IPL: On pink balls and 12 th man

IPL franchises agreed to use pink balls in warm-up matches and practice sessions.

IPL is an excellent launch pad for pink balls as top cricketers will get an opportunity to get assimilated. Not only that the scruffy grounds in India will provide an excellent work out for the pink balls and help decide on their durability.

In other IPL related news, IPL franchisees have abandoned the 12th man and in turn agreed to use 4 fielding substitutes instead.

Will the West Indies play as a team?

Interesting question:

 

Questions surround the West Indies team that set out yesterday for Australia, where they will engage what is still, arguably, the most formidable cricket team in the world. The most crucial of these is how the players will bind together, given that the squad is made up of players who took part in the prolonged strike caused by the dispute between the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and Players Association (WIPA) and those who, by breaking the strike, came into such prominence that they are now part of this all-inclusive line-up.

 

 

Day- Night Tests a certainty?

The ICC appears keen to introduce day - night Test matches in order to make Test matches more popular.

 

In fact at the end of a 2 day board meeting at Johannesburg, ICC released a statement that there will be "further research into various proposals for product development and variation of Test cricket, including day-night Test matches".

Though a cricketing 'purist' may look askance, day - night Test matches appear the only way to attract a wider audience for Test cricket.

 

Another idea though this one is unofficial, is to build a 'context' around a Test match. The propagators behind this idea believe, by building a context around a Test match for example a stake at the World Champion Test side title, it will attract more crowd to watch them.

Cricket: Shed a tear for Younus Khan

Nothing is going right for the Pakistan cricket team captain Younus Khan.

 

Not only, has his own batting performance faltered ( Younus has scored only two half-centuries in his last 19 ODIs.) he has also managed to lose two ODI series since the euphoric ICC Twenty20 World Cup.

 

On top of that Shahid Afridi has made some astute moves.

 

He has started batting more responsibly and has also made the right noises, including asking Younus Khan to reconsider his decision to retire from the Twenty20 form of the game.

 

Younus Khan has unwittingly agreed to reconsider it and has set off a furore over his decision.

 

The factions which were already against him have not only lambasted him for the decision but have also been keenly asking for Shahid Afridi to be appointed captain of the Pakistan cricket team.

 

Now that former Pakistani players have also called for his sacking it looks as if Younus has to do something exceptional to not only retain his captaincy but also his place in Pakistan cricket squad.

India vs. Sri Lanka: Indian squad

The Indian selectors sprung a surprise by including S.Sreesanth in the 15 member squad for the 1st 2 Tests against the visiting Sri Lanka cricket team.

While Zaheer Khan's recall was in the offing, Sreesanth's inclusion came straight out of the blue.

Though it is unlikely that Sreesanth may play in these Tests, the selectors may have selected him to evaluate how he gels with the squad.

It is pertinent to remember that this is the first time Sreesanth is sharing a dressing room with Harbhajan Singh after the infamous 'slapping' incident during the inaugural IPL tournament.

The Indian cricket team for the first 2 Tests against Sri Lanka:

Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, V.V.S. Laxman, Murali Vijay, Subramaniam Badrinath, Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh, Amit Mishra, Pragyan Ojha, Ishant Sharma, Zaheer Khan, S. Sreesanth.

IPL has reduced nastiness in Cricket

Sunil Gavaskar believes that the Indian Premier League (IPL), by bringing world's leading cricketers and thus helping them understand each other better, has reduced nastiness in cricket.

 

According to a PTI report Gavaskar told reporters at a book launch:

"During our times, there used to be intense rivalry as every player used to play to win. But the IPL has brought players from different countries together creating a good rapport among them."

While the IPL is too new a tournament to base such observations on, the relatively rancour free current 7 match one-day International's between India and Australia makes one believe there is some truth in it.

India Australia 7th ODI Mumbai

An intriguing situation confronts the Indian cricket team.

 

Having been at the receiving end at Mohali, Hyderabad and Guwahati and thus conclusively losing the series, should they use the ODI at the D Y Patil stadium to fine tune themselves for the upcoming series against the Sri Lankans.

