MUMBAI: The newly-appointed New Zealand Cricket (NZC) CEO David White has been briefed about the progress being made by Cricket Holdings America LLC (CHALLC) towards bringing a professional Twenty20 league to the United States of America (USA).

White, who took over at NZC in January, met Neil Maxwell, a NZC-appointed director of CHALLC, in Auckland. White said: ?It was very exciting to hear from Neil about the progress that has already been made to turn the dream of professional Twenty20 cricket in the USA into reality.

?Neil briefed me on all aspects of the project and I am looking forward to working with CHALLC and the United States of America Cricket Association (USACA) to take matters forward over the coming weeks and months.?

CHALLC is a joint venture between NZC and the USACA for the development of cricket within the USA. It is targetting the launch of a Twenty20 league next year.

Maxwell said, ?It was good to sit down with David to bring him up to speed on what CHALLC is doing. Since Keith Wyness?s appointment as CHALLC?s CEO last month we have had a significant number of people contacting us, not only to congratulate Keith on his new role but also enquiring how they can get involved in the project.

?That level of interest is extremely encouraging and we look forward to taking matters forward with ever-increasing momentum.?

MUMBAI: The newly-appointed chief executive officer of Cricket Holdings America LLC (CHALLC) Keith Wyness believes the organisation?s foundations will help turn the dream of bringing world-class cricket to the United States of America (USA) into a reality.

The dream has remained just that for many years despite the country being able to boast substantial interest in the sport. But Wyness said the framework that CHALLC has put in place will help ensure the venture will succeed where past efforts have failed.

Wyness said, ?We have been able to look properly at getting the correct permissions. We have involved the ICC (International Cricket Council) right from the start, we have got the Full Member involvement of New Zealand and we are working with USACA (the United States of America Cricket Association).

?So we have got it right in terms of the right pyramid of cricket authorities and that makes a fundamental difference to everything that has gone before. With that, we are able to sit back and plan properly and strategically to make sure we get everything in the right place.?

Crickey Holdings America is a joint venture between New Zealand Cricket (NZC) and the USACA for the development of cricket within the USA.

Wyness, formerly the CEO of two Premier League football clubs, Everton in England and Aberdeen in Scotland, worked on the Sydney Olympic Games of 2000 and has for over a decade been living and working in the USA. He will be responsible for the delivery of a business plan which will include the sale of Twenty20 franchises for a professional league set to begin next year.

?At present we are looking at a target date of starting games in the summer of 2013. We will certainly have lead-up events through 2012 and that will give us (the chance) to introduce the game and give people (the opportunity to get) more understanding of what we are trying to achieve," Wyness said.

Twenty20 is the format that has been identified to push the visibility and penetration of cricket in the US. ?However, we will also be supporting other forms of the game if there is a need and desire (for them) as we move forward,? said Wyness.

Wyness played down suggestions that governance issues within the administration of the game within the USA could potentially hamper attempts to develop the sport.

?There are always going to be debates and different points of view and I do not see anything unusual in that at this time of the lifecycle of a sport. As we move forward with Cricket Holdings America and we can show there can be major penetration (of the game within the USA), those differing opinions will become things of the past and everyone is going to move forward towards getting the best interests of cricket promoted in the best possible way," he said.

MUMBAI: Taking a major step towards building world-class cricket in the United States of America (USA), Cricket Holdings America (CHALLC) has appointed Keith Wyness as its chief executive officer.

Wyness, 54, will be responsible for the delivery of a business plan which will include the sale of Twenty20 franchises for a league planned to start in the summer of 2013.

Wyness has extensive experience in managing the business of elite-level sport, having worked on the Sydney Olympics of 2000 and as CEO of two Premier League football clubs, Everton in England and Aberdeen in Scotland.

He has also spent more than a decade living and working in the USA, something that has provided him with an understanding of the country?s sporting landscape, and where cricket does and can fit into that landscape.

CHALLC is a JV between New Zealand Cricket (NZC) and the United States of America Cricket Association (USACA) for the development of cricket within the USA.

NZC CEO David White said, ?Cricket Holdings America undertook an extensive, worldwide search to find the right person for the role of CEO and in Keith Wyness we believe we have found that person. What Keith brings to the role is an understanding of sport and its importance in peoples? lives, the business of sport and the USA?s sporting landscape. Keith?s appointment is an important step on the
road towards making regular, top-class cricket in the USA a reality, and with his leadership we look forward to moving forward with increasing speed along that road.?

