Top cricketers

List of top cricketers in my point of view... Numbers do NOT indicate ranks.. I am not going back to the old era, staying with the 90s and 2000s

GREATEST CRICKETERS:( nos. do not indicate ranking but when you ask yourself the question, the order in which you remember the names are the below. That is how I made this list )

01) Sachin Tendulkar
02) Brian Lara
03) Shane Warne
04) Muttiah Muralitharan
05) Wasim Akram
06) Glenn McGrath
07) Ricky Ponting
08) Jacques Kallis
09) Curtly Ambrose
10) Waqar Younis
11) Adam Gilchrist
12) Courtney Walsh
13) Steve Waugh
14) Inzamam-ul-Haq
15) Rahul Dravid
16) Sourav Ganguly
17) Mohammad Yousuf
18) Allan Donald
19) Andy Flower
20) Shaun Pollock
21) Matthew Hayden
22) Aravinda de Silva
23) Anil Kumble
24) Sanath Jayasuriya
25) Michael Bevan
26)Arjuna Ranatunga
27)Hansie Cronje
28)Saqlain Mushtaq
29)Mark Taylor
30)Gary Kirsten
31)Kevin Pieterson

Few other impact players who miss out on making it to the greatest list

01) Chaminda Vaas
02) Chris Cairns
03) Alec Stewart
04) Mohammed Azharuddin
05) Saeed Anwar
06) Stephen Fleming
07) Nathan Astle
08) Jonty Rhodes
09) Imran Khan
10) Marvan Atapattu
11) Mark Waugh
12)Nick Knight
13)Navjot Sidhu
14)Nasser Hussain
15)Michael Vaughan


GREATEST CRICKETERS (individually):

• Greatest Batsman: Sachin Tendulkar
• Greatest ODI Batsman: Sachin Tendulkar
• Greatest Test Batsman: Brian Lara
• Greatest Bowler: Muttiah Muralitharan
• Greatest ODI Bowler: Wasim Akram
• Greatest Test Bowler: Ambrose and/or Kumble
• Greatest Fielder: Jonty Rhodes
• Greatest All-Rounder: Jacques Kallis
• Greatest ODI Captain: MSD and/or Ganguly
• Greatest Test Captain: Steve Waugh and/or Mark Taylor
• Greatest ODI Batting Pair: Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly
• Greatest Test Batting Pair:Dravid-Laxman, Steve Waugh with tail enders, one single innings of Ranatunga with tail enders
• Greatest ODI Bowling Pair: Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis
• Greatest Test Bowling Pair: Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh/Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne 

Individuals who have played well for their team:

• Australia: Shane Warne
• Bangladesh: Mohammed Rafique  
• England: KP, Nasser Hussain
• India: Sachin Tendulkar
• New Zealand: Chris Cairns
• Pakistan: Wasim Akram
• South Africa: Jacques Kallis
• Sri Lanka: Muttiah Muralidaran  
• West Indies: Brian Lara
• Zimbabwe: Andy Flower
  

This is my view, if you have any other name in mind please do leave a comment..

Technologies-Bowling machine

What is a bowling machine, and how does it work? A bowling machine is a device that functions as a nets bowler, firing balls at batsmen, providing them with practice. The machine can simulate various types of pace, swing, and spin bowling accurately. The main mechanism in a mechanical bowling machine (the most common kind) consists of two spinning wheels, each driven by its own motor, between which the balls are fed via a chute. The device is mounted on a tripod or similar, at such a height as to simulate the delivery of a bowler of average height. The machine runs on rechargeable batteries; each charge provides between two and six hours of running time. swing and spin-- Swing is produced by varying the speeds of the wheels independently using a manual controller - i.e., speeding one wheel up and slowing the other one down, which produces an effect similar to that caused when a football is kicked with the outer part of the foot. The ball swerves away from the faster wheel. To impart spin, in addition to having the wheels move at different speeds, the machine head is tilted and then swing rotation is put on the ball. The ball turns because the rotation is at an angle when it hits the ground. The length of deliveries can be adjusted by tilting the head of the machine as required. The speed can be varied from 20mph to 95mph. The bowling machine is most accurate with a round object, and cricket balls are not perfectly round. Moreover, cricket balls are made of leather, which is prone to tearing when squeezed between the spinning wheels. This is why hard polyurethane balls - dimpled for swing - are used. An advance over the mechanical version is the programmable bowling machine, which can be configured to bowl different types of deliveries in sequence. A programmable bowling machine called Merlyn, which it was claimed could bowl any ball known to man, including Shane Warne's legbreaks, was in the news when it was used by England in the run-up to their successful 2005 Ashes campaign. More common are pneumatic bowling machines, which use a pump to provide a flow of air that propels the ball through a tube at varying speeds.

