ICL information

ICL announces eventful season for 2008

2008-04-03T21:31:00.000-07:00

Subhash Chandra’s Indian Cricket League (ICL) which kick started its first season in November, will host 5 tournaments in 2008. The announcement was made today by Essel Group chairman Subhash Chandra and Kapil Dev, chairman of the executive board, ICL.

The second season of ICL will roll-out in February and will include 50-over matches as well.

” It is indeed heartening to see the response Indian Cricket League (ICL) has been able to generate in India and across the globe. After a successful launch in keeping with the promise made, ICL is proud to announce its cricket calendar for the coming season.” ICL conducted its first 20-20 championship at the Tau Devilal cricket stadium at Panchkula, Chandigarh from November 30 to December 16, Subhash Chandra, chairman, Essel Group said.

ICL’s 2008 event calender will begin in February with a 50-over tournament featuring domestic cricketers, to be followed by a Twenty20 triangular series. In March-April, ICL will organise the ICL Grand Championship in which 8 teams will participate in a Twenty20 tournament. By April- May, the league will open academies across cities. September-October will witness the ICL Invitation Cup (a 20 over a side tournament in which 8 teams will participate). The season will conclude in November-December with the second edition of ICL Twenty20 Indian Championship.

resource:indiancricketleaguenews.wordpress.com

Shane Bond joins rebel Indian Cricket League

2008-03-14T22:53:00.000-07:00

Fast bowler Shane Bond left New Zealand to play in the rebel Indian Cricket League, clinging to hope the ICL will eventually be officially recognised and that his international career may resume.

"I'm sure the restraint of trade things will eventually be tested and who knows what will open up. The landscape is changing all the time," Bond said.

New Zealand has joined all Test-playing nations in refusing to sanction the ICL, while allowing its players to join the Indian Premier League which will operate under the auspices of the Board of Control for Cricket in India.

Bond, 32, will receive a reported USD 800,000 a year for playing in the ICL. In doing so, he has had to give up his international career because New Zealand Cricket has instructed its national selectors not to consider players with ICL connections.

Bond is shortly to join the English county Hampshire on a short-term contract but that involvement might also suffer because of his ICL involvement. The England and Wales Cricket Board has warned that players with an ICL affiliation may not receive the necessary clearances to be registered for county play.

"The ECB board (is) determined to disassociate and distance itself from any promoter, agent or individual involved in such events," it said in a statement yesterday.

"It was further noted that unqualified cricketers requiring a 'no objection certificate' to be registered for cricket in England and Wales are unlikely to receive such certificates from their home boards if they participate in unauthorised events.

"In order to protect the genuine interests in the development of grassroots and county cricket and protecting anti-doping and anti-corruption measures, the ECB policy to condemn unauthorised events will be taken into consideration when evaluating any application to register players for county cricket.

resource:www.expressindia.com

Six more Pak players may join ICL

2008-03-12T21:51:00.000-07:00

Six more Pak players may join ICL

Reports have suggested that at least six more Pakistan cricketers may join the ICL, and they are mainly players who don’t have permanent places in the national team.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has already banned six of its Indian Cricket League (ICL) players from playing domestic cricket.

Inzamam-ul-Haq, Abdul Razzaq, Shabbir Ahmed, Taufiq Umar, Imran Farhat and Azhar mahmood have been told that they cannot represent their parent department in any PCB-recognised tournament after participating in the recently held ICL.

Farhat, Umar and Ahmed have said that they will move the courts over the ban.

Meanwhile, the PCB’s Media Director, Ahsan Hameed Malik, has confirmed the player ban.

“Yes, the PCB has written a letter to all the affiliated units on December 6, instructing them not to allow (to play) any such players, who are involved with any league cricket, not recognized by the board,” the Dawn quoted Malik, as saying.

“The PCB is only punishing the players to please its Indian counterpart, otherwise there is nothing wrong in the entire matter,” Imran countered.

Resource: www.indiancricketleaguenews.wordpress.com

Success of ICL tournament justified participation: Hall

2008-03-04T20:59:00.000-08:00

Johannesburg : Despite his side, Chandigarh Lions, losing to the Chennai Superstars in the final of the Indian Cricket League Twenty20 tournament, South African cricketer Andrew Hall has said the success of the inaugural event justified the participation of international players, most of whom have been branded rebels.Writing in his weekly column “Report from a Rebel” in the Afrikaans weekly Rapport here, Hall said the tournament was “a gigantic success” and the players were very happy with the way it had turned out.

“This success has vindicated my decision - and that of all the other South African players - to come and play here (in Chandigarh ). Sometimes one has to take a chance, especially with something which is initially a gamble.”

Hall’s side lost to the Chennai Superstars Sunday in the finals of the inaugural Indian Cricket League (ICL) Twenty20 championship.

Hall and several other South African players have been considered rebels by Cricket South Africa , the national body for the sport here. Some are in litigation with the body after it decided to exclude them from even local squads.

“It’s incredible how the players from the different countries came together to make the ICL such a showpiece. Besides all the excitement on the field, the tournament also gave us as players an outcome - a guaranteed future and (job) security.

“Everyone knew exactly when they would be playing, how you would be used and that you are appreciated as a player, something every (player) wants in his career,” Hall added.

Hall said it did not matter that his side lost the game.

“I had the opportunity to teach a few young Indian players something which hopefully will make a difference in their careers. That is in the long run why every one of the so-called international players was here.

Resource: www.aboutindiancricketleague.com

'BCCI should recognise ICL as it had broadbased talent'

2008-02-12T01:45:00.000-08:00

Former India captain Ajit Wadekar on Sunday asked BCCI to recognise the Indian Cricket League saying it had broadbased the talent in the country.

"ICL authorities are not getting into the Board's affairs but have helped broadbase the talent in the country. Both BCCI and ICL should co-exist in the interest of the game," said Wadekar, here to witness the final of the Essel Group's inaugural domestic one-day tournament final.

He said young players on the ICL rolls have benefited both career-wise and financially and have had the experience of playing alongside players like Brian Lara.

"It will make a lot of difference to these youngsters if they get to play for the country in matches recognised by BCCI," he said.

Meanwhile, former Chairman of the National Selection Committee Kiran More said "ICL's application for recognition is pending with the BCCI and they have not responded as of yet."

"This is the second ICL tournament held according to our schedule and the players have gained the right exposure from these tournaments," More said.

Source : http://www.hindu.com/

Honourable Shane Bond has my sympathy - Mike Atherton

2008-02-12T01:40:00.000-08:00

How galling for New Zealand's coach, John Bracewell, as England's Twenty20 performances highlighted the gulf in talent between the two teams, that the best pace bowler on either side, Shane Bond, should be considering penning an English county contract instead of pinning English batsmen to the crease.

It is unlikely that Bond's presence alone would have bridged such a chasm of class during the first week of the tour, but New Zealand, with its tiny population and even smaller pool of good cricketers, can ill afford to lose such talent.

Having signed up for the Indian Cricket League, New Zealand decided that Bond could serve one master only, and, after months of protracted negotiations, they terminated his contract. Bond, now, will see out his days playing in a cricketing circus in northern India for part of the year, and domestically in New Zealand and England for the rest. Financially he will be better off; international cricket is the poorer. Quick bowlers are a rare commodity.

Bond himself has had no complaint publicly with New Zealand Cricket's decision, only with the subsequent public perception that somehow he has let down his country, that he has put money before honour. Last week he had this to say: "Some people are always going to think that you're a traitor and I can live with that.

"I find it strange, though, that in any other job people accept that you try to improve your circumstances and get in a better position for your family but it's almost like you're not supposed to do that in sport."

My sympathies lie with the player. Bond has, on a number of previous occasions, turned down lucrative offers to get in the best possible shape to play for New Zealand.

After an injury-plagued career, during which he has missed twice as many matches as he has played, he has probably come to the conclusion that his time as an international is limited and rather than return to the beat empty-handed (Bond was a policeman before) it was time to put the interests of his family first.

Moreover, he has acted honourably, upholding a contract he had signed in good faith. Compare his behaviour with that of the Pakistan batsman Mohammad Yousuf. Yousuf turned his back on Pakistan and signed initially with the ICL; realised then that he had goofed because the Indian Premier League came along and offered more money; professed his love of his country as he tore up his ICL contract, before signing for the IPL. Only one of these players has been banned from playing for their country, but only one has acted with any honour.

My sympathies with Bond, though, extend beyond any empathy with his family's requirements. Ultimately, his dispute with New Zealand cricket is not so much about contractual obligations as the complete failure of New Zealand Cricket, and other countries, to stand up to the power and financial clout of Indian cricket.

When Bond signed with the ICL initially he went to New Zealand Cricket to ascertain whether he would be allowed to play in the ICL when international duties permitted. My understanding is that his employers were happy for him to do so, something they confirmed verbally and in writing. This was, of course, before the IPL emerged. Subsequently, the Indian board persuaded the governing bodies of world cricket to sanction the IPL as the 'official' Twenty20 competition as a way of putting the skids under the ICL.

Nobody is prepared to upset India for fear of losing out on valuable television revenues; the ICL, therefore, quickly accrued pariah status. It is not Bond who has back-tracked but his employers.

England have been just as craven as New Zealand. This week Geoff Miller, out here in his guise as England's new national selector, was asked whether his selection panel would consider those England cricketers - Darren Maddy, Vikram Solanki, Paul Nixon and Chris Read - who have signed for the ICL.

Miller was careful not to say that any official position had been taken - to do so would invite legal action - but reading between the lines it is clear that the 'ICL four' have rebel status. Implicit in Miller's remarks was a threat to any other English player considering his options.

Practically, a problem is unlikely to arise as Miller, James Whitaker and Ashley Giles sit down with Peter Moores and his captains to select England's summer teams. Those ICL players who have signed up have either had their time or are, at best, fringe alternatives. Following the successes of England's one-day team in the first week of this New Zealand tour, and the progress of Messrs Mustard and Wright, the chances of a recall receded even further.

