ODI cricket set to hit the States

As exclusively revealed on Cricinfo last month, the USA Cricket Association has signed a commercial deal with Centrex International to form a joint venture marketing company that will seek to revolutionise the way cricket is marketed in the USA. This agreement is likely to mean ODI cricket being staged in the States as early as 2008.

The exclusive agreement will mean Centrex acquires the commercial rights and intellectual properties to the organisation - including sponsorship, broadcast, media, promotional, merchandise and new media - in return for an agreed investment in building the infrastructure and marketing of the sport that will exceed $10 million over the next 10 years.

A joint venture company - US Cricket Properties - will act as an independent company which will carry out the day-to-day operations.

"This is about investing and building a sport from the grass roots up," Archie Paton, a director of Centrex, said. "We intend to implement systems and programs that every club or team in the USA can benefit from. Our Cricket Management Information System will allow every club - at no cost to them - to manage their players, tournaments, communications, skills and training, and e-commerce programs.

"Our player development programs will allow USACA and coaches to track top players and emerging players throughout the country and ensure a professional and inclusive approach to identifying and nurturing the best talent."

The most noticeable effect will be that the commercial arm will work with the ICC to bring international cricket to the USA, with revenue from such ventures being ploughed back into the game. It is likely that ODIs will be staged in one of three centres - New York, Florida and Los Angeles.

"This will have a great impact on cricket in the USA," said Gladstone Dainty, the USACA's president. "It gives us the financial support and resource to really make a difference in how the sport is run at every level. It equally brings to the organisation a wealth of professional sports business experience that is critical if we are to succeed in expanding our sport. The board gave its unanimous support to the initiative and is very excited about the future."