Don't get caught out when the cricket starts
Posted 19 March 2007 at 9:38AM by Simon Dickson in Light relief
Expect national productivity to slump over the next few weeks, as cricket fans' attention is drawn to the West Indies, and the 2007 Cricket World Cup. Sixteen nations are represented in the finals, which will take six and a half weeks to complete.
With early morning starts on the other side of the Atlantic, the first innings of each game will clash horribly with your afternoon at work. So how can you keep track of your team's progress whilst you're busy at your desk? Of course, the internet's here to help.
Cricinfo is the undisputed king of cricket information online. Started back in 1993 by a British researcher at the University of Minnesota, it contains a staggering amount of information on the sport. For years it has offered ball-by-ball coverage of games at Test and county level. For the World Cup, they're going a stage further, with a 3D graphical ball-by-ball service, using the same technology as the BBC's 'virtual replays'. You can also download their free Cricinfo Desktop Alerts tool, bringing newsflashes and wicket alerts to your PC's screen, as soon as they happen. Of course, the old-school Cricinfo tools, like the live desktop scorecard, will still be available for the traditionalists.
Sky Sports will be showing the matches live on UK TV; and they have quite an impressive website to back it all up, including their own downloadable alerting tool, and the promise of video clips.
The BBC's Test Match Special will have ball-by-ball coverage on long wave and digital radio; if you're in the UK, you'll also be able to listen online. The Beeb will also have a regular podcast, for you to download and listen to at leisure; the TMS team has its own blog; and if you're out and about, you can access live scorecards on your mobile phone via their WAP site.
Tags: alert, cricket, world cup
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