HOCKEY may be the national sport of Pakistan, but cricket is by and large the national passion of the country. And the same holds true for India. So, its no wonder that the current cricket series between the two subcontinental neighbours has more than a billion people of this planet, glued to their TV screens, if not to their seats in the stadiums.
More than anything else in this part of the world, it would be fair to say that cricket rules the emotions of the people. It is the one true sport, activity or whatever you would like to call it, that represents the temperament of the people. And now that the much awaited series between India and Pakistan is under-way, all other things have taken a backseat and the games have truly begun.
For five One-Day Internationals and three Test matches, no other detail will be on the minds of the legions of cricket crazy fans. They will be busy feasting their eyes on their cricketing heroes. And for those, who will be deprived of the opportunity of following the action live in the stands, the Internet has a few delicacies to offer.
Our first stop is the one true home of cricket on the Internet, CricInfo http://www.cricinfo.com/. If Lords is the home of cricket, then CricInfo is the definite place to be if you are looking for information on the Net regarding cricket. The site includes audio and video clips, scorecards, breaking news and more information than most of you can possibly handle. This address is also one of the oldest addresses that has been catering to the needs of the cricket loving online community. But the best thing about this site, something that has made it stand apart from the rest, is that a certain portion of the tickets to the Pakistan-India series are being sold on here. This is the first time that tickets of a major Pakistani sporting event are being sold online. However, days before the first One-Day International in Karachi,the tickets for that match had sold out.
A major plus point for the site is that almost all of its content is original. And if you are not satisfied with their reporting, then there are also links to the rest of the world’s media; newspapers, web sites and magazines, at the Best of the Web link. There is the Stats Guru and the Records link. But it is the Out of a High connection that takes us through the ages and helps us relive cricket history of the particular day that the web site is being viewed on.
Still, for those with a Net connection and without a TV, and with a passion for cricket, then CricInfo offers the ultimate; a live scoreboard. But if you have the money and one of those super fast broadband Internet connections (which I know a privileged few of us do) then you can also have a live video fee to watch and enjoy the game at.
Want to buy memorabilia or other cricket gift ware? Go to the CricInfo’s very own cricshop.com and shop till you drop; or till you run out of credit.
But no matter how great CricInfo is, there are always options. After all, technology isn’t perfect and if for some reason or another, CricInfo goes down there should is not perfect and always be a backup site where one can click into and follow the action as Tendulkar takes on the speed of Shoaib Akhtar. And for that, there is the ever great presence of the Yahoo Sport — Cricket web site http://uk.sports. yahoo.com/cr/.
There’s the usual treasure trove of news, news and lots of news. Of course that is supported by a terrific photo library and live scores of all the matches in progress. But again, there’s something unique here on this site as well. And the thing to note here is that you can download a cricket game into your mobile phone and play the game to your heart’s content. Still, mostly this link is about news and lots of information about the in-progress and coming games.
And then there’s the BBC’s cricket site, http://news.bbc.co.uk /sport2/hi/cricket/ default.stm. News, analysis, sound clips and video output combined with some of the best cricket reporting that the British broadcaster has to offer makes this link a real treat to visit. Here are interactive games and activities as well. Having difficulty knowing which position is silly mid-off? Then just browse into the Playing Field and you might get what you are looking for. There are also quizzes, bloopers and photos gallery; not of the cricketers, but of your favourite moments involving cricket.
Apart from the loads of information it is always handy to have a look at what the International Cricket Council’s official web site http://www.cricinfo.com/link_to_database/NATIONAL/ICC/ has to offer. Governing body for cricket throughout the world, this online presence of the ICC is, however, boring. A lot of rules, regulations and laws, this site looks more made to cater to the likes of lawyers than fans. Worth one look, nothing more than that.
So what are you waiting for now? Get those Net connections ready and log onto the cricket series of the decade.
HOCKEY may be the national sport of Pakistan, but cricket is by and large the national passion of the country. And the same holds true for India. So, its no wonder that the current cricket series between the two subcontinental neighbours has more than a billion people of this planet, glued to their TV screens, if not to their seats in the stadiums.
