This, i.e., NOT showing the fall of ALL the wickets in the HIGHLIGHT (reel), has been going on for a few months now. [Well, it is not exactly new, BUT it never used to be widespread.]
I was watching the EXCITING 1st ODI between ‘Australia & India’. They did NOT show the fall of MOST WICKETS. One or two I could understand. We are talking 6,7 or MORE. Totally ruined the FLOW of the game. One minute there is one pair batting & then with NO WARNING a totally different pair.
This is inexcusable.
Willow used to be SO GOOD. They knew their cricket.
I haven’t watched ‘Willow TV‘ in weeks (though I have a fully paid up annual subscription) because, alas, they don’t have the streaming rights to the T20 World Cup. Instead, I have been watching all the World Cup games on ‘ESPN+‘. Though the cricket watching experience with them is nowhere near even close to that of Willow, they, to their credit, have done a fairly decent job with the World Cup. Much to my delight & relief we do have 15- to 16-minute highlights of all the matches. Those are what I watch. I don’t have the time to watch 3- to 4-hour long match.
But, with the World Cup ending on Sunday, i.e., November 13, 2022, Willow will be back in the streaming business. Hence, why I wanted to share the upcoming schedule with you. They sent it to me in the form of an e-mail. Enjoy.
Failure to do HIGHLIGHTS was the biggest drawback of cricket coverage on ESPN+.
Then, no doubt under commercial pressure from India, they started — grudgingly & stutteringly — doing 12-minute highlights for ‘IPL 2022’. That must have been well received. Then they started doing highlights of ALL games involving India. Yep, just for India & Indians.
I was real worried that they wouldn’t do highlights for the T20 World Cup. But, they have. I can’t be 100% sure but I think they have done all the games. At some point I will have to go back & check.
Their highlights aren’t bad either. They must have hired Indians to do it. I think 15 minutes highlights are a tad on the short side. 20 minutes would be Goldilocks. But, for now I am happy. Lets wait & see if they end up doing all the games. With the IPL, earlier this year, they didn’t do highlights on the matches that took place on the first weekend. I wrote & complained.
The IPL 2022 Highlights were like clockwork until last Friday (April 1, 2022) — Match 8: Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) vs Junjab Kings (PBKS). Then they stopped. Damn.
I spoke too soon.
On Sunday (i.e., April 3) I CALLED & spoke to an ESPN+ Rep. He didn’t fully understand the whole issue BUT he was sympathetic. He called up the ‘International Division’ etc. He promised to escalate it. A few hours later ONE new highlight (in both languages) popped-up.
But, highlights of the 2 Saturday matches are still missing.
Maybe the folks that do highlights don’t work on weekends! Would that be possible. WOW.
Until earlier this year ESPN+ failed to provide HIGHLIGHTS of the cricket matches they covered. It did NOT matter whether it was a Test, an ODI or T20I — they only provided the full, ball-by-ball coverage. This meant that it was pretty useless to most of us. However much we love cricket, most of us don’t have the time to watch 5- to 7-hours of ball-by-ball coverage. Even watching a T20I, which I enjoy, requires around 4-hours. This is why they have cricket highlights.
Though I subscribe to ESPN+ (& Willow) for the cricket, I had despaired of ESPN+. I love Willow’s coverage — BUT they, increasingly, are getting squeezed out, like with the IPL.
So, I was AMAZED & DELIGHTED to see, a few weeks ago, that ESPN+ had started doing highlights — both in English & Hindi — albeit, just for matches involving India. ESPN+, obviously, was bowing to pressure from the huge Indian fan base. I was glad. This was a start.
Their highlights, at present, are under 15-minutes — those for the IPL just under 14-minutes. To I, that is a tad too short. 1-hour highlights used to be the norm. But, I have noticed that even Willow is making 25-minute highlights. I think 30-minutes should be the mark.
That said, I, so far, having watched the first three IPL 2022 matches, have liked the 14-minute highlights. That worked out real well, yesterday, when we had two matches. I could fit in the highlights for both.
So, just want to pass this along given that I know that there are millions of folks in the U.S. who want to watch decent IPL highlights.
