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Tag: Graeme Smith

  • Switch powers up as SA20’s official energy drink partner for three more years

    Switch powers up as SA20’s official energy drink partner for three more years

    JOHANNESBURG:  SA20 and Switch Energy Drink have struck a renewed and expanded multi-year deal, cementing the proudly South African brand as the league’s official energy drink partner from Season 4, which kicks off on 26 December.   

    The partnership — now locked in for the next three years — builds on a successful debut season where Switch electrified fans with tastings, cash giveaways and stadium activations across 34 match days.   

    “I am thrilled to renew and expand our partnership with Switch Energy Drink for Season 4,” said SA20 league commissioner Graeme Smith. “Switch is a bold, proudly South African brand that shares the same energetic and youthful approach as SA20. Together we will ignite stadiums and give fans unforgettable experiences.”  

    Switch CEO Christian Wentzel echoed the sentiment. “This isn’t just a sponsorship — it’s a celebration of South African sport and culture. The league brings people together and that’s the kind of energy Switch lives for.”   

    The timing is no accident. Preparations are ramping up for a much-hyped Season 4, with pre-signed and retained players already announced, featuring marquee Proteas and overseas stars. The next major milestone is the player auction in Johannesburg on 9 September , where franchises can collectively splash up to $7.4m to finalise their 19-player squads.   

    Watch the Switch-SA20  brand promotion video by clicking here: 

  • South Africa’s Betway SA20 Season 3 cricket league sets new viewing and attendance records

    South Africa’s Betway SA20 Season 3 cricket league sets new viewing and attendance records

    MUMBAI: It’s in crackling, explosive form. Betway SA20 has kicked off its third season with a record-breaking opening match viewership, surpassing previous records and solidifying its position as a major force in South African cricket.

    The opening match between Sunrisers Eastern Cape and MI Cape Town drew a record 382,778 live unique viewers on SuperSport, a 129 per cent  increase from Season 2. This makes it the second-highest recorded live opening viewership number on SuperSport this summer, behind the T20 series between the Proteas and India.

    Additionally, the opening week saw record attendance numbers, with four sold-out matches and an 79 per cent attendance rate across six matches. The fans have enthusiastically embraced the cricket and entertainment experience, setting the stage for a successful tournament.

    League commissioner Graeme Smith attributed the success to the collective efforts of the franchises, SuperSport, and the fans, saying, “We’ve worked hard to establish the league as a property that appeals to viewers at home and those who come to the stadium. These numbers give us the confidence that we’re on the right track to building on a strong foundation. The league has come to be recognised as amongst the best in the world after the IPL. Most people did not give us a chance of succeeding.”

    Nielsen Sports SA managing director Tumelo Selikane added, “We’re thrilled with the response to the Betway SA20 league. The strong viewership numbers are a testament to the league’s growing popularity and the exceptional work of SuperSport and the League.”

    Betway SA20’s success has also attracted new sponsors, further solidifying its commercial value and appeal. As the tournament progresses, the league is poised for continued success, with strong viewership numbers and growing commercial appeal.

  • Cricketing legends to speak at Aaj Tak conclave in London

    MUMBAI: India’s No. 1 Hindi news channel- Aaj Tak, is bringing the legends of cricket together on a mega cricket platform– Aaj Tak Salaam Cricket 2017 on 31st May in London to brainstorm and predict the winner of the upcoming Champions Trophy 2017.

    The 08th edition of the bi-annual cricket tournament, second in importance only to the Cricket World Cup is scheduled to start on 1 June, 2017 in England. Eleven former Captains, Five Members of Champions Trophy Winning Teams and other superstars of the game will converge at the largest Cricket event being held just before the start of the tournament.

    Prominent names from cricket word would include: Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev, Shane Warne, Michael Clarke, Nasser Hussain, Graeme Smith, Kumar Sangakkara and Brendon McCullum. Legends Like these are now in London at Salaam Cricket 17’.

    The day will start with the session – Master Stroke by Sunil Gavaskar, Former Captain & Member of the World Cup Winning Indian Team. This will be followed by a session by Australian Cricket Legend Shane Warne- Wow Warne!

