Live Cricket Streaming - Will You Pay the Price?

Finding free live cricket streaming on the internet hasoption. But even with broadband, buffering delays
become something of a search for the holy grail,and poor picture quality can still be a problem, so
where even the best information often leads to abeware of any broadcaster who insists on taking
complete myth.your money before showing you the quality of their
This myth can be a text service, a recordedtransmission.
highlights package, an up-front charge for a dodgySo, who are the best online broadcasters? Willow TV
embedded video feed, or even an unsafe site. Thehas been the market leader since 2003, when it
point has been reached where free live cricketbegan live internet streaming of major cricket events.
streaming is often attached to the description of anThey are based in California, but with offices in
unconnected web page, just to attract visitors.Bangalore to keep in touch with Indian cricket fans.
So, where to find this holy grail? Despite the claimsTheir coverage includes nifty features like interactive
of some sites, very little is free on the internet, andscorecards and high bandwidth transmissions, as well
free live cricket streaming is limited to short termas mobile and IM updates. Although Willow TV are a
packages from some of the major broadcasters. Forsubscription service, their latest offerings include free
example, ESPN Star provided free online coverage oflive cricket streaming for a short term, providing you
the 2009 Women's World Cup.subscribe to one of their business partners.
On the whole, you will need to buy a "cricket pass"Cricket Australia TV (CATV) provides live cricket
or "cricket ticket" to cover a selected package ofstreaming and cricket highlights through Channel 9.
live cricket events. This might be a test series, or aBefore you consider signing up, look at the "Having
package of test and ODI cricket, or even a one yearproblems watching the video?" link on the CATV
pass to a selection of international cricket events.home page. Amongst other issues, this shows that
The packages vary in price and content, to reflecttheir cricket highlights are available in many countries,
the current fixture list.but live coverage is very restricted.
For example, a package showing the produced andIf you're already a subscriber to Sky Sports in UK or
interactive highlights of the first four Ashes tests andIreland, then you can watch live cricket online using
live coverage of the fifth test of the 2006-2007SkyPlayer, for no extra charge. If you don't have
series cost around US $20. At the other extreme isSky, this is still available as a subscription service.
the recent 12 month package from Willow TV, whichAnother option is to stream Sky Sports direct to
was set at US$299. This schedule covered the Indiayour mobile phone using a mobile internet link, though
tour of New Zealand, 2009 Indian Premier League,don't expect great picture quality - you can find out
ICC Twenty20 World Cup, ICC Champions Trophymore on the Vodaphone Cricket web page.
and Champions League T20.ESPN Star offer some intermittent streaming services
There are also hardware and software requirements.to their Asian customers - check out their web site
For example, for Willow TV you will need Broadband,for their latest online schedules.
Internet Explorer 5.0 or above, Windows MediaSo, the options for genuine live cricket streaming are
Player 7.1 or above, Windows 98 or later and astill limited, though if you're a cricket fan who can't
minimum of Pentium III, 128 Mb RAM, a 24 bit trueaccess satellite TV then they are a great idea.
colour card and 16 bit sound card. Willow TV doHowever, the prospect of free live cricket streaming
provide a test clip so you can check if your systemfor all is still remote and likely to remain so while
can receive free video streaming.major TV broadcasters dominate the battles for
If you're on dial up, cricket streaming just isn't ancricket media rights.