Source : http://www.telegraph.co.uk/

Board’s double standards ruining Pakistan cricket, says Shoaib Akhtar

2008-02-09T02:43:00.001-08:00

Pakistan’s controversial fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar has said that the Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) double standards are ruining the sport in the country. Talking to reporters after attending a practice session at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) here on Friday, Akhtar, who has played 46 Tests and 138 one-day internationals, said he was unable to understand the board’s ‘inconsistent policies’. “I was made a scapegoat after Pakistan lost the Test and ODI series in India. I bowled my heart out with 17 overs during the Bangalore Test just to hear that I was unfit and now, suddenly, the PCB considers me fit enough to lead a team in the Pentangular Cup,” he added.

Akhtar, who has taken 178 Test and 219 ODI wickets, said he agreed with former captain Imran Khan that he (Akhtar) was made a scapegoat for the series loss in India and dropped from the team for the Zimbabwe series. Imran had remarked that Akhtar was dropped as a ‘scapegoat’ for the team’s series loss to India. Akhtar said that he had played international cricket even with 102 temperature because playing for Pakistan was the only preference for him. “I wanted to play the ODI series against Zimbabwe for getting match practice but was dropped from the team on the flimsy pretext that I was unfit.” The 32-year-old fast bowler, nicknamed the ‘Rawalpindi Express,’ was also criticised for his off-field activities on the tour of India, where Pakistan lost the one-day series 3-2 and Tests 1-0.

Akhtar said he was honoured to lead the Federal team. “I will prove my fitness with long and accurate spells during the Pentangular Cup.” He said he would also invite the PCB officials, who were always sitting in their luxurious offices, to see his fitness level. He said he does not need any central contract for representing Pakistan in cricket world and he would not sign any retainership. “Central contracts are not an issue because I play for my country and not for money. I will not accept retainership.” Without naming anyone, Akhtar said it was strange that a cricketer who had not played international cricket for the last three months was put in the category A. “It is all double standards,” he said.

According to critics, the PCB’s new central contracts might sow seeds of dissent among players in the national team. The board awarded enhanced and revised one-year central contracts to 15 players earlier this month excluding fast bowler Akhtar and some other senior players while upgrading junior players into top categories. The categorisation of the cricketers in the new contracts – for example senior leg spinner Danish Kaneria being bracketed with Fawad Alam who has played just three one-dayers in Category C – has raised eyebrows in cricketing circles in the country. It is pertinent to mention that Pakistan cricket has always been sensitive over seniority issues.

There are also reports in the media that Akhtar could dump the BCCI-backed Indian Premier League (IPL) to sign up for the rebel Indian Cricket League (ICL) as his relations with the PCB continue to deteriorate by the day. Sources close to Akhtar say that the speedster has only signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the IPL, which is backed by the PCB as well. And since he is unhappy with the treatment being meted out to him, he is now considering taking on the board by signing up for the ICL.

Akhtar also showed interest in signing on for an Indian film, raising doubts over his cricket future. Akhtar, however, denied he was leaving the sport to join Bollywood. “I want to play cricket and just showing a little interest in films doesn’t mean I am leaving the game. I want to play against Australia. I am making full preparations for the series against Australians as it is not an easy series,” he opined. Akhtar said doing well against Australia would be a motivation. “Australia are world number one team and the way Indians have done well against them, I am sure that we can also do well against them.” Pakistan hosts Australia in March-April this year. Regarding acting in movies, Akhtar said that he had five to six offers of acting in films but he would not sign any film. “I would do films after retirement from cricket,” he concluded.

Source : http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/

Cricket goes to Bollywood

2008-02-04T04:26:00.000-08:00

The Board of Control for Cricket in India has become one of the richest sports bodies in the world, its annual income exceeding the turnover of a large number of private companies.

IT IS raining money on Indian cricket. The Board of Control for Cricket in India, the governing body of the game, will rake in over 50 billion rupees (RM4.1bil) over the next three years from the domestic Twenty20 cricket league alone.

The rights to regional teams for the Indian Premier League (IPL) were recently auctioned to a group of industrialists and film stars.

A brand new version of the “pyjama cricket”, the IPL will also enrich cricket stars beyond their wildest dreams with remuneration of each Indian and foreign player running into seven to eight figures for a 44-day-long championship.

The country’s richest industrialist, Mukesh Ambani of the Reliance Group of Industries; the reigning Khan of Bollywood, Shah Rukh; and top liquor manufacturer Vijay Mallya were among the successful bidders for regional IPL franchises.

Ambani bid the highest amount of 4.41 billion rupees (RM364mil) for Mumbai. Mallya got hometown Bangalore for 4.4 billion rupees (RM363mil), and Shah Rukh with former actress Juhi Chawla bagged Calcutta for 2.96 billion rupees (RM244mil).

There was another Bollywood winner in actress Preity Zinta who with industrialist boyfriend Ness Wadia won Mohali (Punjab) for three billion rupees (RM248mil). Chennai went to a cement manufacturer, while Hyderabad was bagged by a local newspaper group. A construction company won the right to the Delhi team.

Beginning April 18, eight teams will compete for the IPL trophy and a cash prize of more than 160 million rupees (RM13.2mil). Each team will play 14 matches, seven at home and seven away.

To be played under floodlights in eight cities across the country over 44 days, the IPL aims to inject the razzmatazz and pomp and ceremony associated with American basketball and football.

The off-the-field entertainment quotient will be high in order to attract spectators and to engage television audiences.

Each franchisee will have to buy players, domestic and foreign, and invest in coaches, managers, ground staff, promotion, hiring of the stadiums, security and so on.

Each team can hire up to four foreign players. But icon stars associated with cities will have to play for their local teams.

For instance, Sachin Tendulkar will play for Ambani’s Mumbai while Saurav Ganguly will do duty for Shah Rukh Khan’s Calcutta and Rahul Dravid for Mallya’s Bangalore.

Besides, the franchisee will have to pay a minimum wage of two million rupees (RM165,000) to each player in the 16-man squad per season, though in reality the cost could be much higher due to the bidding for star players.

The auctions for players are being held this month. However, the top players bound to play on their home grounds would not be auctioned, but their price will be fixed at 15% higher than the most expensive player in the auction.

The BCCI will share a part of the revenue from television rights, merchandise, gate money and promotional/sponsorship receipts with the franchisees.

More than 70 foreign players have already signed up, among them Australian ace fast bowler Brett Lee and a number of top players from Pakistan, Sri Lanka, South Africa and so on.

The legendary Australian leg-spinner Shane Warne, who retired this year, is also set to play in the IPL, with the bidding for him starting at more than 30 million rupees (RM2.5mil).

The injection of private capital into cricket was a decision forced on the BCCI. The placid nabobs of Indian cricket, quite content with the upturn in its fortunes due to the rise of the ball-to-ball television commentary on private channels, were jolted out of their complacency by an ambitious businessman.

Subhash Chandra Goel of Zee Television networks took everyone by surprise when he announced the launch of the rival Indian Cricket League (ICL).

Goel hired former Indian captain Kapil Dev as his pointsman and undertook an aggressive campaign to buy foreign and Indian players. Several greats of yesteryears from home and abroad were signed up.

Finding its monopoly over the game challenged, the BCCI lost no time in declaring Goel’s ICL illegal.

It also threatened to blacklist any player associated with the ICL. Further, it denied the ICL the use of cricket grounds for holding matches.

To effectively counter the ICL, the BCCI soon came up with the Twenty20 league, and did one better by deciding to auction regional franchises to the highest bidders.

Given the immense popularity of the game and the social cache attached to owning a team of star-players, billionaire industrialists, newspaper magnates and film stars entered the fray.

The successful bidders now own the regional IPL franchise for the next 10 years and they will pay one-tenth of the bidding amount each year over the next decade.

Following the IPL auction, the BCCI has become one of the richest sports bodies in the world. Its annual income now exceeds the turnover of a large number of private companies.

Corporate cricket being all about money, each season IPL teams collectively would have to generate a minimum revenue of seven trillion rupees (RM578bil) for their owners to recoup the expenses – though there are those who believe that the Ambanis and the Mallyas have bought themselves showpieces, and they couldn’t really bother about the money.

Meanwhile, connoisseurs of the game complain that the IPL will lead to further commercialisation of cricket. They were already chafing at the Twenty20 format and now the auctioning of players has hurt their sensibilities.

“Cricketers have now become mercenaries,” lamented a former national player.

On the converse, many feel that money could play a salutary role in improving the quality of cricket.

“If privately-owned football clubs in England can provide first-rate national players, why not an Ambani-owned team with the best professional aides churning out world-beaters in cricket?” argued a sports writer.

Better coaching facilities and better monetary incentives could help nurture cricket talent. The IPL would lead to professionalisation of Indian cricket and help discover and hone local talent.

Source : http://thestar.com.my/

Pak 'rebels' spurn PCB offer, say to remain in ICL

2008-01-28T03:08:00.000-08:00

Pakistani cricketers, who have played in the inaugural Indian Cricket League, have spurned the olive branch offered by the PCB to come to its fold by ditching the 'rebel' league.

Test discards Imran Farhat, Taufiq Umar and Shabbir Ahmed remained adamant and said they would not break their contracts with ICL despite PCB's assurance to lift the ban from appearing in domestic cricket if they promise not to play anymore in the Essel Group promoted league.

"No I can't do that. It is not the honourable thing to do. I took a decision to sign the contract and I will stand by it. We have legal avenues available to fight the PCB ban," Farhat said.

The former opening batsman denied that a petition filed by him and other players challenging PCB's ban has been dismissed by the court

"There is no way they can stop us from playing domestic cricket. And they have been saying the court dismissed our petition but that is not true we withdrew the petition ourselves hoping the board would at its governing body lift the ban," he said.

Farhat, who had played 27 Tests for Pakistan, also ruled out seeking any help from the International Cricket Council, saying it could do nothing as it was an internal matter of the board.

