A mixed bag

Vishal, USA
I have been a Cricinfo user for the last five years, and I didn't want the change until yesterday as the site was plain, simple, and I was used to it. But to my surprise, I don't miss the old site... the new site has been that good. I can see your attention to even minute details. One of the best transformations.

John Martin, United Kingdom
This was a much needed redesign. The site was always chockfull of information, but was a b***r to navigate. I have recommended it to many of my cricket-loving friends in the past only for the majority of them to tell me that they had given up on it because they found it so confusing to find their way around. I will now have to re-educate myself, but it already looks a great improvement on its earlier version.

Mark, India
I was looking forward to a pleasant new design when it was announced a few days ago, but the new look is a dud in my opinion. Couldn't Cricinfo, one of the best-ever websites, do a better job than just a rehash of other ESPN sites that appear messy and cluttered to say the least. At least for me, the panels for news headlines, features and blogs on the old homepage made it very simple to decide which stories to read. Somehow, the new site is uninspiring and I can't push myself into clicking on a link.

It's the same old stuff, but it seems so different. The problem with the homepage is that the focus is on one panel, and the rest just dulls in comparison; besides the fact that you need to scroll down to see anything else (thanks to the colossal room used for an ad and the logo at the top). Also, apart from the main panel, everything else is squeezed so tightly (although not as bad as some other ESPN sites) that it's hardly appealing to the eye.

The Specials panel may have more stories, but to me it's just so text-heavy. You have to admit, the Magazine area on the old homepage was so much more appetising than the present one. And what's with the colour scheme, especially that dirty grey to fill up the blank space? The font used in the articles is not too great either. The only smart thing is the top navigation bar, but I must say that nothing great has been done with the space gained by getting rid of the one on the left.

Aditya Mandavilli, USA
First of all, kudos on the great design. CricInfo really needed an uplift to a Web 2.0 style. The red ESPN logo adds even more credibility to the site for people who are new to the site or cricket in general.

A couple of comments regarding the new scorecard design:

1. It's a cool feature to have a "+" sign, which shows the commentary for the batsman's wicket, and also for bowlers' wickets. It would be nice to have an "Expand All" and "Collapse All" button/icon so that the user can avoid multiple clicks.
2. The footer is missing for scorecards, and this is crucial for users who access the scorecard link directly. It may appear that there is no privacy policy or terms of use, which can drive users away in this day and age of online privacy.
3. In the player pages, also show the percentage of a particular mode of dismissal. It would also be nice to show the top three or five batsmen a bowler has dismissed (by number of dismissals). Same with batsmen when it comes to number of times they have been dismissed by a particular bowler.

There are a lot of good ideas I have for the site, and I will consolidate the list and send it across at a later date. Hopefully someone reads comments/feedback posted via this web form.

Asif Alvi, USA
Although I miss the old look of the website, I think I like the new design too. But being vision-impaired I always find it difficult to read white or light-coloured letters against a dark background, especially against black-coloured background. For example, the main photo area on the main page has a black background and white letters. I could not read those white letters without an extra lens. By the way, do you know that black colour is considered by web designers to be the worst colour for background on web pages? Would you mind changing it to a light-colour background and dark-colour letters?

Ankush Gokarn, India
Firstly let me congratulate Cricinfo for getting a wonderful new site out. I deal in User Experience, and believe me, this is one of the best sports sites I have ever seen. Normally when a site is redesigned, you tend to relate it with the older designs, but in this case I was too happy with the content and the way it is organised. Amazing navigation control, amazing control to move around across the site, and simply fantastic design.

Andrew Quinn, United Kingdom
As a long-time reader of Cricinfo, I am a bit disappointed with the new design. I read Sambit's article and defence thereof, and take the point about change being hard to get used to, but my main gripe is that it's all starting to look very American. We now have a "SportsCenter", and dates are in American format. I accept that ESPN are the new paymasters, but cricket is a very un-American sport and the world's premier cricket website should reflect that. That said, the content is the main thing, and I have no intentions of un-bookmarking you just yet! Thanks for an excellent website through the years.

Venkatesh, India
The site looks like MSN! It has lost all its individuality. I'm so upset. Cricinfo used to be my daily cup of chai in the online world. Where's that famed ease of navigation - all one sees now is a photo on the homepage, plus a few top headlines. When you were a Google, where was the need to turn into a Yahoo?

Raj More, USA
I absolutely positively love the new site layout. It is a very good design. The site is readable, easy to navigate, pleasing to the eye (well, maybe that black blackground box in the middle can be toned down to conform to the rest of the site). On the whole this is an awesome step forward.

I do have multiple suggestions:

1. If I am logged in to www.cricinfo.com, I would expect that the feedback form would pick up on my login, and not ask me for my name, email, etc.

2. As a part of my profile, please store my time zone. That way, you can show me match timings in my local timezone. For someone that does not log in to the site, they can see GMT.

3. Your WAP site is woefully inadequate. I tried to browse it on my iPhone hoping that a toned-down site would be faster. I have to say that I am disappointed with the experience. As you are updating to a new www.cricinfo.com, you should get a brand new wap.cricinfo.com

4. When I am on the score of one of the ongoing games, there is a combo box that shows me other live games going on that I can check out. I think that should be changed to the same design as is on the main page, with a straight full list - easy to navigate and very readable.

Read cricket writers and other insiders' views on the new look here