The man from down under - way back that is - arrives complete with a pounds 2 billion swagbag into which he can dip over the next decade to ensure that, in his words, no aspiring Darren Gough, Denise Lewis or Michael Owen need go short of a bob or two to help their dreams come true. As the director of Shelter in the Sixties and one of the country's arch- campaigners on social issues from lead-free air to freedom of information, Wilson seems an innovative choice as the distributor of largesse to sport's poor and needy. The appointment comes at a convenient moment for him and sport. Wilson, born 58 years ago in New Zealand, is two years short of retirement from his present post as director of corporate and public affairs for the British Airports Authority. He is now, in effect, sport's paymaster general, a position of real power in an age when hands are forever reaching out from the changing room to the cash dispenser.Up to now, the distribution of Lottery funds seems to have been something of a muddle and the govern- ment has decided that it needed someone to sort it. But why Wilson? He has no great track record in sport - which is precisely why he reckons he's been given the job.

"I've had no experience in sports administration it's true, but clearly I am experienced in the whole voluntary political and communications scene."I suspect the reason Chris Smith asked me was because I come with no hidden agenda. I am not affiliated to any sports body and I'm not known in the sports world. I come without any baggage but what I do bring is independence My job is to make things happen without fear or favour.

07/11 - 09/11 Land American Idols Live Tickets staging in Cox Convention Center, Cumberland County Civic Center. American Idols Live is staging in Oklahoma City, Portland and Worcester. American Idols Live tickets

02/12 - 08/12 Purchase Billy Elliot Tickets performing in Benedum Center, Bob Carr Performing Arts Centre. Billy Elliot is performing in Pittsburgh, Orlando and Boston. Billy Elliot tickets

08/11 - 10/11 Obtain Keith Urban Tickets playing in James Brown Arena, Jobing.com Arena. Keith Urban is playing in Augusta, Glendale and Seattle. Keith Urban tickets

I may come from outside sport, but I've always been a sports lover."Before he became embroiled in the wider arena as a Liberal candidate, director of their election campaigns and party president, Wilson did have something of a sporting background. He began his journalistic career as a junior sports reporter, was a rugby player and distance runner in New Zealand and now plays golf, left-handed, off an 18 handicap As a club cricketer he opened the batting. "Not a big scorer, but difficult to dislodge."Actually, his chief claim to sporting fame as such is that he possesses what is thought to be the only privately owned bowling machine in the country "It is the one luxury I have acquired in life.

I saw Alec Stewart using one on TV so I rang Lord's who put me in touch with the man in Bristol who invented it. As it happened, he had a second-hand one available, so I bought it."Wilson enjoys practising with the machine in his garden. It dispatches 15 balls in succession, although they are all pitched at the same pace, length and direction. He knows he is likely to face cuter, sharper and fiercer deliveries when the requests for Lottery loot come flooding in. "Look, I know what I'm taking on and it is important we get it right," he said. "The recent changes to the National Lottery Act now mean we can be pro-active, with the power to seek out deserving cases rather than just responding to applications.

Our aim will be to give every youngster the opportunity to fulfil his or her ambition and potential, no matter what race, background or income group they come from."Sport England's strategy will be to put two thirds of all available Lottery money into community projects, earmarked as priority zones, with the residue going to elite performers. Much of the money will be lobbed in the direction of what the Sport England chairman, Trevor Brooking, describes as "the socially excluded" - ethnic minorities, the disabled and women.All of which, of course, appeals to Wilson's traditional liberalist leanings. Additionally, he and fellow vice-chair elect Tessa Sanderson plan to persuade sports stars to get involved again at grass-roots level in return for their governing bodies sharing the bounty. "I would also like to see every local sports club twinning with schools and offering the kids the use of their facilities."Knowing some of the snobbery and stand-offishness that exists in this particular area it seems wishful thinking, but Wilson always was an idealist. However, he is realistic enough to recognise that money can't buy everything in sport Attitudes must change too.