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Name of Site: A.B.C. of Cricket
URL: http://www.abcofcricket.com/
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Ease of Navigation: Signposted
Plug Ins Required: Real Player
Review: This site should be called the A-Z of Cricket. For a one-man show,
this is a champion effort. Inspired to create this site merely by living
near the MCG and soaking up the spirit of cricket, Shane Dell has put
his heart and soul into building a portal as big as the ground itself.
He's hooked into services such as live scores, betting and news, and has
built his own link list to all the major country teams and countless small
clubs. There is a shop, an online cricket school, discussion forum (sledge
fest?), competition and many other features many large sites would do
well to include. - SS
Name of Site: Melbourne Cricket Ground
URL: http://www.mcg.org.au/
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Review: This site and the graphically matching MCC site pay homage to
the historical club and ground and do a great job of promoting their present
and future plans. Check out the facilities, the events, the history, go
for a virtual tour around the seating plan, the live Web cam and Score
cam. Detailed ticket pricing and a link to the Ticketmaster make it easy
to go from the virtual to the real experience of this great venue. Plenty
of continually updated news about redevelopment plans, special events
and government involvement in keeping the 'peoples ground' alive and well
for years to come. Another Olympic games, p'raps? - SS
Name of Site: Lords
URL: http://www.lords.org/
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Ease of Navigation: Walk in the Park
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Review: 215 years is long enough to establish yourself as the "spiritual
headquarters" of cricket. In this Java pop-down-menu-driven journey
into cricket greatness, one is taken through the lengthy timeline, honours
boards, then taken on a tour of the ground. The home of Marylebone Cricket
Club, Middlesex County Cricket Club, ECB and the ICC has gotten very high-tech
over the centuries and sports its own museum, corporate function facilities,
bars, banquet halls and of course the ground itself, where the real action
has taken place since cricket began. - SS
Name of Site: That's Cricket
URL: http://www.thatscricket.com/
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Review: The Indians love their cricket so naturally India's big Internet
firm, Indiainfo, couldn't help but build their own Cricket portal. A respectable
one it is too, with ball by ball coverage of games, news, chat, shop,
star profiles, interactive features like a fielding positions map, the
never ending match fixing saga and plenty of fan involvement. They have
even got the site ISO certified! Now that really is cricket! For the diehard
fans, you can even download a little applet that will sit on your desktop
and update match scores live. So much for getting work done on your computer!
- SS
Name of Site: Cricket 365
URL: http://www.cricket365.com/
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Review: Online, it's 24/7 and 365 and the cricket just won't quit. 'Stumps'
just never happens. You can almost smell the grass on this shrine to the
bat and the six-stitcher. With all the usual features of any good website
- news, message boards, betting, gallery etc - this one adds a feature
more sites ought to adopt: a look-alike section. I can't see Microsoft
adopting that one, but it certainly adds a touch of fun to this cricket
site. Great for tea breaks and rainy patches. If it weren't for the pop-up
advert that insists on popping up with every single page, this would truly
would be one you'd bookmark and visit all year round. - SS
Name of Site: Cricket World
URL: http://www.cricketworld.com/
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Ease of Navigation: Need a Map
Plug Ins Required: Flash
Review: They've tried to pack the whole world of cricket onto their home
page, with one of the busiest Websites I've ever seen. Once you recover
from eyeball overload, you'll realise it's actually a well-constructed
cricket portal. Links galore take you to all aspects of the game, from
youth cricket to international, player profiles to fun and games. Spot
the Ball, Trivia Quiz, and Puzzles where you can actually win stuff. All
the while the Flash logo in the corner keeps getting bowled over by the
big red off-spin. It's just about enough to achieve its ultimate goal
of stumping you at the cash register. Howzat!?- SS
Name of Site: Cricket Online
URL: http://www.cricket-online.org/
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Review: Only on the Internet could a bunch of Cricket fans get together
like this and create their own independent cricket-publishing medium.
Fans from around the world with the sole aim of proclaiming their love
for the game have found their voice. You can join in too. Forget about
the professional commentators - has-beens trying to eek out a living,
post-career - the opinions expressed here have no other motivation than
enthusiasm for the game. Check out the sledges, order some cool cricketing
software, stay informed with the latest news, and generally join the army,
albeit thinning in rank, of likeminded sports fans. - SS
Name of Site: US Cricket
URL: http://www.uscricket.com/
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Ease of Navigation: Signposted
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Review: Surprised I was to come across this site. Here's me thinking that
the only cricketers in America would be homesick Aussies, Poms and the
occasional holidaying Jamaican, but it is a fully-fledged organised sport
with leagues and teams spanning the nation. Maybe they are just not quite
deft enough to join the big league too often, but they certainly have
their fair share of international competition against countries like Argentina
and Bermuda. A slick site too, with groovy Flash header, well built menus
and plenty of in-depth info on all aspects and grades as played in the
land of the red white and blue, on fields of green. - SS
Name of Site: Baggy Green
URL: http://www-aus.cricket.org/link_to_database/NATIONAL/AUS/
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Review: The "Home of Australian Cricket" would have to be part
of Mr Packer's little network. And he has managed to get his minions to
build quite a respectable home as well. Up to date scorecards, op-eds,
articles, trivia quiz, big helpings of video and audio and plenty of fun
and games. There are coaching clinics with our stars, memorabilia sales
in the online shop, chat room and a long list of up coming fixtures. When
you are finished here, pack your esky and head down to the ground for
a huge day of real cricket with the world's best, courtesy of the man
who gave cricket it's biggest win ever - the one-dayer. - SS
Name of Site: CricInfo
URL: http://www.cricket.org/
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Review: In the spirit of the game, the cricket.org domain name is shared
among all the big cricketing countries, and redirects to the site nearest
you. The consortium of cricket boards allow a great deal of content to
be shared among the sites, including some premium (pay to watch) video
streams, fantasy cricket game with cash prizes, SMS score update service,
cricket gear sales, betting facilities... actually, for a .org portal,
there certainly is a lot of commercialism on offer. Ah well, so long as
it keeps the game alive, my credit card numbers are all yours. - SS
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