CL T20 FIXTURES

Thu Oct 15 (D/N) 20:00 IST	League B – Royal Challengers Bangalore v Victoria BUSHRANGERS	M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore
Fri Oct 16 16:00 IST	League A - Somerset CCC v Diamond Eagles	Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad
Fri Oct 16 (D/N) 20:00 IST	League A – Trinidad & Tobago v NSW BLUES	Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad
Sat Oct 17 16:00 IST	League B – Cape Cobras v Victoria BUSHRANGERS	M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore
Sat Oct 17 (D/N) 20:00 IST	League B – Royal Challengers Bangalore v Delhi Daredevils	M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore
Sun Oct 18 16:00 IST	League A - Somerset  CCCv NSW BLUES	Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Uppal, Hyderabad
Sun Oct 18 (D/N) 20:00 IST	League A – Trinidad & Tobago v Diamond Eagles	Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Uppal, Hyderabad
Mon Oct 19 (D/N) 20:00 IST	League B – Cape Cobras v Delhi Daredevils	Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi
Wed Oct 21 (D/N) 20:00 IST	1st semi-final – B1 v A2	Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi
Thu Oct 22 (D/N) 20:00 IST	2nd semi-final – A1 v B2	Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Uppal, Hyderabad
Fri Oct 23 (D/N) 20:00 IST	Final – Winner of  Semifinals face off	Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Uppal, Hyderabad

Champions league CLT20 stage round recap

What happened thus far, a look back..

• Great inauguration, amazing choreography by Shaolin Monks and others.
• Boring speech which was booed by the audience; started clapping before he could finish. (Mr.Modi)

• MATCH1 - JP's great innings of 99, deserved a century.. An innings punctuated by traditional drives and pulls, no slogging.. A 105m hit for SIX that landed above the big screen.. RCB went down to this brilliant knock..

• AUSSIE might - Victoria and NSW impress with big wins that could put them in the next stage.. Thumping win against Delhi and Eagles respectively.. Showed their class and the strong domestic set up at display..
  

• IPL teams go down - 3 losses in as many matches.. RCB lost to JP's knock, Delhi to pitch and Deccan to Alfonso Thomas. A last ball thriller, from being 99 for 7 to chase down 153 speaks of Deccan's bowling strength...
  

• Empty stands await matches involving non-IPL teams.. Provokes Gavaskar to question the future of CL T20 in the absence of IPL teams in the 2nd round.. 
  

• Cape Cobras and NSW through.. Cobras went past Otago to become the 1st team to enter league stage.. NSW showed their might over Sussex Sharks a day later to qualify to the next round.. 2 champions are through.. 
  

• Amidst all questions and speculations, Delhi put up 170 on board, on a pitch where 120 is a par score thanks to Viru and Karthik.. Qualify for the league stage by gaining an unassailable Net Run Rate..
  

• RCB follow suit.. 2 IPL teams get through.. 
  

• The lesser teams bow out, Otago from Newzealand and Wayamba from SriLanka bid good bye to CLT20 earning USD200,000 each..
  

• Trinidad and Tobago surprise the world with back to back wins.. Deccan had to listen to their team music/ theme music - 'GO chargers GO chargers'.. The IPL champions GO out of the tournament.. 
  

• A super 'SUPER' over, 9/1 from Eagles and 0/2 from Sussex.. Cj De Villiers picks up 2 in 2..  Reason given from sussex- we are new to super over and have never played in it before.. ( do we give them practice matches for this too? Ridiculous)..

But what has left an impact,

 JP Duminy's brilliant 99 will be talked for sometime to come.. Unforgettable innings.. No slogging.. This gives the message that players need not change their stroke play but only change their mindsets in T20..

Laxman's knock of 40 odd has left not only Harsha Bhogle dumbfounded but also many of the cricket fans.. Laxman stepping down the wicket or playing a cross bat shot/slog was definitely not a treat to watch but leads us to say please save them from T20 gimmicks.. We would rather watch him score 20 in a test match than to see him slog his way to 50s in T20..

Where's the hype ? Where are the sponsors ? We never heard a ***** Maximum, or ******* 4s... 6s were plain sixes and 4s were plain fours.. Refreshing.. (Yes, Modi is still the man behind the tournament, no changes there)

Empty stadiums for matches not involving IPL teams.. That is a  worrying sign for the future of CL.. We can just brush away the thought saying this is the first year and people would take time to understand and identify with the teams involved..

STAR.. An anthem 'yeh cup kahin nahi jayega' (this cup will not go anywhere) and India bounced out of T20 World cup.. 'All the best India' campaign and India crash out of Champions trophy.. 'Diwali hogi cup wali' campaign, Rangoli (colours) to depict trophy from RCB, sweets stacked one above other for Delhi and a rocket firecracker turning into a cup for Deccan.. The most unrealistic campaign that of DC has ended.. As RCB and DD don't carry points they need to win all their matches to get into semis.. So, will STAR make it 3 out of 3..

Focusing on League stage, A1, A2, B1, B2 form League A and C1,C2,D1,D2 form League B..

                        LEAGUE A                           LEAGUE B
                     Trinidad and Tobago                     RCB
                      Somerset CCC                            Cape Cobras
                      NSW blues                                  Delhi Daredevils
                      Diamond Eagles                           Victoria Bushrangers

match fixing

Why did each of the IPL teams lose their 1st match ??
What do the empty stands indicate ??
Do the less famous sides have to lose out ??
Who is watching them play ??

Ray Jennings had made a comment that IPL teams will find it tough in the tournament.. True..

The other domestic sides that compete in the tournament are well established sides who play cricket right throughout the year.. Take Victoria Bushrangers or NSW blues for example.. Pura cup which is Sheffield Shield cup now is a tough 4 day competition that 6 teams compete in.. Then there is an ODI tournament that they take part in.. KFC big bash is just an addition to that.. So, these teams play the 4day competition, the one-day and T20..

