Coming soon: Reality to meet reality in cricket show

Is there a boundary limit to talent hunting in sport Or in this case specifically cricket Not really Letrsquos talk about Australia where some of their greatest names came to the fore with someone spotting them before they were nurtured and mentored to earn that baggy green capGlenn McGrath Mitchell Johnson and even WTC final hero Nathan Lyon the countryrsquos most successful offspinner by a mile are products of talentspottingMeanwhile reality TV show mdash The Hunt mdash was launched recently in Brisbane with cricket legend Steve Waugh involved as chief mentorldquoMove over MasterChefrdquo said a Channel 10 reportWaughrsquos team which has exspinner Brad Hogg will go around the country picking talent from the most unlikely of places to form a group which will be housed at Brisbanersquos Marist College Ashgrove and trained at Valley Cricket Club whose colours greats like Allan Border and Matthew Hayden wore on the club circuitThe initial group of 60 will be pruned to a squad of 16Wrist spinner Hogg who made his Test debut in the inaugural BorderGavaskar Trophy game at New Delhi in 1996 could be in India soon travelling in a rickshaw looking out for raw yet talented young cricketers across urban and rural India The squad of Indian players will take on their Australian counterparts Similar activities are planned for kids in the UK USA and the UAEOn the anvil are series in India England Australia USA and the UAE with the five squads from each of those series coming together in a tournament at the end of the first year called Home Grown Heroes in the UAEThe Indian series will be the first with filming to start in OctoberNovember this year It is learnt that three cricket icons one each from India England and the West Indies will join Waugh in the show to select and mentor the kids Other former and current cricket stars could be involved tooA source told middaycom on Sunday that it has taken eight years to bring this project to fruition the most challenging phase being working through COVID19 restrictionsThe aspect which makes this initiative unique is television a cricket reality show put together by a global production houseVeteran cricket journalist Jim Tucker writes in In Queensland ldquoScouts will scour India for the best emerging cricket talent Across 18 episodes the backgrounds and motivations of these eager teenagers will be explored with an Indian cricket great as mentorrdquoMeanwhile Waugh who has a special affection for India is quoted as saying ldquoThis show has got exciting potential For sure therersquos a chance for someone to come out of nowhere who hasnrsquot been identified before Irsquove been in the Northern Territory at different times and seen the natural skills of Indigenous kids with the pickup and throwing of a ball and they donrsquot even play the game regularlyldquoMy dream personally is for someone from the outskirts of Kolkata perhaps who hasnrsquot had an opportunity all of a sudden wins an IPL contract Or in Australia gets into the Big BashrdquoRatish Kumar the founder and MD of promoters USC Worldwide said in a press release that The Hunt ldquowill be groundbreaking television with unique stories and heroes to captivate a global audiencerdquoAlso Read Steve Waugh questions Indias squad selection for WTC final Picked the wrong side