the year that was

2009 was an eventful year for many reasons.

ICC Champions trophy held after a long gap.
ICC T20 world cup second edition.
The "death" of ODI or the prediction of it.
Rise of India
Fall of Australia
Windies Fiasco
ASHES

The year started of with back to back SA-AUS series. SA won the edition in Australia and Australia won in SA.. 6 matches stood 3-3 at the end. Rather than saying Australia won in SA, it would not be incorrect if we say Mitchell Johnson won in SA.. He was the lone performer with ball and bat in the series and announced himself as the next all-rounder. Dale Steyn's performance with the bat will also be remembered for a long time..

There was a back to back ENG vs WI series too. Windies winning the home series and England in their home series. Windies showed no interest in the England tour that prompted the greats to withdraw them from the T20 world cup that was to follow their English summer.

Pakistan played back to back series against Lankans.. The home series in Pakistan saw the worst ever terrorist attack on the visiting Lankan team that injured many players. A torrid time to go through for those involved.. The return tour after the attacks, went Lanka's way..

New Zealand showcased an one-man show- Daniel Vettori.. He scored a test 100 in Sri Lankan soil and showed great determination. They came close to winning but never won a single match in the series.

A year of back to back series- Bangladesh and Zimbabwe competed fiercely in 5 ODI series.. The series saw Hamilton Mazakadza score heavily and create a record for highest aggregate in a 5 match series. Charles Coventry almost broke the record for the highest individual score in ODIs. 194* is rated higher than 194 out, so officially Coventry is the highest run scorer.

India won a series in Newzealand after ages.. 1-0 was the result and India completed the tour with some amazing play in the ODIs as well...

Windies lost to Bangladesh handing the latter their first ever test series win.. Windies lost a majority of their players to a ongoing contract crisis.. A 2nd string Windies side was captained by a hopeless player and they dint even look like posing a threat to Bangladesh who gleefully went away with a win..


ICC T20 was a bitter experience for India, who were bounced out.. Windies showed remarkable enthusiasm and courage and went all the way to semis.. They lost the semis- a total team effort... Lanka went to finals on the back of Dilshan's amazing knocks and good bowling.. Pakistan was immensely impressive, a dynamic leader in Younus Khan stepped up and Pak lifted the T20 world cup much deservedly..

ICC Champions trophy revived the concept of ODIs.. High TV ratings proved that if the quality of cricket is good then people do tune into ODI cricket.. Quite a lot of matches went to the wire.. The catch Younus Khan dropped made a big news and the dirty match fixing came into picture again.. Pakistan in the wrong side of things once again, unfortunately.. An exhibition of reverse swing from Rana Naved saw Aussie struggle to win and that made India exit from the Champions trophy too..

ASHES was the next big highlight this year, England won it.. Monty Panesar and James Anderson dug it out in Cardiff, the 1st match. ENG never looked back.. Johnson was not in good form and that hurt them a lot. Though, statistically Aussies were far better yet bizarre thing was they never capitulated on the big moments and Ponting had lost the Ashes twice on England soil..

40 odd tests and 250 ODIs and quite a few T20s made up this year..

Wait !! something is missing..

IPL and CL T20 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Modi never makes anything without creating sufficient noise. (sufficient??!!) General elections in India meant that IPL had to be rescheduled and revised but the govt did not seem to agree with Modi. And what does Modi do? Shift INDIAN premier league to SA.. "SA have embraced the concept of IPL and its a huge success", this was a signature statement that either prefixed or was a post fix to any answer that Modi gave to a question that did not even require him to say that. A dull IPL..

CL T20 opened avenues. Many fringe players get noticed but the response wasn't encouraging enough.. The people being unaware of the players and teams was a major reason. It meant that they couldn't associate themselves with a team apart from the IPL ones.. Trinidad and Tobago showed that cricket is still alive in Windies and it needs a professional management to improve standards..

shane Warne come back

ALL stars XI take on Australian XI tomorrow in an exhibition match..

