CricViz caught up with Ed Krarup following the recent conclusion of the English cricket season
Q – How did your journey in the cricket industry lead you to CricViz, and what does your day-to-day involve as Business Development Manager?
My first role in the cricket industry was at The Cricketer Magazine, where I sold advertising and activated brand partnerships across digital platforms and events.
Then an opportunity came up at CricViz, which was incredibly exciting given the impact they were having on the game, and here I am nearly five years later.
Q – As Business Development Manager, what does a typical day look like for you?
My role is split up into two parts: one being ensuring that our current partners and clients fully benefit from CricViz products and services. This could be data powering a match centre or getting the right data and insight across to a team either via our analysts or one of our data portals. The second is looking ahead to how we can continue to make our data and insights accessible to the full breadth of the game – across High Performance and media.
Working closely with the analyst and product teams, I try to make sure our work does one of two things: helping teams win cricket matches, or making the game more engaging and interesting for fans.
Q – Drawing on your commercial experience, how have you seen the appetite for cricket data and analytics change across the industry in recent years?
It has been interesting to see how data is being increasingly used for storytelling. Instead of only using traditional metrics (average, strike-rate, etc) fans are eager to see these insights applied practically. For example, we know that Ollie Robinson doesn’t bowl 90mph+ but he is still mightily effective. Why?
In the High Performance space, teams have always had access to basic data, but how does this apply to a specific match plan? Our analysts do a terrific job of turning numbers into insights. ‘Target this batter by taking speed off the ball outside off stump’. ‘This bowler tends to bowl shorter at the death’. The demands of the modern game are such that a huge spreadsheet isn’t always helpful. Players and coaches need actionable insight, and CricViz analysts and portals can provide it.
What’s incredibly exciting now is how we’ve started putting that expert analyst judgement directly into the products themselves. It means a coach or a journalist can simply ask Centurion a question and get a clear answer, with all the working shown.
Q – You also work closely with major broadcasters like the BBC on bespoke editorial requests. What goes into delivering these unique insights while ensuring our core data feeds remain seamless for partners?
The BBC are a fantastic partner to work with and a great example of the full service we can provide to media outlets. In addition to providing all of their live cricket scorecards and covering the game globally, we also support their editorial team on live blogs and longer-form articles.
One reason the partnership is so successful is because it is not a one-way transaction. Our analysts have an open forum with BBC’s journalists where all aspects of the game are discussed. Sometimes it is a journalist asking a specific question about an ongoing innings, or it is one of our analysts volunteering an insight they have noticed themselves. As a cricket fan it’s very fun to read from the sidelines!
It’s very fulfilling to see CricViz insight appearing in long-form articles, whether that be an Ashes preview or a bio piece about a new player.
We are equally proud to be working with Sky on their live broadcasts, providing insight to commentators as well as data to power on-screen graphics. With Joe Root rising quickly up the run-scoring charts the milestones graphics have been put to frequent use!
Q – Reflecting on the last 12 months, what would you consider your biggest win, and what are you most excited to focus on in the year ahead?
I was thrilled to extend our relationship with the BBC, now providing more insight and data on a significantly increased number of matches.
Additionally we have released some great enhancements on our WinViz model, across both red and white-ball, increasing its cricket intelligence across match context, captaincy behaviour and individual player impact.
It has been very pleasing to expand our High Performance network across the PSL and CPL, in addition to our friends in The Hundred, IPL, Big Bash and SA20, plus national team partnerships with CSA, CWI, CA, PCB, NZC and Zimbabwe.
And not to forget our partnership with ECB, where we have just completed our fifth season as Official Data Partner. As we complete a half-decade collecting data in-ground at every ECB match in the UK summer it has been fantastic to reflect on how our relationship has grown. We’re delighted to be covering High Performance, fan engagement on ECB digital platforms as well as data to support events such as The Hundred auction.
Looking ahead, as an English cricket fan 2027 is a huge year with another home Ashes series. Then throw in a men’s World Cup and a women’s Champions Trophy it is going to be a blockbuster year of cricket for both players and fans.
For more information about CricViz’s analytics services or to contact the team, click here.