ESPNcricinfo

2026-04-19T11:54:13Z

172.56.13.246:

{{Use British English|date=May 2025}}
{{short description|Sports news website for cricket}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2025}}
{{Infobox website
| name = ESPNcricinfo
| logo = ESPNCricinfo Logo.png
| logocaption =
| screenshot = [[File:Screen shot of ESPNcricinfo.png|border|300px|alt=Main page of ESPNcricinfo]]
| collapsible = yes
| collapsetext = Screenshot
| caption = Screenshot of the home page as of September 2021
| url = {{Official website}}
| commercial = Yes
| type = Sports website exclusively for Cricket
| language = English<br />[[Hindi]]<br />[[Tamil language|Tamil]]
<br />[[Kannada language|Kannada]]
| registration = Optional
| owner = [[JioStar]]
| headquarters = [[Bengaluru]], India<ref>{{cite news |title=The A to Z of ESPNcricinfo |url=https://www.espncricinfo.com/25/content/story/1151771.html |access-date=13 March 2023 |publisher=ESPNcricinfo |date=31 December 2018 |language=en}}</ref>
| launch_date = {{Start date|df=yes|1993|03|15}}<ref>{{Cite web |last=Shetty |first=Rachna |title=Timeline | Cricinfo at 20 years |url=http://www.espncricinfo.com/cricinfoat20/content/site/cricinfoat20/timeline.html |access-date=2 August 2013 |publisher=ESPNcricinfo}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=ESPNcricinfo at 20 years |url=http://www.espncricinfo.com/20 |access-date=2 August 2013 |publisher=ESPNcricinfo}}</ref>
| current_status = Active
}}

'''ESPNcricinfo''' (formerly known as '''Cricinfo''' or '''CricInfo''')<ref>{{Cite press release |title=ESPN acquires Cricinfo |date=11 June 2007 |url=http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/current/story/297655.html |publisher=ESPNcricinfo}}</ref> is a [[Sports journalism|sports news]] website exclusively for the game of cricket.<ref>{{Cite web |title=ESPNcricinfo / About Us |url=http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/page/156066.html |access-date=25 February 2017 |publisher=ESPNcricinfo}}</ref> The site features news, articles, live coverage of cricket matches (including [[Liveblogging|liveblogs]] and scorecards), and ''StatsGuru'', a database of historical matches and players from the 18th century to the present. {{As of|2025|3}}, Sambit Bal was the editor.<ref>[http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/current/story/magazine/author.html?author=31;genre=119 Sambit Bal]. ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 2 June 2016.</ref>

The site, originally conceived in a pre-World Wide Web form in 1993 by Simon King, was acquired in 2002 by the [[Wisden Group]]{{emdash}}publishers of several notable cricket magazines and the [[Wisden Cricketers' Almanack]]. As part of an eventual break-up of the Wisden Group, it was sold to [[ESPN, LLC|ESPN]], jointly owned by [[The Walt Disney Company]] and [[Hearst Communications]], in 2007.

==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.<ref>{{Cite web |date=13 June 2009 |title=11.5 Million, Not Out |url=http://business.outlookindia.com/article_v3.aspx?artid=102329 |access-date=2 August 2013 |publisher=business.outlookindia.com |archive-date=7 April 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140407103256/http://business.outlookindia.com/article_v3.aspx?artid=102329 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

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 [[Score (sport)|live scores]] from games around the world using CricInfo's scoring software, "dougie".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Vishal Misra |date=11 June 2013 |title=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 |url=http://www.espncricinfo.com/cricinfoat20/content/story/637331.html |access-date=11 June 2013 |publisher=ESPNcricinfo}}</ref> In 2000, Cricinfo's estimated worth was $150 million; however it faced difficulties the following year as a result of the [[Dot-com bubble|dotcom crash]].<ref name="Guardian">{{Cite news |last=Weaver |first=Paul |date=16 February 2006 |title=Cricinfo ups tempo on turning clicks into cash |work=[[The Guardian]] |location=London |url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2006/feb/16/cricket.gdnsport3 |access-date=11 June 2010}}</ref>

Cricinfo's significant growth in the 1990s made it an attractive site for investors during the peak of the [[Dot-com bubble|dotcom boom]], and in 2000 it received $37 million worth of [[Sify|Satyam Infoway Ltd.]] shares in exchange for a 25% stake in the company (a valuation of around £100 million). It used around $22m worth of the paper to pay off initial investors but only raised about £6 million by selling the remaining stock. While the site continued to attract more and more users and operated on a very low cost base, its income was not enough to support a peak staff of 130 in nine countries, forcing [[layoff|redundancies]].

