Google has created a microsite for offering a bunch of cricket related services. (via Tech 2.0).
The typically understated site pushes Blogger, with a contest to boot. They’ve also created a blog for Krish Srikkanth, which also features videos of the former cricketer hosted at Google Video.
The microsite lists a few blog posts, a widgets for the latest world cup news and scores, and links to Cricket related gadgets for Google Desktop. There are also Blogger roadshows planned.
What really caught my attention was the Orkut community that they’ve created with Krish Srikkanth. Now Orkut is big in India, and this community already has 593 members. I liked the way Srikkanth is interacting with members of the community, inviting them to a chat in the community (not on Google Talk?) between 1-2pm every day, and in the events section posting a contest, where three selected winners can meet him for dinner in Delhi. All very informal, making readers feel that Srikkanth is a part of the community, and not distinct from it.
Would be really interesting to see how the Krish Cricket team, which seems to run this community, reacts to others posting contests and offers in their forum...So, what would you do if that happened on your forum/site, and why?
Another thing: The goal of this initiative is probably to bring more and more people into the Google ecosystem of services, track their usage and serve contextual ads.