Taufiq Umar said the players had committed no crime playing in the ICL and would not go back on their contracts.

"They are just being personal with us and nothing else. But we will decide soon what we can do to fight this injustice," he said.

Shabbir Ahmed said the board was trying to come down hard on them as it faced a real threat from the ICL.

"They (PCB) know more and more players will go sooner or later and they are worried that is why they are trying to scare out the others so that they don't go at all," he said.

After a governing body meeting on January 25, PCB had decided to continue the ban on former captain Inzamam-ul-Haq, Imran Farhat, Abdul Razzaq, Taufiq Umar, Shabbir Ahmed and Azhar Mahmood from playing any domestic cricket after they played in the inaugural ICL tournament last month.

Source : http://www.hindustantimes.com/

Bond and NZC heading to court

2008-01-22T03:13:00.000-08:00

SHANE Bond and New Zealand Cricket (NZC) are reportedly heading for a lengthy litigation process although a mediator has stepped in to help resolve the fast bowler's dispute with the national body.
The Herald on Sunday newspaper today reported the stand-off between Bond and NZC was poised to head to the Employment Court because the pace bowling spearhead wants to play home and away series against England despite signing on with the unsanctioned Indian Cricket League (ICL) Twenty/20 competition.

By joining the rebel league Bond _ who is contracted to NZC until the end of May _ is now considered ineligible for selection because the International Cricket Council (ICC) have urged member countries not to name players who have aligned themselves with the ICL.

The 32-year-old, who signed a three-year $3.1 million deal with the ICL has been told he cannot play against England unless he reneges on a lucrative contract that sets the injury-plagued former policeman up for life financially.

Both of Bond's contracts are now being examined by lawyers.

Talks with Bond and his representatives began almost a fortnight ago as an 11th-hour effort was made by NZC to extract Bond from his ICL contract.

Discussions foundered and a mediator has been called in to try to prevent the dispute reaching the Employment Relations Authority.

The crux of the matter is whether Bond breached his contract with NZC by signing with the ICL. He is the top-ranked New Zealand cricketer and is on a retainer of more than $120,000 through to June 1.

The dispute is further clouded by the fact NZC cleared him to sign with the ICL almost certainly in written form.

Employment law specialist Hamish Kynaston told the Herald on Sunday, said that document could be construed as legally binding.

Bond and NZC have remained silent on the issue since discussions escalated, though there may be progress this week.

Meanwhile, Bond returned to action for Canterbury in the domestic Twenty/20 competition on Friday having recovered from an abdominal tear sustained during New Zealand's tour of South Africa in November.

Source : http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/

Martin Fires Warning To Straus

2008-01-15T03:17:00.000-08:00

New Zealand bowler Chris Martin has warned Andrew Strauss and his England team-mates to be on their guard in the upcoming series against the Black Caps - even if the hosts are without Shane Bond.

New Northern Knights signing Strauss told reporters on his arrival in the country last week that a home attack lacking Bond, who is discussing his future with New Zealand Cricket after reportedly agreeing to join the rebel Indian Cricket League, "held few surprises".

Martin, however, is determined to see the England batsman eat his words when the

teams meet in five one-day internationals and three Tests starting next month.

"I don't think we've seen the best of us," he said after the Kiwis' innings defeat of Bangladesh in the second Test, a match in which Martin took seven wickets.

"If we can hunt as a pack and hit them hard early, I think we've got the attack to take their wickets.

"He (Strauss) has said a lot of things in the media over the years which can come across as a little bit arrogant and a little bit cocky, so you just take that sort of stuff with a grain of salt."

Source : http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/

South African ICL players call for use of more technology

2008-01-12T03:09:00.000-08:00

The South African players who participated in the inaugural tournament of the breakaway Indian Cricket League last year have come out in support of increased use of television umpires.

Commenting on the current situation in Australia about allegations of unfair decisions against India , the players said the use of technology in the ICL series had put umpires to the test with positive results.

Umpires in the ICL games could ask the television umpire to check on borderline cases before making a decision.

Darryl Cullinan, who coached the Kolkata Tigers, told the Afrikaans daily Beeld here that the system had worked surprisingly well: "The umpires were in radio contact with each other and the decisions did not take long to finalise."

"The technology is getting better all the time and if one looks at the technology being used in Australia , it is high time that it is implemented elsewhere too."

Australian television uses infrared technology to determine whether the ball has hit the bat, gloves or pads.

Nicky Boje, who played for Hyderabad Heroes, was also supportive of the process, but called for consistency: "The one problem was that the umpires did not apply it consistently - they would ask for it in one game and then not in the next."

Chandigarh Lions player Andrew Hall said the system helped umpires make the right decisions.

"If one looks at what happened in the test between India and Australia , technology could have helped calm tempers," Hall said.

"I think nine of ten times when there is an altercation on the field; it is because of a poor decision. The fielding team is then angered and takes it out on the batsman. If you get the right decision, you eliminate those emotions."

Source : http://www.kalingatimes.com/

Richardson on Delhi Police radar

2008-01-11T02:21:00.000-08:00

Having questioned South African cricketers Herschelle Gibbs and Nicky Boje in connection with the 2000 match-fixing scandal, Delhi Police now wants to "talk" to their team-mate Dave Richardson to help in the investigations.

The version of Richardson, who is believed to have opposed match-fixing by some of his team-mates, is required so that more light could be thrown on the most infamous scandal to rock the cricket history, police said.

"We have sent a Letter Rogatory to South African government requesting it to allow us to question a number of players including Richardson," Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime) Satyendra Garg told PTI when asked about Delhi Police's moves to seek the version of the former wicketkeeper.

Richardson is currently serving as General Manager (Operation) in the International Cricket Council.

He had testified before the King's Commission set up by the South African government to look into the match-fixing scandal, with roots going back to 1996.

He had reportedly told the Commission that an international player had made an offer to his team-mate Pat Symcox during their tour to India in 1996 and that he had expressed opposition to it.

In this connection, a senior Delhi Police official said, investigators want to "talk" to Richardson in a bid to "dig deep" into the matter.

The Crime Branch had busted the scandal by intercepting purported telephone calls between then South African captain Hansie Cronje and bookies including Sanjeev Chawla during an India-South African series here in 2000.

Source : http://www.ndtv.com/

Bond in talks regarding future

2008-01-07T03:47:00.001-08:00

New Zealand Cricket has confirmed they are in talks with Shane Bond to discuss his playing future.

Bonds future with the Black Caps is in doubt after he reportedly signed a three-year deal with the rebel Indian Cricket League.

New Zealand cricket nor Bond will be making any public comment until the process has been completed.

Meanwhile, international cricket must remain the number one priority for New Zealand cricket according to Players Association head Heath Mills.

New Zealand Cricket is coming under pressure from the powerful Board of Cricket Control in India to stop its players from taking part in the ICL.

However Mills says it's important that private investors are encouraged to be involved in the game.

He says they must find a way to embrace these parties and get them involved in the sport, but still preserve the international cricket as the pinnacle of the sport.

Mills says they will work with New Zealand Cricket to ensure that happens in this country.

Source : http://tvnz.co.nz/

New Zealand`s ICL players not wanted for national team

2008-01-01T04:00:00.000-08:00

Six former New Zealand internationals who played in the Indian Cricket League (ICL) this month have effectively been banned from playing for the national team again.

All-rounders Chris Cairns, Nathan Astle, Chris Harris and Craig McMillan, batsman Hamish Marshall and bowler Daryl Tuffey all played in the breakaway Twenty20 league, which is not sanctioned by the International Cricket Council.

"We have a preference that our selectors take into consideration the fact that that these guys have been playing in an unsanctioned competition, an event that isn`t in the best interests of New Zealand or world cricket, and that we`d rather that they didn`t play," New Zealand Cricket (NZC) chief executive Justin Vaughan told a newspaper.

"I don`t think we can say that they`re ineligible for selection. We`d prefer to say that the selectors will be encouraged to consider other players.

"There`s an understanding that we don`t support the ICL and that we don`t want to give them unnecessary traction."

The stance, however, is largely symbolic.

Harris (38), Cairns (37), Astle (36) and McMillan (31) have all retired from international cricket while Marshall and Tuffey had recently been consistently overlooked by selectors.

Marshall subsequently turned down a central contract with NZC to play in England while Tuffey was not offered a contract.

Vaughan had said earlier that non-contracted players who appeared in the ICL could still play domestic cricket.

Source : http://cricket.zeenews.com/

Pakistan bars rebel league players from domestic game

2007-12-28T03:12:00.000-08:00

Pakistan cricket authorities announced that all players who featured in a rebel Indian league will be banned from domestic matches.

Several stars, including former national skipper Inzamam-ul-Haq, signed up to play in the breakaway Indian Cricket League (ICL) despite warnings of future restrictions.

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) communications director Ahsan Malik said the ICL players were now ineligible to play in PCB-organised events.

The rebel players have just returned from India, where the inaugural Twenty20 ICL championship was held.

"We have added a clause to the domestic playing conditions rule, according to which any player featuring in any unauthorised event in Pakistan or abroad will not be eligible to play in our events," Malik told AFP.

The rebel players, including Inzamam, Abdul Razzaq, Imran Farhat, Shabbir Ahmed, Azhar Mahmood and Taufiq Umar, were blocked from the last round of domestic tournament matches which began on Wednesday.

The breakaway Twenty20 ICL is not recognised by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) or the International Cricket Council.

Inzamam played his last Test -- against South Africa in Lahore in October this year -- after signing with the ICL. He quit Test cricket after the match and said he has no intention of returning to first-class cricket.

Another Pakistan star, Mohammad Yousuf, faces legal action in India after withdrawing from a signed contract with the ICL. He has instead signed for the BBCI-backed Indian Premier League due to start in April next year.

Malik said the new ban will be approved at the PCB governing body's meeting next month.

Farhat, whose domestic team Habib Bank started a first-class match from Wednesday, said the players would defy the ban.

