boring draw

Draw.............. Dreaded word in test matches..

Dead Pitch, slow poison to test matches.. Why bother supporting the idea of a Test championship when you're doing your best to kill off the oldest form of the game?

DRAW is a special feature of the tests.. A team must lose all wickets to give an outright win to the opposition.. 99-9 chasing 400 for win is also a draw..

Some of the most remembered test matches have been great drawn games.. The most recent being the nail biting finish at Cardiff in Ashes.. Panesar and Anderson had batted out almost an hour to ensure a draw in the 1st test match against Aussies which was considered equal to a win with the crowd roaring when the umpires called off play at the end of the stipulated time..

As far as I can remember, in Australia India has drawn a game in Gabba 2003, Sydney 2004, Sydney 2008.. I think those are the only 3 drawn games, or SAF may have drawn a game sometime.. Such is the result oriented pitches they have been producing over the past 5-6 years..

In England and New Zealand, the draws are mostly decided by wet conditions and rains..

Astonishingly, England since Jan 01,2004 has played in 42 tests and in the same time the busiest country India has featured in 27 home tests only.. 11 of the 42 tests have been a draw in England..  7 of those have been due to time wasted by bad light or rain or wet out field.. 2 instances of close calls, when India had lost 9 wickets and MS Dhoni helped India save the Lord's test match, the famous Ashes match where Lee and McGrath saw off the final few overs..

Ironically, majority of the draws have been in the tour opener at Lord's, London - 6 ..

West Indies also have 12 draws in their home..

one due to Lara's mammoth 400*..

double centuries from chanderpaul and Hinds and rain stoppage ended a match in draw..

Gayle storm of 317, 3 more from WI; 4 centuries from SA and they still had time to play 30 overs in 2nd innings.. Ironically, for SA all 11 players bowled in the match..

last wicket was not dislodged on 2 occasions.. rain on 3 occasions.

Largely, West Indies has been a batting paradise.. Scores of 580s, 600s, 750s have been the culprits in draws.. 5 of the draws has been against England..

12 draws in INDIA too, adding the draw in Ahmedabad test against Lanka 2 days back..

7 of those have been on dead pitches.. Centuries galore.. No holding back..
2 no play possible on 2-3days due to rains in Chennai.. Dead wickets assisted by bad light in the remaining 3 cases..
These 12 draws have been among the worst games ever played, mindless batting exhibitions on surfaces where the bowlers were neutered the moment the new ball lost its shine.
The pitch looked good enough to last another week- was a common comment..  Ganguly in his article has written that another test match could be played on the Motera wicket ,Ahmedabad after Murali could do no damage on the 5th day too..

There's nothing wrong with a surface being batsman-friendly initially, as long as it deteriorates over the course of a game.. There's nothing wrong in a pitch being spinner friendly either, but the match referees take it the other way that the pitch is a minefield.. What if all wickets were taken by the faster bowlers, is the pitch to bouncy ?? Why not call off then!!

This is a series where the No. 1 ranking is at stake. You'd think that results mattered. India are content with being world leaders: at signing TV deals and producing sub-standard pitches..

windies back in action

West Indies are back in action. They have fielded a full strength side..

Windies are touring Australia, it forms the 1st half of the Aussie summer who host Pakistan as the 2nd team later this year..

Date and Time in IST	Game	Venue
NOV 18-21 26 Nov – 30 Nov 05:30 AM	Tour match vs Queensland 1st Test – Australia v West Indies	Brisbane Gabba, Brisbane
4 Dec –  8 Dec 05:30 AM	2nd Test – Australia v West Indies	Adelaide Oval
16 Dec –20 Dec 08:00 AM  Feb 4 04:30 IST	3rd Test – Australia v West  Indies Prime Minister's XI v West Indians	WACA, Perth Manuka Oval, Canberra
Sun 7 Feb (D/N) 08:45 AM	1st ODI – Australia v West Indies	MCG
Tue 9 Feb (D/N) 08:45 AM	2nd ODI – Australia v West Indies	SCG
Fri 12 Feb (D/N) 08:15 AM	3rd ODI – Australia v West Indies	Adelaide Oval
Sun 14 Feb (D/N) 08:45 AM	4th ODI – Australia v West Indies	Gabba
Fri 19 Feb (D/N) 08:45 AM	5th ODI – Australia v West Indies	MCG
Sun 21 Feb 11:30 AM	1st T20I – Australia v West Indies	Bellerive Oval, Hobart
Tue 23 Feb (D/N) 14:05 PM	2nd T20I – Australia v West Indies	SCG

The West Indians ended a difficult tour game on a high when they fought to secure a draw with a committed batting display against Queensland..