IPL teams on the other hand meet a week or two before the tournament begins and stay together for 1.5 months in playing a minimum of 14 matches and maximum of 16 matches in the tournament.. So it is seriously difficult for them to compete against the other domestic teams.. But what makes the tournament alive is that it is a T20 competition and reputation counts for little..

So, we can argue that the IPL teams took a little bit of time to group and come together as a unit  than blame the quality of cricket or the lack of it..

The tournament matches of non-IPL teams were played against empty stands.. The question that was asked immediately was, what if the IPL teams do not go into the league stage ? Will there be viewership on tv sets India, forget the stadiums ?

If the IPL teams were to be left behind, there wouldn't have been any advertisers for the tournament.. With poor viewership, it would have been a tough ask for the organizers to call the CL T20 to be a success..

There was a question asked in the IPL-2 not only by the cricket fans but also by the ICC as to whether the matches are stage managed, to say that 'we had to wait till the last day to decide the semifinalists' and stuffs that would speak of the success and quality of the tournament and how the teams are so evenly matched..

Do we have to ask that question here too that deliberate efforts are made to push IPL teams through?

Ah, common..
The Deccan match went to the wires, a thrilling last ball finish..
The Bangalore match was punctuated by one classy knock from Duminy, whose individual brilliance enabled SA to win against AUS in Australia..
The Delhi match can be attributed to the slow low nature of the pitch..
Thats it, we have the answers.. No FIXING !!!

If a drop catch by Younis Khan in the CT2009 semi finals can be debated for fixing, a catch where the reaction time wouldn't be more than half a second, then these matches can surely be..

Fixing or no fixing, the tournament isn't a success yet.. The general public need to know the teams, the players, how they qualified and develop loyalties.. May be by the second edition, which may or may not be held in India, the viewers would have learnt about the teams and the tournament would have a larger reach..

trp goes down in champions league clt20

Ratings point is a measure of viewership of a particular television program.
 
One single television ratings point (Rtg or TVR) represents 1% of viewers in the surveyed area in a given minute.

As an example, say, there are an estimated 100 million television households in the surveyed country. Thus, a single national household ratings point represents 1%, or 1 million households.. When used for the broadcast of a program, the average rating across the duration of the show is typically given. Ratings points are often used for specific demographics rather than just households. For example a ratings point among the key 18-49 year olds demographic is equivalent to 1% of all 18-49 year olds in the country.

In India, television ratings are collected by two main organizations - TAM India and Audience Measurement Analytics Limited (aMap). aMap entered the market in 2005, with more coverage and latest technology from Telecontrol-Switzerland. aMap polls the meters (6000 households) using GSM network and provides ratings overnight. TAM India collects data manually (physical visits) and releases data weekly. aMap also has a stand-alone digital panel (aMapDigital) to measure TV viewing in DTH homes.

The TRP ratings show that T20 is starting to get boring and unknown teams playing only adds to the woes.. The empty stands are also an indication that CL T20 hasn't yet caught the viewers.. If this is the situation in a cricket crazy country, the situation will only be grim when CL goes around the world..

A comparison of important matches in ICC T20 WC 2009, IPL ,CT 2009 and CL T20 is done below..


For IPL 2009, the reach had increased.. More viewers but they stayed for a lesser time on the channel.. The ratings were 4.3 for RCB vs KKR in 2008 and was 3.6 in 2009 for CSK vs MI...
The 2nd semi final CSK vs RCB had a rating of 6.5 against 5.5 rating for semi-2 in IPL-1..
But 8.8 rating of IPL-1 was far too higher than 8.3 of IPL-2 ..

Having said that, and IPL being too loud being the reason for its reach and talks that IPL and T20 are going to take the world by storm spelling an end to test matches and the ODIs were proved wrong in the ICC world cup, may we say that the timings of the match were a dent to the viewership..


In ICC WC 2009, IND-WI match had highest rating points of 5.4 followed by Ind-Eng game 4.8 ..
The finals had a rating of 3.7 in star cricket and DD had a rating of 3.8 ....

Still we find that an Ind-Pak match garners the same rating as that of T20 finals.. So, a great game of cricket is still appreciated irrespective of whether its a T20 or ODI..  Over 30 million viewed Ind-Pak match.. The knock out stages did not do that well because of the absence of Indian team..

The Champions League has fared even worse with an average of 0.74 so far, according to TV monitoring agency, aMap.. Empty stands also adds to the woes.. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore was full even for the Ind-Aus test match while in the other 3 matches we got to see empty stands.. But now, the same stadium in Bangalore was empty for Trinidad match..

This takes us to the next question.. Will the matches be fixed to let the IPL teams into the league stage ?

the castrol index

The Castrol Index looks at a batsman or bowler’s performance in his core skill area.For a Batsman, its the batting that counts and bowling adds on and vice-versa for the bowlers.. For the all rounders though, the indices are added..

For a batsman it’s his Batting Momentum, the combination of runs scored and the rate at which those runs are scored..

For a bowler it’s his Bowling Efficiency, the combination of wickets taken and the economy rate. 

The Castrol Index also factors in each player’s non core skills, such as the Bowling Efficiency for a batsman or the Batting Momentum for a bowler. This is crucial, because in the shorter formats of the game every ball matters.

