KPC Media is providing host-broadcast services for conferences organised by London-based Best Companies, the workplace engagement specialists behind the Sunday Times ‘Best Companies to Work For’ annual survey acknowledging the UK’s best employers. KPC Media successfully host-broadcast the recent ‘Accreditation Conference’ in Central London in January 2009 and is now working with Best Companies to identify other potential areas within the Best Companies’ mandate. KPC Media has also produced a video for Best Companies’ world-leading ‘Art of Engagement’ – a four-month high-tech installation in Reading aimed at providing educational services for companies working to achieve better employee engagement. The next project slated for development is on ‘Leadership in the Workplace’. For more information, see: http://www.bestcompanies.co.uk/

KPC Media has been engaged by leading digital media agency Blue Barracuda to provide filming and production services for a series of lectures on industry issues by Cyril Sweett, a leading international construction and property consultancy offering expertise in cost consultancy, project management, building surveying and a comprehensive range of specialist consulting services. KPC is producing 16 lectures in total to be distributed on the Cyril Sweett worldwide intranet. The project started in December 2008 and is due to run through the first half of 2009. For more information, see: http://www.cyrilsweett.com/non_flash.html

KPC Media has been engaged by leading digital media agency Blue Barracuda to provide filming and production services for a series of debates and interviews produced by The Financial Times publications, including ‘The Banker’ and ‘FT Mandate’. After a successful trial series in 2008, KPC Media has been retained to film and produce the sponsored events throughout 2009. The programmes are available on FT.com. For more information, see: http://www.ft.com/home/uk

KPC Media is developing a documentary television series on Brazilian cricket together with the Asociacão Brasileira de Cricket, Brazil’s national governing body for the sport, and is also exploring sponsorship and rights opportunities for the sport.

Cricket in Brazil is on the rise, with the Brazilian men’s national team gaining entry to the International Cricket Council World League’s Division 3. In April 2009, São Paulo hosts the 8th South American Cricket Championships, involving men’s national teams from Argentina, Chile, Peru and Brazil, while the women’s national team has just played a Twenty20 tournament against Argentina in Buenos Aires and is off to Florida in May for an ICC Americas championship.

The sport has a long and venerable history in Brazil, beginning the with creation of the Rio Cricket Club in Niterói in 1882, where Emperor Dom Pedro II was a frequent spectator. Cricket was also played at British clubs in Vitória, Salvador and Barretos. A few years later Charles Miller introduced cricket and football at the São Paulo Athletic Club (SPAC). Using players from São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, Charles formed the Brazilian national cricket team in 1888, and began staging international matches against Chile, Argentina and Uruguay, whose own British communities also had thriving cricket scenes.

The waning of British influence and the rise of football deflected interest from cricket throughout much of the 20th century, but the opening of the economy in the 1990s saw an influx of foreigners to Brazil, which rejuvenated the sport in São Paulo and saw British bank HSBC build a cricket ground in Curitiba. In 1993 Brazil sent a national team to the first South American Championships, held in Peru, and has competed in every tournament since then. In 2000 the Brazilian Cricket Association was formed, and the national league commenced with three teams.

By 2002 Brazil had achieved ICC Affiliate Member status, and junior development programs were underway in Curitiba, Brasília and São Paulo. In 2004 Cricket became part of the Physical Education curriculum at the University of Brasília, which resulted in the creation of the all-Brazilian Candangos side, and a steady stream of new Brazilian players to the national team.

In 2004 the national league boasted nine teams, and in 2006 the men’s team played against the MCC in São Paulo, and participated in the first regional ICC World League of Cricket Division 3 Elimination round, held in Suriname. In 2007, an all-Brazilian women’s team was formed, which played three games against Argentina in Curitiba. That same year the men’s team competed in the second ICC World League of Cricket tourney, held in Buenos Aires. In 2008 the Brazilian Cricket Association was officially recognized by the Brazilian Ministry of Sport, allowing Brazilian-born players to qualify for government funding.

Unlike elsewhere in the region, Brazil has a massive built-in player base. In the late 1800s British railway workers throughout Brazil taught the local children a simplified version of cricket, which caught on and is today known as taco or betes. It is often played on streets and beaches, but also has organized leagues and tournaments. Special equipment is available in local shops. By helping bridge the narrow gap between cricket and the country’s millions of taco players, and providing places to play, sports-mad Brazil has a very real chance of becoming a globally-recognized cricketing nation.

For more information, contact Norman Baldwin, ACB vice-president: nb.advisers@gmail.com or Vincent Bastick, ABC Marketing Manager: vincentbastick@gmail.com