Windies were bowled out cheaply for 271. Many were playing their first match in Australia and it can be tough.. The bowling was below par, missing the likes of Jerome Taylor and Darren Powell.. Conceded 617,.. 2nd innings was better though..

With Chris Gayle a major doubt due to his mother's illness in Jamaica, Sarwan and Chanderpaul are likely to have more responsibility and it was the experienced pair who guided the side for much of the day during a 131-run stand..

Sarwan and Chanderpaul scored well in both the innings.. The one who came good was the teen aged Adrian
Barath.. He impressed all with his exploits in the Champions League recently concluded in India where his team Trinidad n Tobago had a dream run.. In the absence of the captain,Gayle,  Travis Dowlin was Barath's partner against Queensland. It is an unfamiliar position for him. He went in No.3 in his two Tests against Bangladesh but his usual slot for Guyana is No.5.

In the 2nd innings, Narsingh Deonaraine was tried out at no.3.. Travis Dowlin played well for his 50..

The real test would be how well the bowlers cope up.. In the past, recent past, they had the likes of Walsh who was economical.. If these bowlers who have no experience at the international level keep leaking runs, then there would be no pressure on the world no.4..

Even though Australia are at no.4 in ICC test rankings, they are sure to dominate the proceedings throughout the series..

Windies will do well to at-least draw a match, that would be the biggest upset..

TEAM :
Australia: Watson, Katich, Ponting, Clarke, Hussey, North, Haddin, Johnson, Siddle, Bollinger, Hauritz, Hilfenhaus ..
Clarke is back and so is Haddin.. The toss would be in having a 4th seamer or a spinner.. Watson can be the 4th seamer so having Hauritz would be a good option.. Hilfenhaus may make way for Bollinger who had a great tour of India..

West Indies: Gayle, Dowlin, Barath, Sarwan, Chanderpaul, Deonaraine, Dwyane Bravo, Dinesh Ramdin, Brendon Nash, Sulieman Benn, Ravi Rampual, Kemar Roach, Jerome Taylor, Darren Sammy, Gavin Tonge..

Gayle has gone back home to be with his ill mother.. Sarwan and Chanderpaul are the only batting hopes.. Barath and Dowlin have to perform well and so should Nash.. Bravo will be useful with his bowling and experience, he has to be cautious in batting and not throw his wicket away.. He will be vulnerable in playing off the front foot..
Bowling is thin, Taylor is sore.. He is the lone bowler with considerable international experience.. Rampaul, Roach will probably form the back up.. Not expecting great performances from them.. Benn is a fast slow bowler, if that makes any sense.. I have never seen his turn the ball.. Sammy is too military medium to find a place in the side with bowling as criteria..
Leather hunt if windies bowl and quick wickets if they bat..

If they show the same fighting spirits as they did in the 2nd innings of the tour match, it would do the test matches a world of good.. Otherwise, test match's future and two tier system for tests will again crop up..

Biggest upset would be if a test is drawn, with no stoppage from weather..

world cup 2011 fixtures

Group A -                Group B -

Australia,                    India,

Pakistan,                    South Africa,

New Zealand,            England,

Sri Lanka,                  West Indies,

Zimbabwe,                 Bangladesh,

Canada,                     Ireland,

Kenya.                       Netherlands.

