World Of T20 Cricket

Dirk Nannes, the Australian fast bowler, has opted to play for the Delhi Daredevils in the inaugural Champions League instead of his home team, the Victoria Bushrangers. This makes Nannes the only player to pick his IPL team over the other possible side he could have represented in the Twenty20 tournament.

Delhi will have to pay Victoria US$200,000 for Nannes’ services in the 12-team event. Nannes, who regularly bowls around 140kmh mark, had kept Glenn McGrath out of Delhi’s XI with a string of impressive performances in this year’s IPL, and was a instrumental in Victoria’s third successive domestic Twenty20 victory last season.

Nannes had also spearheaded Netherlands’ bowling during the World Twenty20 in June, and has since been selected by Australia for two Twenty20 games against England next month.

The other players who were eligible for multiple teams in the Champions League will compete for their ‘home’ teams in the tournament, while Dwayne Smith – considered an ‘away’ player for both Deccan and Sussex – will represent his English team.

written by Swapnil \\ tags: Delhi Daredevils, Nannes, Victoria

Former South Africa allrounder Lance Klusener has cut ties with the rebel Indian Cricket League to embark on a coaching career. Kwa-Zulu Natal, his home province, have nominated him for the next level three coaching course to be held at CSA’s High Performance Centre in Pretoria early next month.

“It is great to have Lance Klusener back in the [Cricket South Africa] fold,” Gerald Majola, the CSA chief executive, said. “He rightfully gained legendary status as a South African allrounder, and helped change the face of limited-overs cricket worldwide.

“We are particularly impressed and pleased with his decision to become a top-level coach because he still has so much to offer in bringing through the next generation.”

CSA coaching manager Anton Ferreira added that other former internationals will also be attending the course. Leading coaches including Graham Ford and Gary Kirsten have graduated from the same program.

“Others include Roger Telemachus, Paul Adams and Neil Johnson and it is very encouraging that we have cricketers of this quality coming into our coaching structures,” Ferreira said. “Paul has already done a lot of specialist spin bowling coaching and he is showing tremendous promise as a quality coach.”

Klusener, 38, enjoyed reasonable success with the Royal Bengal Tigers in the ICL, scoring 688 runs in 24 Twenty20 games at a strike rate of 127.64 and picked up 21 wickets. He signed up with the league in 2007, effectively ending all hopes of a recall to the national team. He last played for South Africa in 2004. His crowning moment came during the 1999 World Cup, where his savage hitting won him the Player of the Tournament award.

written by Swapnil \\ tags: ICL

The Champions League Twenty20 2009 Schedule has been announced with teams being divided into four groups.
The IPL spin off will take place from the 8th to the 23rd of October and the teams are divided as follows:

Group A – Deccan Chargers, Trinidad & Tobago and Somerset
Group B – Eagles, New South Wales and Sussex
Group C – Royal Challengers Bangalore, Cape Cobras and Otago
Group D – Delhi Daredevils, Wayamba and Victoria

Champions League T20 2009 Schedule

Oct-2009
Thu 08 14:30 GMT, 20:00 local	1st Match – Group C – Bangalore Royal Challengers v Cape Cobras M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore
Fri 09 10:30 GMT, 16:00 local	2nd Match – Group B – Diamond Eagles v New South Wales Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi
Fri 09 14:30 GMT, 20:00 local	3rd Match – Group D – Delhi Daredevils v Victoria Bushrangers Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi
Sat 10 10:30 GMT, 16:00 local	4th Match – Group C – Cape Cobras v Otago Volts Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Uppal, Hyderabad
Sat 10 14:30 GMT, 20:00 local	5th Match – Group A – Deccan Chargers Hyderabad v Somerset Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Uppal, Hyderabad
Sun 11 10:30 GMT, 16:00 local	6th Match – Group B – New South Wales v Sussex Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi
Sun 11 14:30 GMT, 20:00 local	7th Match – Group D – Delhi Daredevils v Wayamba Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi
Mon 12 10:30 GMT, 16:00 local	8th Match – Group A – Trinidad & Tobago v Somerset M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore
Mon 12 14:30 GMT, 20:00 local	9th Match – Group C – Bangalore Royal Challengers v Otago Volts M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore
Tue 13 10:30 GMT, 16:00 local	10th Match – Group D – Victoria Bushrangers v Wayamba Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi
Tue 13 14:30 GMT, 20:00 local	11th Match – Group B – Diamond Eagles v Sussex Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi
Wed 14 14:30 GMT, 20:00 local	12th Match – Group B – Deccan Chargers Hyderabad v Trinidad & Tobago Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Uppal, Hyderabad
Thu 15 14:30 GMT, 20:00 local	13th Match – Group F – C1 v D2 M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore
Fri 16 10:30 GMT, 16:00 local	14th Match – Group E – A2 v B2 Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Uppal, Hyderabad
Fri 16 14:30 GMT, 20:00 local	15th Match – Group E – A1 v B1 Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Uppal, Hyderabad
Sat 17 10:30 GMT, 16:00 local	16th Match – Group F – C2 v D2 M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore
Sat 17 14:30 GMT, 20:00 local	17th Match – Group F – C1 v D1 M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore
Sun 18 10:30 GMT, 16:00 local	18th Match – Group E – A2 v B1 Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Uppal, Hyderabad
Sun 18 14:30 GMT, 20:00 local	19th Match – Group E – A1 v B2 Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Uppal, Hyderabad
Mon 19 14:30 GMT, 20:00 local	20th Match – Group – C2 v D1 Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi
Wed 21 14:30 GMT, 20:00 local	1st semi-final – F1 v E2 Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi
Thu 22 14:30 GMT, 20:00 local	2nd semi-final – E1 v F2 Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Uppal, Hyderabad
Fri 23 14:30 GMT, 20:00 local	The Final – TBC v TBC Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Uppal, Hyderabad

