What? No Tipp-Ex?

Scoring is no longer just a case of putting a dot or a W in the right place. Players and supporters want run rates, wagon wheels and manhattans - then there is the dreaded Duckworth-Lewis. But in the computer age there is help at hand and Total Cricket Scorer is one of the latest systems to be developed.

With one click all the information for a delivery can be put in via a menu bar that includes all the options - from a no-ball that goes for four to a batsmen retiring hurt. The programme then updates the total, bowling figures and run rate. It is possible to plot where the ball pitched, and where the batsman's shot went, allowing all those graphs to be drawn. Trying to do this as a spinner races through an over is a slightly fraught experience - but that was probably down to this operator's inexperience.

The system can work at any level, depending on how thorough the scorer wants to be and the information that is required. However, it is unlikely that the county fan, who rigorously fills in a scorebook, will be huddled around the pavilion with a laptop in the near future.