The Castrol Index also factors in each player’s fielding performance, such as runs saved or conceded, which further adds to the bonus or penalty earned. It’s by looking at all three aspects of the game for every player and not just the runs scored or wickets taken, that the Castrol Index is able to tell you the true impact of every player’s contribution in the shorter versions of the game. 

With a match centre, that previews and reviews every match with the help of the Castrol Index.. It is claimed that this index predicts the outcomes and deduces the player performances in a much more comprehensive way than what a simple statistic of runs scored and wickets taken would do..

The expert fan view would run throughout the Champions League T20 where fans can post questions or answer the ones posted by their peers.. The best post and answer of each day would be picked up by Harsha Bhogle, the famous commentator of the ESPNSTAR group.. And what more there are cash rewards for doing the same..

visit http://www.castrolcricket.com/ for details..

IPL teams in CL T20

Royal Challengers Bangalore

RCB had a dismal inaugural season in IPL being termed as a test side and the entire team make up was shuffled for the 2nd edition.. Few T20 specialists were selected from the auction but the campaign still did not seem to be on track with KP as captain.. Once KP left, it was decided that Anil would lead the side and he led the side from the front.. RCB, under him, entered the knock out stages.. Upsetting CSK's chances in the semis, they faced Deccan in the finals who like RCB had a dismal outing in IPL-1.. In a final, that could have gone either way, Deccan prevailed.. RCB are looking for revenge., (that was Kumble's statement).

Placed in Group C, they face Cape Cobras on the first day and Otago Volts later..





TEAM : Anil Kumble (capt), Rahul Dravid, Robin Uthappa, Jacques Kallis, Ross Taylor, Dale Steyn, Manish Pandey, Praveen Kumar, Bhuvanesh Kumar, Roelof van der Merwe, Mark Boucher, Vinay Kumar, Virat Kohli, Akhil Balachandra, Rajesh Bishoni.

Delhi Daredevils

Delhi Daredevils are like their former captain Sehwag.. Unpredictable.. Twice have they come to the semifinals after being confident in the league only to lose the semis badly.. With Sehwag stepping down from captaincy and 3 of the international stars missing it will be upto the local Delhi lads to put up an impressive show.. I don't think they can even field 4 foreign players.. Glenn McGrath's exploits are sought after..



In group D, they find themselves in the same group as Wayamba and Victoria.. Both are tough opponents.. 

TEAM : Gautam Gambhir(capt),  Virender Sehwag, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Dirk Nannes, Dinesh Karthik, Manoj Tiwary , Ashish Nehra, Amit Mishra, Owais Shah, Pradeep Sangwan, Aavishkar Salvi, Rajat Bhatia, Mithun Manhas. 

Deccan Chargers

Deccan too like the RCB had a dismal IPL-1 but unlike RCB they stuck with the same team with Gilchrist as a full time captain and the winning coach Darren Lehmann (was with Rajasthan ROYALS during IPL-1).. Rohit Sharma played well for them and the purple cap (leading wicket taker) holder RP Singh, Gilchrist came good at right times to ensure a place in the semifinals.. Cometh the hour, cometh the man, a true Aussie style demolition from Gichrist ensured a place in the finals where a drop catch and quick wickets from the RCB side and some excellent cricket from the team led them to lift the DLF IPL-2.. 

Deccan with the firepower of Gilchrist, freelancer Symonds and the likes of Styris and Fidel Edwards should be menacing.. Placed in Group A with Trinidad and Somerset.. Not a tough group.. Will RP and Rohit come back to form again for this tournament is a question.. (would be remarkable if they do so, they would earn the reputation of being in form for the Chargers always and be poor for the nation).. Will VVS sit and watch the entire tournament from the dug out yet again?

TEAM : Adam Gilchrist (capt), VVS Laxman, Rohit Sharma, Andrew Symonds, Fidel Edwards, Scott Styris, Chaminda Vaas, RP Singh, Ryan Harris, Pragyan Ojha, Y Venugopal Rao, T Suman, Azhar Bilakhia, Harmeet Singh, SM Shoaib.

South African teams in CL T20

The Standard Bank Pro20 was used to launch the franchise system at the end of the 2003/04 season and has been a domestic highlight ever since. Like its format of 20 overs per side, it has a short, sharp format of five league matches followed by a semi-final and final.

The No. 1 side after the round robin stages plays No. 4 in the one semi-final and No. 2 plays No. 3 in the second semi-final with the winners going through to the final. In all cases the team with the higher log position has home ground advantage. There is also a reserve day allowed for all knock-out matches in the case of inclement weather conditions.

NASHUA CAPE COBRAS is the brand name for the Western Cape franchise of Cricket South Africa. Its constituent components are the Western Province Cricket Association and the Boland Cricket Board. They  play their home matches at Boland Park, Paarl, and at Sahara Park Newlands.

Current nationally contracted players are Smith, Gibbs, JP Duminy and Monde Zondeki.. Ashwell Prince also hails from this place..



DIAMOND EAGLES is the brand name for the central franchise of Cricket South Africa and has been the most successful franchise in terms of winning trophies. The constituent members are the Free State and Griqualand West Cricket Boards. Their home grounds are the OUTsurance Oval in Bloemfontein and the De Beers Diamond Oval in Kimberley.

