The third edition of the Indian Premiere League (IPL) is around the corner, and

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if you’re a T20 fan, it’s time for some frantic rearranging of schedules to catch the live telecast, which is now also available on YouTube. Even though over the past decade or so we have no longer been tied to our TVs and radios, and have become fairly tuned into following cricket on the internet through text commentary, score tickers, simulcasts and even live streaming video, it’s now time for the mobile generation to take over.

Yes, indeed — you can now take your cricket wherever you want it to. A mobile phone with GPRS access is about all you need. Here’s a quick look at some of the options you might want to check out to stay on top of the game.

Once upon a time Cricinfo used to be synonymous with live cricket on the internet. On the mobile platform too, it can also, more or less take care of your cricketing needs via Cricinfo MobiCast. You can log on to mc.cricinfo.com from your phone’s browser to access ball-by-ball commentary and live scorecards, free of cost. Supporting over 500 phones, Cricinfo MobiCast has worldwide access and sends push notifications to your phone after every ball. What’s more, iPhone and iPod touch users can download the MobiCast app for free from the iTunes Store. The only thing one needs to do is to simply fire up your iTunes application and search the store for “Cricinfo MobiCast”.

Yahoo!Cricket promises “one of the finest experiences your mobile’s ever known”. You can also go to in.m.yahoo.com from your mobile browser and click on the “Cricket” link. Alternatively, you can SMS “YAHOO” to 58243 to have the link details delivered to your phone. Yahoo’s mobile cricket options include news as well as live scores.

If you’re an iPhone/iPod touch user and are serious enough about paying to keep abreast of the latest happenings, you have a choice of many different tools. Among these is the Virtual Cricket app by Qubico, which offers not just live scorecards, commentary and schedules as push notifications, but covers the entire plethora of the cricket-watching experience with player profiles and stats, manhattans and wagon wheels, and even a quiz when you’re bored. No wonder Gizmondo.com calls it “more interesting than watching cricket.” It costs $1.99 (less than Rs 100).

LiveCricket Free from iMApps.net brings your live scores, match details, news and text commentary. You may create favourites lists by adding your preferred games. A Pro version of this is available for $2.99, which includes some additional features.

Cricitch is yet another cricket app available both for the iPhone/iPod touch as well as Android platforms. Get it via iTunes if you’re an iPhone user, or go over to Cricitch.com. There is a free version that has live match summaries, match highlights like boundaries and wickets, and various other features, but to get the real action by way of ball-by-ball commentary, you need to shell out $2.99 for the paid version. The application — both free and paid — has a built-in path to upgrade to an ‘Event Details Pack’ that is essential to the IPL enthusiast.

These are just a few options to follow live cricket on the mobile. If you’re particular about getting your updates from a favourite site, it might pay to check if they have a WAP version as well.

Payal Dhar is a freelance technology writer