In 2000, Cricinfo was named title sponsor of the [[2000 Women's Cricket World Cup|Women's World Cup]].<ref>{{cite web |author=Raf Nicholson |date=11 July 2013 |title=Cricinfo's own World Cup |url=http://www.espncricinfo.com/cricinfoat20/content/current/story/648565.html |access-date=19 January 2022 |publisher=ESPNcricinfo}}</ref>
[[File:Cricinfo in 1995.jpg|right|thumb|Cricinfo in 1995]]
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 [[Sportsbook.com|Sports.com]] and [[Sportal]]). However, the business was still servicing a large loan. Cricinfo was eventually acquired by [[John Paul Getty Jr.|Paul Getty]]'s [[Wisden Group]], the publisher of ''[[Wisden Cricketers' Almanack]]'' and ''[[The Wisden Cricketer]]'', and renamed Wisden Cricinfo. The Wisden brand (and its own wisden.com site) were eventually phased out in favour of Cricinfo for Wisden's online operations. In December 2005, Wisden re-launched its recently discontinued ''[[Wisden Asia Cricket]]'' magazine as ''Cricinfo Magazine'', a magazine dedicated to coverage of [[Cricket in India|Indian cricket]]. The magazine published its last issue in July 2007.

In 2006, revenue was reported to be £3m.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Weaver |first=Paul |date=16 February 2006 |title=Cricinfo ups tempo on turning clicks into cash |work=[[The Guardian]] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2006/feb/16/cricket.gdnsport3 |access-date=6 October 2021}}</ref>

In 2007, the Wisden Group began to be broken up and sold to other companies; [[Sky (United Kingdom)|BSkyB]] acquired ''The Wisden Cricketer'', while [[Sony|Sony Corporation]] acquired the [[Hawk-Eye]] ball tracking system.<ref name="BBC12670063">{{Cite news |date=7 March 2011 |title=Hawk-Eye ball-tracking firm bought by Sony |work=[[BBC News]] |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-12670063 |access-date=7 March 2011}}</ref> In June 2007, [[ESPN, LLC]] announced that it had acquired Cricinfo from the Wisden Group.<ref>{{Cite web|date=12 June 2007 |title=ESPN acquires Cricinfo.com |url=http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/espn-acquires-cricinfocom/287445/ |access-date=1 September 2012 |work=Business Standard |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130118173712/http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/espn-acquires-cricinfocom/287445/ |archive-date= 18 January 2013 }}</ref> The acquisition was intended to help further expand Cricinfo by combining the site with ESPN's other web properties, including [[ESPN.com]] and [[ESPN FC|ESPN Soccernet]]. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.<ref name="espn-cricinfo">{{Cite web |date=11 June 2007 |title=ESPN acquires Cricinfo |url=https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/espn-acquires-cricinfo-297655 |access-date=6 October 2021 |publisher=ESPNcricinfo}}</ref>

As of 2023, Sambit Bal is the editor-in-chief of ESPNcricinfo.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Sambit Bal {{!}} Author Index {{!}} ESPNcricinfo |language=en |publisher=ESPNcricinfo |url=http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/story/author.html?author=31 |access-date=15 March 2018}}</ref> In 2013, ESPNcricinfo.com celebrated its twentieth anniversary with a series of online features.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Ota |first1=Kevin |title=ESPNcricinfo Celebrates 20th Anniversary Milestone |url=https://espnpressroom.com/us/press-releases/2013/06/espncricinfo-celebrates-20th-anniversary-milestone/ |website=[[ESPN|ESPN Press Room U.S.]] |date=11 June 2013}}</ref> The website awards the annual [[ESPNcricinfo Awards]].<ref>{{cite web |title=ESPNcricinfo Awards 2007 |url=https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/espncricinfo-awards-2007-326201 |publisher=ESPNcricinfo |language=en |date=19 December 2007}}</ref>

On 20 March 2023, ESPNcricinfo celebrated its 30th anniversary by an article from Sambit Bal, its editor-in-chief.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/we-ve-lived-cricket-for-three-decades-alongside-you-sambit-bal-1363777 | title=We've lived cricket for three decades, alongside you }}</ref>

