PlayHQ ‘nightmare’: Early reviews ugly for MyCricket successor

Six weeks on from launch, North Queenslanders have issued a warning to other regions the new system is not fit to replace MyCricket in its current form. Have your say:

FRUSTRATED Townsville cricketers have hit out at the rollout of a new Cricket Australia online scoring system set to replace the legacy MyCricket platform across the country.

Townsville was selected for early adoption of the new PlayHQ cricket management system this season, with the software placed to phase out MyCricket nationwide by January 2024.

Six weeks on from launch, North Queenslanders have labelled PlayHQ’s rollout a “nightmare” and warned other regions the system was not ready to replace the MyCricket interface in its current form.

The loss of archival function and dedicated stats sections, difficulties live-scoring and in uploading results have drawn the ire of local cricketers and officials, while defenders of the app praised its user interface and potential for improvement.

Early reviews have been critical of MyCricket successor PlayHQ by early adopters in North Queensland.

“Hopefully it gets better but to date it has been a nightmare,” one frustrated club official said. “Presently you can’t access history and more importantly, the app is down more often than not meaning people who can’t attend a match are unable to follow it live on PlayHQ.”

One captain said the system had been “putrid,” while another lamented Townsville had been used as a “guinea pig” for troubleshooting ahead of the nationwide adoption.

“I wouldn’t recommend it yet, not until all of the transition issues are resolved,” the captain said.

“It is frustrating that the Townsville cricket community is the guinea pig for the transition. That should all [have] been resolved prior to rollout. I can see the long-term benefit of PlayHQ in the future but the changeover has been far too rushed.”

One leading player accused the app of “ruining the scoring of the competition.”

“A lot of the player’s scores aren’t even correct at the moment and you can’t look at who is doing well with the bat or ball so far in the competition this season.

“Sydney first grade grade is having the same problem and there is massive uproar down there. They have put up an apology on the NSW Cricket facebook page.”

https://www.facebook.com/CricketNSW/videos/2303149909835093

Other high ranking club officials agreed that although the system had encountered early challenges, if resolved, it would prove a capable replacement for the MyCricket portal launched in 2008.

Wanderers against Norths at Murray. Norths Adam Zabala and Ryan McCarron celebrate wicket. Picture: Evan Morgan

“Once all the teething issues have been ironed out and the system tailored more to suit cricket needs, then maybe it would be OK to roll it out further,” one official said.

“Not yet. Still requires further fine tuning. Has long term benefits but I think they went too early with the rollout,” another added.

The AFL, Netball Australia, New Zealand Cricket, Hockey New Zealand and multiple state basketball organisations have already migrated their legacy systems to the PlayHQ portal.

Townsville cricket officials with experience of PlayHQ across other sports urged others to preserve through its early challenges.

“It is going to be great but will have some teething issues, the same as any system,” one such official said.

“I’ve used it in another sport and it’s been fantastic. Very user-friendly interface and functionality but is just trying to work out the nuances of cricket. More training for users will improve things a lot and the users will get better at it also.”

Queensland Cricket general manager of community cricket Geoff Teys said the body committed face-to-face resources and webinar sessions to assist in the rollout and has continued to offer additional support, like generating junior draws, throughout the pilot year. He said local stakeholders were consulted prior to PlayHQ’s launch and that connection issues between the app and MyCricket were being worked on “around the clock.”

Originally published as PlayHQ ‘nightmare’: Early reviews ugly for MyCricket successor