Cricket Victoria is proud to announce an exciting partnership with, PlayUp, the first mobile social network dedicated to live sport.

PlayUp is a free-to-use mobile app that enables sports fans to follow live cricket scores and stats, while providing a platform for friends to communicate about the action via their mobile devices.

It offers both private and public hangouts so fans can just talk with their close friends or be part of a bigger fans discussion.

Thanks to the partnership, cricket aficionados will be able to interact with friends and other fans as they trail local Victorian cricket stars internationally.

PlayUp boasts former Australian cricket captain Steve Waugh and Indian cricketer Rohit Sharma as official brand ambassadors.

Waugh believes the unique feature of the app is that it enables sports fans to participate in the atmosphere of the game even when they can't be at the ground.

"The great thing about sport is everyone has an opinion - you want your mates to think your opinion is the right one and vice-versa," Waugh said.

"What I love about PlayUp is that it allows you to easily talk about a situation or phase of the game - and you can voice this opinion easily through the iPhone app or website as you're watching the game."

Under the partnership, PlayUp and Cricket Victoria are discussing options that may provide live coverage and fan interaction around first-class, domestic one-day and Premier Cricket in 2012-13, a first for cricket in the state.

"Cricket Victoria is excited to add such a ground breaking product, which allows Victorian cricket fans the chance to be a part of the action regardless of where they are," Cricket Victoria General Manager Marketing, Commercial and Communications Tim Gledhill said.

"We believe that PlayUp will become an integral part of the digital sporting landscape and we look forward to growing our interactive fan base through this innovative product.

"Already we're using PlayUp's discussion forums and are offering Bushrangers fans the chance to win great prizes simply by following their state heroes during the ODI series, including tickets to the March 2 ODI game."

Since its launch three months ago, the mobile application currently covers 19 sports across 45 countries.

 It is one of the top 10 free sports apps in 30 countries worldwide - peaking at number two in Australia, as well as number one in Hong Kong and China, three in the USA, four in Korea and India and seven in Japan to name a few.

Details on the competition to win tickets to the ODI series game can be found by visiting https://www.facebook.com/bushrangers and following the prompts to the PlayUp competition.

Sports fans can download PlayUp now on iPhone at http://itunes.playup.com/cricket or use the web version at http://www.playup.com.

17 FEBRUARY, 2012