They are one of only two franchises - the Nashua Titans are the other - to have won all three domestic trophies in the course of the past four seasons and have altogether had five trophy successes.

IN CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Diamond Eagles don't have it easier, grouped with winners of AUS and ENG T20 winners namely, NSW and Sussex..  The South African Pro20 runners up the Diamond Eagles have had some fantastic seasons on the domestic circuit but with no current South African internationals some have suggested the side may struggle against their more fancied opponents. But having said that, no team is to be taken lightly.. 

Dippenaar is a seasoned campaigner, van Wyk's exploits in IPL2 have gone largely unnoticed as he was a part of KKR, Dillon du Preez had an excellent spell of fast bowling in one game and was never picked again for the RCB, Ryan McLaren would be an asset to the side,

 Boeta Dippenaar (capt),

Dillon du Preez,

Morne van Wyk,

Mthandeki Tshabalala,

Adrian McLaren,

Ryan McLaren,

Victor Mpitsang,

Ryan Bailey,

Jandre Coetzee,

Cornelis de Villiers,

Dean Elgar,

Reeza Hendricks,

Alan Kruger,

Rilee Rossouw,

Shadley van Schalkwyk.  

Cape Cobras along with RCB and Otago Volts make up Group C .. The Nashua Cape Cobras have a particularly tough programme, playing the tournament opening match against the Royal Challengers Bangalore in Bangalore on October 8, with their remaining pool game against New Zealand’s Otago Volts in Hyderabad just two days later.

Cape Cobras will be led by Andrew Puttick, in the absence of Graeme Smith, who was initially left out of the 15 man squad.. Wow !! How quickly can Life change!!

Cape Cobras 

Andrew Puttick (capt) - capt / opener/ keeper

Herschelle Gibbs,

JP Duminy,

Justin Ontong,

Charl Langeveldt- leads the pace bowling

Claude Henderson,

Monde Zondeki,

Vernon Philander -all rounder

Henry Davids,

Ryan Canning- lower order batsman and keeper

Rory Kleinveldt all rounder

Richard Levi

Sybrand Engelbrecht,

Derek Brand,

Francois Plaatjies.

Beware !!!!!!!!!

Somerset County cricket club have qualified for the inaugural Champions League to be held in India from the 8th of October..

Champions League T20 is also in short CL T20..

To add the title sponsors in the name, it is now widely called as AIRTEL Champions League or ACL-T20..

Somerset website has gone a step higher and has christened another name to it..

Guess what !!!!!!!!!

As it is gonna be held in India, it is called Indian Champions League T20..

And what is its short form ???????

ICL T20.............

Now, thats inviting trouble.. That is one dreaded short form that BCCI fought against with all its might and wealth.. Yes, ICL or Indian Cricket League which was started by the Zee group was under the scanner right from its inaugural season 3 years back.. BCCI have played all tricks to get rid of ICL, and have almost succeeded..

The last thing Mr.Modi would like to see is his league being called ICL T20..

Beware of some action taken against those who have published that name..

English teams at CL T20

Kent's 145 was not enough to stop Somerset from reaching the finals..
Northants 136 almost proved to be enough to gain access to CL T20 but Murray Goodwin's steady and calm innings took Sussex past 136 with 2 balls to spare..

Sussex Sharks and Somerset Sabres entered the Final of Twenty-20 cup thereby earning a place in the Champions League T20..

A $6million jackpot is up for grabs - read the news.. The focus from the finals was slowly shifting to CL T20..
2 semis and a final on the same day was some treat to the fans.. But all three matches on the same day robs us of the fun too.. If its played on 2 days or even 3 days, it keeps the excitement and thrill that much longer and makes it a great weekend..

After play started at 11.30 in the morning with the 1st semi final, the action shifted to the final at 7.30pm..

No show from Goodwin this time around, but a late flurry of boundaries from Yasir Arafat and explosive knock from Dwyane Smith ensured a total of 172 for 7.. Chasing 172 itself is a big task, added to it is the pressure of finals.. So, 172, could look like 190.. Somerset saw 2 contrasting innings Marcus Trescothick  33 from 15 deliveries and de Bruyn 22 of 32 deliveries and eventually slumped to 109 all out, losing their last six wickets for just five runs.

IN CHAMPIONS LEAGUE :

Somerset Sabres

Placed in group A with Deccan Chargers and Trinidad..

The first game is on Saturday 10th October when the Sabres will take on Deccan Chargers in Hyderbad and the Sabres second game is against Trinidad and Tobago which will be played at Bangalore on Monday October 12th..

Langer would captain the side, Trescothick whose mental and physical condition forced him out of international tours and has  kept him out of the England squad despite being a prolific run getter in the domestic tournaments is lured  by the ????? (money or whatever) to tour India, de Bruyn except for the dismal finals is in good form..Batsman Jos Buttler, who also keeps wicket and who at just 19 is the youngest member of the party. Arul Suppaiah, Malaysian born has been impressive..

TEAM ::: 

Justin Langer (capt),

Marcus Trescothick,

Zander de Bruyn,

Omari Banks,

James Hildreth,

Craig Kieswetter,

Pete Trego,

Arul Suppiah,

Alfonso Thomas,

Max Waller,

Charl Willoughby,

Wes Durston,

Mark Turner,

Jos Buttler,

Ben Phillips.

