Indian IT consulting firm HCL Technologies (HCL) and Cricket Australia (CA) have signed a multi-year partnership to create an immersive digital platform for cricket fans, players, partners, employees, and volunteers.
Under the agreement, HCL said it will manage CA's suite of digital products including properties such as the Cricket Australia Live App, cricket.com.au, bigbash.com.au and community cricket applications such as MyCricket and community.cricket.com.au.
HCL will implement its Scale Digital methodology to enable Cricket Australia to unite their cricket community through advanced digital platforms. HCL will engineer a digital core ecosystem for Cricket Australia through a composable platform that will be modular, auto-scalable, data driven and experience-centric, integrating multiple industry standard products and services to enhance the experience for fans and participants, said the company.
Cricket Australia selected HCL Technologies following an extensive search for a digital partner. “Cricket is rapidly evolving here and overseas, and part of that evolution involves advancements in technology and the digital landscape,” said Cricket Australia CEO Kevin Roberts.
“Cricket Australia is connecting with fans and participants through our digital platforms every minute of the day, through the stories and live match data on cricket.com.au right through to participants and community volunteers using our MyCricket platform,” said Roberts.
“The usage of these platforms continues to grow significantly, so partnering with a leading global technology provider to harness this growth and help us take advantage of our leading position is a natural next step,” he said.
“HCL, as our Official Digital Technology Partner, will help take our digital offerings to the next level and allow us to better connect with and inspire communities through cricket”, Roberts said.
“We are thrilled to partner with Cricket Australia and believe that this partnership will serve as a blueprint for organisations worldwide who are exploring technology platforms that can scale existing value chains into ecosystem-centric business models, resulting in inspiring and exceptional experiences,” said Michael Horton, HCL Executive Vice President & Country Manager, Australia & New Zealand.
“The vision of this partnership is to continue igniting passion for the game and to grow lifelong fans for the wonderful sport of cricket. We look forward to providing the Australian cricket community with leading-edge digital technologies that support real-time, engaging, personalized and unified experiences.”
“HCL understands the importance of retaining and engaging fans in today's digital world,” said Michael Horton, HCL Technologies. “We look forward to deploying our skills and experience to increase fan delight, high performance and community inspiration for the love of cricket.”
The cricket-following community is substantial in Australia, with more than 2 million fans attending cricket matches during the 2018/19 season. Around the world, the sport of cricket has a fan base of over 2.5 billion passionate followers.
Digitally, CA has an online audience exceeding 20 million globally per year and has established and maintained its position as the No.1 sports destination in Australia throughout the summer, achieving a record unique Australian audience of 2.87 million in January 2019 alone.
