The art of scoring has evolved, from pencils to latest electronic gadgets. This has been a fascinating journey across generations and decades.
In a move to become more tech-savvy, the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) has distributed 53 tablets from a top-of-the-line company to its scorers. And from Monday, all TNCA matches, including the Kalpathi AGS Buchi Babu tournament, the league in the various divisions and the school games will witness live scoring on tnca.co.in.
Talking to The Hindu , C. Madhusudhan, senior scorer and member of the BCCI panel, said, “When I started in the 90s, we had the Box method in place, where we used pencils and employed different colours for different batsmen. All the names would be in black but the scoring shots would be in a different colour for each batsman.”
He added, “In the bowling figures, we would have same method, matching colours for each batsman, for the dot balls or the scoring strokes. It was an elaborate method and proved time consuming.”
Then, scoring embraced the linear system. Madhusudhan said, “In the linear system, the focus would be on time — say, an over starts at 9.30 a.m. and finishes at 9.36. We did not use different colours. Only the dismissals were marked in red. This was an easier method.”
There was further progress. “We then had the laptops. Around 2005, we started using them here. Adapting to technology took some time, but we were better off with it,” he said.
Now the tablets have arrived. “The connectivity and the portability are better with tabs. The TNCA applications are also more suited to tablets. What the TNCA is doing, using tabs on such a large scale and having live scoring for all games, is a first in the country.”
TNCA joint secretary R.I. Palani said, “The idea is to reach more people more quickly. The live scoring will have a lot more people following these matches. We have to move with technology.”
But then, the TNCA is not yet relying completely on technology. “There could be situations where the system crashes. So we will have the same man doing linear scoring manually as well.
“Right now, we will have an additional person for linear scoring but as they get more accustomed to the technology, only one man will be used for both jobs,” said Madhusudhan.
