Cricinfo.com, the world's largest single sport website, is venturing into print with the launch of Cricinfo Magazine. The monthly title will hit the newsstands in the first week of January.

Though the magazine will be primarily aimed at an Indian readership - both in India and overseas - it will have a strong international flavour and will feature some of the world's finest cricket writers. It will be be published by Infomedia India, an established publisher of special-interest magazines and business directories, under a license agreement with the Wisden Group.

The first issue will comprise 124-pages, with a 32-page preview supplement on the eagerly-anticipated India-Pakistan series. In the cover features, Rahul Dravid, the India captain, shares his vision for Indian cricket, while Greg Chappell, the national coach, talks about his innovative coaching methods.

Other key features include an in-depth look at fast bowling down the years, an examination of Pakistan's growth as a team, interviews with Ian Healy and Chaminda Vaas, and Virender Sehwag's flashback to one of his classic innings.

For subscriptions in India click here

For subscriptions outside India click here

The new magazine will be edited by Sambit Bal and compiled by the same experienced editorial team that produced Wisden Asia Cricket. While retaining the core values of its acclaimed predecessor, Cricinfo Magazine will contain more pages and additional features. Regular contributors will include Harsha Bhogle and Sanjay Manjrekar and the first issue also features articles by Peter Roebuck, Mukul Kesavan and Gideon Haigh.

Tom Gleeson, the CEO of the Wisden Group, said the magazine was a logical extension of the Cricinfo brand. "Cricinfo.com is the world's largest publisher of cricket news, scores and analysis on the Internet. It makes perfect sense for us, in partnership with Infomedia, to bring the brand to the magazine stand.

"Cricinfo Magazine will share the values that have made the website so successful, but it will also enable us to showcase the finest cricket writing and photography in the best possible format."

Prakash Iyer, the CEO of Infomedia India, said: "Cricket is India's number one passion, and given that there is no specialist magazine of real quality in India catering for cricket lovers, we are looking to fill the void with Cricinfo Magazine.

"The world's largest and most passionate cricket audience deserves a truly world-class magazine. We will ensure that Cricinfo Magazine becomes the Indian fan's can't-put-down-companion."

The new title will be available on annual subscription to fans of the Indian game around the world. Full details of global subscription rates will be available on Cricinfo.com from the beginning of January.

Special subscription offer for Cricinfo readers:

The first 200 subscribers will receive a copy of the Cricinfo Diary 2006, an elegant, hardbound volume that will help you keep track of the year ahead even as it celebrates more than a century of cricket history.

If you would like any more information about the magazine, please e-mail subs@cricinfomagazine.com

You can now search the web direct from Cricinfo. Simply select "the web" and use Cricinfo's normal search box, which appears in the top left and across the bottom of most pages.

Web search facilities are powered by Yahoo Search. Users in the UK, US, Canada, Australia and India will each get local search results relevant to their particular country.

Cricinfo's own internal search facility is also driven from this box, so this is the best way to find players, articles or images anywhere on Cricinfo.

Try it from the Cricinfo homepage
http://www.cricinfo.com

Cricinfo has made its first big play in the mobile content space by teaming up with Dhruva Interactive, a leading gaming company in India, to develop java games and applications for mobile users across the world.

The first of the products from this exciting new alliance, a mobile application that provides live scores in a graphic animation format, will be launched globally during the India-Pakistan ODI series early 2006.

Watch this space for more details on this path-breaking new app. Other products in the pipeline include java games and a mobile statistics application.

In another significant move, Ravi Shastri has been signed up to be Cricinfo’s voice on the mobile platform. An interactive match analysis audio product, On the Front Foot with Ravi Shastri, was launched during the recently concluded India-South Africa ODI series. Shastri will provide live match analysis exclusively for Cricinfo mobile on all India matches this season.

Cricinfo is excited to announce the launch of a new blog, Different Strokes.

Different Strokes is a group blog of a selection of non-professional cricket writers, whose work we have noticed in different places over the last few months, and who have agreed to showcase their skills on this particular platform. They all have their own styles and bring their own perspectives to their writing.

For more information, and to read the new blog, click
here.