"It's not on, the PCB cannot stop us from playing and from earning our livelihood," he told AFP.

Farhat, who played the last of his 33 Tests earlier this year, said he and some of his ICL colleagues are meeting a lawyer to take the matter to court.

"We feel the PCB is unjust on stopping us from playing domestic cricket," said Farhat. "We have a Pentangular event and Twenty20 event in Pakistan and to stage a comeback in the Pakistan team we need to play in these events."

Source : http://www.cricbuzz.com/

The ICL as packaged entertainment

2007-12-24T03:51:00.000-08:00

From the time the Indian Cricket League was conceived, the question on everyone's lips was: will it grow or will it be stillborn? If one takes popularity as the yardstick, the grand finale on Sunday evening at the packed Tau Devi Lal Stadium would have put to rest all speculation. The stadium, which is about equidistant from both the Sector 16 ground in Chandigarh and the Punjab Cricket Association's stadium in Mohali, can normally accommodate around 6000, but that figure swelled to 10,000 for the final, with people thronging the railings of various stands, and packing themselves into the grass banks that ring the ground outside.

Subhash Chandra, the head of the Zee group, the league's backers, and Kapil Dev declared the inaugural edition a success as they unveiled plans for the future, but their smiling faces hid uncertainty. For the moment the matter of whether the public would recognise the ICL had been dispelled, but one question remains: did those people throng to the ground to witness a sporting spectacle, or was it the other delights on offer that sucked them in?

The verdict from Panchkula has been no different to those from other parts of the world when it comes to the carnival atmosphere of Twenty20. "Entertainment" was the most popular response if you asked young and old on Sunday for the reason for their attendance at the final. For his part, Kapil has no problems with that. "Sport to me is entertainment and I'll let the public decide what is good for them," he said. Then, in what seemed like an aside, but was delivered in seriousness, he added, "If the crowd would like horse-jumping or a dog show, we'll get them."

Of course, definitions of entertainment vary. For die-hard cricket fans the sight of Chris Cairns blasting sixes over the stands was a dream come true. For others it was the glitter, the dancing girls, the music. Young girls, not quite impressed with the ICL's line-up of players, came in to watch the final nevertheless, to experience something different. For them it was all about the festive spirit.

Shrieks, whistles and horns swept the stadium every time a performer stepped on to the stage. Tanushree Dutta, a former Miss India, now a Bollywood starlet, had the crowd's eyeballs glued to the big screen and stage during the final. On the preceding days, Bollywood beauties Kareena Kapoor, Malaika Arora Khan, and Yana Gupta, and popular singers Kailash Kher and Sukhwinder had performed before completely full to near-vacant stands.

If anything can grapple with the might of cricket in India, it is Bollywood. No wonder, then, that some in the BCCI took umbrage recently at Shahrukh Khan's turning up at Twenty20 games and ODIs, in what they saw as an attempt to promote his films using the cricket. The ICL, backed by Chandra's clout in Bollywood, brought the cast of the forthcoming Sunday - Ajay Devgan, Irrfan Khan, and Ayesha Takia - in for the final. Those three together may not have been able to match the star value of Khan, the reigning emperor of the Hindi movie industry, but Chandra understood that something was better than nothing.

The other stars who stole the show were the cheerleaders, referred to here as "dancing girls", none of them Indian. At the end of the evening, amid the Chennai Superstars' victory celebrations, one bunch of the girls happened to pass through the ground, moving to the other end. The crowd, which had been allowed inside the ring to mingle with the players, turned eagerly to the young women as they walked nervously past, in single file. Fortunately, there were bouncers on hand to see the girls across safe. The atmosphere had something of a college festival or a carnival about it.

It wasn't just the young who had been lured by the glitter and the razzmatazz. Families formed a big chunk of the crowd that braved the numbing cold to watch the Superstars put it across the Chandigarh Lions for the million-dollar prize.

Among the incentives was the fairly priced tickets. Engineering student Vikas Dhiman, a 21-year-old Panchkula native, got a free ticket along with the one he bought for Rs 100. On weekends, for Rs 150 one could watch two games. There were no restrictions on bringing bottles of water or other beverages into the stands. The usual red tape that exists at a regular cricket stadium in India was absent, and the crowd management was smooth, all of which served to make the spectator experience that much more comfortable.

Disappointingly for the organisers, though, by and large, except on the opening and closing days, the turnouts were sparse. Even if a fair number of the league games were played over weekends, and there were stars like Brian Lara, Inzamam-ul-Haq and Chris Cairns on view, the masses didn't pour in. Reportedly, most of those who did turn up were pass-holders from the Haryana Urban Development Authority, which rented the ground to the ICL, and friends and relatives of the various sponsors and organisers.

There may have been a yawning gap between what was on offer in Panchkula and the international Twenty20 experience, but those who did turn up seemed to enjoy themselves. Will they be back for another edition? Chances are, they will. As long as the entertainment is dished out, the actual cricket will not matter much. The curtains have just gone up on the ICL show.

Source : http://content-ind.cricinfo.com/

Breaking News PCB bans seven Pak players for playing in ICL

2007-12-21T03:57:00.001-08:00

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has banned seven cricketers, including former skipper Inzamam-ul-Haq from playing the domestic league, for taking part in the Indian Cricket League (ICL).

“Since the ICL is not recognised by the PCB and the Indian cricket board, the players who have joined the ICL despite warnings from their respective boards will not be allowed to play in the domestic circuit,” PCB spokesman said.

Besides Inzamam, the other players banned by the PCB are Abdul Razzaq, Shabbir Ahmad, Azhar Mehmood, Taufiq Umar and Imran Farhat.

“The rebel players have tried to contact the PCB through their respective departments, but the board gave them a cold shoulder,” the spokesman said.

He said despite showing good performance in the ICL, the players would not be considered even for the national camp.

“The board is following ‘zero tolerance policy’ towards such players,” the Daily Times quoted him, as saying.

Source : http://www.aboutindiancricketleague.com/

ICL to organise five tournaments in 2008

2007-12-18T03:26:00.000-08:00

With the inaugural edition of the Essel Group's Indian Cricket League (ICL) coming to a conclusion, the company's chairman Subhash Chandra, along with ICL chairman executive board Kapil Dev, have announced the calendar for 2008.

ICL will be having five tournaments next year.

In February, there will be a 50-over tournament called Domestic Championship. This will be followed by a triangular 20/20 series which will field an ICL XI, after which will come up the ICL Grand Championship. The 20/20 tournament will have eight sides take part compared to the six, which participated in the recently concluded event.

In the April-May 2008 period, ICL will open academies in different cities. From September till October, there will be another 20/20 event called ICL Invitation Cup

From November-December, ICL will hold the second edition of the ICL 20/20 Indian Championships.

Chandra said, "It is indeed heartening to see the response Indian Cricket League (ICL) has been able to generate in India and across the globe. After a successful launch in keeping with the promise made, ICL is proud to announce its cricket calendar for the coming season."

The first ICL 20/20 Championship took place at the newly built cricket stadium at Panchkula, Chandigarh from 30 November till 16 December. The production facilities included a 30-camera set-up and other higher technical specifications such as the inclusion of fly cam, hawk eye, zoomer, snickometer, speedgun and third umpire.

Dev said, "We are overwhelmed to see the enthusiasm that ICL has been able to generate amongst fans, not only in India but world over. With such a great response, we are happy to announce the way forward for the league in the coming year. The season will ensure an immensely enjoyable cricket carnival. I would like to thank all who have made ICL a success."

Source : http://www.indiantelevision.com/

ICL Announces Calendar for the year 2008

2007-12-18T02:59:00.000-08:00

1st Edition of ICL 20 20 Indian Championship generates stupendous response Panchkula: Subhash Chandra, Chairman Essel Group along with Mr. Kapil Dev , Chairman Executive Board ICL today announced the cricket calendar for Indian Cricket League (ICL) for the year 2008. ICL will be having 5 tournaments next year.

Speaking at the occasion, Mr. Subhash Chandra, Chairman Essel Group said, "It is indeed heartening to see the response Indian Cricket League (ICL) has been able to generate in India and across the globe. After a successful launch in keeping with the promise made, ICL is proud to announce its cricket calendar for the coming season."

All set to revolutionise the game of cricket, Indian Cricket League conducted the first ICL 20-20 Championship at the newly built cricket stadium at Panchkula , Chandigarh between November 30th and December 16th. The tournament witnessed world class facilities matching international standards followed in cricket tournaments world over. The high standard production facilities included 30 camera set up, higher technical specifications such as the inclusion of Fly cam, Hawk Eye, Zoomer, Snickometer, Speedgun and Third umpire.

Commenting on the announcement, Mr. Kapil Dev, Chairman-Executive Board, Indian Cricket League said, "We are overwhelmed to see the enthusiasm that Indian Cricket League has been able to generate amongst fans, not only in India but world over. With such a great response we are happy to announce the way forward for the league in the coming year. The season will ensure an immensely enjoyable cricket carnival. I would like to thank all who have made Indian Cricket League a success".

In a short span of time the Indian Cricket League (ICL) undertook significant revamping of the cricket stadium and made various additions to the stadium to ensure an immensely enjoyable cricket carnival. Overhead lights were put up for day-night encounters. A special media centre was erected with all modern facilities to facilitate the working of the media personnel during the tournament.

Source : http://www.indiancricketleague.in/

Spice ties up with ICL for providing live coverage

2007-12-14T03:51:00.000-08:00

Telecom service provider Spice has tied up with the Essel Group’s Indian Cricket League (ICL) to provide the live coverage of their ongoing Twenty20 tournament to its subscribers.

The launch of the service, named Spice TV, was attended here today by former international cricketers including Brian Lara and Chris Cairns, who are in the city to participate in the inaugural Twenty20 tourney.

“Our subscribers, both pre-paid and post-paid can now choose from a bouquet of 13 channels ranging from news, entertainment to cartoon channels,” Mukul Khanna, Vice President Marketing, Spice Telecom said.

