ABSTRACT
This essay records a recent history of how dedicated and public-spirited lovers of a sport created a virtual community of cricket fans using what was then a new medium called the internet. The website “Cricinfo” was initially a product of this community. The essay then shows how commercial concerns came to override those of the virtual community, as Cricinfo was transformed from a community-based enterprise to a commercial entity. All of this happened at a time when the sport and the internet itself was being transformed by new technologies, and entrepreneurs were taking advantage of these changes to create new economic opportunities. The recent acquisition of Cricinfo by the media giant ESPN (itself owned by The Walt Disney Company) merely continues the trajectory outlined in this essay.
