Plunket Shield breaks virtual records

Matching the performances of Martin Guptill and Kane Williamson on the pitch, New Zealand Cricket’s live scoring – led by blackcaps.co.nz – has been registering some record performances.

Tens of thousands of supporters followed the action during the first two rounds of Plunket Shield with a 20% increase in traffic compared to the first two rounds last summer while website traffic in November doubled compared to the previous month.

There were also a large number of fans who followed cricket using NZC’s Facebook, Twitter and YouTube channels which all have growing communities.

New Zealand Cricket offers a number of online tools including a free Window’s 7 phone application and specifically designed desktop scorecard that allows mobile users to easily follow the action where ever they are.

New Zealand Cricket Commercial Manager Pete Dwan is thrilled with the increased interest and said it substantiates the significant investment made over the past six years.

“It is a bit of a misconception fans are not interested in the longer form of the game. Not everyone can get to the grounds but the huge online following and media coverage proves that there is significant interest in First-Class cricket,” said Dwan.

“Our live scoring is run through a bespoke system developed by Feedback Sport for New Zealand Cricket with the only other licence given to Cricinfo.

“We have invested in our live scoring system and community of scorers to provide a robust and reliable service for cricket followers around the world.

“All men’s and women’s domestic competitions along with international cricket have been scored live for a long time with the national tournaments, including the Gillette Cup, available online during the 2011-12 season.

“We have plans in place to live stream some matches and provide video highlights the day following domestic matches before the end of the year.

“I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate NV Interactive who won a coveted Microsoft award for their technology partnership with New Zealand Cricket at last night’s celebration.”

Note:
NV Interactive, the digital specialists who deliver New Zealand Cricket’s online channels, yesterday picked up a Microsoft Web Development Solution of the Year award for their technology partnership with New Zealand Cricket.

The Web Development Solution of the Year Award recognises exceptional, innovative partners who focus on the development and deployment of websites and web based applications built on the current portfolio of Microsoft technologies.

The win follows a finalist berth at July’s international web development awards held in LA.
http://www.microsoft.com/nz/partnerawards/

Tools
Website – www.blackcaps.co.nz
Window’s 7 phone application - http://www.windowsphone.com/en-NZ/apps/8753b8ee-4302-e011-9264-00237de2db9e
NZC Match Centre – http://scoring.blackcaps.co.nz/match-centre/
BLACKCAPS video vault - http://www.blackcaps.co.nz/vault/