For watching all the channels, that Spice TV offers, the subscribers will have to pay Rs 175 per month.

The pre-paid subscribers also have the option of paying per day at the rate of Rs 10 for watching all channels while subscribing only to news channels will cost Rs 125 per month and Rs 100 for the entertainment pack.

Source : http://www.aboutindiancricketleague.com/

I am still adapting to 20:20 cricket: Lara

2007-12-12T03:10:00.000-08:00

His team has unexpectedly crashed out of the inaugural tournament of the Indian Cricket League. Coming into this tournament with the likes of Astle, Lara, van der Wath and Solanki, they were expected to create a lot of excitement for the jam-packed audiences at the Tau Devi Lal Stadium in Panchkula, Chandigarh.
Four consecutive losses and a rare victory meant that the Mumbai Champs would have to settle for fifth or sixth best in the final standings table. They will hope to salvage some pride and finish the tournament on a high note.
Besides Lara, former international stars like Marvan Atapattu, Chris Cairns, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Stuart Law and Craig McMillan are captaining other teams taking part in the 17-day long tournament, finals of which will be played on Sunday. One of the greatest batsmen of the contemporary era, Brian Lara managed only 16 runs from the five matches in the tournament. He had not played a single 20:20 match before the start of the tournament. "I feel I am still adapting to the 20:20 cricket. It has been the first tournament and I hope things will not be the same next time," he said. Lara, captain of Mumbai Champs, one of the six teams featuring in ICL's 20:20 tournament, said youngsters have learnt a lot in the company of former international players. "The confidence and motivation of some of the Indian players playing in this tournament is something to watch for. It is great to see these players learn valuable things here and I am sure four or five years from now they will be playing international cricket," 37-year-old Lara told reporters.

Source : http://www.indiancricketleague.in/

ICL no match for India-Pakistan series

2007-12-11T03:39:00.000-08:00

For all the hype around the country’s first big league of domestic cricket, Essel Group’s Indian Cricket League (ICL), it’s the ongoing India-Pakistan Test series that remains the big draw among television viewers.

A like-to-like comparison of TAM Peoplemeter’s TV ratings of the simultaneously-on ICL matches and the second India-Pakistan Test shows that the number of people watching India-Pakistan was about five times higher than those watching ICL on the opening day of the league. And the gap only widened on Day Two.

Zee officials, however, insisted that the ICL ratings are “remarkable”. Said Essel group executive V-P Ashish Kaul, “Of course, we can’t compare with an India-Pakistan match that’s the Sholay of cricket, but still our ratings are very encouraging. The ICL ratings are the highest ever for any domestic cricket ever played in the country. In the past, domestic cricket viewing has scored almost zero TRPs. We expect our ratings to triple towards the end of the tournament.”

As per data released by TAM Peoplemeter System, among the target group of four-years-plus viewers across all-India cable and satellite households, the first two days of the ICL tournament saw Zee Sports deliver a TRP of well under 1.

The first ICL match played on November 30, for example, delivered a rating of 0.32. In comparison, on the same day, the same target group delivered a rating of 1.81 on DD1 for the India-Pakistan Test match, that’s about five-and-half times more than what ICL’s opening match posted on Zee Sports. Neo Sports, set back by low connectivity, generated an average TRP of 0.87 two-and-half times more than that of ICL that day.

Essel Group’s Mr Kaul said the ICL has done well when compared to domestic cricket viewership. “What the ICL has done is narrowed the gap between international and domestic cricket viewing audiences,” he said. Citing examples of domestic tournaments such as Challenger Cup and Ranji Super League which, Mr Kaul said, typically average ratings at least 30-40% lower than ICL.

On December 1, which was the second day of the India-Pakistan Test, DD1 posted a TRP of 2.04, with Neo Sports putting up 0.94 on the board. In stark contrast, the two ICL matches played on the same day posted ratings as low as 0.09 and 0.22 on Zee Sports.

Having connectivity of only about half that of overall cable & household households, Zee Sports is also not available on direct-to-home (DTH) platform Tata Sky which has a subscriber base of about 1.5 million.

Essel Group’s decision to telecast the first 30 minutes of the matches across the Zee bouquet too doesn’t seem to have done resulted in higher ratings. On both days, TRPs on Zee channels such as Zee Business, Zee Café, Zee News, Zee Music and regional Zee channels were negligible.

Zee Business and Zee Café delivered zero ratings on the second day of the tournament. ICL matches on flagship channel Zee TV, on both the first two days, also posted ratings of under 1.

Meanwhile, Zee group said that having sold ICL’s international broadcast rights to three global distributors, Astro PPV, Derana and Gateway, ICL’s showing would only get better. “Zee Sports connectivity has improved significantly over the past one month,” Mr Kaul said.

Source : http://www.aboutindiancricketleague.com/

ICL no obstacle in Boje matter: Kapil

2007-12-07T02:33:00.000-08:00

Indian Cricket League's Chairman Kapil Dev confirmed that the ICL hasn't received anything in written from the Delhi Police about their intentions to question former South African left-arm spinner Nicky Boje, who is part of Hyderabad Heroes', on his involvement in the match-fixing scandal.

"We haven't received any intimation from them yet. But if they do intend to have any conversations with him, we won't have any objections. They are doing their job, and if they want our help, we will definitely oblige," Kapil told reporters here.

Kapil, however, was elated with the way the first attempt at the breakaway professional league has been received.

"I'm extremely proud of the way the ICL has shaped up. We might not have had teams blazing away to big totals so far, but in hindsight the Twenty20 World Championship, too, saw the 150-mark being breached only eight times," the World Cup winning former captain said, adding that the organisers haven't got any reaction from the top bosses at the BCCI yet.

Kapil, who was also the coach of the Indian cricket team, said he was relieved when the Tau Devi Lal Stadium opened its doors for ICL's inaugural Twenty20 tournament.

"We thought we might have to play in open fields somewhere because everyone seemed to shut the door on us. I'm disappointed that Chandigarh didn't give us the (Sector-16 Stadium) ground even after pleading with them so many times."

Kapil also shed some light on the BCCI's run-ins with Chairman of selectors Dilip Vengsarkar. "He (Vengsarkar) is a respected man in the cricketing circle. I wish him good luck. But if he has a problem with the BCCI, he should look to sort it out amicably," he said, adding that players will never have anyone to speak for them against the governing body if it kept playing the "divide and rule game."

The former India captain, however, came back to his own venture saying that senior international players have been wonderful with the young Indian players, and one should not look into Brian Lara's Mumbai Champs failing to register a win so far.

"Results don't come overnight. If you look around, the likes of Chris Cairns and Inzamam have been brilliant with the young boys, and the standard of fielding in the tournament has been breathtaking. The seniors look as keen as youngsters," he said.

Source : http://www.cricketnext.com/

‘I was one of the biggest underachievers’ : Mervyn Dillon

2007-12-06T04:10:00.000-08:00

Mervyn Dillon is one of the few good fast bowlers who have emerged from the West Indies in recent years.

Tall and endowed with a powerful physique, like many of his fearsome predecessors, he appeared capable of scaling dizzy heights, especially when young and at the peak of his prowess, but did not.

Nevertheless, considering his chequered international career, his record in both Tests and ODIs is more impressive than many members of his tribe across the cricketing globe, not just on the Caribbean.

Dillon granted Haresh Pandya an exclusive interview on the eve of the Indian Cricket League tournament at Panchkula near Chandigarh.

You haven’t been around, nor in the thick of action, for quite some time now. Have you decided to stop playing international cricket?

Well, I haven’t called it a day! Not yet. It’s a bit touchy. I’ve still a lot of cricket in me. I’m still available for the West Indies. It’s all but over. Events like the ICL here and Stanford competition back home have given me an opportunity to continue playing and there is no reason why I shouldn’t enjoy that.

Is it due to frustration, or at not been considered for the West Indies any longer, that you have joined the ICL?

Not really. I’m a very realistic person. I tend to accept life as it comes. You’ve your ups and downs. Life is like that. It’s the understanding that the people in charge of West Indian cricket pick the best possible team. And they’ve been doing that. So even if I’m not involved with the West Indies team, it’s all right. Life goes on. I’m still very fit in body and mind and the ICL and Stanford tournaments are ideal for me.

You bowled many good spells for the West Indies. But taking into account your genius, one is inclined to believe that your best has never been seen on the international stage. What is your personal assessment?

I agree with you. I’ll always be the first to admit that my best has never been seen in international cricket. I remember talking to Steve Waugh and he said that I was one of he biggest underachievers in terms of cricketing talents and resultant performances. Of course, I’ve always played true to my potential during my career. But I don’t want to offer any excuses as to why I didn’t do full justice to my talents. Of course, there’re a lot of things happening in and around West Indian cricket and that’s how it ended up. But I think my best cricket is yet to come. Though I’m 33, I don’t think I was fitter than today in my life.

But why hasn’t your best come out yet?

I think I should have tried harder at times. There is no question about that. But again this isn’t an excuse. I’ve myself to hold fully responsible for what I’ve achieved and what I haven’t. I always tried to give my best regardless of the events off the field.

How was it playing under different captains?

It isn’t so important for me to have played under different captains. It’s not a big issue. My job is to go out there and perform, and take as many wickets as I could, irrespective of who leads the team.

Unfortunately, the system in the West Indies isn’t the best in terms of infrastructure. The things aren’t being done ideally. There is no professionalism in our players.

And it shows up in our cricket there. We’ve abundance of talent but for some reasons we aren’t as consistent as we should be. And consistency comes only when you’ve a proper system that encourages the players. Also, there is no substitute for hard work and ruthless professionalism in contemporary cricket today.

As a fast bowler, did you miss someone at the other end to complement you? Did you have good support from other fast bowlers?

