Champions League 2009 to have 12 teams

Even as the second edition of the Indian Premier League was being played, the governing council for the IPL came out with the announcement that the Champions League of cricket will have 12 teams in place of the earlier planned eight, and will be played between October 8 to 23. The chairman of IPL , Lalit Modi, also said that the prize money for the tournament will be $6million.

Last year, the tournament was supposed to be held between 3rd and 10th December, but the attacks on Mumbai had ensured its cancellation. There were plans for eight teams in the tournament, which included two each from India, Australia and South Africa, and one from Pakistan and England. This time around, there will be three teams from India, two each from Australia, England, South Africa, and one from Sri Lanka, West Indies and New Zealand. And apart from the couple of sides from England, the remaining slots have already been decided. England’s domestic T20 tournament is currently in progress.

India will represented by the two finalists of the IPL, Deccan Chargers and Royal Challengers, along with the Delhi Daredevils, who had topped the group. Next edition of the IPL will also see a play-off for the third slot. The other teams in the competition will be Victoria and New South Wales from Australia, Eagles and Cobra from South Africa, Wayamba from Sri Lanka, Trinidad and Tobago from the West Indies and Otago from New Zealand.

All the twelve teams will be divided into four groups of three teams each, with the top two teams from each group progressing into the second round. Out of the eight sides in the second round, the top four will make it to the semi-finals

Lalit Modi also said that the Pakistan government hadn’t given any team from Pakistan to travel to India and hence there will be no team from there. He also added that the 2011 edition of the Indian Premier League will see 10 teams instead of the eight that there are currently.

Fantasy Preview of West Indies v Sri Lanka

The 11th game of the ICC World T20 will be an inconsequential match-up between West Indies and Sri Lanka, after both the teams have already qualified for the Super Eights ahead of Australia.

For the Sports Pundit Fantasy experts though, it does not lose its importance, because both the teams will play at least three more games after this one, essentially meaning that the players that they transfer for this encounter can be used for a total of four matches.

West Indies look to be a rather one dimensional team, with Chris Gayle providing with most of the runs, and Fidel Edwards inflicting most damage on to the opposition batsmen. There is a Dwayne Bravo who does a bit of both, but beyond that, this format of the game hasn’t seen too much that has come out in this format of the game.

Andre Fletcher had an impressive first game against the Aussies, and the best part about him was his ability to match Gayle stroke-for-stroke unlike some of the others who have had no role in partnerships with the West Indian captains for the simple reason that they haven’t been as good!

Yet, this also meant that the West Indian middle-order wasn’t tested too much in that game, and if one is looking to get in players from the West Indian team for the Sports Pundit Fantasy, then it is the top-order that they should be looking at.

From the Lankan perspective, Ajantha Mendis seems to have smelt blood with a rousing performance in the previous game against the mighty Aussies and I have no doubt that he will have a huge role to play in the future. But, the Sports Pundit Fantasy experts need to be cautious before getting him on for the next game. Sri Lankan captains have been known to drop such mystery batsmen or bowlers for inconsequential games in order not to allow oppositions to be able to read the bowler! Choose Mendis in the game at your own risk!

M.Muralitharan may be a better option for this game given that the West Indians do not play spinners as well as some of the others and Murali would want to get into the wickets after an average first game. Nuwan Kulasekera was dropped in the first game, and even though he may be given a game, one cannot be sure of his future prospects in the tournament!

2011 Cricket World Cup itinerary altered

The ICC has concluded that there is an uncertain political situation in Pakistan and due to this it is not possible to have a safe, secure and successful Cricket World Cup event in Pakistan. So, it has eliminated Pakistan from the list of hosts. The 14 matches that were allotted to be played in Pakistan are now redistributed amongst the other hosts.

The itinerary
On 18th February 2011, the opening ceremony of the 2011 Cricket World Cup would be held in Bangladesh. Overall, 49 matches have been planned. Out of these, Bangladesh would host 8 matches in 2 venues. Sri Lanka has 3 venues where 12 matches would be held. India has been allotted 29 games that would be played at 8 venues. Of the 14 matches that were planned in Pakistan, 2 were given to Bangladesh, 4 for Sri Lanka and 8 to India. The quarter finals are divided as follows – 2 in Bangladesh, 1 in Sri Lanka and 1 in India. The semi finals have been assigned 1 each to India and Sri Lanka. The host of the final match would be India.

