Sethi praises workshop

dubai — Port Elizabeth team owner Dubai-based Ajay Sethi was quite impressed with the twoday workshop in Dubai for the South Africa T20 Global League and said that Cricket South Africa (CSA) CEO Haroon Lorgat’s rich experience will make it a very successful League.

The Channel 2 Group chairman purchased the Port Elizabeth team and is the second from the UAE with Dubai’s Suhail Abdullatif Galadari partnering Javed Afridi to own Benoni.

“Since this is a global league, the owners are from across the globe, from India, Pakistan, Dubai, Hong Kong, it was an opportunity to know the workings of the League. It was a very useful workshop. We are at the beginning of planning so I was very impressed with their presentations and their professionalism,” Sethi told the Khaleej Times on Sunday.

“They spoke about the stadiums, the logistics, the sponsorships, television broadcast rights, what’s happening with South African cricket, policies. They covered all the areas and gave their expert opinion. The thing that has most impressed me about this League was the anti-corruption measures. We had Sir Ronnie Flanagan, chairman of the ICC’s Anti-Corruption & Security Unit speaking to the team owners. Flangan gave a great presentation and a speech. It is a very serious issue that we have to deal with. Lorgat also spoke about it and various things associated with the League,” he added.

Sethi, whose company is the global rights holder with the International Cricket Council (ICC) for radio and digital, said Lorgat was the key factor in the League.

“I believe that this League is done by the people. I see Lorgat as the key factor in this League. His rich experience with the ICC as well as with Cricket South Africa (CSA) has shown. He is highly professional and motivated person. That is a very big strength,” Sethi said. Sethi is now set to roll out the team’s name and logo in the coming weeks. “Now, the player draft will happen in August and then we are going to announce my team.”

james@khaleejtimes.com