Well, when you look back, one of the players I did very well with was actually a spinner, Dinanath Ramnarain, who was also from my country. But if you look at that particular history, almost every time I was opening the bowling with someone else. Was it a good thing? I don’t think so. I think we looked for too many quick fixes as the years went by.

And too much chopping and changing meant that the guys never got a chance to really settle down. You came in the team and started wondering whether you would be there in the next match or the next series. It put a lot of pressure on them.

There was a time when the West Indies used to produce a plethora of express fast bowlers with frightening regularity. Why is it that not many quality pace bowlers are emerging from the Caribbean?

There are a number of issues. There is so much cricket being played in the world and, like I said, the West Indies has been sort of left behind in terms of modern era of the game and how things are done at the international level. There is a whole science behind the game in the modern era and everybody is moving forward. But we are one of the teams that is lacking in all these things.

Look at Australian cricket and the Australian team. Look at their domestic cricket and their structure. They put just professional players. We’ve a lot of talent but how professional these guys are is a question. If we nurture that talent with a totally professional attitude, I think we’ll get more consistent performances from the players.

Aren’t more and more youngsters in the West Indies preferring basketball and other professional sports to cricket, and going to the USA?

No, no. I totally disagree with that. Cricket is still the biggest sport in the Caribbean. There is no question about that. Yes, we aren’t what we used to be, a lot is lacking in the West Indies, but still more and more youngsters are coming forward to play and take up cricket. This is an encouraging sign.

But people are discouraged by the domestic structure and the way cricket is being run in the West Indies. A lot could be done to improve the standard of cricket, not just in the West Indies, but in many other countries.

You have played with some of the greatest cricketers of the modern era, including Brian Lara. Did you ever imagine, when you started playing cricket, that you would be rubbing shoulders with them?

It’s a dream come true for me. I said it very early in my career that I never thought it was possible for me to play cricket for the West Indies. But it happened. And I played with some of the best players in the world, including Brian Lara, Courtney Walsh, Curtly Ambrose and Ian Bishop — to name only a few. And I’ve also played against some of the best players in the world. So it’s really a dream come true for me. My only regret is that I didn’t justify my own talent the way I should have.

Could you name some of the finest batsmen you came across as a fast bowler?

Talking about the best batsmen, you had Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Jacques Kallis, Adam Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden. All of them top players. It was always a pleasure playing against them.

If given an opportunity, would you like to serve West Indian cricket in some capacity?

Definitely. In fact, it’s one of the things why I’m in the ICL. Cricket has given me a lot. It has given me everything. And I want to pass on my knowledge to the youngsters. I’m thankful to the game for whatever I’m today. Who will be thankful to the game?

Will the West Indies ever regain past glory in cricket?

I think so. I think we are going to get people who understand the game. Cricket is no longer a sport; it’s a business. It has to be run that way. I think the Stanford competition is a brilliant idea. I think it’s something the West Indies Cricket Board should look forward to. It’s well-planned, organised and thoroughly professionalised.

Source : http://indiancricketleaguenews.wordpress.com/

Twenty questions: cricket at the crossroads

2007-12-05T01:16:00.000-08:00

Indian Cricket Twenty20 league began in India on 30th of november. Another Twenty20 league is being launched in the spring. And next autumn a Twenty20 Champions League is being planned. Is there a pattern developing here? Most definitely, reports Stephen Brenkley, and it is one that will threaten every other version of the game

At a scruffy, uninviting little ground in the shadow of the Himalayas yesterday the battle lines were drawn for a sport's future. There, in the Tau Devi Lal Stadium, Panchkula, the Indian Cricket League – rebel, unauthorised, anti-establishment, anything but official – began its life.

The combatants in the inaugural match rejoiced under the names of the Chandigarh Lions and the Delhi Jets.

A little more than 1,000 miles to the east in Calcutta, India were playing Pakistan in the Second Test. There is hardly a more resonant contest in cricket. Down in Sri Lanka, final preparations were in hand for the start of the Test series against England, with the world bowling record at Muttiah Muralitharan's mercy. Across a continent, in Port Elizabeth, New Zealand were wondering what they could do to stop South Africa's charge in the one-day series, top place in the world rankings firmly in view.

Important games all, in their way, but none with the potentially cataclysmic effect of the ICL, an all-singing, all-dancing Twenty20 competition, made as purely for television as a soap opera. So dramatic already has been the fallout that it is possible to fear for all other forms of professional cricket as viable propositions.

The International Cricket Council and many of the travelling parade around the game dismiss such prognostications, but cannot so easily banish the feeling that they are fiddling while the empire is burning. People in their thousands watch Twenty20 and want more of it; fewer are watching Tests and may actually want less of it.

The recent series between South Africa and New Zealand – every day of it – was watched by a man and his dog and the dog went home early. There were hardly more – two men, two dogs – to watch Australia thump Sri Lanka in Brisbane and Hobart.

Of course, Test cricket is a beautiful game and Eden Gardens attracted a large audience yesterday for the first day of India's match against Pakistan. But that too was by no means full. It is a large stadium holding (at least) 90,000, but Calcutta is a city of 14 million people in the most cricket-crazy country in the world. And this was a key match – win it, win the series – against their most significant opponent.

Lalit Modi, the senior vice-president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and its marketing powerhouse, said yesterday that he was unworried. "We actually sold all the tickets. But it is our duty to protect the integrity of Test cricket and we are doing so and will continue to do so. The various forms of the game must co-exist but I have no worries about the state of Test cricket in the short and medium term. We are deliberately restricting the number of international Twenty20 matches we play."

But Modi is also the shrewd cookie who has formed the Indian Premier League, a tournament lasting 44 days next spring, which has already signed 39 of the world's top players. Yes, that's right, it's Twenty20. That will be followed next October by the first T20 Champions League, featuring champion teams from four countries with a £1m first prize.

The stakes are high and the odds are shifting quickly towards Twenty20. If it was not so obviously popular and populist there would not be rebel leagues forking out oodles of cash. Strutting on to the Indian Cricket League's stage and playing for some of the biggest bucks in cricket in the next fortnight will be a rum mixture of players from some of the greats of the modern game – Brian Lara, Inzamam-ul-Haq – to the rump, minor Indian domestic players. Nobody outside of their own clubs has ever heard of Bipul Sharma or Abu Nechim.

In between are a clutch of disaffected former Test players like Dinesh Mongia, foreign veterans and journeymen like Ian Harvey and Dale Benkenstein. Four Englishmen are there: Chris Read, Vikram Solanki, Paul Nixon and Darren Maddy, all of whom have played for England this year. They may be participating not so much for the groundbreaking nature of the cricket but because they are earning around £60,000 for a fortnight's work, plus prize money of £2m.

"I think we needed a little bit more time but everybody decided we would have to start," said Kapil Dev, the former captain of India who is the chief executive and front man of the ICL. "Another month would have meant more preparation but we had to start one day. We are determined. This is like a new baby waiting to come out. I'm scared and worried but happy."

The ICL is up against it. It has had official opprobrium heaped on it and the fact it is being played in the uppermost reaches is appropriate: it has a mountain to climb. Sniffy has been the most common reaction. Giles Clarke, chairman of the ECB, said: "We regard this is as a serious issue. Selectors will be instructed to take into account the fact these players are appearing in an unauthorised competition."

You could hear lawyers expert in restraint of trade sharpening their briefs. It might also be borne in mind that the selectors have not exactly treated any member of the English ICL quartet with much dignity, unauthorised or not.

The competition was invented, no less, by the Essel Group, one of India's largest business groups and owner, among many other things, of Zee TV. It was simply expedient: Zee needed some cricket to put on its channels because to be a cable TV station in India and not to have cricket is of serious commercial concern.

Zee was also probably miffed that although its bid was the largest in the most recent round of TV rights for Indian cricket last year, it lost out. Since the winning bid was more than £300m for four years the size of the business is obvious. Each one-dayer is worth £4m in broadcasting revenue to the BCCI in India and next time it will want much more. TV moguls are falling over themselves to have cricket on air.

No sooner had Zee announced its glittering plans than blocks were put in its path. Indian domestic players were warned that they would be banned if they took part while it was impossible to hire grounds that anybody had ever heard of on which a decent standard of cricket was played.

Zee was treading where Kerry Packer's Channel 9 of Australia had forged a path 30 years ago. Denied the rights to international cricket in Australia despite bidding huge amounts, Packer set up his own competition, World Series Cricket, known disparagingly to the cognoscenti as Packer's Circus.

All the world's top players signed up and Packer won all round. He won in court when the cricket authorities tried to prevent players signing for him and, after two years of WSC, he won on the field when those authorities caved in. The effect of Packer is still being felt now. Cricket was changed for ever. Not only did it enter the late 20th century as a public entertainment as well as a sport but the players were no longer treated as chattels.

So Zee, finding itself in Packer's boat, decided to act. The company found willing accomplices in the Indian domestic players who have long been used as ill-rewarded cannon fodder. The big names of Indian cricket are treated as gods; those in the provincial teams, boys and men making up sides, are barely accorded the time of day. They could not wait to sign up.

The repercussions were swift and the only ground in the entire country which would host the matches was in the little Chandigarh suburb. This, too, is fitting for the enterprise. Devi Lal, after whom the ground was named, was an Indian freedom fighter alongside Gandhi who became a champion of farmers throughout the country and was twice deputy Prime Minister. He spent his life fighting for the small man.

The small stadium, part of a municipal multi-sports complex has been given a makeover to make Trinny and Susannah proud in the past month, but it too is cosmetic and the outfield is still scratchy. Zee will need big live crowds and substantially larger television audiences for it to work.

The BCCI responded immediately with the formation of the Indian Premier League to be played next April and May. Some $1.5m (£730,000) in prize-money is available in the first year of the competition, plus large five-figure salaries for those taking part over 44 days.

Top players – barring anybody from England, because it is their domestic season – were willingly and swiftly enlisted. It is fair to say that they beat a path to the BCCI's door. Later next year the first Twenty20 Champions League will take place, also in India when the top two teams from four countries – India, England, Australia and South Africa – will compete for a huge £1m first prize. That will burgeon quickly.