FIXTURES - 

INDIA

Feb 19     1st match -   India v Bangladesh    Mirpur

Feb 27     11th match - India v England          Kolkata  

Mar 6      21st match - India v Ireland            Bangalore 

Mar 9      25th match - India v Netherlands   Delhi 

Mar 12    29th match - India v South Africa   Nagpur

Mar 20    42nd match -India v West Indies    Chennai

SRI LANKA

Feb 20      3rd match -   Sri Lanka v Canada (Hambantota)

Feb 26      10th match - Pakistan v Sri Lanka (Colombo)

Mar 1       14th match - Kenya v Sri Lanka (Colombo) 

Mar 5       20th match - Australia v Sri Lanka (Colombo)

Mar 10     26th match - Sri Lanka v Zimbabwe (Pallekele)

Mar 18     37th match - New Zealand v Sri Lanka Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai

NEW ZEALAND

Feb 20   2nd match -   Kenya v New Zealand          ,Chennai 

Feb 25   8th match -    Australia v New Zealand      ,Nagpur

Mar 4    18th match -  New Zealand v Zimbabwe    ,Ahmedabad 

Mar 8    24th match -  New Zealand v Pakistan (Pallekele) 

Mar 13  30th match -  Canada v New Zealand ,Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai

Mar 18  37th match -  New Zealand v Sri Lanka ,Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai

AUSTRALIA

Feb 21   4th match -   Australia v Zimbabwe           Ahmedabad   

Feb 25   8th match -   Australia v New Zealand      Nagpur

Mar 5   20th match -  Australia v Sri Lanka           Colombo
Mar 13  31st match - Australia v Kenya                 Bangalore 

Mar 16  35th match - Australia v Canada               Bangalore 

Mar 19 39th match -  Australia v Pakistan             Colombo

ENGLAND

Feb 22    5th match -   England v Netherlands    Nagpur 

Feb 27    11th match - India v England                Kolkata 

Mar 2     15th match - England v Ireland            Bangalore 

Mar 6     22nd match -England v South Africa   Chennai

Mar 11   28th match - Bangladesh v England    Chittagong  

Mar 17   36th match - England v West Indies   Chennai 

PAKISTAN

Feb 23    6th match -   Kenya v Pakistan                (Hambantota)
Feb 26   10th match -  Pakistan v Sri Lanka         (Colombo)
Mar 3    17th match -  Canada v Pakistan             (Colombo)
Mar 8    24th match -  New Zealand v Pakistan    (Pallekele)
Mar 14  32nd match - Pakistan v Zimbabwe       (Pallekele)
Mar 19  39th match -  Australia v Pakistan         (Colombo)

WEST INDIES

Feb 24   7th match -    South Africa v West Indies     Delhi  

Feb 28   12th match -  Netherlands v West Indies     Delhi

Mar 4    19th match -  Bangladesh v West Indies      Mirpur 

Mar 11  27th match -  Ireland v West Indies,            Chandigarh  

Mar 17  36th match -  England v West Indies            Chennai

Mar 20  42nd match - India v West Indies                 Chennai

SOUTH AFRICA 

Feb 24   7th match -    South Africa v West Indies ,     Delhi 

Mar 3    16th match -  Netherlands v South Africa      Chandigarh

Mar 6    22nd match - England v South Africa             Chennai

Mar 12  29th match -  India v South Africa  ,               Nagpur

Mar 15  34th match -  Ireland v South Africa,              Kolkata

Mar 19  40th match -  Bangladesh v South Africa,       Mirpur 

BANGLADESH

Feb 19   1st match -   Bangladesh v India                     Mirpur

Feb 25   9th match   - Bangladesh v Ireland                 Mirpur  

Mar 4    19th match - Bangladesh v West Indies         Mirpur  

Mar 11  28th match - Bangladesh v England               Chittagong  

Mar 14  33rd match - Bangladesh v Netherlands        Chittagong  

Mar 19  40th match - Bangladesh v South Africa,       Mirpur

Feb 28    13th match -  Canada v Zimbabwe,                 Nagpur  

Mar 7     23rd match - Canada v Kenya,                       Delhi

Mar 18   38th match -  Ireland v Netherlands,              Kolkata

Mar 20   41st match -  Kenya v Zimbabwe,                   Kolkata

Mar 23	Quarter Final - TBC v TBC,    Mirpur
Mar 24	Quarter Final - TBC v TBC    (Colombo)
Mar 25	Quarter Final - TBC v TBC,    Mirpur
Mar 26	Quarter Final - TBC v TBC,   Ahmedabad

Tue Mar 29	Semi Final - TBC v TBC      (Colombo)
Wed Mar 30	Semi Final - TBC v TBC      Chandigarh

Apr 2

Final - TBC v TBC Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai

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..