 

There are those who argue that with a Test series,ODI's and Twenty20's coming up against the Sri Lankan's in another 4 days, India should try to win the last ODI against the Australians and thus regain some of their badly mauled pride.

 

This blogger believes that the Australian's will use this match to impose themselves on the Indians thus making sure that India realises where exactly they stand as an ODI team.

 

SET MAX Maximises IPL-3 Revenue

The official broadcasters of the Indian Premier League (IPL)cricket tournament, SET Max is estimated to rake in over Rs 650 crore during IPL -3, 30 per cent higher than it got in IPL-2.

The channel has signed on two co-presenting sponsors, Vodafone and Videocon for around Rs 55 crore each, while each associate sponsor is shelling out between Rs 35 to 40 crore, depending on the number of secondages bought.

SET Max this time will have 10 associate sponsors, of which eight have been signed up. Pepsi, Samsung, LG and Hyundai are among the associate sponsors.

From here:

Cricket: Kumara Sangakkara is no slouch

The Sri Lankan cricket team has arrived with Kumara Sangakkara at the helm.

As befitting the successor of Mahela Jayewardene, he appears no slouch at mouthing management gyan.

For example, Sangakkara believes that the Indian team is the team under pressure because the Sri Lankan team has never won a Test match in India in the 27 years.

If that gyan wasn't convincing or threatening enough to cow the Indian cricket team, he is talking about how his team has set daily targets and plans to meet 'challenges'.

Unfortunately, the Sri Lankan cricket team captain may end up talking about this tour to India being 'learning curve' as his team is largely inexperienced and carry the aging veteran Jayasuriya.

Guwahati ODI : India gambles and loses series

Image by R▲▲S via Flickr

The best thing that could have happened to Dhoni would have been losing the toss. Unfortunately he won.This presented him with a Hobsons choice.

For if he elected to bat first, then his batsmen would have to overcome seaming conditions. If he chose to bat second then bad light would have made it a mad scramble to beat the D/L method.

The fact that Dhoni risked batting first shows how much faith he reposed on his bowlers.

As expected the India batsmen failed to counter the swing deployed by the Australian bowlers.

So badly did they bat (27 for five in nine overs) that the 170 they made in 48 overs can be almost called remarkable.

However, the total proved too little for the Australians who had their tails up and they effectively closed the series 4-2 without working up much of a sweat.

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Guwahati 6th ODI: Bad Light may prove decisive

India has win back to back matches to win the series. Unfortunately for them, the most decisive ODI of the series is being played at Guwahati.

The Indian cricket team has to pull something extraordinary because at Guwahati there are too many imponderables in the mix.

Firstly an early start and secondly an early close means the toss becomes important.

If Dhoni chooses to bat on winning the toss, then his batsmen will have to confront seaming conditions at least for the first 2 hours of the innings. Knowing the Indian batsmen's penchant for fishing outside the off stump, Dhoni might frown at this option but the Australian bowlers will contemplate the prospect of bowling first with glee.

The alternative, batting second, will provide Dhoni little comfort. Bad light will certainly raise its ugly head and the D/L method may decide the fate of the match.

Under these circumstances, it is imperative that the Indian team should pull together.

If India is to win this crucial ODI, Sehwag has to connect and Nehra has to find the edges.

Guwahati ODI: India's strategy

If India were to lose tomorrows ODI, then they effectively lose the series.
Considering the gravity of the situation, one expected Dhoni to make more than a gratuitous remark about India's strategy:

"The strategy is to get off a good start and then capitalise on it. We have done well in patches. It's important to be consistent especially when it comes to fielding. So we are hoping to field well."

Let us hope Dhoni has a much better strategy than this and his remark was made to keep the Australians in the dark.



[Caption]

We salute Amol Muzumdar

In the Name of Cricket salutes Amol Muzumdar.

Amol Muzumdar became the highest run-getter in the Ranji Trophy, going past another domestic giant Amarjit Kaypee's mark of 7623 runs.