The organizing committee of the tournament opted to move the tournament secretariat from Lahore to Mumbai. Previously, the Pakistani banker, Salman Butt was the managing director of the event. Now, he has been substituted by BCCIs chief administrative officer Ratnakar Shetty. The chief executive of the ICC, Haroon Lorgat disclosed that the key person in the management of the World Cup would be IS Bindra, the special adviser to the ICC

Hoggard Heads List Of 2009 Woodworm Players

Ashes hero Matthew Hoggard heads the list of 10 players being supported by leading cricket brand Woodworm in 2009.

The 32-year-old Yorkshire and England bowler, once rated the 4th best Test bowler in the world, will wear Woodworm clothing and use the company's bats during the season.

Simon Millington, Woodworm owner, said: "We're delighted to be supporting Matthew, who is one of cricket's most recognisable players thanks to his fantastic performances over the years for England and Yorkshire.

"Our stable of Woodworm-supported players includes seasoned professionals and some rising stars in the county game. It’s important for us to not only recognise well-known cricketers but also to encourage those players who are the future of the game."

Hoggard played 67 Tests for England, scoring 473 runs and taking 248 wickets and he was awarded an MBE after England's victorious 2005 Ashes series. He finished 27th in the 2008 county bowling averages, with 42 wickets at an average of 24.69

David Hemp, the former Glamorgan and Warwickshire batsman and current captain of Bermuda is also being supported by Woodworm, alongside the following county players:

Warwickshire - Ian Westwood, Tony Frost, James Anyon, Andy Miller, Ant Botha.
Leicestershire - Nadeem Malik.
Durham - Mitchell Claydon.
Lancashire - Adrian Shankar.

Woodworm is owned by The Sports HQ, one of Europe’s leading online sports and leisure e-tailers, who completed the purchase of the iconic cricket bat and golf company last year.
All Woodworm products can be bought online at www.woodworm.tv at manufacturer direct prices.

ICC WT20: England Keep Faith With World Cup Winners

The 14 women who took England to World Cup glory in March will join forces again when they compete in the inaugural Women's ICC World Twenty20 in June.

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) announced that the squad which beat New Zealand by five wickets would also compete in the eight-team tournament.

England play group matches against India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka at Taunton before the semi-finals and final, played on the same day as the men's competition, take place at Trent Bridge, The Oval and Lord's.

Charlotte Edwards will continue to lead the side.

"This tournament gives a real chance for women's cricket to attract millions of new followers and players across the world," she said.

"We enjoyed our World Cup success but now everyone is firmly focussed on this event and the prospect of appearing on the same stage as the men at the semi final and , hopefully, final stage."

England Women: Charlotte Edwards (captain), Caroline Atkins, Katherine Brunt, Holly Colvin, Isa Guha, Jenny Gunn, Lydia Greenway, Laura Marsh, Beth Morgan, Nicki Shaw, Anya Shrubsole, Ebony Rainford-Brent, Claire Taylor, Sarah Taylor

All 12 Squads Named For World Cup Qualifier

All 12 teams competing in next month's ICC World Cup Qualifier in South Africa have named their squads for the tournament which gets underway on April 1st.

The tournament, which has replaced the ICC Trophy as the means for teams to qualify for cricket's showpiece event, lasts for 19 days with teams from all over the world represented.

Scotland are the reigning champions, and they are joined by five other teams who competed in the 2007 World Cup in the West Indies - Bermuda, Canada, Ireland, Kenya and the Netherlands as well as Afghanistan, Denmark, Namibia, Oman, Uganda and the United Arab Emirates.

Afghanistan (squad): Norooz Mangal (captain), Khaleqdaad Noori, Karim Sadiq, Mohammad Nabi, Hasti Gul, Rais Ahmadzai, Dawlat Ahmadzai, Mohammad Shehzad, Hamid Hassan, Samiullah Shinwari, Riffatullah Momand, Noor Ali, Asghar Stanikzai, Shahpoor Zadran, Shafiqullah Shafaq.

Bermuda (squad): Irving Romaine (captain), David Hemp, Chris Douglas, Fiqre Crockwell, Lionel Cann, Stephen Outerbridge, Jekon Edness, Janeiro Tucker, Glenn Smith-Blakeney, Dwayne Leverock, Rodney Trott, Tamauri Tucker, Stefan Kelly, Kyle Hodsoll, George O’Brien.