Sussex Sharks
Placed in a non-IPL group, Group B, with Diamond Eagles and NSW Blues.. 


Led by Michael Yardy, the team has a lot of all rounders and players with experience at the international level too.. This might well be the group to look out for as all the teams are evenly matched.. 

Dwyane Smith has opted to play for Sussex ahead of the Chargers.. Luke Wright, Martin-Jenkins, Yasir Arafat are excellent all round talents.. Chawla has been impressive in both the IPLs, Ed Joyce needs to introduction.. James Kirtley will be remembered for both his swing bowling and for his one handed catch of Ganguly in Natwest ODIs 2001.. A young side, with many players in their early 20s.. 



Michael Yardy (capt),
Dwayne Smith, 
Luke Wright, 
James Kirtley, 
Piyush Chawla, 
Ed Joyce, 
Joe Gatting, 
Robin Martin-Jenkins, 
William Beer, 
Andrew Hodd, 
Christopher Nash, 
Ben Brown, 
Rory Hamilton-Brown, 
Yasir Arafat, 
Chad Keegan.

Trinidad and Tobago

The name reminds us of only one, the master Lara...... Home to Queen's Park Oval which has witnessed marvellous knocks from the master Lara.

Trinidad and Tobago is the only side from the West Indies to have qualified for the Airtel Champions League Twenty20.

Notable players from T & T

Brian Lara
Ian Bishop
Learie Constantine
Wes Hall
Larry Gomes
Gus Logie
Merv Dillon
Deryck Murray

Players still Playing- Darren Ganga, Dwayne Bravo, Lendl Simmons, Ravi Rampaul, Dinesh Ramdin

Domestic series is played among
Guyana, Barbados, T&T, Leeward islands, Windward Islands, Jamaica, Combined Colleges and Campuses,

4 day tournament, Carib Beer series, Limited over competitions and Stanford 20-20 league form the domestic set up of the Windies cricket..

19 teams took part in the inaugural Stanford T20 competition, 16 were shortlisted for the actual tournament with 3 being eliminated after a playoff.. The 2nd edition was bigger with 20 teams in the fray..Stanford Twenty20 Cup is a knock-out competition featuring national sides from several Caribbean territories vying for the million-dollar grand prize. The competition was created two years ago and is solely financed by Antigua-based, Texan billionaire Sir Allen Stanford. This tournament is played on the ground built by Sir Allen Stanford, Stanford cricket ground..

Trinidad won against Barbados by 5 runs to  enter the finals while Jamaica beat Guyana in a 1 run thriller to play in the finals.

The finals was a one sided affair though.. The two-island republic, lifted by clever left-arm chinaman bowling from Dave Mohammed, were crowned winners in the Final which promised much, but delivered a no-contest on Sunday at the Stanford Cricket Ground.

Jamaica had 10 of the 11 players having played in the national side- to name a few Xavier Marshall, Wavell Hinds, Gayle, Darren Powell, Jerome Taylor, Nikita Miller, Dave Bernard, Carlton Baugh, Marlon Samuels..

Jamaica were bowled out for 91 in 16.4 overs with chinaman bowler Dave Mohammed taking 4 for 21..

T&T boasts of Dinesh Ramdin, Dwyane Bravo, Darren Ganga, Darren Bravo, Dave Mohammed and Lendl Simmons.. Chasing such a modest target was never going to be a serious challenge for T&T, and they hit the jackpot with 64 balls to spare..

                            

IN CHAMPIONS LEAGUE CLT20 :

T&T are grouped with Deccan Chargers and Somerset in the Group A..

T&T will play two warm-up matches before playing their first tournament match against Somerset in Bangalore on October 12. They play Deccan on October 14 in Hyderabad.

T&T squad:

Daren Ganga (capt) - veteran. needs no intro

Dwayne Bravo - Mumbai Indians player, excellent all rounder

Lendl Simmons - showed his class in the T20 world cup in England

William Perkins,

Kieron Pollard - good all rounder

Sherwin Ganga,
Navin Stewart,
Samuel Badree,
Darren Bravo - Lara look alike in a few shots, very promising

Ravi Rampaul - tormented Sachin when he came into the side first

Denesh Ramdin (wk)- Can be very useful with the bat
Sunil Narine

Adrian Barath

Rayad Emrit - has all round capabilities- medium pace and handy bat, plays county cricket.
Dave Mohammed - left arm chinaman, RPO less than  5..

Australian teams in Champions League -CL T20

Lets travel DOWN UNDER to meet the teams qualifying for the Champions league T20 -

New South Wales Blues and Victoria Bushrangers..

Aussie domestic set up is pretty much familiar with most cricket fans.. For starters, though, Aussie domestic cups are simple.. 6 teams, 3 competitions..

New South Wales - based in Sydney
Victoria - MCG, Melbourne
South Australia- Adelaide
Queensland- Gabba, Brisbane
Tasmania - Hobart
Western Australia - WACA,Perth

Pura cup which is now Sheffield Shield cup 4 day matches, Ford Ranger cup - limited overs and KFC big bash T20.. 

In KFC big bash, each team plays against the other once.. The 2nd and 3rd placed teams play in a semi final, and the winner plays the team which had topped the points table in the round robin stage..