A man unnaturally ignored by the Indian selectors and one who held more promise and one who had more talent than those who made it to the Indian cricket team.

Amol Muzumdar a true servant of Indian cricket

Can Joel Garner turn it around?

Former West Indies fast bowler Joel Garner, team manager for the West Indies tour to Australia, hopes to instill a sense of the pride with which they dominated world cricket in the past.

But do the current lot of West Indian cricketers have the same commitment?

West Indies Cricket groping in the dark

10 year IPL Theatre rights up for grabs

The Indian Premier League (IPL) has called for bidding for the theatrical rights to IPL matches for the next 10 years.

The winning bidder can broadcast IPL matches in cinema halls, in bars, restaurants, buses, hospitals and in a host of public places.

The bidder can run advertisements between overs and other breaks in the game. However, they are restrained from telecasting matches in the town or city where an IPL match is taking place.

Sources indicate that multiplexes and media companies are showing eagerness unlike last year.

12 year old scores 439

A 12-year-old has scored 439 runs in a school cricket tournament in Mumbai.

According to the Times of India, Sarfaraz Khan faced 421 balls and hit 12 sixes and 56 boundaries for his Springfield Rizvi school against a hapless Indian Education Society in a three-day Harris Shield match on Wednesday.

Keen followers of cricket will recollect that it was in this tournament in 1988 Tendulkar, made 329 during a 664-run partnership with Vinod Kambli, who also went on to play international cricket.

Ireland: Do we need another Test Cricket minnow?

Ireland which is currently an associate member with one day- international status, is pushing to join the list of countries playing Test cricket.

Undeniably, Ireland cricket has made considerable progress with their entry into the last eight of the 2007 World Cup being their most cherished success.

However, their intention to aspire for full member status brings forth questions.

Firstly, their one day International success in no way guarantees success in Test cricket. In fact there is a danger of them becoming another Bangladesh, a Test cricket playing country that has done nothing of note since getting the ICC's full member status in 2000.

Secondly, their application comes at a time when the cricketing pundits are bemoaning the lack of interest in Test cricket. Hence Ireland may be reduced to participating in the last rites.

Apart from these questions, one is inclined to wonder whether we need another minnow to make up the numbers and further dilute the quality of Test cricket.

Services claim administrative slip up

The Board of Control for Cricket in India's decision to ban the Service's team for the entire Ranji Trophy season has brought out the expected reaction.

The Indian Express reports that 

The Services team later apologised to the BCCI for the “administrative slip up” and sought new dates — it transpires that the team acted on an alert put out by the Military Intelligence after a security assessment, not corroborated by other intelligence agencies, warned of a militant plan to mingle with spectators and disrupt the match at the Sher-e-Kashmir stadium in Srinagar.

The apology confirms my long standing view that Indian cricket is in the 'right hands'.:)

 

Cricket: Scorer's up in arms

According to Times Online:

So strongly do they feel after their treatment — or lack of it — at the recent World Twenty20 in England that they are even talking about forming their own trade union.

Several months after the tournament ended, some of the 25 scorers claim they are still waiting to be paid their £93 match fee and others found that they had to queue with temporary catering staff for accreditation to get into the Brit Oval.

Their desire for recognition has resulted in a paper that will go before David Richardson, the general manager of the ICC, to consider their complaints.

Do you agree that scorers need to be recognised for their effort to enshrine a cricket match?

Cricket: Afridi sinks New Zealand

Pakistan vs.. New Zealand 1st ODI cricket match

 

Shahid Afridi's aggression gave Pakistan an easy 138 run win over New Zealand in the 1st day-night ODI Cool & Cool Cup played at Zayed Cricket Stadium at Abu Dhabi.

 

Afridi hit a 50 ball 71 and also grabbed 2 wickets and helped Pakistan overcome New Zealand.

 

Though New Zealand started the match promisingly they lost control over the match once Afridi came in to bat. Shahid Afridi partnered with Khalid Latif and then with Kamran Akmal and helped Pakistan post a imposing 287 for 9.