    The Champions of Captains session will be attended by former Captains- Michael Clarke, Australia, Kumar Sangakkara, SriLanka, Graeme Smith, South Africa and Mohammad Azharuddin, India while Sourav Ganguly, Shane Warne & Michael Clarke will share their views during session Warnie, Pup and Dada Show.

    Former South Africa captain Graeme Smith, former England skipper Nasser Hussain, former Pakistan captains Rameez Raja, Amir Sohail and former Bangladesh captain Habibul Bashar will also speak at the event alongside Ganguly, Warne, Clarke and Azharuddin.

    There will be a big clash between India and Pakistan before the match on June 4th as captains Kapil Dev, Sourav Ganguly, Mohammad Azharuddin, Rameez Raja and Aamir Sohail clash off the field in the session Superhit Muqabla-Indo-Pak Captains .

    The cricket conference will be an all-day affair and it would be a chance for cricket aficionados to listen to some of the most well respected minds in the game.

  • Champions Trophy from 1 June: ICC reveals broadcast plans, supported by Sunset+Vine & NEP

    MUMBAI: The International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced a stellar line-up of commentators as well as detailed broadcast production plans, which for the first time in cricket, include Player Tracking for the ICC Champions Trophy to be held in England and Wales from 1 to 18 June. ICC TV will produce live coverage of all 15 matches, supported by production partner Sunset+Vine and equipment partner NEP Broadcast Solutions.

    Former captains — Ricky Ponting of Australia, Brendon McCullum of New Zealand, Kumar Sangakkara of Sri Lanka and Graeme Smith of South Africa will be making their ICC TV debut. Other big names who will commentate through the tournament include Sourav Ganguly, Shane Warne, Michael Slater, Nasser Hussain, Michael Atherton, Shaun Pollock, Sanjay Manjrekar, Ian Bishop, Ramiz Raja, Simon Doull and Athar Ali Khan.

    Ponting said: “Winning it (the trophy) on two occasions was a big thrill. This year I’m really looking forward to it being staged in England and being a part of the commentary team. “I’m expecting Australia and England to make the final with Pat Cummins and Jason Roy, two guys to stand out across the two weeks. I can’t wait!”

    McCullum said: “At the Champions Trophy, each team will be desperate to do well and put their stamp on the 50-over game. “To now be in the commentary box for such a prestigious tournament is something I am really looking forward to. Working with names like Ponting, Ganguly and Smith is going to be great fun and hopefully we can give the viewers a unique insight on the action unfolding out in the middle.”

    Smith said: “The trophy is a great tournament where every team has a chance to do well. I am sure there will be a few surprises and many memorable performances, so there’s a lot to look forward to!”

    Sangakkara said: “The trophy is a special tournament which I loved playing in and am honoured to have enjoyed success in. Most of the teams have a chance of lifting the trophy so it promises to be a fascinating three weeks of action.”

    The eight-team tournament, which kicks off with host England playing Bangladesh at The Oval on 1 June, will see a state-of-the-art coverage which will include 34 cameras at every game, including eight ultra-motion Hawk-Eye cameras, front and reverse view stump cameras and a Spidercam.

    In what is a first for cricket coverage, six Player Tracking cameras will be used in each match while the final at The Oval on 18 June will have additional pictures provided by a drone camera to supplement the broadcast coverage.

    Among other enhancements for the live coverage will be an Analysis Zone that will add depth to the coverage, bringing out details and nuances for the benefit of the audience. Regular broadcast tools such as the Hawk-Eye will be supplemented by an in-depth cricket data analytics system to be provided by analytics app Cricviz and a player tracking and real-time data visualization system made available by leading graphics company Chyron Hego.

    ICC Head of Media Rights, Broadcast and Digital Aarti Dabas said: “The ICC is committed to providing a world class broadcast that is credible, informative, engaging and attracts a global audience. Our team of 15 champion commentators will help tell the story and build heroes, connecting with the fans using relevant insights and broadcast innovations.”