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

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..

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..

Champions League - CL T20

Champions League is yet another brain child of IPL boss Lalit Modi.. This T20 venture is true to its name, that it features the champions of  domestic T20 tournaments in 7 countries and 3 founder countries also have their runner-up in place for the tournament.. So, indeed, it is a league of the champions..

Champions trophy was conceived a year ago by BCCI, CA and CSA..  The BCCI is a founding partner of the tournament, 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 first edition which was to take place in December, 2008 in India was postponed following terrorist attacks in Mumbai in November as a mark of solidarity with the victims. It was later canceled. The revised dates that were announced was October 8 - 23, 2009.

The inaugural  edition of the CL T20 will be held across 3 venues in India- Bangalore, Hyderabad and Delhi.. The prize money for the event is a staggering 6million USD with the winners taking USD 2.5 million...

The teams that will compete in the inaugural contest are:

Deccan Chargers, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Delhi Daredevils (India);
New South Wales Blues and VB Victorian Bushrangers (Australia);
Cape Cobras and Diamond Eagles (South Africa);
Sussex and  Somerset County Cricket Club (England)
Otago Volts (New Zealand);
Wayamba (Sri Lanka);
Trinidad & Tobago (West Indies) ..

 Two hundred and thirty four players have been named by the dozen participating teams, out of which as many as 110 have played international cricket for their respective nations.Players who represent two teams in CL T20 competitions got to choose which team they will want to play for.. As many as nine cricketers came under this category and the ‘away’ team had to pay a whooping USD200,000 to a player’s home team to actually retain the player’s services.

The format......

The 12 teams have been divided into 4 groups of 3 each.. The top 2 teams from each group move into 2 groups.. the top 4 of these groups play the semi finals..

                

Group Stage

Group A: Deccan Chargers, Somerset, Trinidad & Tobago

Group B: New South Wales, Eagles , Sussex Sharks

Group C: Royal Challengers Bangalore, Cape Cobras and Otago

Group D: Delhi Daredevils, Victoria and Wayamba

Round Robin League Stage

League A: A1, A2, B1, B2

League B: C1, C2, D1, D2

TIME	MATCH	Venue
Thu Oct 8 (D/N) 20:00 IST	Group C - Royal Challengers Bangalore v Cape Cobras	M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore
Fri Oct 9 16:00 IST	Group B - Eagles v New South Wales	Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi
Fri Oct 9 (D/N) 20:00 IST	Group D - Delhi Daredevils v Victoria	Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi
Sat Oct 10 16:00 IST	Group C - Cape Cobras v Otago	Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Uppal, Hyderabad
Sat Oct 10 (D/N) 20:00 IST	Group A - Deccan Chargers v Somerset Sabres	Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Uppal, Hyderabad
Sun Oct 11 16:00 IST	Group B - New South Wales v Sussex Sharks	Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi
Sun Oct 11 (D/N) 20:00 IST	Group D - Delhi Daredevils v Wayamba	Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi
Mon Oct 12 16:00 IST	Group A -  Somerset Sabres v Trinidad & Tobago	M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore
Mon Oct 12 (D/N) 20:00 IST	Group C - Royal Challengers Bangalore v Otago	M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore
Tue Oct 13 16:00 IST	Group D - Victoria v Wayamba	Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi
Tue Oct 13 (D/N) 20:00 IST	Group B - Eagles v Sussex Sharks	Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi
Wed Oct 14 (D/N) 20:00 IST	Group A - Deccan Chargers v Trinidad & Tobago	Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Uppal, Hyderabad

 The teams and their road to CL T20 in the subsequent posts..