck with me. First - "Its not modest, its just the way I feel about it" line. And then the "Life goes on after the World Cup" line. Quite uncharacteristic and gutsy for an Indian captain about to lead his team in the World Cup. Or for that matter, uncharacteristic for any captain from the sub-continent. With 2 weeks to go, the last thing the captain wants, is to sound as though winning the World Cup is less important than anything else - a n y t h i n g e l s e.
Around the same time, Jacob Oram was talking about amputating his finger in order to play the World Cup(Thank God he didn't have to and hopefully no Cricketer has to). Remember again that Jacob Oram has never had his effigy burnt. He will never have to see his house mobbed due to one bad performance. In his country unlike Rahul Dravids', cricket is simply not that big. But still he wanted to play the World Cup so badly that he was ready to go under the knife. Was it worth the prize ? Only Jacob can answer. Because, like Rahul Dravid, ONLY he knows the answer. Because, like Dravid, only he could measure his success.
Well, tale of two cricketers - each with a big heart.
Win win for all
Cricket World Cup 2007 Teams
---------------------------------
Australia, Bangladesh, Bermuda, Canada, England, Netherlands, India, Ireland, Kenya, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa, Srilanka, West Indies, Zimbabwe
Cricket World Cup 2007 - a platform where 16 countries displaying the best cricketing skills to outclass each other in order to place their hands on the coveted Cup and reclaim their supremacy in the world of cricket. For the first time we see that 1/3 of the world cup teams do not have any major experience in international cricket. Hence the question most of us are asking is, will all the matches in the world cup be exciting? Do we need to include such large percentage of new teams into world cup? Will it not dilute the interest of world cup matches on the whole?
Commercially these might be some concerns which ICC or the sponsors would have looked at before going ahead. Since certainly there will be some matches where you will find empty spectator stands, or lower viewer ship on Television, or hits on cricketing websites. Continuing to think on commercial front, one other positive factor which could have popped into the sponsors mind is the length of his world in days or in terms of number of matches played in this world cup. Since this world cup easily being one of the longest series in cricketing world, which in turn provides more opportunities for the companies to cash on (including ICC). However there is always a fear of dilution in interest; since only close, well fought, uncertainty in matches always attract more interest.
Thinking in long term, I believe this will enable the spirit of Cricket to enter many more millions of hearts across the globe by opening the door of cricket to new nations. In the end a win win situation to all the people who are involved with this wonderful game. However the biggest win goes to the game called "Cricket".
Don't you all think that spirit of cricket can spread to people who are in contact with it like a contagious smile or laughter :)? Hope you all catch this cricket fever soon :).
www.cricketernews.com :)
---------------------------------
Australia, Bangladesh, Bermuda, Canada, England, Netherlands, India, Ireland, Kenya, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa, Srilanka, West Indies, Zimbabwe
Cricket World Cup 2007 - a platform where 16 countries displaying the best cricketing skills to outclass each other in order to place their hands on the coveted Cup and reclaim their supremacy in the world of cricket. For the first time we see that 1/3 of the world cup teams do not have any major experience in international cricket. Hence the question most of us are asking is, will all the matches in the world cup be exciting? Do we need to include such large percentage of new teams into world cup? Will it not dilute the interest of world cup matches on the whole?
Commercially these might be some concerns which ICC or the sponsors would have looked at before going ahead. Since certainly there will be some matches where you will find empty spectator stands, or lower viewer ship on Television, or hits on cricketing websites. Continuing to think on commercial front, one other positive factor which could have popped into the sponsors mind is the length of his world in days or in terms of number of matches played in this world cup. Since this world cup easily being one of the longest series in cricketing world, which in turn provides more opportunities for the companies to cash on (including ICC). However there is always a fear of dilution in interest; since only close, well fought, uncertainty in matches always attract more interest.
Thinking in long term, I believe this will enable the spirit of Cricket to enter many more millions of hearts across the globe by opening the door of cricket to new nations. In the end a win win situation to all the people who are involved with this wonderful game. However the biggest win goes to the game called "Cricket".