    Scores and statistics, which are an important element of any cricket coverage, will be provided by sports graphics specialists Alston Elliott in a fresh new style and feel designed by creative design agency DixonBaxi.

    The coverage provided by ICC TV to broadcasters will commence 30 minutes before the start of play of each match and will include the live toss, the pitch report, player profiles and features looking ahead to the game.

    Programming will be produced for the innings break to ensure continuous and engrossing content that will keep the viewers hooked. Reviews of the first half of games and a preview of run chases will be inter-woven with a segment dedicated to the history and stars of the ICC Champions Trophy. Match telecasts will culminate with a crisp post-match show.

    ICC TV has also made arrangements to produce engaging and informative additional content, to be distributed to its broadcast partners and other media rights partners via the ICC TV Content Delivery Service. This content will include daily player profiles, team features, match previews and other behind the scenes content, getting fans up close and personal with all the action around the ICC Champions Trophy 2017.

  • ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 to be broadcast in 4K

    ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 to be broadcast in 4K

    MUMBAI: For sports in India, nothing is bigger than the World Cup and the official broadcaster Star India is set to make the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 even bigger and better by rolling out an ambitious broadcast plan. 

     

    The network will revolutionise sports broadcasting in the country, as it is all set to broadcast certain select matches, including India’s opening match against arch-rivals Pakistan, in the ground breaking 4K format. This will be the first ever global broadcast of cricket in 4K.  

     

    Announcing a slew of initiatives, Star India COO Sanjay Gupta said, “The last edition was watched by 90 per cent of TV viewers in the country, making it the largest aggregation of consumers possible. We will introduce many firsts and innovations in sports broadcasting to take the great game of cricket to the next level and provide an unprecedented viewing experience to the millions of cricket fans in India.” 

     

    Star will broadcast the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 in six languages, making it far more inclusive than any other sporting tournament on television. This will be the first time that the WC will be telecast in Bengali, Tamil, Malayalam and Kannada, apart from English and Hindi. 

     

    With an aim to bring the best of World Cup action through the best of experts, Star Sports’ commentary panel will feature 13 World Cup captains, 20 World Cup winners and 26 World Cup semi-finalists. The likes of Allan Border, Kapil Dev, Wasim Akram, Shane Warne, Mark Waugh, Graeme Smith, Ian Botham, Rahul Dravid, Sunil Gavaskar, Saurav Ganguly among others will add to the viewing experience with their expert insights and analysis during the WC. To take the viewer experience to the next level, it will launch a state-of-the-art studio in Mumbai to present the pre and post-match analysis, expert comments and insights.

     

    Never seen before player analytics across 4000 hours of match footage, ball-by-ball data from 600 matches (ODI data from 2010-till date), 200 players and 14 venues will be analysed in new look graphics, keeping the fans engaged 24×7 during the WC. For the first time ever, technologies mounted on sunglasses and wickets will be used during practice sessions to showcase what the players see while batting and bowling, bringing the viewers closer to the game. Drone cameras to give an aerial perspective of the majestic stadiums will be used for the first ever time for the ICC WC.

     

    Star will also add two new HD channels to its sports portfolio, Star Sports HD 3 and Star Sports HD 4, as a lead up to the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015. Star Sports HD 3 will be an all-Hindi HD channel, a first for sports broadcasting, taking the game closer to the cricket loving audience across the country. 

     

    starsports.com, will offer live streaming and 24×7 video-on-demand accessible through the web, WAP and apps on 200+ devices, all of which will contribute towards making the action from the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 easily and readily available.

     

    Star India’s marketing blitz started with the film with Sachin Tendulkar, invoking India to ‘Chase the Dream’ to win the World Cup again, the most coveted prize in international cricket. The broadcaster’s World Cup campaign, #wontgiveitback followed the film, reflecting the young nation’s attitude and mood for the World Cup. The nation’s rallying call to Team India #wontgiveitback has created high buzz and conversations online. On YouTube the video has garnered more than 7,18,050 views and counting.