 

In reply, New Zealand succumbed for 149 in the 40th over.

 

Pakistan now has 1-0 lead in this 3 match ODI series. The other 2 matches will be played at the Zayed Stadium on November 7 and on November 10.

 

 

Bangladesh-Zimbabwe play a quaint ODI

Bangladesh cricket team is having a golden run. Having overcome a second string- nay a third string West Indian cricket team, they are all set to thrash Zimbabwe in an ODI series.

In fact they took an unbeaten 3-1 lead in their ODI series in a quaint match where only 93 runs were scored.

Bangladesh skittle Zimbabwe for just 44, the fifth lowest total scored by any team in an ODI and then quickly rattled off the required runs for the loss of four wickets.

Stanford stripped of knighthood.

This perhaps could hurt Stanford more than anything else.

The Telegraph quoted Jacqui Quinn-Leandro, the chairman of the Caribbean country’s National Honours Committee, as saying that the nation voted unanimously to revoke his title for "embarrassing the nation" by running the scheme out of his Antigua-based offshore bank.

Now will Antigua return the money received from him for development back to those affected by his Ponzi scheme.

Services refuses to play cricket in J & K

Image by 365bunnies via Flickr

Services refusal to go to Jammu & Kashmir to play a Ranji Trophy cricket match on security grounds is sure to cause an uproar.

Services have given a walkover to J&K in the Plate Division match, saying they have security apprehensions.

The BCCI will have a lot of explaining to do as this comes at a time when India is claiming that the security situation is normal.

One can also be sure that Pakistan will rake this up and the Pakistan Cricket Board will take the cue to add to India's discomfort.

As usual an unnamed BCCI official has promised to examine the reasons behind the Service's cricket teams refusal and take action.

Update:
The Services Sports Control Board (SSCB) cricket team was today banned from this year's Ranji Trophy due to their refusal to go to Srinagar for a Plate Division match against Jammu and Kashmir.

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West Indies squad for Australia Test series

Image by David Berkowitz via Flickr

A full-strength West Indies squad will tour Australia for this summer's three-Test series.

Reinstated captain Chris Gayle along with Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Ramnaresh Sarwan and allrounder Dwayne Bravo who sat out recent matches over a contract dispute, are among many of the West Indies team's best players included in the squad.

Had the contract dispute prolonged the West Indies would have struggled to compete in the three Test matches.

The West Indies are also set to return later in the summer to Australia, for f5 one-dayers and 2 Twenty20 games.

Windies tour squad:- Chris Gayle (capt), Adrian Barath, Sulieman Benn, Dwayne Bravo, Shiv Chanderpaul, Narsingh Deonarine, Travis Dowlin, Brendan Nash, Denesh Ramdin, Ravi Rampaul, Kemar Roach, Darren Sammy, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Jerome Taylor, Gavin Tonge.

Tour schedule:- Nov 18-21 v Queensland, Allan Border Field, Brisbane; Nov 26-30, 1st Test, Gabba; Dec 4-8, 2nd Test, Adelaide Oval; Dec 16-20, 3rd Test, WACA.

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TTCB:"Movement of Change "get the manadate

Image by abdallahh via Flickr

Azim Bassarath who is a part of the "Movement of Change" is the new president of the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board (TTCB). He  ousted Deryck Murray and helped "Movement for Change"to walk away with other important posts at the 53rd edition of the Board's annual general meeting yesterday.

TTCB Election Results

Results of the 53rd Annual Meeting of the Trinidad & Tobago Cricket Board held on Saturday 31st October 2009 at the National Cricket Centre, Balmain Couva (winners in bold)

Officers

         President: Azim Bassarath

         1st VP: Dudnath Ramkessoon

         2nd VP: Lalman Kowlessar

         General Secretary: Arjoon Ramlal

         Treasurer: Sukesh Maniam (Deryck Murray placed a casting vote for Maniam)

Six Executive Members

        *       Dr. Allen Sammy

        *       Martin LumKin

        *       Anne Browne-John

        *       Patrick Rampersad

        *       Suruj Ragoonath

        *       Don Asgarali

        *       William Wallace

        *       Ignatius Trim

        *       Baldath Bodoe

        *       Moses Thomas

        *       Tarandath Sammy

Nominated and Committee members and other appointments will named after the first executive meeting.

