How to Live Stream a Cricket Match on YouTube (with a Live Scoreboard)

What you need

Step 1: get your YouTube channel ready

1. Verify your channel with a phone number in YouTube settings.
2. Turn on live streaming. Open YouTube Studio and choose Create → Go live. The first time, it can take up to 24 hours before you can stream, so do this the day before the match, not at the ground.
3. Know the phone-app limit. Going live straight from the YouTube phone app needs at least 50 subscribers, and YouTube may limit viewers until you reach 1,000 (see YouTube's mobile live rules). Streaming from a computer with an encoder like OBS doesn't have that limit, which is one more reason to use a laptop.

Step 2: set up the camera and the connection

Where to put the camera

• Behind the bowler's arm, raised up is the classic view: you see the bowler run in and the batter play the shot. A tripod on a chair or a wall gives you the height.
• Keep it out of the sun. Shooting into the sun turns the batter into a silhouette.
• Lock the phone in landscape for a normal YouTube stream, or portrait if you're streaming for Shorts-style vertical viewing (see below).

Internet

Upload speed matters more than download speed. Run a speed test at the ground before the match, and set your stream's bitrate comfortably below the upload speed you get, so a dip in signal doesn't freeze the stream. 720p at 30 frames a second looks good for local cricket and needs much less than 1080p. YouTube lists the recommended bitrates for each resolution in its encoder settings guide.

Step 3: set up OBS

Download OBS Studio on the laptop. It's free and works on Windows, Mac and Linux. Then:

1. Add your camera as a Video Capture Device source (or a phone camera app that OBS can see).
2. Set the canvas and output to 1280×720 for a 720p stream, or 1920×1080 for 1080p.
3. In Settings → Stream, choose YouTube and connect your account, or paste the stream key from YouTube Studio.
4. Add a microphone if you want commentary, and check the audio meter moves.

Step 4: add a live scoreboard overlay

A score on screen is what makes a cricket stream watchable: viewers who join late know the situation straight away. With Criconic the overlay is a web page that updates on every ball, so there is nothing to type during the match.

1. Create the match and start scoring on Criconic. Follow how to make a cricket scorecard if it's your first time.
2. Switch on Go Live in the scorer's match menu. Your overlay link appears right under the switch: tap it to copy.
3. Pick a theme in Overlay Setup, along with each team's colours. You can change it mid-match and the overlay in OBS updates by itself.
4. In OBS, add a Browser source, paste the link and set it to 1920×1080. Drag it above the camera in the source list. The background is transparent, so only the scorebar shows.

Fours, sixes and wickets animate across the bar on their own. The switches under Go Live put full-screen cards on the stream with one tap: the toss, playing elevens, the current partnership, a batter's card or the match summary. The full walkthrough, with every theme, is on the live stream overlays page.

Streaming from just a phone

No laptop? You can stream from a phone if your streaming app can add a web overlay on top of the camera. PRISM Live Studio is one app that can. Add the Criconic overlay link as a web widget, and use the vertical 9:16 theme if you hold the phone upright.

Remember the YouTube limit from step 1: the YouTube app itself needs 50 subscribers to go live from a phone. Check what your streaming app needs before match day.

Step 5: go live

1. In YouTube Studio, create the stream with a clear title: both team names, the tournament and the date.
2. Click Start Streaming in OBS. YouTube goes live once it receives your video.
3. Paste the YouTube link into Live Streaming Link in Criconic's match menu, so people following the scorecard can watch the video from there too.
4. Share the YouTube link in your team groups before the first ball.

Fixing common problems