USACA president Gladstone Dainty said, ?Keith Wyness?s appointment is a hugely positive development towards putting the USA centre-stage in the cricket world. USACA looks forward to working with Keith and New Zealand Cricket to make that a reality.?

Wyness said, ?I am delighted to take up the role of CEO of Cricket Holdings America. It is very rare for an opportunity as exciting as this to come along within sport, to have a clean page to develop what I believe will become a major sport in the USA.

"Cricket is already the second biggest sport in the world and the USA is the biggest commercial market for sport. My role is to marry those two factors together and there is plenty of potential and opportunity to do that. Cricket is already played extensively across the USA with close to 50,000 regular players and it is the world?s second biggest consumer of Internet cricket behind India."

"It means there is already a platform of very interested cricket enthusiasts in the USA and now it is up to us to put together a product that will excite them and also create the opportunity to bring a whole new audience to the game.?

NEW DELHI: Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting S Jagathrakshakan said today that community radio stations had empowered the masses and gave them a sense of belonging by effectively facilitating the growth of peoples? empowerment in the far and remote corners of the country.

He said CRS had bridged the digital divide as the aim was to connect the aspirations of the people to the information highway. CRS provides a platform to people to create their individual and collective identities.

He was speaking at the inauguration of the Second National Community Radio Sammelan, which commenced today with the objective of carving out a new roadmap for mainstreaming community radio as an effective outreach tool for community empowerment.

The three day event, organised by the I&B Ministry in association with Commonwealth Educational Media centre for Asia (CEMCA), also saw the presentation of the first National CRS awards.

I&B Secretary Uday Kumar Varma outlined the roadmap for the growth of the community radio movement in the 12th Five Year plan. It was necessary to target the uncovered areas in the country with a cost effective and operational business model, he said.

The Secretary called upon the participants to avoid delays in operationalising the licences in view of the scarcity and squatting over spectrum. For the movement to reach a sizeable target it was critical to be innovative, encourage out of the box thinking and learn from the best practices. A critical factor determining the growth of the movement was the need to focus on cost effective technology and research.

Varma said the Ministry had submitted a proposal to the planning Commission regarding state funding in the next five year plan. For being an effective dissemination tool it was necessary to position the relevance of the medium in disaster management.

The awards were given in five categories: Thematic, Community Engagement, Promoting Local Culture, Most Creative/Innovative Programme Content, and Sustainability Model Award.

The Ministry has so far issued 363 permissions to set up Community Radio Stations in the country. Out of this, 126 stations have become operational while others are in the pipeline.

The Sammelan has brought together more than 150 stakeholders including Community Radio operators, UN partners, activists, Government departments and experts from various countries like USA, UK, Australia and South Africa.

In the last two years, Ministry has taken several initiatives to strengthen the community radio movement in India. Permission process for the CR applications has been fast tracked through better coordination with stakeholder Ministries. People can also now apply online and track the status of their applications at www.cronlineindia.net. This has brought about transparency and accountability in the system. A Facilitation Centre has also been opened up in the Ministry with a toll-free phone number where people can call up for any information relating to community radio. Due to these initiatives the number of permissions issued by the Ministry for setting up community radio stations has increased from 186 to 363 and number of operational CRS has increased from 64 to 126 in the last two years.

The Ministry has been organising awareness and capacity building Workshops all over the country from 2007 onwards to create awareness about Community Radio Policy. Around 32 Workshops have been organised so far. These Workshops have proved to be useful not only to spread awareness but also build capacities of the NGOs and other organizations to operate Community Radio Stations in an effective manner.

The Ministry has partnered with Ek Duniya Anek Aaawaz (EDAA) which is an audio content exchange platform for community radio stations, to have a separate micro-site on EDAA for the coverage of the 2nd National Community Radio Sammelan on new media platforms.

EDAA is a web based open content exchange platform for community radio broadcasters. The platform enables the CR stations and other content producers to share their audio content and other resources, thus facilitating meaningful utilisation of resources breaking geographical boundaries. This site is operated by OneWorld Asia, an NGO.