Photo Credit: Cricket Australia
Australian cricket has taken a major step towards reducing the workload of club administrators and providing the best possible digital experience for all cricketers.
Australian cricket has taken a major step towards reducing the workload of club administrators and providing the best possible digital experience for all cricketers.
Cricket Australia’s new partnership with sport technology platform PlayHQ will deliver a modern, intuitive competition management and player registration platform.
The Melbourne-based company demonstrated its capacity to provide simple and effective digital solutions for community sport, following a thorough search over the past 18 months to find the best long-term partner for cricket.
The current Alinta Energy MyCricket service will be maintained and regularly updated as it is gradually phased out and the cricket community transitions to the new platform over the next two seasons.
Volunteers are being invited to take part in the product development phase by sharing their insights and challenges in online administration, ensuring the service is fully aligned with the everyday needs of community clubs.
The PlayHQ platform will be central to Cricket Australia’s broader vision to enhance the experience for participants and volunteers via technology, including initiatives such as live streaming or advanced business management tools such as accounting software or customer management systems.
Cricket Australia’s digital technology partner, HCL Technologies, is critical in this endeavour, providing the expertise and resources necessary to deliver other technological capabilities integrated with the PlayHQ platform and the broader cricket ecosystem.
Kieran McMillan, Cricket Australia’s Head of Customer Experience, said:
“This is a critical project for Australian cricket. We need to get the basics right first, and there is an immediate need to replace the legacy platform with a system that is modern and makes it easier to do all the tasks required to run local programs and competitions,” he said.
“Tens of thousands of volunteers give up their evenings and weekends for our sport, and we want to give them back some time to enjoy the best parts of getting involved in their club.
Photo credit: Linkedin profile pic of Kieran McMillan
“Technology will play an increasingly important role in community sport and we have an opportunity to be leading the charge. Through the support of quality partners, the community can expect more digital innovation and increased functionality over time.
“Whether that be live streaming, or club management tools, or even micro-chips in balls – the products and services you will be able to access on your phone or laptop will make it easier to run the game and more enjoyable to play the game.
“The rollout of PlayHQ will be a collaborative process involving Cricket Australia, the State and Territory Associations and the broader community – involving volunteers from the very start. We’ve started reaching out to highly engaged volunteers via our local cricket staff, and we encourage anyone interested in being involved in the project to reach out.”
Sam Walch, PlayHQ Chief Executive Officer, said:
“We are extremely proud to partner with Australian cricket in scaling the PlayHQ platform beyond our foundation clients Basketball Victoria and AFL”.
“PlayHQ’s vision is to provide a world class solution for the administration of grassroots sport, and to make it easier for volunteers, participants, parents, coaches and umpires to engage with the games they love. We remain laser focused on working with CA to simplify and streamline the operation of community cricket via modern technology and best in class user experience”.
