MUMBAI: New Zealand Cricket (NZC) has announced a new two-year deal with Sky TV for the broadcasting of all home domestic and international cricket matches.

The new agreement runs through to March 2014 and will include tours by England, West Indies and India. Part of the new commitment from Sky TV is to broadcast a number of domestic HRV Cup matches in the Friday night time slot.

NZC CEO David White said that he was delighted to continue the partnership with Sky and is particularly excited about the agreement to showcase HRV Cup games on Friday evenings.

"New Zealand Cricket has enjoyed a strong relationship with SKY and we are thrilled to be extending our agreement.Sky?s commitment to cricket is highlighted by their offer to broadcast HRV Cup matches on Friday evenings, helping extend the reach of our highly entertaining Twenty20 competition. Part of NZC?s mission is to have more people playing and more people watching cricket. The partnership with SKY will play a key role in delivering on that vision."

Sky Television director of sports content Richard Last said, "We are especially excited about the introduction of Friday night HRV Cup matches where we will have the opportunity to provide even greater exposure for cricket in this country. There are some of important international tours coming up, including England and India, and we are looking forward to showcasing top international cricket from New Zealand to fans around the world. We very much look forward to continuing this association over the next two years."

MUMBAI: The International Cricket Council has amended its management structure which would see the creation of a new post of chairman and water down the powers of president besides scrapping the post of vice-president altogether effective 2014.

Until the end of the 2014 ICC Annual Conference, the role of the ICC President will remain in its current form but from the end of the 2014 Annual Conference it will become ceremonial in nature with a term of only one year.

The term of office of the chairman will be two years. The ICC Board will appoint the chairman at its first meeting following the 2014 Annual Conference.

Meanwhile, Alan Isaac, the former chairman of New Zealand Cricket, was inaugurated as the eighth President of the ICC in succession to Sharad Pawar. Isaac will serve for a two-year term.

David Richardson was confirmed by the Conference as successor to Haroon Lorgat, who stood down after four years, as the ICC Chief Executive. Richardson, who played 42 Tests for South Africa, has been ICC?s GM- Cricket for the last 10 years.

Additionally, Russia and Hungary were confirmed as new affiliate members of the ICC but Switzerland was removed as an affiliate member, having been suspended at the 2011 Annual Conference for failing to comply with the ICC?s membership criteria and remaining unable to do so by the 2012 Annual Conference.

There are now 106 Members of the ICC.

MUMBAI: New Zealand Cricket (NZC) and Pitch International have signed a long-term sponsorship and media rights agreement which will underpin the financial security of cricket in New Zealand.

In the agreement, Pitch International has secured all New Zealand Cricket?s media rights for international matches played by the Blackcaps in New Zealand for the 2012/13 to 2019/20 seasons. The agreement grants Pitch the world-wide rights to distribute the matches across various platforms including television, radio, mobile and Internet while NZC retains the rights to matches broadcast in New Zealand and to its domestic competitions.

Pitch International specialises in the representation of media rights, selling content globally across all media. They work with sporting federations, clubs and global stars including the English Rugby Union, The Football Association, Six Nations and Uefa.

In the Future Tours Programme, India and Australia visit twice and England visits three times in the next eight years.

NZC CEO David White said, ?New Zealand Cricket is delighted to secure the length and value of this extremely important relationship with Pitch. We are thrilled that Pitch will be helping put the Blackcaps in front of so many fans around the world.

"This agreement puts NZC in a position to safeguard the future of our game by allowing us to concentrate on driving participation and support of cricket. Media rights provide revenue that enables us to fund grassroots and community cricket investments, domestic cricket competitions and retain our best professional players in New Zealand?.

Pitch International founding partner Jon Owen said ?We look forward to representing the Blackcaps brand around the world and building long term value for New Zealand Cricket and its commercial partners.

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.?