The Cricket World Cup is well underway now! Every Indian cricket fan (or for that matter ever South Asian cricket fan) resident in the US, wishes he could make that trip out to the Caribbean sometime in the next few weeks. Whilst some of us may actually do it, a whole host of others are scrambling to get their Dish in place, to watch some cricket, which thankfully is in our timezone for a change.

Getting the game in our timezone is also a bit of a problem. Since, there’s work to be done. And with the advent of the internet and cricket related sites, at least scores, updates etc, get taken care of, but nothing beats catching the ball-by-ball plays on TV. Wives, we hear, are preparing for expected day-long parties, dominated by cricket discussions, over the weekends.

With the dismal performance of the Indian team in its opener against Bangladesh, heated debates on the team composition, batting order or Sehwag’s form, seems to have taken centre stage at desi gatherings. 

And with discussions all round, taking sides and rooting for the champ or underdog, can’t be far behind. Here is something specifically tailored for the next few days (or weeks, if India goes through to the Super 8s) of cricket and nights of arguments, when each man in the room tries to give ‘gyaan’ on the state of play, as it were. Skilworth, a new technology start-up from India, just launched an innovative cricket offering called Cricketology (http://www.cricketology.com), to satisfy precisely those gurus, who profess cricket expertise.

The Skilworth guys felt that the average fan was not getting anything back from cricket, in spite of being the ones responsible for the millions of dollars in cricket. Their current game revolves around rewarding the cricket fan for his interest and involvement, while at the same time it offers fans a chance to prove his or her expertise by making picks on each game.

Billed as the ‘Ultimate Cricket Game on Earth’ and aimed at Indian arm-chair cricket experts around the world, it is a prediction game that offers big rewards from mobile phones to plasma screens to, get this…..even a luxury car. The big prizes are delivered to a legitimate Indian address (your parents or sibling will do!) provided by the user.

The Cricketology offering is limited to the internet for the World Cup edition and will soon be available as a simple SMS-based game offering across India shortly. Later in 2007, the Cricketology game is also being taken to other cricket markets including South Africa (for the 20/20 World Cup) and the UK. 

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