Cricket Electronic Scoreboards: Are They Worth It?

Electronic cricket scoreboards might seem an extravagant option to many clubs and grounds. They certainly don’t provide the kind of traditional and gentile aesthetic many might associate with cricket, and their design may seem very much at odds with the overall style and feel a cricket ground might want to display.

Most of all however, there is the expense to consider. 

When looking at comparably sized cricket scoreboards, the electronic option is usually going to cost more. It will also have different requirements in terms of things like cost of batteries if it’s mobile, electricity supply if it’s fixed, and maintenance considerations in either case.

So what makes an electronic cricket scoreboard worth it? Here’s a set of five reasons to consider.

1. Clear scores in all weathers, all times of day, all times of year.

With an electronic cricket scoreboard, the ability of the players, umpire, and spectators to see the game and its results cannot be hampered by the weather. Fog or poor light can get cut through by powerful LEDs. These lights can also cut through darkness, allowing electronic scoreboards to work playing games in the evening, and even at night if you wanted to. This makes your club more viable for more of the time. While you could use floodlights on a more traditional scoreboard, that would render the electricity cost point rather moot. You would most likely be paying the same if not more to keep the stadium illuminated.

2. More flexible scoreboard control.

With an electronic cricket scoreboard, you are able to control the numbers that go up wirelessly from any point within the grounds. A designated scoremaster or score controller or even the umpire can handle things directly themselves. This is in stark contrast to a traditional scoreboard situation, where whoever it is that’s manning the scores needs to be sitting beside or otherwise very near the board itself, so that they can manually or mechanically operate the board and update the numbers as needed.

3. More information more easily.

By digitising the process of scoreboard display, you also digitise the information the scoreboard is showing. This means that more of the information on the board can be calculated automatically, rather than having an umpire or other scoremaster have to do lots of complicated maths that they may get wrong. Calculating things like how many runs there have been since the last wicket might be relatively easy, but people can still make mistakes. When you add in things like the average number of runs per over or the number of runs by one batsman or another, things start to get more difficult. Representing that information on a manual scoreboard is possible, but harder.

4. Great value for the enthusiast crowd.

It’s no surprise that games with fielding and batting and runs and scores that are much more complex than most are prime targets for statistically inclined spectators and analysts. This is why a game like baseball was so well positioned to be the focus of someone like Moneyball’s Billy Beane and his amazing statistical accomplishments. With cricket, the information that can be shown on a digital electronic cricket scoreboard can really provide an indepth game experience for people who are deeply interested in the intense minutia of the game. Spectators can really dive deep when they can see the full flow of information and understand how the game is unfolding in real time, thanks to the kinds of information on offer in this system. Digital electronic scoreboards really offer great value for money in that circumstance.

5. Live strategy in the game.

Statistics shown on an electronic cricket scoreboard don’t just show the game unfolding. They can also change the way the game is played. With a clear and indepth view of the game’s many statistically significant elements, coaches and captains can decide to shift things around. Batting orders can be changed. Bowling styles can be shifted. Different angles of attack or fielding positions can be chosen and changed and reconsidered. The scoreboard doesn’t have to just reflect the game. It can also reshape it.

How to decide if a digital electronic scoreboard is worth it?

To answer this question in full, here’s a summary of some useful questions to ask yourself and your club:

What level of games are we playing? – Higher level games might want more stats. More casual games may not need them.

What kind of ambiance does our ground aim for? – A traditional feel might want a traditional scoreboard, but a more modern approach might benefit from a digital electronic scoreboard.

What kind of weather do we deal with here? – If you often find yourself struggling with failing light or games in darker conditions, a digital electronic scoreboard might be worth it.

What do our audience and spectators want? – Are you attracting a stats-focused audience or is it a more sedate spectator you see coming to your games.

How much deep matchplay do the teams partake in? – Are people switching up the batting order mid match or is this more of a genteel style of sportsmanship.

Ultimately, there’s many questions to ask about exactly what kind of scoreboard is right for you, your team, and your grounds. That is why the Stuart Canvas Group is here to help. With their five decades of experience in sports equipment and team supplies, they will be more than able to answer any questions you might have about whether or not this kind of cricket electronic scoreboard is right for you.