Warne will join up with his old team-mates Glenn McGrath, Adam Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden when they appear in an Australian Cricketers' Association XI captained by Warne at the Gabba on Sunday.

Australian Cricketers' Association XI Shane Warne (capt), Travis Birt, Lee Carseldine, Adam Gilchrist, Daniel Harris, Matthew Hayden, Jason Krejza, Rhett Lockyear, Graham Manou (wk), Glenn McGrath, Nathan Reardon, Nathan Rimmington.

Australian XI Michael Clarke (capt), Cameron White, George Bailey, Brad Haddin (wk), David Hussey, Andrew McDonald, Clint McKay, Peter Siddle, Steven Smith, Shaun Tait, Adam Voges, David Warner.

LIVE on Star Cricket, 1400 hrs IST.. 

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.

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

KPL

Yet another cricket tournament in India and another one in the same format as that of IPL..

ICL was the first to roll out city based teams all owned by the Zee group, IPL took it to unimaginable heights based on city loyalties and teams being owned by franchises..

The latest addition to that is Mantri KPL, 8 teams, 8 owners, 8 districts in Karnataka.

 

• The league shall have 8 teams from 8 locations that will compete in the KPL

• Each team shall be represented by a Franchisee and shall be a consortium of 3-5 districts allocated geographically, referred to as the catchment area.
• 16 day tournament with 2 matches every day from 16:00 to 19:00 hrs & 19:30 to 22:30 hrs (Day/ Night) 
• Each team shall play the other once, with the top 4 teams qualifying for the Semis and thereafter a final . Total - 31 Matches (28 League matches, 2 Semis and 1 final)
• The tickets are priced as Rs.49 and Rs.25, which is done in order to lure even the reluctant fans to the stadium.

The inaugural ceremony which ironically took place after a match was played comprised of laser show, "fusion" dance and the usual opening ceremony talks from the sponsors and organizers.. 

As has become customary, fusion dance supposedly a blend of traditional and modern dance hit the floors  but the latter was inconspicuous in its presence ..

 

  

It was no surprise that the eight participating teams lined up on the park for a ringside view of the cultural performances that were full of energy, if nothing else.

With fellow State Ministers Goolihatti Shekar and Katta Subrahmanya Naidu, as well as KSCA president Srikanta Datta Narasimha Raja Wadiyar and secretary Brijesh Patel in attendance, Transport Minister R Ashok declared the KPL open.. (after a match was completed)..

Laser show was organized which was the highlight of the ceremony as that was the only part that was visible from all parts of the stadium..

 

  

This is the layout of the stadium, the white line in the ground indicates the place where the stage shown in a picture above with "yakshagana" artistes performing was put up.. ( the pic has a Mantri banner )

 

 Clearly, 3/4 the of the stadium was cut off from the action and moreover the stands in front of the stage was more or less vacant with only the dignitaries occupying the pavilion stand, (yellow in color in the layout)..

Poorly organized function.. KSCA and KPL have tried to emulate IPL in every aspect and have failed to do so.. The event lacked brilliance and was not well organized.. The controversial and debatable strategic time out is also a feature of this tournament.. "COPYING" couldn't get worse !! IPL had specifically put the time out in place to cater to the increasing demand from the sponsors for ad space, cricketing perspective of the time out was debated across all sections and many prominent international stars did not find any positives in it.. KPL is not of the stature of IPL and neither does it have a crowded ad space, the only "ad" that is played in between overs is KPL anthem.. 

KPL which is looking at

• An opportunity to encourage cricket talent from the districts of Karnataka.
• A competitive platform for young, aspiring cricketers at the grass root level. ;

did not feature any of the stalwarts of Indian cricket who were from the native Karnataka.. Fair enough, Rahul Dravid was away with national duty but Kumble, Srinath, Prasanna, Chandrashekar, Syed Kirmani could have launched the event but were not to be found.. GR.Viswanath though was at the event because he happened to be the match referee..

