Russell Adams appointed as the Tournament Director for the T20 Global League

Cricket South Africa (CSA) has appointed Russell Adams as the tournament director for the T20 Global League, which is set commence this November. Russell Adams is one of the most respected personalities in South African cricket, having served as a consultant and manager for various teams previously.

The CSA is banking on the experience of Adams to get the inaugural edition underway with a bang. There has been a lot of hype around the fraternity that this tournament can be the game changer for South African cricket and this will help not just the cricketers, but also the board to maximize their revenues.

Russell Adams gained immense respect around the fraternity when he decided to start working with the IPL franchise Kolkata Knight Riders as their consultant in 2008. Those were horrendous times in India, who were just hit by a catastrophic bomb blast in Mumbai and not many foreign consultants were willing to travel to India.

He worked with Kolkata for some time and then was appointed as the Vice-President of Commercial, Operations and Cricket Academy for the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). Adams has heaped praises on CSA that they’ve been working tremendously on this project for a long time and said it was a privilege to be at the helm of such a wonderful event.

“I know we will be ready. CSA has not just jumped into staging a tournament. They have waited for a few years, monitored other T20 tournaments and taken on board what has worked and what hasn’t,” Adams said.

South Africa has much better infrastructure than India

He also opined that South Africa has much better infrastructure than India, which will be a huge bonus for the growth of the tournament. He also said that the country has done a brilliant job staging certain big events like the 2003 ICC World Cup and the Champions League.

“The people in South Africa also have great experience in staging major events like the World Cup 2003, the IPL and Champions Leagues before. The infrastructure is also far superior to India which is a major benefit. The facilities here are world class. The immediate challenge is, of course, that we only have two months to go.But can the T20 Global League really compare with the IPL even though it has great stadiums, marquee international players and South Africa’s superstars?

Obviously, the mass Indian market that the IPL operates within is vastly different. But everything from the event management side will be of equal standard. Every aspect that affects the league will be on par,” Adams said.

This is a global tournament, aiming to attract global audience

Adams spoke briefly about his ambitions with the T20 Global League and said they work relentlessly to attract a global audience. He mentioned they have framed certain strategies of marketing the tournament through social media and digital media and said he is very confident about the growth of the event.

“This is also a global tournament that is aiming to attract a global audience. There are strategic plans aimed at capturing this audience through digital and social media activations. My years in India have really prepared me to put back into South African cricket,” He concluded.