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Welcome to the first issue of Cricinfo Magazine Made for cricket brand going print. We are secure in the knowledge that we will have theyour world company. daily. With to be the world’s biggest single-sport website, and touches cricketmillions publishing.of cricket fansFrom all overan adventure by a group of possessed volunteers, it has grown Like the good game itself, we hope to be timeless. helpings, and most importantly, something that you can come backthat to willa lastfew beyondmonths thelater. month: a magazine that can be read at one go or enjoyed in small humour. by television, columns on books and past cricketers, off-the-pitch pieces, ofand religiondoses ofin cricket. Elsewhere, there is a look at the exploitation“home advantage”of cricket in a new light, and Kamran Abbasi reflecting onthe changing Roebuck role on the joy of watching Brian Lara bat, Mukul Kesavan looking atto the answer idea a questionof that occasionally flummoxes us:“Why do we lovecaptures cricket?”, the joys Peter and the beauty of the game, we have Marcus Berkmann attemptingChennai the year before the last. In The Long Room, which is a space foran inningswriting asthat he talks us through his audacious and luminous 155 against Australiaprovides in us with a rare opportunity to look into a batsman’s mind pacemenduring the takecourse us closerof to cricket’s most primal and thrilling art. Virender Sehwagabout. There’s a 20-page special on fast bowling in which some of theas captain,world’s but on greatest the cultural shift that Dravid and Greg Chappell are workingDravid’s to bring appointment is the backdrop to Rahul raging controversy that 12 pages, focus not on the features, which run over example. Our cover the world, provides an photography from across cricket writing and to bringing you the best Asia Cricket like its predecessor Cricinfo Magazine most. of the game better than this it can convey the soul sniff and reflectand ruminate, evokethe past or contemplatethe future, occupiesand by a doingspecial all corner: free from the compulsions of immediacy, itno can televisionpick and screenchoose, can. And in the world of the written word, the monthlywith images, magazine yet it fails to provide the big picture. The written word itcan conjureis beyond up the images powers of television to discriminate or distil. It canon fill the our subcontinent, living rooms and fall asleep as one plays itself out inIndia England these or days South you Africa. can But wake up to cricket in Australia, spend the dayclose-up watching view a thatgame we can now see the stitches on the seam better than the batsman. In of any other sport. writers to craft fine prose. No wonder cricket boasts a body of literaturecombat. unrivalled byItsthat duration allows character to be revealed, fortunes to twist possibilities,and turn, and subtlety and grace; but hardly lacking in thrill, pace, athleticismI and physical sambit bal of all sports: endlessly fascinating; rich in artistry; full of cerebral and emotionalt’s hard to imagine a sport that indulges the writer more than cricket. It is the grandest We must be grateful to television for spreading the game and for providing such a For more than 12 years, cricinfo.com has been a pioneer and pathbreaker in online A good test of a monthly magazine is it’s shelf life. Our aim is to produce a magazine The first issue of , is committed , which, Wisden Cricinfo Magazine , we begin a new journey, a rare one: that of a online

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