Franchise leagues are here to stay, and will grow even more; ODIs should go, with ICC putting more will and intent into the Test format.
I used to love doing ball-by-ball cricket commentary online.
It demands total focus on every ball—you have to spot length and line and deviation and the bowler’s use of the crease, the batsman’s trigger moment and his decision to go forward or back, the line he chooses to play, the outcome, and you have to type it all up as it is happening. You had to do that 540 times in a single day of Test cricket, or 600 times in the course of a one-day game, write your match report, and come back and do it all over again …
Prem Panicker has been a journalist for over 30 years. From daily newspapers to weekly magazines and digital news portals—he was one of the seven journalists who were part of the Rediff.com start-up team—he has written and edited features extensively across mediums and publications. Since quitting his job at Yahoo in 2014, he has been working as a freelance writer and editor, as well as teaching narrative journalism.
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