India eyeing a hat-trick

Image via Wikipedia

The Indian teams back-to-back wins in Nagpur and Delhi, will have all Indian cricket fans hoping that the Indian team complete a treble of triumphs to stretch their lead against Australia in the fourth cricket one-dayer at Mohali.

Normally, this would have been a pipe dream, but considering the spate of injuries and the Australian team's inability to impose themselves on the Indian's in the recent past, the Indian's have an excellent opportunity to close all possibilities of a series loss.

Though the India team has shown resilience and consistency after the series opener loss, it remains to be seen whether they can overcome complacency.

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Cricket: New role for the 12 th man

Cricket South Africa has designed a new format to rekindle interest in the domestic ODI tournament.

What they have done is to permit teams to have 12 players in effect they have made the 12 th man a full member. They hope that this innovation will provide tactical flexibility to make the 50 pver format more dynamic.

The change to the 12th man's role allows for an extra batting or bowling option and also gives rise to the opportunity to remove a cumbersome fielder from play, as is the case in rugby or soccer. The new rules also do away with extending the hours of play for matches affected by rain, but instead reduces the number of overs accordingly, which should make for more exciting viewing.

The question before us is will these changes revive spectator interest and if so can it be replicated in International one day matches.

Jessica Bratich ‘undone’

Following on with our avowed policy of bringing cricket related ‘views’ to our readers, we present cricket WAG Jessica Bratich ‘undone’ - girlfriend of Australian cricketer Mitchell Johnson. We also wish our readers a ‘Happy Diwali’.

CRICKET: Steve Harminson gets a ‘gong’.

Next month Steve Harmison will be crowned a “North East legend” for his contributions to cricket.

One can easily understand Steve Harmison’s immense contribution to cricket when one realizes he is following on in the footsteps of Alan Shearer and Malcolm Macdonald.

For the record, Steve Harmison has been a part of two Ashes winning England teams, has represented England in 63 Tests and has taken 266 wickets. His contribution to England’s recent Ashes win was noteworthy for the sheer lack of success.

He was also a part of the England Ashes team that was drubbed 5-0 in Australia.

As they say, this is really the stuff for the legends.

Younus Khan Bargains

As expected, Younus Khan met Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Ijaz Butt to discuss his resignation.

As you all know Younus Khan, resigned claiming he was hurt over the match-fixing allegations.

The beauty of this resignation drama was that he made it clear as soon as he submitted his resignation that it was up to the PCB to accept or reject his resignation.

By putting the onus on PCB, Younus Khan knew that he will get some advantage to bargain and expectedly the spineless PCB has complied.

Now it is just a matter giving Younus Khan his pound of flesh for him to get over his feeling of hurt.

ODI Squad against Australia: Dravid Out Sehwag In

Virender Sehwag replaced Rahul Dravid for the first two games of the seven-match one-day series against Australia. Interestingly, Venkatesh Prasad, the Indian team’s bowling coach along with Robin Singh; the fielding coach got the boot.

Munaf Patel deservedly found a place in the squad, while Virat Kohli mysteriously retains his place, making one speculate whether he is the Ajith Agarkar of the future.

Expectedly, Yuvraj Singh finds his way back into the team, even though there is an uncertainty surrounding his fitness.

Similarly, Ishanth Sharma is retained in the squad, probably with the intention of grinding his talent to dust.

Overall an ideal squad for Dhoni to whine about.

India squad:

Mahendra Singh Dhoni

Sachin Tendulkar

Gautam Gambhir

Virender Sehwag

Suresh Raina

Yuvraj Singh

Virat Kohli

Harbhajan Singh

Sudeep Tyagi

Munaf Patel

Amit Mishra

Praveen Kumar

Ishant Sharma

Ravindra Jadeja

Ashish Nehra.