 

 

 

 

Karnataka T20 League - KPL

The Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) had launched a Twenty20 tournament as part of its plans to expand the game in rural districts. The ten-side zonal league, known as the Karnakata Premier League (KPL), will be held at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore between September 12 and 27.

It will feature eight teams backed by the KSCA and Frontiers Group India, with the state association to host an auction on August 8. The eight so-called franchises will pick from a minimum of five from a pool of 40 domestic players in Karnataka. The 40 cricketers will be divided among ten zonal teams: Bangalore, Mysore, Mangalore, Dharwad, Raichur, Tumkur, Shimoga, Bellary, Gulbarga and Belgaum. The KSCA has fixed the minimum bid at Rs 20 lakhs. 

Bangalore will have 2 teams-Urban and Rural , Mysore, Belgaum, Shimoga, Mangalore, Hubli-Dharwad and Gulbarga were the other zones that were grabbed up, with Bellary, the mining capital of the state, and Raichur missing out from the list announced by KSCA president Srikantadatta Wadiyar.The bidding for the eight franchises of the inaugural Karnataka Premier League (KPL) has fetched a total of Rs 35 crore ($7.36 million approx).. 

• Brigade Enterprises, part of the Brigade Group, making the highest bid of Rs 7.20 crore ($1.51 million approx) for the ownership rights of the Bangalore Urban team. 
• Melmont Constructions Pvt Ltd, part of the Puravankara Group, netted the Bangalore Rural team with a winning bid of Rs 5.55 crore.  
• The Mangalore team went to Fiza Developers owned by politician Moideen Bava for Rs 4.23 crores 
• The Mysore team was bought by Kupendra Reddy Series Auto Company for Rs 3.25 crores 
• The Hubli-Dharwad team went to Shamanoor Shiva Shankarappa and Jagannnath for Rs 3.77 crores.
• The Gulbarga team was secured by Vivid Creations for 3.56 crores 
• Belgaum team by Subash Publishers and Sangeeth Electronics Company for Rs 3.81 crores. 
• The Shimoga team went to Jayaprakash Hedge for Rs 1.75 crores

With cricket in Karnataka being badly hit by a variety of reasons in the recent past, including the dearth of quality players and the inability to spot and nurture the few talented ones, moving forward is imperative as far as the Karnataka State Cricket Association is concerned. Without doubt, Karnataka selectors will be able to see some raw and promising talent in the KPL.  

Having witnessed the nail biting matches in the IPL the cricketers will know what is expected of them in these matches.  One is not sure if the crowds will flock to the stadium but if the matches show promise the efforts of the KSCA will bear fruit.

Former India and Karnataka players Kumble and Srinath have expressed concern over the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA)'s move to start a Karnataka Premier League (KPL) with private franchise ownership of eight teams  and feel it is not a positive development..

Kumble had said that KSCA could organize the event with annual grants from the BCCI and the franchise move is not good as it would allow back door entry into KSCA to people who are not passionate about cricket..

Srinath also voiced his concerns over introducing T20 format to youngsters while they should be trained to play the longer format and then T20 be introduced, making them T20 professionals is not the way forward.. 

The Indian board has now rejected a request from its Karnataka state association to allow players from outside that state to participate in the proposed Twenty20 Karnataka Premier League (KPL). It's understood that the BCCI's decision to restrict KPL to an intra-state event - potentially a big spoke in the league's wheel - is to prevent the possibility of such tournaments becoming potential rivals to its cash-rich IPL.

Whatever be the reason, if other state players are not allowed to play in KPL then each team has to play fringe players to pull out a playing XI.. The quality of cricket may not be that great.. If the quality is not great people will not come to watch cricket or watch on tv.. This would have adverse effects on sponsors and the league itself.. So the primary motive should be to ensure that the cricket is upto the mark and fair.. 