It is straightforward to see where this might be heading, to a Twenty20 paradise. Or hell on earth, depending on your viewpoint. "The profile of the people who watch Twenty20 and Tests are much different," said Lalit Modi. "The older man watches Tests, Twenty20 is appealing to younger people, children and, for the first time, women. It is also the first time in India that we are getting spectators in for domestic cricket. But you'd be wrong to think that Tests are under threat, though I agree crowds in some places are disappointing. We have to market the games as well as stage them."

The officially backed IPL, which, will consist of eight teams, has already attracted huge commercial interest. More than 100 companies or mega-rich individuals have bid for a slice of the action. The minimum they can expect to pay the BCCI, according to Modi, is £25m, probably much more because there will be a bidding process.

And then there are the television rights, to be sold separately. "There are different reasons people want a franchise, commercial or ego, but they want them," Modi said.

He sounded utterly unconcerned about Kapil Dev's competition and said that the domestic players had jumped too soon. "They are looking to the past, when they were not rewarded very well, instead of the future. Some 26 per cent of all our revenues now goes to players. That has just kicked in and was bound filter down."

It might be tempting to feel sorry for Kapil Dev's ICL except that it has huge financial backing as well. Zee has virtually bottomless resources and if the cricket is exciting the audiences may be guaranteed. But Zee will need to keep on signing big names. "Let's be honest, I'm worried," Kapil said. "I have taken a step that no other sports person has done against all the politicians, the authorities who think they can run the game and some sports people so it's a challenge. If I have enough ability it will work."

For Vikram Solanki and his like it represents a substantial payday. They would have been fools to their families not to take it, whatever the ECB chairman has to say. Modi could afford to be dismissive, but he will have known that cricket changed yesterday and not because of anything that happened in Eden Gardens.

Leading players: Chandigarh – Chris Cairns (New Zealand, 37); Imran Farhat (Pakistan, 25); Hamish Marshall (New Zealand, 28). Delhi – Marvin Atapattu (Sri Lanka 37), Paul Nixon (England, 37), Taufeeq Umar (Pakistan, 26). Chennai – Stuart Law (Australia 39), Chris Read (England, 29) Ian Harvey (Australia,35) Shabbir Ahmed (Pakistan, 31). Kolkata – Craig McMillan (New Zealand, 31) Darren Maddy (England, 33) Lance Klusener (South Africa, 36). Mumbai – Brian Lara (West Indies, 38) Mervyn Dillon (West Indies, 33) Nathan Astle (New Zealand, 36) Vikram Solanki (England, 31). Hyderabad – Inzamam-ul-Haq (Pakistan, 37) Abdul Razzaq (Pakistan, 27) Nicky Boje (South Africa, 34) Azhar Mahmood (Pakistan,32).

Source : http://iclcricket.net/

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2007-12-04T20:55:00.000-08:00

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THE INDIAN CRICKET LEAGUE INVADES THE AMERICAS

2007-12-03T20:25:00.000-08:00

Cricket Fans Want More Awaiting The Launch of the Indian Cricket League Across The American Continent
Over 15 million cricket fans residing in North America and the Caribbean are demanding more! With cricket being the second most popular spectator sport world wide and more and more fans working and living throughout the world, International demand for cricket has never been higher. Fans want more cricket, more of the time, or rather more accurately all of the time! In order to meet the demand for cricket a number of cricket organizations throughout the world have expanded the traditional game of cricket from World Cups and Championships into a more easily consumable form of sports entertainment.
In recent years, the Twenty20 format has taken the world of cricket by storm with the first ever Twenty20 World Cup won by the Indian team this year. In an effort to fulfill the demands of fanatic cricket fans, the Indian Cricket League will be launching the first ever Twenty20 competitive Cricket League in the North American and Caribbean regions organized along the structure of other professional franchise sports. According to the Indian Cricket League President Sharad Chikara, the demand for cricket is growing rapidly in North America due to both the large influx of students and workers from many of the cricket playing nations like India, Pakistan, Sri-Lanka, Bangladesh. As well the International attention of cricket, especially the Twenty20 format, has also contributed to the rapidly growing demand in North America.

"Cricket fans worldwide now demand the Twenty20 format because it is more exciting, thrilling, and faster paced resulting in a more enjoyable entertainment experience. Our cricket fans on the IndianCricketLeague.com website forums have attested to the popular demand of the Twenty20 format without a doubt.", Sharad Chikara said. As an example, a fanatic cricket fan recently posted, "Twenty20 is the best thing that happened to cricket. Twenty20 at least defies the logic that cricket can be less interesting due to length of the games. The other good thing about this game is that matches start after working hours and that is the reason we have a new audience in the game. I think this Twenty20 should be played more and more. These matches should be played on home and away basis just like Premier league football. Right now there is not enough Twenty20."

According to initial information released on the website, bringing the Twenty20 format in a professional franchise sports league format to a broader and new audience is precisely what the Indian Cricket League intends to do. "Our mission is to promote and foster the best talent, create a highly competitive environment and provide equal opportunity to talented players. Indian Cricket League will provide superior entertainment, value, and service in competition with other professional spectator sports leagues. We will provide a centralized governing body alongside the investor and franchise opportunity of professional league sports. We believe this will allow us to deliver the ultimate cricket sporting experience for fans, players, coaches, and owners alike!"

The Indian Cricket League was founded in 2005 to provide cricket fans, players, coaches, and owners with a professional league sports platform. Cricket had always lacked the structure that professional sports leagues in the US and Canada have. The league will attract both local and international talent from other cricket playing nations just like Major League Baseball in the US. We want to build quality international cricket players, provide for equal opportunity to the young and the talented, and ensure that the best infrastructure and training is provided to the players. Indian Cricket League will share its pool of talented cricketers with other private cricket leagues and cricketing boards of the world.

Source : http://www.mmdnewswire.com/

New Indian league offers huge rewards, say organisers

2007-12-03T01:24:00.000-08:00

Organisers of a rebel Twenty20 league in India on Thursday offered a massive 3.85 million dollars in prize money, claiming it to be the biggest booty ever offered in a cricket tournament.

The Indian Cricket League (ICL), starting on Friday, will see the winner of the six-team competition pocket one million dollars alone, raising the bar for the rival league backed by the country’s cricket board (BCCI).

“This is for the first time in the history of Indian cricket that the total money for a tournament is rupees 15 crore (3.8 million dollars),” said Ashish Kaul, executive vice-president of Essel Group, promoters of the event.

“The prize money allotted for the winners exceeds international standards and will create a new trend in the Indian cricket parlance,” he said in a statement.

The runners-up will receive prize money of 470,000 dollars.

The unofficial league is bankrolled by Subash Chandra, whose two-billion-dollar Essel Group includes the country’s biggest television network Zee Telefilms.

The hefty pay packet on offer has lured the likes of West Indies batting great Brian Lara, Pakistan’s Inzamam-ul-Haq and New Zealand’s Chris Cairns.

The tournament kicks off in Panchkula, an industrial town on the outskirts of the northern Indian city of Chandigarh, with the finale slated for December 16.

The BCCI-backed Indian Premier League is scheduled to be held in April next year.

Source : http://www.cricket247.in/

ICL offers $3.85 million prize money

2007-11-30T20:17:00.000-08:00

Organisers of a rebel Twenty20 league in India on Thursday offered a massive $3.85 million in prize money, claiming it to be the biggest booty ever offered in a cricket tournament.

The Indian Cricket League (ICL), starting on Friday, will see the winner of the six-team competition pocket one million dollars alone, raising the bar for the rival league backed by the country’s cricket board (BCCI).

“This is for the first time in the history of Indian cricket that the total money for a tournament is rupees 15 crore ($3.8 million),” said Ashish Kaul, executive vice-president of Essel Group, promoters of the event.

“The prize money allotted for the winners exceeds international standards and will create a new trend in the Indian cricket parlance,” he said in a statement.

The runners-up will receive prize money of $470,000. The unofficial league is bankrolled by Subash Chandra, whose two-billion-dollar Essel Group includes the country’s biggest television network Zee Telefilms.

The hefty pay packet on offer has lured the likes of West Indies batting great Brian Lara, Pakistan’s Inzamam-ul-Haq and New Zealand’s Chris Cairns.

The tournament kicks off in Panchkula, an industrial town on the outskirts of the northern Indian city of Chandigarh, with the finale slated for December 16.

The BCCI-backed Indian Premier League is scheduled to be held in April next year.

ICL starts today, with biggest purse in cricket

2007-11-29T19:56:00.001-08:00

The Indian Cricket League will carry a hefty prize-money of Rs 15 crore, by far the highest in any sport in Indian domestic circuit. “We want to change the whole look of domestic cricket and this prize-money is a step towards achieving that objective,” said Essel group vice-president Ashish Kaul.

Giving the break-up of the prize-money, Kaul said the winners will carry home Rs 3.9 crore, while the runners-up will be richer by 1.9 crore. The remaining four teams will walk away with Rs 1.5 crore, Rs 1.25 crore, Rs 1 crore and Rs 85 lakh.

Besides, there is a cash award of Rs 18.75 lakh to be won in each game. “The winning team will pocket the entire amount, with man of the match picking up another 3.75 lakh,” said Kaul, adding that they have already invested approximately $25 million into the project.

Besides the rich cash award, the other heartening news for the players is the ICL’s plan to conduct another tournament in March this year. “We have been promised that this particular tournament is not the end all and be all of the ICL. There is another tournament coming up in March as well, and it could be a 50-over game,” said a player.

“We are indeed planning a tournament somewhere around March. But the modalities are yet to be worked out,” said Kaul. He, however, agreed that tournament could be a 50-over affair, saying that ICL was an on-going project and it would gradually include other formats as well.

“The big prize-money is indeed a big incentive for the players. Besides, more tournaments will be an icing on the cake as it answers what we will do after playing this event,” said a Chandigarh Lions player.

