World Of T20 Cricket

The Indian board has agreed to draft in the ICC’s Anti-Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU) to monitor the IPL next March and the Champions League this October. The BCCI made the ICC aware of its decision at the ICC board’s annual conference in London last month, Lalit Modi, the IPL and Champions League commissioner, said.

“They (ACSU) have expanded their services and going ahead, all the tournaments, including Champions League and the IPL would have the presence of ICC’s anti-corruption unit,” Modi told Cricinfo.

The IPL’s commitment to fighting corruption in cricket was criticised after it kept the ACSU away from the Twenty20 league’s second season in South Africa this year. The Indian board had felt that the US$ 1.2 million that the ICC would charge of its unit’s services was too high. During the league’s inaugural season in India last year, the IPL had its own anti-corruption unit in place, which was guided by the ACSU.

“In the past no one had thought about the large volume of games in a tournament like the IPL where you needed a dedicated wing, which we now have,” Modi said.

Haroon Lorgat, the ICC chief executive, welcomed the development and said the main reason behind the BCCI joining hands with the ACSU could be the knowledge that dealing with corruption is a complex job and the unit could not be ignored any more.

“The penny might have dropped as I have been making informative presentations to the board and chief executive committee on the risks and how the ACSU operates to counter these.,” Lorgat told Cricinfo. “So, there may have been a better appreciation of the complex workings of the ACSU and not the previous misconception of simply an ACSU official preventing unauthorised people from gaining access to player areas.”

One of ICC’s main concerns is that since all international players in the IPL represent various nations otherwise, any relationships they develop in the IPL can get carried forward. ICC sources said that the ACSU would make sure such a situation never arises. Going forward, the ACSU would build a similar infrastructure for even bilateral series and monitor all games closely, the sources said.

written by Swapnil \\ tags: Champions League, IPL

As had been widely expected for some time, Shahid Afridi has been named Pakistan captain for the Twenty20 game against Sri Lanka next month. He takes over from Younis Khan, who retired from the format after leading Pakistan to the World Twenty20 title last month.

Afridi was instrumental in that triumph, turning in Man-of-the-Match performances in both the semi-final and the final. Since Younis’s retirement Afridi has been the leading candidate to take over, even as chairman Ijaz Butt initially said he would try and convince Younis to reconsider. Presently, he has only been appointed for the one game against Sri Lanka, but a more permanent decision is expected sooner rather than later.

It will be the first time Afridi will lead the national team in any format of the game, getting his chance nearly 13 years after making his Pakistan debut. The last five years have been the most productive of Afridi’s career, where despite brief patches of indifference, he has established himself as a fixture in Pakistan’s limited-overs set-up. His form has been particularly good this year, with impressive performances in the ODI series and Twenty20 against Australia in Dubai in May. That culminated with his critical role in leading Pakistan to the World Twenty20 title. Allied to his player-of-the-tournament contributions in the 2007 version, another indicator of his suitability to this format, his ascension became inevitable.

Whenever there has been a captaincy change over the last couple of years, Afridi’s name has figured prominently among the contenders. He has plenty of captaincy experience at the domestic level, having been at the helm of Habib Bank Limited, Sind and Karachi Dolphins over the past few years.

written by Swapnil \\ tags: Twenty20

written by Swapnil \\ tags: ICL, IPL

Gary Kirsten, India’s coach, has joined the debate on IPL’s threat to Test cricket and said if players are paid substantially more for playing in the Twenty20 league then there will be others like Andrew Flintoff who will quit Tests.

“It’s a natural progression that the guys are then going to say ‘I’m not interested in bowling 25 overs in a day when I can bowl four overs in a six-week period and earn three times as much’,” Kirtsen said. “The worrying side that I’m seeing is that a guy like Andrew Flintoff, a high profile cricketer, has now made the decision to leave Test cricket, because he feels that he can get more out of his body and earn much more money by moving away from Test cricket and playing ODIs and Twenty20 cricket. He’s perfectly right in his decision. Why not?”

Kirsten said if countries wanted Test cricket to remain as the No. 1 format then priorities had to be sorted. “India plays six Tests this year. Is that sufficient or are there other priorities? I don’t know.”

Kirsten also said the number of Twenty20s per tour should be increased in place of ODIs. “It’s quite interesting that we’ve got a Twenty20 World Cup in April next year in the West Indies and Team India don’t play one Twenty20 game until that tournament starts. What should be happening is that we should be going on tour and playing six Twenty20 games and one or two 50-over games. I think that’s going to happen. It’s just a matter of time.”

New Zealand players have decided to forgo next year’s IPL for a Test series against Australia at home. Daniel Vettori, the New Zealand captain, said while the national side had to be the players’ priority, it was difficult for them to continue to turn down the money.

Source: Cricinfo.com

written by Swapnil \\ tags: IPL

New Zealand cricketers may choose to play in the lucrative IPL instead of their country in the future if the Twenty20 tournament’s schedule clashes with their international commitments, Daniel Vettori has said.

On Friday, six senior New Zealand players signed their national contracts after two weeks of “agonising” over whether to forgo them. They could now miss out on half their earning from next year’s IPL because it coincides with their home series against Australia.

“It’s a difficult decision and people have families and other issues to work through but our priority was to play for New Zealand,” Vettori told the Herald on Sunday. “But we realise that if these situations continue to come up it will be difficult for players to continue to turn down the money, so we implore the powers that be to (find a solution) so we don’t have to make these decisions every year.”

The trans-Tasman battle is one of New Zealand’s marquee series, and Vettori said players might have chosen differently if it had been a lower-profile opposition. “If Bangladesh were here [rather than Australia] it might have been an easier decision for players. It didn’t come into my thinking because my priority is to play for New Zealand.”

Former Australian legspinner Shane Warne and Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations chief executive Tim May are among those who have called for the creation of a window in the international cricket calendar for the IPL.

Last year, five senior New Zealand cricketers including Vettori and Brendon McCullum had arrived in England a week after the rest of the touring party so that they could appear in more IPL matches. In a similar incident, West Indies captain Chris Gayle came in for plenty of criticism earlier this year when he reached England just two days before the first Test.

Source: Cricinfo.com

written by Swapnil \\ tags: IPL