Champions League T20 fixtures

Champions League T20 is a T20 league played among  the finalists of IPL and the T20 events in the countries of Australia, South Africa, England, winners of T20 event in Sri Lanka, West Indies and New Zealand.. Since Pakistan are not involved the 3rd best team in IPL2009 also take part as the 12th team.. An initiative of three founding members - the BCCI, Cricket Australia and Cricket South Africa (CSA) - the tournament will have prize money of US$6 million.

The teams are divided into 4 groups with the top 2 teams from each group qualifying for the next round of 2 groups of 4 each.. The event will be played across 3 venues in India ; M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore; Feroz Shah Kotla, New Delhi and Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium;Hyderabad from October 8 to October 23rd..

Victoria and New South Wales from Australia, Cape Cobras and Eagles from South Africa, Otago Volts from New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago from West Indies and Wayamba from Sri Lanka take part in the event.. The English teams will be determined after their Twenty20 Cup ends in August.

GROUP A -- Deccan Chargers, Trinidad and Tobago and TBC
GROUP B -- New South Wales, Eagles and TBC
GROUP C -- Royal Challengers Bangalore, Otago and Cape Cobras
GROUP D -- Delhi Dare Devils, Wayamba and Victoria

FIXTURES

Date and Time(IST)	Match
Thu Oct 8 20:00 Hrs	Group C - Royal Challengers Bangalore v Cape Cobras M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore
Fri Oct 9 16:00 Hrs	Group B - Eagles v New South Wales Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi
Fri Oct 9 20:00 Hrs	Group D - Delhi Daredevils v Victoria Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi
Sat Oct 10 16:00 Hrs	Group C - Cape Cobras v Otago Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Uppal, Hyderabad
Sat Oct 10 20:00 Hrs	Group A - Deccan Chargers v TBC Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Uppal, Hyderabad
Sun Oct 11 16:00 Hrs	Group B - New South Wales v TBC Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi
Sun Oct 11 20:00 Hrs	Group D - Delhi Daredevils v Wayamba Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi
Mon Oct 12 16:00 Hrs	Group A - TBC v Trinidad & Tobago M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore
Mon Oct 12 20:00 Hrs	Group C - Royal Challengers Bangalore v Otago M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore
Tue Oct 13 16:00 Hrs	Group D - Victoria v Wayamba Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi
Tue Oct 13 20:00 Hrs	Group B - Eagles v TBC Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi
Wed Oct 14 20:00 Hrs	Group A - Deccan Chargers v Trinidad & Tobago Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Uppal, Hyderabad
Thu Oct 15 20:00 Hrs	League B - TBC v TBC (C1 v D2) M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore
Fri Oct 16 16:00 Hrs	League A - TBC v TBC (A2 v B2) Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Uppal, Hyderabad
Fri Oct 16 20:00 Hrs	League A - TBC v TBC (A1 v B1) Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Uppal, Hyderabad
Sat Oct 17 16:00 Hrs	League B - TBC v TBC (C2 v D2) M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore
Sat Oct 17 20:00 Hrs	League B - TBC v TBC (C1 v D1) M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore
Sun Oct 18 16:00 Hrs	League A - TBC v TBC (A2 v B1) Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Uppal, Hyderabad
Sun Oct 18 20:00 Hrs	League A - TBC v TBC (A1 v B2) Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Uppal, Hyderabad
Mon Oct 19 20:00 Hrs	League B - TBC v TBC (C2 v D1) Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi
Wed Oct 21 20:00 Hrs	1st semi-final - TBC v TBC (Winner B v Runner up A) Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi
Thu Oct 22 20:00 Hrs	2nd semi-final - TBC v TBC (Winner A v Runner up B) Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Uppal, Hyderabad
Fri Oct 23 20:00 Hrs	Final - TBC v TBC Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Uppal, Hyderabad

23 Matches overal , 9 to Hyderabad , 8 to Delhi and 6 to Bangalore..
ESPNSTAR will broadcast the event and Airtel are the sponsors..