written by Swapnil \\ tags: Champions League, Twenty20

In an unprecedented financial bailout, the Indian board has sanctioned Rs 22 crore (approximately $5 million) each to the Chennai Super Kings – owned by the BCCI secretary – and Rajasthan Royals, the 2008 IPL finalists, as compensation for cancellation of the Champions League Twenty20 last November.

None of the other six teams invited for the tournament’s 2008 edition, which was cancelled due to the Mumbai attacks, has received any compensation from their national boards. The tournament rules are clear that teams are not entitled to compensation from the organisers in the event of cancellation but individual boards are free to take a separate decision in this regard.

Chennai Super Kings is owned by India Cements, which is headed by N Srinivasan, the BCCI secretary, who is also a member of the IPL and Champions League governing councils. Rajasthan Royals is co-owned by Emerging Media, a UK-based consortium, and the Chellarams, the Nigeria-based shipping owners.

The cancellation of the tournament cost each team a guaranteed participation fee of $500,000 and a share of the total prize money of $6 million, apart from potential sponsorship revenue. Chennai and Rajasthan have not qualified for the 2009 edition of the tournament, scheduled to be staged across three Indian venues from October 8.

When contacted, Lalit Modi, chairman of IPL and Champions League, and also a BCCI vice-president, confirmed the IPL compensation amount and told Cricinfo that part of the money has already been paid to the two franchises. Modi declined, however, to comment further on the issue or provide details.

The other teams that were invited for the tournament last year were Victoria and Western Australia, the domestic Twenty20 finalists from Australia, and Titans and Dolphin, the South African toppers, Middlesex, the England champions, and Sialkot Stallions from Pakistan.

Cricket Australia is planning to provide some financial compensation for Victoria and Western Australia from the revenue it hopes to gain from the tournament this year. But these amounts, which will cover advance travel booking, team preparation and lost sponsorship opportunities, are not expected to match the Indian payout. Cricket South Africa declined to comment on the issue but Cassim Docrat, chief executive of Dolphins, confirmed that he has received no information about any compensation.

The BCCI is a founding partner of the Champions League Twenty20, along with Cricket South Africa (CSA) and Cricket Australia (CA), with all three countries enjoying joint decision-making control over the multi-nation, multi-club event. The England and Pakistan boards have no management stake in the tournament.

An official familiar with the decision said there are two opinions within the Indian board on the compensation amount for the IPL teams. “Some feel that the compensation is reasonable considering the money that the franchises would have possibly earned from the tournament,” the official said. “But others have expressed concerns that such a move could set a bad precedent. They fear that other IPL franchises may demand similar bailouts if such situations crop up again in the future, even during the IPL.”

However, a member of the IPL governing council said the hefty compensation package for the Indian franchises was reasonable given the amount they would have gained from the tournament and loss of the sponsorship money that had been committed to the two teams. The BCCI’s original agreement with the IPL franchises included a possible slot in the Champions League for the finalists, and this was factored into most of the major sponsorship agreements the franchises had entered into.

“The IPL’s duty and obligation is towards its franchises and a fruitful, long-term relationship,” the IPL official said. “The IPL’s promise to the franchises was that if you qualify for the Champions League, you will play. But due to unfortunate circumstances, that didn’t happen last year and we had to honour that commitment in the best manner possible.”

The Champions League Twenty20 was set to start on December 3 last year but was aborted after terrorists attack on Mumbai, one of the main venues, on November 26. The tournament has now been expanded to include 12 teams and invitations have been extended to this year’s domestic toppers from seven countries, including three teams from India, two each from Australia, South Africa and England and one each from New Zealand, Sri Lanka and West Indies.

Source: Cricinfo.com

written by Swapnil

Imran Farhat, the Pakistan batsman, has become the latest international cricketer to quit the unofficial ICL. Farhat has said he would apply for a No-Objection Certificate from the ICL and then concentrate on making a comeback to the national team.

“I want to play cricket and I love to play for my country,” Farhat, 27, said. He has played 27 Tests and 33 ODIs for Pakistan, and last represented the country in January 2007.

He regretted joining the ICL, and said he was desperate to play more cricket than the league was organising. “Joining the ICL was a mistake which was realised later on,” he said. “But it was realised when I found that playing for the ICL meant one would play just one tournament in a year, which is not enough to sate the hunger for cricket.”

It’s not an easy route back to the national team, even after he gets PCB clearance, as Pakistan have several contenders vying for the opening slots. “My performance in the last domestic season was satisfactory and I will do my best to get a place in the national team as soon as possible,” he said. Farhat made a century in one of his two games in the Quaid-e-Azam last season.

Several Pakistan players who quit the ICL – including Mohammad Yousuf, Imran Nazir, Naved-ul-Hasan and Abdul Razzaq – are now back with the national team.

written by Swapnil \\ tags: ICL