Emerging Media launches second series of Cricket Star

Reebok Cricket Star Twenty20 has received applications from more than 500 towns and cities across the country

Emerging Media, a UK based media property development company and the owner of the Jaipur IPL team, Rajasthan Royals, has launched its second talent hunt, called Reebok Cricket Star Twenty20. The talent hunt is focused on discovering the next Twenty20 cricketer of India.

Reebok Cricket Star Twenty20 has received applications from more than 500 towns and cities across the country. Registration has been open since December 2007. The applicants have been shortlisted by Emerging Media talent spotting teams and the shortlisted candidates have already been sent invitations to attend trials beginning March 5 in Mumbai, New Delhi, Chandigarh, Jaipur, Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata and Hyderabad.

Emerging Media launches second series of Cricket Star

Cricket legend Greg Chappell will oversee the selection trials. The boys chosen by Chappell will not only have a focused academy stint, but also the chance to interact, train and play with the Rajasthan Royals team. The contestants will be tested for their cricketing abilities. The selected contestants from each city will attend a boot camp at Jaipur, where they will go through rigorous training on the Twenty20 format under the guidance of Chappell and compete with each other to be the next Reebok Cricket Star.

The finalists of the Reebok Cricket Star Twenty20 will be awarded a contract for 2009 with the Rajasthan Royals.

The series will be telecast in the form of a reality show starting April. The media partner for the Cricket Star Twenty20 will be Sony Entertainment Television. The show is likely to have 18 episodes spread over nine weeks, and will be telecast every Saturday and Sunday.

Fraser Castellino, chief executive officer, Emerging Media, says, “The launch of the IPL tournament has introduced the Twenty20 format of cricket to the nation and we believe that Cricket Star Twenty20 will discover and nurture a new breed of specialist Twenty20 cricketers.”

In early 2007, the first series of Cricket Star was aired on Doordarshan and Zee in India. The winner, Sukhvir Singh, was awarded a contract with the Leicestershire County Cricket Club and is currently playing for the Air India team.

The promotions for the show will begin just before the launch date in April. The media mix will include on-ground promotions, print, outdoor advertising, TV promos, Internet and other promotions.

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