Cricket Australia Live - Cricket Australia

This review of Cricket Australia Live was completed by the Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM) on 26 February 2017.

About the app

This section contains details about the app provided by an ACCM Reviewer.

ACCM review

This review of Cricket Australia Live contains the following information:

• The level to which the game was reviewed
• App description
• Reviewers comments
• In App purchasing
• Online information
• Gambling
• Advertising and product placement
• Gender stereotypes and sexual references
• Coarse language
• Game playing behaviour which may be of concern to some parents
• Other

The level to which the game was reviewed

There are no levels in this game. However, the reviewer spent 2 hours (at intermittent times) engaging with the app.

App description

Cricket Australia Live is an entertainment, news app which includes cricket-trivia game elements. The app design and functions seek to engage cricket fans via digital media with video-streaming, news updates, match fixtures, opportunities to rate player performance, trivia and competitions. Reading and comprehension levels for reading newspapers and digital literacy skills for navigating and discerning appropriate app elements are required.

Reviewers comments

• For playing the trivia section of this app, there is a requirement to log in for listing on the leadership board. Cricket Live Australia also posts leaders details (including image) to social media. There is a guest option that creates a layer of privacy but this excludes the player from the leadership board and prize draws.
• SMS notifications when app is not in play enticing a return to the app can be disabled.
• Livestreaming attracts a charge and extra data use, these details need regular exploration to avoid unexpected costs.
• There are many areas of the app to navigate and it is far too easy for children to move from this app into a gambling environment, therefore ACCM recommend parental guidance at all times. 
• Unless they have a strong interest in cricket young children will likely choose not to engage with this app. Those who do have a strong interest require parental guidance as some of the most engaging areas for them could be the livestreaming and activities that encourage sharing of personal details. Older children will need support in deciding what to share and identifying what could attract additional costs, but due to more developed navigation skills are also potentially more susceptible to grooming strategies for gambling behaviour. 

 

In App purchasing

• Ticket sales
• Live streaming video (additional data costs if not an Optus customer)

Online information

• Cellular data settings
• Identity details
• Log ins (via optus account or social media)
• SMS
• Photo/Media/files
• Connectivity with social media

Gambling

• There is easy access to online gambling platforms. For example, it is easy to navigate to the Bet365 website for a 'market update' where gambling opportunities related to all sports e.g. horse racing, basketball, greyhounds, Aussie rules, tennis etc. are promoted. The only restriction is a small pop-up banner stating  'Click to continue only if you are over 18 years'.

Advertising and product placement

• Optus (stream live cricket data for free)
• CommBank (viewer's verdict)
• KFC trivia
• Bet 365 (click here for market update)
• Ticket sales (redirects to a website)

Gender stereotypes and sexual references

• The news section of this app represents both men and women’s cricket.
• Other women’s cricket details are harder to find potentially due to smaller league and fewer competitions.

Coarse language

• None noted at time of review.

Game playing behaviour which may be of concern to some parents

• Notifications are question based enticing participants to re-engage with the app. These requests are frequent when games are playing (e.g. Can Sri Lanka win this match? Which debutant are you most excited to watch? Who should bowl Australia’s last over?)
• Easy navigation to the Bet365 website for a 'market update' where gambling opportunities related to all sports e.g. horse racing, basketball, greyhounds, Aussie rules, tennis etc. are promoted.
• Sharing identity details and social media engagement connected to opportunities to win prizes.

Other

• This is predominantly a news and entertainment app; interest levels of young children will vary.

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