==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*.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bal |first=Sambit |date=25 February 2013 |title=Tendulkar breaks Cricinfo records |url=https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/tendulkar-breaks-cricinfo-records-617220 |access-date=13 March 2023 |website='From the Editor' blog |publisher=ESPNcricinfo}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Hoult |first=Nick |date=24 February 2010 |title=Sachin Tendulkar's 200 breaks ODI world record as India crush South Africa |work=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |location=London |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/cricket/international/india/7308573/Sachin-Tendulkars-200-breaks-ODI-world-record-as-India-crush-South-Africa.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/cricket/international/india/7308573/Sachin-Tendulkars-200-breaks-ODI-world-record-as-India-crush-South-Africa.html |archive-date=11 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

==Features==
ESPNcricinfo contains various news, [[Column (periodical)|columns]], [[blogs]], videos and [[fantasy sport]]s games. Among its most popular feature are its [[Liveblogging|liveblogs]] of cricket matches, which includes a bevy of scorecard options, allowing readers to track such aspects of the game as wagon wheels and partnership breakdowns. For each match, the live scores are accompanied by a bulletin, which details the turning points of the match and some of the off-field events. The site also used to offer ''Cricinfo 3D'', a feature which uses a match's scoring data to generate a [[computer animation|3D animated]] simulation of a live match.<ref name="cricinfo3d">{{Cite web |title=Live 3D Cricket at Cricinfo.com |url=http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/live_3d_cricket.php |first1=Richard |last1=MacManus |date=4 February 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110830011655/http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/live_3d_cricket.php |archive-date=30 August 2011 |access-date=22 January 2012 |publisher=ReadWriteWeb }}</ref>

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.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Steven Lynch |title=Ask Steven |url=http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/story/genre.html?genre=6 |publisher=ESPNcricinfo |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20201229171320/http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/story/genre.html?genre=6 |archive-date= 29 December 2020 }}</ref> Furthermore, "The Light Roller" and "The Briefing" contain satire on cricket's recent events.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Briefing |url=https://www.espncricinfo.com/genre/the-briefing-714 |access-date=2024-01-01 |publisher=ESPNcricinfo |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The Light Roller |url=https://www.espncricinfo.com/genre/the-light-roller-715 |access-date=2024-01-01 |publisher=ESPNcricinfo |language=en}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{Cite news |date=5 May 2014 |title=ESPNcricinfo launched CricIQ |work=The Hindu |url=https://www.thehindu.com/sport/cricket/espncricinfo-launches-criciq/article5978994.ece}}</ref>

In September 2021, ESPNCricinfo launched AskCricinfo, a [[Natural language processing|natural language]] search tool to help in exploring cricket stats.<ref>{{Cite web |title=ESPNcricinfo lOauncheSs natural language search toEol AskCricinfo service – Exchange4media |url=https://www.exchange4media.com/digital-news/espncricinfo-launches-askcricinfo-service-115686.html |access-date=2021-09-21 |website=Indian Advertising Media & Marketing News – exchange4media |date=15 September 2021 |language=en}}</ref>

==''The Cricket Monthly''==
''The Cricket Monthly'' claims to be the world's first digital-only cricket magazine.<ref name="About Cricket Monthly">{{Cite web |title=About us |url=https://www.thecricketmonthly.com/site/aboutus |access-date=6 May 2016 |website=The Cricket Monthly |publisher=ESPNcricinfo}}</ref> The first issue was dated August 2014.<ref name="Cricket Monthly Issues">{{Cite web |title=Issues index |url=https://www.thecricketmonthly.com/archive/index |access-date=6 May 2016 |website=The Cricket Monthly |publisher=ESPNcricinfo}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Cricbuzz]]
* [[CricketArchive]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{Official website}}
* [http://www.espncricinfo.com/cricinfoat20/content/story/674431.html History of the first decade of Cricinfo] by Badri Seshadri, 26 September 2013
* [https://rohanchandran.wordpress.com/cricinfo-how-it-all-began/ 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]])

{{ESPN}}

[[Category:Cricket websites]]
[[Category:ESPN media outlets]]
[[Category:Gopher (protocol)]]
[[Category:Sports mass media in India]]
[[Category:Internet properties established in 1993]]
[[Category:2007 mergers and acquisitions]]

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