Don't you all think that spirit of cricket can spread to people who are in contact with it like a contagious smile or laughter :)? Hope you all catch this cricket fever soon :).
www.cricketernews.com :)
Friday, March 9, 2007
The anti-browser products
This past weekend I got a chance to review and intall Joost, a new P2P internet TV product that tries to bring the TV to the web. It so happens that Joost is developed by the same guys, who developed Kazaa and Skype (both based on Peer to Peer technology). Unlike iconic YouTube that depends on thousands of users to upload typically short videos, Joost depends on the TV channels for its content. Whereas YouTube and its siblings depend on the browser to deliver the content, Joost uses P2P technology (no browser). The content is streamed from Joost's servers for the first time. Afterwards, when more people are using their service, the content could be coming either from Joost's servers or from one of the peers. In fact, more the number of people watching a particular TV show on Joost, faster and more efficient would be the service. Joost currently only has older TV programs and they absolutely don't have any live TV programs.
Now, we all have watched live cricket videos over the www using the browser. At least in my case the experince has been less than perfect. Can P2P technology help deliver "live" sports feeds ? As I mentioned above - more people watching a specific Cricket match would result in more peers and hence more efficient streaming. This is quite opposite to browser based streaming, wherein more people watching a specific match would simply bog the streaming servers down.
Food for thought .... eh ? Shall we build a P2P video client at cricketernews.com :-) ??
(Blog on cricket animation is here)
Now, we all have watched live cricket videos over the www using the browser. At least in my case the experince has been less than perfect. Can P2P technology help deliver "live" sports feeds ? As I mentioned above - more people watching a specific Cricket match would result in more peers and hence more efficient streaming. This is quite opposite to browser based streaming, wherein more people watching a specific match would simply bog the streaming servers down.
Food for thought .... eh ? Shall we build a P2P video client at cricketernews.com :-) ??
(Blog on cricket animation is here)
Thursday, March 8, 2007
England team - 2003 and 2007
Simply comparing the team that played the last edition of the WC verses the team that will be playing this edition tells a story. It tells you what the team has been upto in last 4 years. While you are free to interpret the story in your own way, here is how I would read it :
The 2007 England team is a much younger unit. There are only 3 players who have played in the 2003 WC. The English bowling attack is as fresh as it could get. Scouts must have worked over-time trying to replace aging stars with younger talent. One name thats missing from the 2007 squad is that of Steve Harmison. He is the first casulty of the Ashes whitewash. On paper, this team does not look threatening - especially if you compare roaster to that of the star-studded Indian side. But as a unit on the ground they may be able to do quite a bit of damage.
What the comparision doesn't tell you is that England won and lost Ashes in the same breath. When the lost - they lost bad.
Sunday, March 4, 2007
cricketernews updates
We, at cricketernews.com have been working on fixing a few Podcast links, after we received complaints that users were unable to get to some of the podcasts. The ones that were not working included podcasts from 'CricInfo Round Table' and Tony Greig. We did some initial research last week and now we are working on the fix. We will certainly have a fix within this week - well ahead of the world cup.
Also, a few (not ALL) users using Firefox 2.0 browser have complained that the cricketernews.com content does not load at all. We are looking into this too. Untill we find a fix for this, please use any version of IE. We'll keep y'all in the loop. This is the first instance wherein we found out that some of our code does not work with Firefox. In general, Firefox has been very good to our developers.
If you would like to see any new features added to cricketernews.com, please write to us at contact@cricketernews.com
Also, a few (not ALL) users using Firefox 2.0 browser have complained that the cricketernews.com content does not load at all. We are looking into this too. Untill we find a fix for this, please use any version of IE. We'll keep y'all in the loop. This is the first instance wherein we found out that some of our code does not work with Firefox. In general, Firefox has been very good to our developers.
If you would like to see any new features added to cricketernews.com, please write to us at contact@cricketernews.com
Saturday, March 3, 2007
The world of cricket animation
Now, whats the next best thing to watching live Cricket on TV ? Following it on the web - considering that the radio has been thrown out of this equation for reasons unknown(At least in India, its largely due to sub-standard commentaries on AIR). Mid nineties, a lot of websites started posting live cricket scores on the web, much to the relief of the office-goers and fans living overseas. And then there were (and still are) a few streaming sites that let you watch live matches over the www. But even with high speed internet, the experience is excruciatingly painful. I remember Irfan Pathan's hat-trick against Pakistan in the Karachi (3rd) Test. I could only see the first 2 wickets fall - that of Salman Butt and Younis Khan. It took me 10 more minutes to figure that he had indeed taken a wicket with the next ball - that of Mohd Yousuf.
