New Zealand cricketers Stephen Fleming and Brendon McCullum are behind new technology which could spell the end of cricket scorers using coloured pencils, a rubber and a scorebook.
CricHQ, a company whose shareholders include Fleming and McCullum, are promoting CricScore, a product which can be downloaded as an iPad or iPhone application for $15.99. A format for android-based devices is expected to be available before Christmas.
The rationale is to make scoring simpler, particularly at a junior and amateur level, so people are not subjected to the complexities of where to pencil in dots, squares, circles and crosses manually. If suitable sponsorship is secured in the next few weeks, the technology is expected to become free.
This revolution in cricket scoring technology is likely to be welcome news for parents on Saturday mornings, not to mention batsmen who get out early and have a scorebook shoved under their noses. Fleming has produced a witty look at how to use the application on YouTube by applying it to the scorecard of arguably his most famous one-day innings - the 134 not out to help New Zealand beat South Africa at the 2003 World Cup. The innings helped the Black Caps stay in the tournament when the hosts missed out.
"I've scored all over the world," Fleming says drily, "and I know it's not that easy". The product is endorsed by the major associations and the New Zealand Cricket Players' Association as a way to stimulate interest.
