Trevor Ou Tim writes… SABC launched its "Feel The Heat" campaign and its broadcast plans for the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup to the media at SABC Radio Park on Thursday 10 February. The aim of the campaign is to rally support behind the South African Proteas cricket team, in their quest at the Cricket World Cup in India, which starts on the 19 February.
Programme director at SABC, Thabiso Sithole, said: The "Feel It, It is Here" campaign was launched in 2010 to mobilise South Africans behind the 2010 Fifa World Cup and the national team Bafana Bafana, so the new campaign, :Feel The Heat:" maintains that momentum. The phrase ÔFeel The Heat’ was chosen due to its association to Indian culture – its rich colours and spices, as well as its all year-round hot summer.:
He also noted that the SABC will cover the Proteas in India, both on and off field, with the aim to broadcast for :Total Citizen Empowerment:. This will utilise a platform consisting of 18 radio stations, three television channels as well as digital media platforms.
Head of group communications at SABC, Kaizer Kganyago, outlined the broadcaster’s coverage plans. He mentioned that all the games played by the Proteas will be brodcast live. In total, 32 games will be shown live on TV and 37 games, with ball by ball coverage, on Radio 2000. It will be a world feed with 26 camera coverage, including Hawk-Eye, DRS, Spider-Cam as well as Magic Arm in the dressing rooms.
A dedicated SABC news team will cover the South African camp, with Morning Live allocated to broadcast Protea related activities and news during the tournament. Coverage will start with the opening match between India and Bangladesh in Dhaka on Saturday 19 February, and end after the final on 2 April. SABC 3 will be the TV channel for main coverage, with SABC 1 and 2 acting as supplementary channels with highlights and coverage of simultaneous matches.
The commentary, previews, reviews and analysis of matches will be driven by credible former international players and experienced studio presenters. For television coverage, well known radio and television personality, David O’ Sullivan will be the anchor. His wealth of knowledge and credible demeanour, makes him a stand out anchor in South African Sports.
He will be supported by equally credible analysts consisting of the following:
Lance Klusner – known as Zulu for his proficiency in speaking the language, as well as his aggresive, warrior-like batting style, which helped the Proteas win many games.
Victor Mpitsang – who was then, the youngest debutant for the Proteas at 18 years of age, who now plays for the Knights in Bloemfontein. He is amongs the many of the national team players to come out of Grey College.
Ray Jennings – a former South African wicketkeeper, who has also coached the Proteas. He is known for his strong standards of discipline and guided the SA under 19 team to World Cup victory in 2008. He is presently the coach for the Royal Challengers in the IPL league.
Hussein Mannak – a former Gauteng Cricket Board contracted player, playing in over 52 first class matches, notching up three centuries and 11 half centuries as a right hand batsman, as well as being a very effective right arm medium bowler. He represented Easterns, Gauteng and Transvaal. He is a dynamic character now in marketing and advertising.
Neil Johnson – a former player for Zimbabwe, having played in 13 tests and 48 ODIs. He received three Man-of-the-match Awards at a world tournament, with one of them being against South Africa.
Both Klusner and Johnson have experience playing in world cup events.
For radio commentary, the following have been chosen:
Mluleki Nstabo – one of the chief commentators for Ball by Ball in SABC. His experience covering the All Africa games in 2007, the Beijing Olympics in 2008, the Common Wealth games as well as the Proteas’s Australian cricket tour in 2008/9 for both television and radio, along with his ability to eloquently express himself in a fun and captivating way for audiences, will keep the listeners captivated. He is a former Border provincial cricket player, who now plays a major role in the radio station Umhlobo Wenene.
Natalie Germanos – one of South Africa’s top female cricket commentators who does ball by ball cricket coverage for both television and radio. She is a former coach and got her first commentary gig via her fitness coach, who got in touch with a radio producer. After thrilling audiences, she found herself calling the 2005 Women’s World Cup.
Craig Marais- an accomplished cricketer who kept wickets in first class matches between 1990 and 1995. He played for Boland and Griqualand West, scoring 986 runs in 22 first class matches.
Aslam Khota – a prominent and well respected voice in cricket, who was involved in the nomination commitee to choose Women’s Cricketer of the Year. His mild mannered approach captured the imagination of audiences during the Caribbean World Cup in 2007.
Jeremy Fredricks – a household name in South Africa for his commentary since 1994. He has held various administrative positions for sports in the Western Cape, Free State and Griqualand West. His sports acumen built up, over more than two decades, awarded him a post to the board of Gauteng Cricket from 2006 to 2007. His wealth of knowledge and experience of the game equips him well to handle the affairs of individual sportsmen and women and to understand the complexities of the sports industry.
Documentaries and profiles on teams and players (with main emphasis on the Protea team) will be fillers between games, as well as on-air competitions for viewers. The SABC website will also have a blog site as well as online competitions, as interactive media throughout the tournament, for viewers.
So let the games begin.