Roughly twelve years after web-based scorecards were launched, nothing much has changed - the same sites offer similar services. There are a few Flash based scorecards too, which could marginally improve the user experience. Amidst of all this, enter Cricket animation for live matches - mostly based on Flash.
Our own techies at cricketernews.com thought of building something very similar early in 2006. But we backed away as there were others doing the same thing.
For every action taking place in the field, the animated characters move around a small screen in the browser. For example, if a batsman takes a single, you'll see the two animated characters complete a run. These animations, that I first saw in baseball, are becoming common in Cricket too. It was Yahoo ! who first launched such a service first. Now its Cricinfo, introducing CricInfo 3D. CricInfo's service would let you pick the camera angle and also will provide you with scorecards and statistics. CricInfo says users need a decent processor with at lease 512 MB RAM. They will also have to download Adobe's Shockwave, version 10 or higher.
Lets see if animations satisfy the hunger of office-goers and fans living overseas.
Also read : Brainstorming about P2P cricket videos
Roughly twelve years after web-based scorecards were launched, nothing much has changed - the same sites offer similar services. There are a few Flash based scorecards too, which could marginally improve the user experience. Amidst of all this, enter Cricket animation for live matches - mostly based on Flash.
Our own techies at cricketernews.com thought of building something very similar early in 2006. But we backed away as there were others doing the same thing.
For every action taking place in the field, the animated characters move around a small screen in the browser. For example, if a batsman takes a single, you'll see the two animated characters complete a run. These animations, that I first saw in baseball, are becoming common in Cricket too. It was Yahoo ! who first launched such a service first. Now its Cricinfo, introducing CricInfo 3D. CricInfo's service would let you pick the camera angle and also will provide you with scorecards and statistics. CricInfo says users need a decent processor with at lease 512 MB RAM. They will also have to download Adobe's Shockwave, version 10 or higher.
Lets see if animations satisfy the hunger of office-goers and fans living overseas.
Also read : Brainstorming about P2P cricket videos
This week in world cricket
Ok, the first prediction that I made has already been proved wrong. I predicted that Shoaib and Asif will play for Pakistan in the WC. But how would I know that just the day before the team left for West Indies, both of them would get injured :-) This saga has been a management nightmare for PCB. The problem is, even the former Pakistani players are not believing PCB's story. But believe me, this story is far from over.
Check out this video of a young Pakistani swing bowler. Pakistan seems to have a knack of producing world-class fast bowlers, time and again. If only somebody could teach them the knack of staying out of trouble !
A man in Hyderabad, India has designed this car to cheer for the Indian cricket team. Not sure if I wanna be in it. Anyway, hope his efforts pay off.
I'm kinda relieved to see Michael Vaughn back as the England captain. Not that I don't like Flintoff. Being only a vice-captain will help Flintoff do what he is good at doing - winning matches for England.
Now, about Monty Panesar - he may be the 'find' for England. But as a spinner, the benchmark for judging Monty 's ability is simply by looking at how he bowls to Indians and Pakistanis. I myself am very curious to see how he bowls to the batsmen from the sub-continent.
Check out this video of a young Pakistani swing bowler. Pakistan seems to have a knack of producing world-class fast bowlers, time and again. If only somebody could teach them the knack of staying out of trouble !
A man in Hyderabad, India has designed this car to cheer for the Indian cricket team. Not sure if I wanna be in it. Anyway, hope his efforts pay off.
I'm kinda relieved to see Michael Vaughn back as the England captain. Not that I don't like Flintoff. Being only a vice-captain will help Flintoff do what he is good at doing - winning matches for England.
Now, about Monty Panesar - he may be the 'find' for England. But as a spinner, the benchmark for judging Monty 's ability is simply by looking at how he bowls to Indians and Pakistanis. I myself am very curious to see how he bowls to the batsmen from the sub-continent.
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