2009 KFC Big Bash T20 Points table

	Played	Won		Lost	Pts
RTA SpeedBlitz Blues	6	4		2	8.00
XXXX Gold Queensland Bulls	6	3		3	6.00
West End Redbacks	5	2		3	4.00
PKF Tasmanian Tigers	5	2		3	4.00
VB Victorian Bushrangers	7	4		3	8.00
Retravision Warriors	5	2		3	4.00

Series Highlights

Record	Detail
Highest Total	5/203		VB Victorian Bushrangers,  2nd Twenty20 - TAS v VIC,  Bellerive Oval
Lowest Total	10/105		Retravision Warriors,  10th Twenty20 - VIC v WA,  Melbourne Cricket Ground
Biggest winning margin	78		VB Victorian Bushrangers,  10th Twenty20 - VIC v WA,  Melbourne Cricket Ground
Lowest winning margin	2		RTA SpeedBlitz Blues,  15th Twenty20 - NSW v VIC,  Stadium Australia

NSW qualified for the decider in top spot after a thrilling win over Victoria ..The preliminary finals was played between Queensland and Victoria, Victoria won the match with 2 overs to spare chasing 113..

In the finals, Victoria won the toss and elected to bat first. They made a strong total of 4/166 from their 20 overs, mainly due to a brilliant knock of 91 from 56 balls from opener Rob Quiney.Aaron Bird continued his outstanding form for the RTA SpeedBlitz Blues in limited overs cricket, taking 3/21 from four overs. Doug Bollinger was the other wicket-taker.

Brendon Mc Cullum was drafted into the NSW squad to enable him to be a part of the CL T20 campaign with the blues, after a good start he nicked a ball to the keeper, Katich and Hughes played well.. But after losing those two and Mosis Henriques in quick succession the match was evenly poised..  Dominic Thornely and Ben Rohrer who came to bat together put on 73 runs in five overs.With 10 runs needed of the last over, Thornely scored a boundary and was out the next ball leaving 2 runs to be scored of 2 balls.. The batsmen scampered through for a bye of the last ball and had to wait for the 3rd umpire's decision before celebrating the win..

This 5 wicket win ended Victoria's dominance in the T20 format and gave the blues their first KFC T20 trophy..

IN CHAMPIONS LEAGUE T20 :

NSW are placed with the Eagles and Sussex in group B..

Australia’s icons and international cricketing royalty, Sir Donald Bradman, Richie Benaud, Steve Waugh and Glenn McGrath, have played first-class cricket for New South Wales. The Speed Blitz Blues have won the first-class competition 44 times and the one-day domestic cup nine times.

To name a few more, Brett Lee, Mark Waugh, Katich, Warner, Henriques, Hughes, Jaques, Michael Clarke, Bracken, Stuart Clark, Haddin , Shane Watson..

They start their campaign on the 9th against Diamond Eagles at the Kotla, Delhi..

Team :

• Aaron Bird
• David Warner
• Dominic Thornely- played for Mumbai Indians sparingly used..
  
• Steven Smith
• Daniel Smith
• Ben Rohrer
• Steve O'Keefe - miserly left arm orthodox bowler
• Brett Lee
• Simon Katich (C)
• Doug Bollinger
• Simon Keen
• Stuart Clark
• Nathan Hauritz
• Moises Henriques - played for the controversial KKR
• Phillip Hughes

Victoria are placed with Delhi Daredevils and Wayamba elevens in group D.

Victoria have won 3 editions of KFC big bash and was the runner up in the 4th edition.. Victoria in the current squad boast of the likes of Hodge, David Hussey, Cameron White..

• Aiden Blizzard - excellent T20 player
• Peter Siddle
• C White (C) - powerful striker, RCB player
• Matthew Wade
• Robert Quiney- hand picked by Warne for the Rajasthan Royals
• Clinton McKay
• Bryce McGain - an old leg spinner
• Andrew McDonald- Daredevil, who is good with both bat and ball
• David Hussey - one of the best T20 players
• Aaron Finch
• Shane Harwood
• John Hastings
• Brad Hodge- we all know who he was with in the IPL-2 don't we ?
• Jon Holland
• James Pattinson

ICC awards

As part of the ICC's celebration of the game's heroes and role models, it stages the annual LG ICC Awards ceremony to recognize the major individual and team achievements in world cricket.

The LG ICC Awards ceremony is now in its sixth year and in 2009 the Awards took place in Johannesburg. Previous ceremonies were held in London (2004), Sydney (2005), Mumbai (2006), Johannesburg (2007) and Dubai (2008).

The LG ICC Awards in 2009 included eight individual prizes, including the prestigious Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for the ICC Cricketer of the Year. The winners of seven of these individual awards were voted upon by a 25-person panel from around the world, made up of renowned former players, respected members of the media, and an elite umpire and elite match referee. Meanwhile, the nominations for the Women's Cricketer of the Year Award were voted on by a separate 16-person voting academy featuring former players and other experts on the women's game.

The other three awards were the ICC Test Team of the Year, the ICC ODI Team of the Year and the Spirit of Cricket Award.

Based on the 12 months between August 2008 and August 2009, the LG ICC Awards 2009 - presented in association with FICA - took into account performances by players and officials in a remarkable period for the game.

