Access to The Cricketer's digital content is changing... this is how and why

Digital editor SAM MORSHEAD writes to let you know about the changes you will start to see from the beginning of December, and the steps we have taken to improve our digital product over the past 12 months

Dear readers,

From the start of December, the ways in which The Cricketer’s digital journalism can be accessed will begin to change, as we start to charge for parts of our coverage. 

We value you, our readers, a great deal and - with that in mind - I wanted to clearly explain the changes you will see, the thought process that has brought us to this point, and the investment we have made in our journalism over the past year to ensure we provide you with value for money.

Firstly, the context. 

Over the past four years, The Cricketer has made considerable advances in the digital space: our visitor numbers for 2021 are already 18 times larger than the whole of 2017, and we have grown our digital desk to six members of staff from two. 

This growth has allowed us to widen the scope of our journalism, to report more broadly - specifically on the English game - and tell more tales about the sport we all love: an approach which has brought us the ECB Outstanding Coverage of Domestic Cricket award for three consecutive years.

I am very proud of the variety of stories published on our digital channels during this time, the voices we have given platforms to, and the work we have done to push parity of coverage between the men’s and women’s professional games much, much closer than it was before. 

It is a terrific start to a long-term project, the ultimate goal of which is to become the go-to outlet for written-word coverage of English cricket, from top to bottom. And now we are ready to make the next step: but that comes with a need to alter our business model. 

Over the past 12 months, we have invested considerably in our journalism: we have employed the best news-getter and one of the top writers in English cricket, George Dobell; added a new junior reporter in Elizabeth Botcherby; improved the performance of our website; and next month will launch our own app, to provide all our digital content straight to your phone.

"As we move into an era when the costs of print are increasing and reader behaviour is evolving, it is important that we look to the future"

These advances put us in a position to transition the digital part of our business into the here and now, with good, reliable, trustworthy journalism the focus rather than a pursuit of clicks for clicks’ sake. 

It is incredibly exciting. But for us to continue to grow this service, we need readers to come along for the ride. 

Please understand that moving to a paid digital model is not designed to lock you out, but necessary to help us progress, develop, survive and thrive in the decades to come. 

The addition of George and Elizabeth to the full-time staff means we now have seven reporters, all of whom are committed to providing the very best coverage of the game in England and Wales. 

That means more articles about your team, more insight about the players you watch, more analysis of their performances, more news which makes a difference, more engaging writing about the cricket you love.

And so to that transition, and what options will be available to you from December 1.

There will be three ways of reading our digital content: pay-per-article access on a web browser, unlimited access via a subscription on our new app, or limited free access on app and browsers.

If you want to unlock all our digital content, the most cost effective option will be a premium subscription to our free-to-download app - which will be formally launched on December 1.

For £3.99 per month, and with the first month absolutely free, readers will have unlimited app access to all our digital content, including the best coverage of the English domestic game and in-depth coverage of the England men’s team, courtesy of George - who will be touring with Joe Root and Co in Australia. Nick Friend, the Christopher Martin-Jenkins Young Journalist of the Year, will bring full coverage of England women, while all men’s county and women’s regional sides will be well catered for, too, with our reporters allocated patches to allow them to generate deeper coverage, akin to what you might have found in the regional media of old.

Via a web browser, you will be able to purchase our features, interviews, analysis, investigations and breaking news on an article-by-article basis.

Using an Axate wallet, readers will be able to buy access for 30p per article.

We believe this will give you an opportunity to sample what we have to offer, and for the more casual visitor to dip in and out.

Not everything will be paid-for, and the app does include some free browsing, but from December you will notice a relatively steep increase in the number of articles which fall behind our paywalls. 

As you browse the website, you will notice the implementation of gold tinting to these articles. 

None of these changes will impact our flagship magazine, which is in a very healthy place and continues to operate as normal, independent of our digital arm. Subscriptions are available for £49.99 for 12 issues.

It’s important to note, too, that our print and digital content is tailored for each platform, there is almost zero crossover between the two.

Attitudes towards digital journalism are changing, but it is a slow process. I understand why you may be hesitant about paying for what you read online; I understand why you might think that it ought to be free. But journalism - even journalism about bats and balls - comes at a price to produce. And as we move into an era when the costs of print are increasing and reader behaviour is evolving, it is important that we look to the future.

We desperately want to take you along for the ride, and to those of you who sign up to be part of The Cricketer’s digital family going forward, I can promise you wholehearted commitment to providing the very best, broadest, most insightful, most colourful written-word coverage of the English game - men and women, international, county, regional and grassroots - that you can find. 

I hope you take up the offer of a month of free unlimited access on the app, or sample some of our work on a pay-per-view basis, to see that that promise is kept. 

Thank you for reading and see you soon,

Sam