Source: http://www.hindustantimes.com/

Structure of ICL

2007-11-29T00:46:00.000-08:00

* 6 teams to start with expansion to 16 teams by the third year
* Teams to represent the entire geography of the nation
* Start with the Twenty20 format and progress to the 50 over format
* Each team would have a dedicated support staff consisting of trainers, physiotherapist, dietician and a media manager

There will initially be six teams taking part in a league format that leads up to semi finals and finals. By the third year, the ICL promises to increase to 16 teams that comprehensively represent all of India. The matches will be held in both ODI as well as 20:20 format with all the teams playing home and away.

Each team will also have first and second division sides so as to maximize talent utilization. These teams will be regularly sent to international cricket playing nations so that psychologically they are well prepared to take on the world of cricket. The ICL will be run by an Executive Board which will comprise of the top names of Indian and international cricket, and have the final say in all matters of the league and be responsible for running it.

There will also be a Rules Committee and an umpires/match referees panel made up of internationally reputed names. Each ICL team will comprise a mixture of International and Indian budding cricketers. There will also be a mentor attached to each team who will function as the coach and main motivator for the individual team. This is most likely to be an ex-Indian cricketer from that particular region. There will also be physiotherapist, trainers and dieticians attached to each team to ensure fitness regimen.

Anil Ambani, top filmstars to grace ICL inauguration

2007-11-28T22:48:00.001-08:00

Top business tycoons such as Anil Ambani and filmstars like Aamir Khan, Akshay Kumar and Kareena Kapoor would be present at the inauguration of the Indian Cricket League's Twenty20 tournament which kicks off on Friday at Panchkula.
"We have drawn up an impressive celebrity list. Besides ambani, Essar Group's Shashi Ruia will also come here to watch the matches," Essel Group's Executive Vice-President Ashish Kaul said on Wednesday. Kaul, whose group is holding the fortnight-long tournament, said Kareena Kapoor and a top model Yana Gupta will perform shortly before the event takes off. Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda will be the chief guest.
The Zee group will broadcast the first 30 minutes of the ICL matches on all its channels, except the two movie channels while complete full live telecast will be available on Zee Sports. Kaul said organisers had taken certain steps to ensure the games are conducted in line with international standards.
ICL has tied up with Ranbaxy Laboratories for anti-doping testing and has employed an external security consultant to monitor the players' dressing rooms and umpires area during the matches. "This has been done to ensure the integrity of matches is maintained," he said, adding it was similar to the controls the International Cricket Council has in place for international events.

Kapil Dev insists Indian league will succeed

2007-11-28T22:34:00.000-08:00

Former India captain Kapil Dev admits he will be nervous prior to the start of tomorrow’s Indian Cricket League because, in his own words, the event is a baby he has helped father.

Since its inception the ICL has met with obstacles, most notably the Board of Control for Cricket in India, who view the competition as one that is raping the country of ‘their’ revenue streams. They instructed players, administrators, sponsors and even the media to have nothing to do with it.

The BCCI then announced their own version, the Indian Premier League, only this event is sanctioned by the International Cricket Council and just about any body that is deemed ‘official’. The ICL has been painted as the black sheep of world cricket.

The negativity has not deterred West Indies batting great Brian Lara, Pakistan World Cup winner Inzamam-ul-Haq and a slew of fringe or fading England players like Darren Maddy, who will play for Calcutta Tigers.

Kapil feels people have the wrong impression of the ICL, similar to when Kerry Packer unveiled the World Series Cup in the late Seventies.

“ICL is our baby and we are hoping everything goes off well,” Kapil said. “It’s not the black sheep of cricket.Was Kerry Packer the black sheep of cricket? That was a good thing that happened and this is also a good thing.

“We are giving jobs to hundreds of cricketers, administrators, television people, umpires. How can it be wrong to give jobs to people? Are we not promoting cricket? Are we not putting money into the game? If I thought we were spoiling the game I would walk out.”

Delhi Jets and Chandigarh Lions will launch the ICL at a ground in Panchkula, near Chandigarh, converted from a football venue in six weeks.

Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik is doubtful for the second Test against India, starting on Friday in Calcutta, after failing to recover from an ankle injury.

Malik twisted his ankle during a soccer game after his side’s defeat in the first Test. Team-mate Shoaib Akhtar was yesterday recovering well from a viral infection and fast bowler Umar Gul is on the mend from his back injury.

Steve Elworthy, the former South Africa seam bowler, has been chosen as tournament director for the ICC World Twenty20 2009 in England and Wales.

Source : http://indiancricketleaguenews.wordpress.com/

Treat ICL as employment opportunity

2007-11-28T22:33:00.000-08:00

Asserting that boards around the world cannot bar players from earning a living through the Indian Cricket League, former Sri Lanka captain Marvan Atapattu on Monday said the venture should be looked upon as an employment opportunity rather than a challenge to the existing set-up.

“I don’t think ICL should be blocked in any way. In fact, we need more such initiatives to groom talent. It should be treated as a career chosen by a cricketer. They (the boards) are not doing any good by putting sanctions,” Atapattu, who retired from international cricket after the recent Test series against Australia, said.

Atapattu, captain of the Delhi Jets team, took a dig at the BCCI-backed Indian Premier League saying, “IPL has dragged in all the current players but ICL also has fresh talent on display. That is where the difference lies.”

Source: http://www.hindu.com/

Lara welcome to join Indian Premier League - organisers

2007-11-28T22:31:00.000-08:00

NEW DELHI, India (CMC) - Brian Lara is welcome to join next year's Indian Premier League. This is the word from a senior official of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, but there is a caveat.

The former West Indies captain and batting superstar would have to first cut all ties with the organisers of the controversial Indian Cricket League which begins on November 30 in Panchkula.

"He would have to terminate his ICL contract in such a case," BCCI Vice President Rajeev Shukla.
Lara is one of several former international stars who have jumped at the offer to play in the lucrative ICL.

Shukla noted that they were all welcome to join the IPL, once they too, rejected their contracts with the ICL.
The news however, was not so encouraging for fringe Indian players.

"There is no plan to take them back," Shukla said. "We've been approached by a number of players who have aligned with ICL.

"They want to play for their states and want to come back. But as of now, the BCCI has not arrived on a consensus about a general amnesty to them."

The BCCI launched the IPL in order to counter the ICL.
Some of the fringe domestic players and foreign cricketers like Lara, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Chris Cairns, and Daryl Cullinan have joined the ICL.

The board has barred all domestic cricketers, who joined the ICL, from playing in board-run tournaments.

Kareena to perform for Indian Cricket League

2007-11-28T02:36:00.000-08:00

SRK did it with Chak De India; John followed that up with Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal. And now it seems that Kareena is all set to follow suit by doing her bit for sports, the difference being that SRK and John have done it on reel life, while Kareena will do it in real life!

She is scheduled to perform for tracks like ‘It’s Rocking’ from Kya Love Story Hai and ‘Mauja Mauja’ from her hit film, Jab We Met, at the opening ceremony of Kapil Dev’s Indian Cricket League (ICL) in Chandigarh. The event is being coordinated by Bunty Walia’s GS Entertainment and Zee Sports. Kareena said that she is a cricket enthusiast and has watched a lot of Kapil Dev’s performances. Hence, being a part of the ceremony would indeed be an honor for her. She is also planning to meet up with Kapil Dev on November 30 before the event. The Australian cricketer Dean Jones and England’s Tony Greig would also be joining them.

Source: http://www.indiafm.com/

Stage set for ICL to take off from Nov 30

2007-11-28T02:33:00.000-08:00

Stage is set for the Indian Cricket League’s (ICL) Twenty20 tournament to take off from November 30 in Chandigarh with a host of former international stars promising to add spice to the rebel series.

The tournament, which is spread over two weeks, will have Delhi Jets taking on Chandigarh Lions in the inaugural match at the Tau Devi Lal Stadium in Panchkula.

Besides these two teams, Mumbai Champs will be led by legendary Brian Lara while other teams Kolkata Tigers, Chennai Superstars and Hyderabad Heroes will be vying for a place in the semi finals of the tournament, which will have a round-robin format.

Apart from Lara, the other top players to watch out for will be former Sri Lankan skipper Marvan Atapattu, who will be captaining the Delhi Jets team, former Pakistan skipper Inzamam-ul-Haq, former New Zealand all-rounder Chris Cairns, Nathan Astle, Chris Harris, Abdul Razzaq, Azhar Mahmood, Dinesh Mongia, Lance Klusener, Imran Farhat, Nicky Boje, Vikram Solanki, Paul Nixon, Hamish Marshall, Andrew Hall and Daryl Tuffey.

There are a host of domestic cricket stars as well which will form part of each team along with the former international ones. The teams would be reaching here tomorrow after taking part in several practice matches at different venues.

Final touches are being given to around 7,000 capacity stadium in Haryana’s Panchkula, where flood lights are being installed for the mega event.

Though tickets for the event have been moderately priced at Rs 100 for a single match and Rs 150 for two matches on the same day, the response from the fans has been lukewarm.

ICL Executive Board chairman Kapil Dev said, “we are keeping our fingers crossed. At the moment, we are excited and nervous. ICL is our baby and we are hoping everything goes off well.”

A concern at the stadium would be the outfield, which tends to be a bit slow, but Kapil said everything will be
taken care of before the tournament starts.

The pavillion building is being upgraded to include individual lockers and dressing room for players, umpires and match officials while a hi-tech broadcast studio is also being readied.

ICL, an Essel Group venture, has taken the stadium on a 10-year lease from the Haryana Government. Executive Vice president of the Essel (Zee) Group, Ashish Kaul said in addition to the live broadcast of the tournament on Zee Sports, they would also try to have live feed on regional channels owned by the media conglomerate.

The event will have commentators like Tony Greig, Dean Jones, Pat Symcox, Jeffery Thomson, Mike Whitney and Ayaz Memon.

Source: http://www.cricket247.in/