Lists of nominees- Individual Awards

Cricketer of the Year
Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Ind)
Gautam Gambhir (Ind)
Mitchell Johnson (Aus)
Andrew Strauss (Eng)

Test Player of the Year
Gautam Gambhir (Ind)
Mitchell Johnson (Aus)
Thilan Samaraweera (SL)
Andrew Strauss (Eng)

ODI Player of the Year
Shivnarine Chanderpaul (WI)
Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Ind)
Virender Sehwag (Ind)
Yuvraj Singh (Ind)

Emerging Player
Ben Hilfenhaus (Aus)
Graham Onions (Eng)
Jesse Ryder (NZ)
Peter Siddle (Aus)

Associate and Affiliate Player of the Year
Rizwan Cheema (Can)
Ryan ten Doeschate (Ned)
William Porterfield (Ire)
Edgar Schiferli (Ned)

Twenty20 International Performance of the Year
Shahid Afridi (Pak) for scoring 51 off 34 balls and taking 2-16 against South Africa during the ICC WT20 semi-final in Nottingham on 18 June
Tillakaratne Dilshan (SL) for scoring 96 not out off 57 balls against the West Indies in the semi-final of the ICC WT20 at The Oval on 19 June
Chris Gayle (WI) - for hitting 88 off 50 balls against Australia during the ICC WT20 at The Oval on 6 June
Umar Gul (Pak) for taking 5-6 against New Zealand during the ICC WT20 at The Oval on 13 June

Women's Cricketer of the Year
Charlotte Edwards (Eng)
Shelley Nitschke (Aus)
Claire Taylor (Eng)

Umpire of the Year
Aleem Dar
Tony Hill
Asad Rauf
Simon Taufel

Spirit of Cricket
Australia
England
New Zealand
Sri Lanka
 
This list was arrived at after a long list of nominees was announced earlier.. Surprisingly, South Africans were missing from the short list of nominees.. CSA chairman Gerald Majola was surprised and shocked at the absence of South Africans from the final list especially after having a great year in both the test and the ODI formats and being No.1 in the ICC rankings too..

On October 1, in Johannesburg, the awards were given away..

Cricketer of the Year-     Mitchell Johnson
Test Player of the Year-  Gautam Gambhir

ODI Player of the Year-  Mahendra Singh Dhoni

Emerging Player-             Peter Siddle

Associate and Affiliate Player of the Year -            William Potterfield

Twenty20 International Performance of the Year - Tilakaratne Dilshan

Women's Cricketer of the Year - Claire Taylor

Umpire of the Year -                     Aleem Daar

Spirit of Cricket-                           New Zealand


ICC ODI and Test team captain - MS Dhoni

Johnson - Impressive performances against SA in both home and away series.. Played a hand with both bat and ball, integral part of the Aussie team which is rebuilding after the loss of its stalwarts..

Gambhir- Scored more than 1000 runs, dream run for him. 5 centuries including a double century against the visiting Australia..

Dhoni- Retained his ODI player award, highly consistent.. Averages above 50 and his average increases by 7 when India chase more than 275.. (remarkable to note that in the same period of consideration Sachin's average dips by 7 when India chase high totals)

Dishan- Has a shot named after him, Dilscoop which he used effectively in the T20s.. Scored 96 of 57 balls in the T20 WC semi final against Windies.. Afiridi's performance was more effective and it lifted the entire team against the Proteas.. Gayle's 88 against Aussies deserved an award too..

Siddle- Emerging player of the year award, he had to fill in the gap left by McGrath and an injured Lee. Truly a better choice from the nominees..Never easy to make your debut in the absence of Lee and having to lead the bowling attack and perform so superbly..

Claire Taylor- England woman's team captain, only in the woman's cricket have they won a major ICC tournament.. This year they won the 50 over championship and the 20-20 championship in which Taylor played a great role with the bat..

Aleem Daar- First time I have seen Simon Taufel being pipped for the award.. Aleem Daar, Asad Rauf, Taufel have been the better umpires..

William Potterfield- First seen in Ireland's T20 campaign, made it to the super 8s.. They have also won 9 of the 11 ODIs they played..

Spirit of Cricket- Switched hands from Sri Lanka to New Zealand this year, Vettori was pretty startled as to what this award was for..

Panel:Clive Lloyd, Anil Kumble, Mudassar Nazar,  Stephen Fleming and Bob Taylor
ICC ODI Team of the year-
Virender Sehwag (Ind),
Chris Gayle (WI),
Kevin Pietersen (Eng),
Tillakaratne Dilshan (SL),
Yuvraj Singh (Ind),
Martin Guptill (NZ),
MS Dhoni (Ind, captain, WK),
Andrew Flintoff (Eng),
Nuwan Kulasekara (SL),
Ajantha Mendis (SL),
Umar Gul (Pak),
12th man: Thilan Thushara (SL)

The team has one batsman too many.. The line up cannot be determined.. Martin Guptill may be a misfit and the balance is missing..

World Test Team of the Year:

Gautam Gambhir (India),

Andrew Strauss (England),

AB de Villiers (South Africa),

Sachin Tendulkar (India),

Thilan Samaraweera (Sri Lanka),

Michael Clarke (Australia),

MS Dhoni (India, capt & wk),

Shakib Al Hasan (Bangladesh),

Mitchell Johnson (Australia),

Stuart Broad (England),

Dale Steyn (South Africa),

Harbhajan Singh (India, 12th man)

This team is very strong.. No.10 can bat too.. But lacks the 5th bowler..