Canada (squad): Ashish Bagai (captain), Balaji Dorakanti, Eion Katchay, Havir Baidwan, Henry Osinde, Ian Billcliff, John Davison, Khurram Chohan, Umar Bhatti, Arvindan Kandappah, Sandeep Jyoti, Qaiser Ali, Rizwan Cheema, Sunil Dhaniram, Geoff Barnett.

Denmark (squad): Freddie Klokker (captain), Mickey Lund, Carsten Pedersen, Michael Pedersen, Morten Andersen, Thomas Hansen, David Borchersen, Henrik Hansen, Ajay Chawla, Max Overgaard, Rohit Kanaiya, Soren Vestergaard, Rizwan Mahmood, Bahir Shah, Lars Andersen.

Ireland (squad): William Porterfield (captain), Andre Botha, Peter Connell, Alex Cusack, Trent Johnston, Kyle McCallan, John Mooney, Eoin Morgan, Kevin O’Brien, Niall O’Brien, Andrew Poynter, Boyd Rankin, Regan West, Andrew White, Gary Wilson.

Kenya (squad): Steve Tikolo (captain), Peter Ongondo, Hiren Varaiya, Kennedy Obuya, Collins Obuya, Thomas Odoyo, Morris Ouma, Nehemiah Odhiambo , Alex Obanda, Seren Waters, James Kamande, Rakep Patel, Rajesh Bhudiya, Lameck Ngoche, Elijah Asoyo.

Namibia (squad): Louis Burger (captain), Raymond van Schoor, JB Burger, Sarel Burger, Gerrie Snyman, Craig Williams, LP van der Westhuizen, Nicolaas Scholtz, Deon Kotze, Bjorn Kotze, Ian van Zyl, Louis Klazinga, Tobie Verwey, Bernard Scholtz, Hendrik Marx.

Netherlands (squad): Jeroen Smits (captain), Peter Borren, Mudassar Bukhari, Daan van Bunge, Ryan ten Doeschate, Tom de Grooth, Maurits Jonkman, Muhammad Kashif, Alexei Kervezee, Ruud Nijman, Darron Reekers, Edgar Schiferli, Pieter Seelaar, Eric Szwarczynski, Bas Zuiderent.

Oman (squad): Hemal Mehta (captain), Sultan Ahmed, Nileshkumar Parmar, Vaibhav Wategaonkar, Awal Khan, Farhan Khan, Syed Amir Ali, Haider Ali, Syed Maqsood Hussain, Ameet Sampat, Rafeeq Mohammed Al Balushi, Khalid Rasheed, Hemin Desai, Adnan Ilyas and Syed Tariq Hussain.

Scotland (squad): Ryan Watson (captain), Gavin Hamilton, Kyle Coetzer, Neil McCallum, Navdeep Poonia, Qasim Sheikh, Colin Smith, Craig Wright, Jan Stander, John Blain, Dewald Nel, Gordon Goudie, Calum MacLeod, Moneeb Iqbal, Majid Haq.

Uganda: Junior Kwebiha (captain), Joel Olweny, Benjamin Musoke, Roger Mukasa, Lawrence Ssematimba, Kenneth Kamyuka, Frank Nsubuga, Danniel Ruyange, Arthur Kyobe, Charles Waiswa, Nehal Bibodi, Davis Arinaitwe, Akbar Baig, Nandi Kishore, Ronald Ssemanda.

United Arab Emirates (squad): Khuram Khan (captain), Saqib Ali, Arshad Ali, Amjad Ali, Amjad Javed, Naeem Uddin, Fahad al Hashimi, Zahid Shah, Sameer Nayak, Fayyaz Ahmed, Nithin Gopal, Qasim Zubair, Ravi Kumar, Owais Hameed, Muhammed Aman.

ICC World Twenty20 relise photos

Jim White, Cricket World's roving reporter is out and about for the duration of the ICC World Twenty20 - this is the place to find his latest photos the tournament...

Cricket World® Player Of The Week - Chris Gayle

West Indian captain and opening batsman Chris Gayle has been named as the Cricket World® Player Of The Week following a stunning innings that handed his side a seven-wicket win over Australia at The Oval.

Gayle thumped 88 in 50 balls to get his side off the mark in the 2009 ICC World Twenty20, with six massive sixes, most coming off the fast bowling of Brett Lee.

One hit ended up in a road outside the ground and another was only stopped by the roof of a stand with many seasoned onlookers saying that they had never seen a six hit as far at the London ground.

