Former Everton and Aberdeen football executive Keith Wyness, tasked with converting the United States to Twenty20 cricket, was upbeat Friday on plans for a league to start in 2013.
Published: Mar 03, 2012, 11:57 AM (IST)
Edited: Mar 03, 2012, 11:57 AM (IST)
Keith Wyness was recently named chief executive of Cricket Holdings America LLC © AFP
Los Angeles: Mar 3, 2012
Former Everton and Aberdeen football executive Keith Wyness, tasked with converting the United States to Twenty20 cricket, was upbeat Friday on plans for a league to start in 2013.
A week after he was named chief executive of Cricket Holdings America LLC, Wyness said the joint venture between New Zealand Cricket and the USA Cricket Association was already consulting the International Cricket Council as it maps out plans for the league.
“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,” Wyness said.
As chief executive Wyness will be responsible for the delivery of a business plan which will include the sale of Twenty20 franchises for a professional league to begin next year.
“At present we are looking at a target date of starting games in the summer of 2013,” he said, adding that there would be lead-up events this year “to introduce the game and give people more understanding of what we are trying to achieve.”
“Without a doubt Twenty20 is the format that is going to achieve most visibility and penetration in the USA — that is what we expect to happen.
“However, we will also be supporting other forms of the game if there is a need and desire as we move forward,” he added.
Wyness played down suggestions that divided opinion among the game’s administrators in the United States could hamper the Twenty20 project.
“There are always going to be debates and different points of view, and I do not see anything unusual in that,” he said. (AFP)
