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MUMBAI: This would be right up Sony Entertainment Television
India's street, more so considering the fact that reality
television and cricket are such key programming ingredients
for the network. The cricket board today announced a reality
TV show 'Cricket Star India' that purportedly aims to find
the best young cricketer in the country.
The show, on the lines of 'Indian Idol', is being launched
by UK-based firm Investors in Cricket (IIC) in association
with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
Both organisations are in final negotiations with two television
partners and a final decision is expected in July. One of the
partners will screen the cricket matches, while the other will
screen the tests and selection process. In addition, IIC has
signed up a leading reality TV production house in India and
has agreements with a number of high profile corporate sponsors,
according to an official release.
Cricket Star India is the first programme in a 5-year international
roll out, with Cricket Star UK already slated for Summer 2007.
The winner of the first series, Cricket Star India, will earn
a place at the Indian national trials, a year's expenses paid
contract with Leicestershire County Cricket Club (one of 18
professional first class teams in the UK).
The initiative will kick off in August, when young cricketers
in India can apply on-line and by post. A nationwide application
and screening process will lead to a shortlist of talented
candidates being invited to attend auditions in one of several
regional centres under the auspices of local cricket boards.
There they will be assessed by celebrity cricket judges,
including national selectors, and BCCI technical and cricket
staff, who will select the final group to attend the Cricket
Star Academy, the release adds.
The Cricket Star Academy begins in November, where the successful
finalists will spend up to 10 weeks. The students' progress
will be tested each week through televised cricket matches
against, variously, state XIs, the Indian Under-19 XI ,and
celebrity XIs which will include some of the game's leading
names and many current Indian stars.
Apart from the cricketing abilities, the coverage promises
to uncover the candidates' human sides, portraying life at
the academy, the interaction between the hopefuls, and insights
into their passion for the game. The final selection will
be informed by millions of television viewers voting by phone,
online or by text, states the release.
The anouncement of the launch was made in New Delhi today and
was not without some controversy. Press trust of India quotes
Cricket Star CEO Fraser Castellino as saying the programme
would serve as a selection trial for the board and the winner
would be fast-tracked into the national side.
However, when it was pointed out to him that there had never
been trials to pick the Indian team per se as players were
picked on the basis of their performances in domestic tournaments,
Castellino made a volte face. "We will use the board's
facilities and draw on the coaching staff but there is no
guarantee of selection into the state or national team,"
PTI quoted Castellino as saying.
The release quotes BCCI V-P and marketing committee chief
Lalit Modi as saying, "Cricket Star is a ground-breaking
TV format we have developed with Investors in Cricket that
will showcase the best of India's unsung cricketing talent,
and compliment the BCCI's growing portfolio of media properties.
This exciting project supports our aim of unearthing and developing
talent to produce the future stars of the game." Modi
was not present at the press conference though.
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