Sidharth Monga

[Mr. Wicket]

Which is one reason I have so little time for the articles on CI from many 'writers'. CI is a GREAT resource for old scorecards, stats, Wisden Almanack archives, live updates and scores from any game. There are some really good writers there I have a lot of time for like Sambit Bal & Sriram Veera - but the majority aren't in that category. And for accurate, insightful writing on the game it's second rate as it's basically operated from two offices in London and Bangalore, most of the writers remain in the office commenting off a TV screen, and only occasionally (Rahul Bhattacharya on the Pak tour in 04, Miller in UK, guys like Sriram Veera and Monga every now and then for regional tours) do guys actually get sent to cover games live. A lot of the better, specialised writing for other areas is outsourced from 'specialists' like Vaneisha Baksh in WI and Peter Roebuck in Aus - people who actually know a LOT about the game, regionally in particular and have some great insights. But that's a minority, and CI rely IMO too little on the real experts out there and too much on their own staff's conjectures and writings on games off TV screens. No wonder their coverage is second rate compared to the Mumbai Mirror, which does at least send staff to any India game in the country and regularly has someone writing in AFTER a live domestic match (sometimes even smaller club/league games like the Buchi Babu, etc). Or the Guardian, or many of the UK papers with their press regularly going to the matches, getting in-person insights as well as on-the-spur comments from players, and also does the live off-TV commentary in their OBO quite superbly.

[sangrock]

.... A lot of the better, specialised writing for other areas is outsourced from 'specialists' like Vaneisha Baksh in WI and Peter Roebuck in Aus - people who actually know a LOT about the game, regionally in particular and have some great insights. ....

Both of them are just amazing for their regional pieces. I started to read Vaneisha Baksh's articles and they were wonderful to read - mixing the past with the present... just wonderful to read!

[Dhondy]

Thal, another chap I can recommend is Neil Manthorp, who is a South African. He is a pretty decent commentator, probably the best non-player out there. Writes powerfully, with a finger on the pulse of the average South african fan.

[Mr. Wicket]

Yup, Manthorp is another very good writer. Forgot him.

[rahuliverpool]

CI sometimes has really good and well written articles but the level of consistency which for example the guardian has is clearly missing. I remember their commentary on the last few overs of the Cardiff test, all they said was "Cardiff explodes. Cardiff goes quiet" not once or twice but 7-8 times. It really got irritating after a certain point!

[nballa]

his love for pakistan and its cricket is reaching swine flu proportions.

[Mr. Wicket]

http://www.cricinfo.com/slvpak2009/content/current/story/414444.html

Good Lord, now even Sriram Veera's overhyping that sweep by Younis as some epic legendary moment in a historic contest that'll be remembered eternally. http://www.cricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/414612.html Jesus. Daft dismissal against a part-time bowler leading to the inevitable collapse and defeat of a team that should be teaching courses in How to Collapse 101.