His thunderous innings allowed the West Indies to reach their target of 170 in just 15.5 overs and put themselves in with a strong chance of qualifying for the Super 8s.

Other contenders for the weekly award included South Africans Graeme Smith and AB de Villiers and the entire Dutch team after their upset win over England on the opening night.

ICC WT20: Sangakkara Leads Sri Lanka Through

Sri Lanka 160-4 (Sangakkara 55no, Dilshan 53) beat
Australia 159-9 (Johnson 28no, Mendis 3-20) by six wickets
Scorecard | Video Reaction
ICC World Twenty20 Group C, Trent Bridge

Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara led his side to a victory in their ICC World Twenty20 Group C match against Australia that confirmed their place in the Super 8s at the expense of their opponents.

Australia were handed extra time to prepare for the Ashes as Sangakkara scored an unbeaten 55 to guide his side to 160 for four in 19 overs after Australia were held to 159 for nine.

Tillakaratne Dilshan got the run chase off to an explosive start with 53 in 32 balls before Sangakkara's calm strokeplay, coupled with some late blows from Jehan Mubarak (21 not out) saw Sri Lanka to victory.

Ajantha Mendis and Lasith Malinga both picked up three wickets as Australia failed to built the partnerships required to post a match-winning score.

Debutant Isuru Udana took two for 47 as Mitchell Johnson top scored with an unbeaten 28 for Australia.

© Cricket World 2009

ICICI Crowned CRY Cricket Challenge Champions

British summer can be many things these days, but if the current geometrical regression in climate is anything to go by, gone are the days for serene and sunny summer days – you either succumb to its force, or you take a corner to sulk and moan.

That was not an option though for the last remaining teams at CRY cricket challenge. Week after week they showed up, put up a cheerful face against the unpleasant weather odds and gave us a game.

The semi finals were played between Infosys, ICICI, HCL and NIIT. NIIT and ICICI progressed into the finals and the match for third place was played between Infosys and HCL. The semi finals were played in the morning and the matches for the winner and third place went well into the evening.

These matches were interrupted thrice due to adverse weather conditions – downright downpour and the park that looked like more like a front line than a crown property pitch. But still, gamers gave us the game in all its glory. Back somersault and stunts were seen throughout the game.

Semi Final: ICICI v Infosys

Infosys won the toss and batted first. They made 73 runs for 9 wickets in 15 overs. ICICI was on a kill mode: making 73 runs without a loss. Rakesh from ICICI was the man of the match.

Semi Final: NIIT v HCL

NIIT won the toss, elected to bat first and eventually won the match. They made 122 runs for 3 wickets in 15 overs. HCL made 92 runs for 5 wickets. Sumit Ganju from NIIT was the man of the match for being the top scorer with 50 runs not out.

Third Place: Infosys v HCL

HCL won the toss, batted first and eventually won the third place. They made 132 runs for 9 wickets. Infosys made 103 runs for 9 wickets. SHM Siddique from HCL was the man of the match.

FINAL: ICICI v NIIT

ICICI won the toss and elected to bat first. NIIT batting second made 86 runs for 9 wickets and clinched the second place. But it all went ICICI’s way when they comfortably scored 115 runs for 4 wickets and seized victory away from 15 other clashing titans, well almost. Man of the match of this final game was Vivek from ICICI.

Awards

Peta Viner from Connect Communications, one of the co-sponsors of the Cricket Challenge gave out awards and trophies to the players and the winning teams.

Aakash Desai, ICICI’s captain took the winner’s trophy and the entire team received medals. Runners up NIIT players received medals and a trophy.

Last year’s winners TCS were given a replacement trophy for handing over the rolling winners’ trophy to the victorious ICICI.

CRY’s Nina Munshi made the first speech, thanking everyone involved. Richard Hastings from Cadence took the floor and jokingly blamed Nina for taking all the good speech lines.

Few eye candies during the game included the cry volunteers Toni and Tracy – whose brilliant efforts in selling, at times by force, the raffle tickets to anyone who dared to go near them raised a neat £ 125 for CRY.

It was all about the “passion and the spirit of the game” that got Aakash Desai, the winning team’s captain to take the plunge and raise some money for a cause. The 8th CRY Cadence Corporate Cricket Challenge 2007 was accomplished, with almost everyone involved looking forward to a round of similar stunts and antics next summer. We can only hope global warming will hold its breath and let us play in peace.