Bhutan stamps Roger Binny

Why has Bhutan released a stamp featuring Roger Binny?

Bhutan Government released four stamps based on the game of cricket in commemoration of a century of monarchy. Prized at 5 ngultrum (Rs 5) three of them feature Roger Binny with Bhutan cricketers.

The Bhutan Government honored Roger Binny for his contribution to the growth of cricket in Bhutan when he was posted there as Development Officer of the Asian Cricket Council.

Australia squad announced for ODI tour of India

Cricket Australia announces the team for VB Tour of India, 2009.

The ODI squad is:

Ricky Ponting

Michael Hussey

Doug Bollinger

Nathan Hauritz

Jon Holland

Ben Hilfenhaus

James Hopes

Mitchell Johnson

Brett Lee

Shaun Marsh

Tim Paine

Peter Siddle

Adam Voges

Shane Watson

Cameron White

The series starts on Oct 25, 2009, with a day and night match at Jaipur.

Champions League Twenty20 2009: Modi predicts rapid growth in club cricket

Lalit Modi, Chairman of the Champions League Twenty20's governing council, believes the tournament will result in the "rapid growth" of club cricket around the world.

Modi also said there was a strong chance the Champions League would be taken to non-cricket playing countries as a means to expand the game's reach and get other countries to embrace cricket.

The mere fact that Modi is speculating on expanding the scope of Champions League Twenty20 in an already crowded cricketing calendar is sure to set off alarm bells among the traditionalists.

WI Cricket: Reconciliation in the offing?

Has the WI Cricket turned the corner?

 

Judging by Dwayne Bravo’s views it appears that players like Chris Gayle, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and other first choice cricketers have had enough with their tussle with WICB.

 

He revealed that all of West Indies' star players would make themselves available for the summer tour to Australia.

 

This declaration is particularly heartening to cricket fans as the West Indies are scheduled to play three Test matches, five one-day internationals and two Twenty20 encounters against Australia starting in Brisbane on November 26.

 

The addition of these stars will not only make the cricket test series interesting but it will also show a way for WICB to chart the future of West Indies cricket.

 

Now the question is will the WICB show magnanimity and include the cricketers into the team or will they misinterpret it as victory and continue to ruin West Indies cricket.

Twenty20 Champions League: Can NSW Blues win?

The NSW Twenty20 teams are without 3 of their superstars.

 

Nathan Bracken, Brad Haddin are injured. Michael Clarke ruled himself out of the Twenty20 Champions League much earlier, so his injury does not mar their chances.

 

However, Simon Kaitich believes that Brett Lee, Stuart Clark, Phil Hughes, David Warner along with paceman Aaron Bird and Stephen Smith are enough to win the $US2.5 million inaugural Twenty20 Champions League.

 

To the reader the NSW Blues appear formidable, but can they win the tournament?

 

 

 

 

Teams start arriving for the inaugural Twenty20 Champions League

The Victoria Bushrangers Twenty20 Champions League campaign starts against Delhi on October 9 and they are leaving Australia for India today.

 

Victoria Bushrangers are one of the 12 teams participating in the inaugural Twenty20 Champions League. The Airtel Twenty20 Champions League is an offshoot of the wildly popular Twenty20 IPL tournament.

 

New South Wales is the other Australian domestic side that has qualified to play in the Airtel Twenty20 Champions League.

 

India vs. Pakistan Test series in neutral venues?

This is fantastic (as in unbelievable, ridiculous and plain funny), the PCB Chairman Ejaz Butt claims that "International Cricket Council has guaranteed that India and Pakistan would play a bilateral series after every two years even if were to be held at neutral venues".

 

There is no way ICC can guarantee anything as it is the Indian Government that has clamped on sporting relations with Pakistan. One is sure the BCCI themselves are surprised by this announcement.

 

Unsurprisingly, the announcement (PTI Karachi) emanates out of Pakistan.

 

Coming as it does at the heels of yesterday's announcement of Pakistan bidding for the Twenty20 World Cup 2014; it appears all these announcements are made to impress his political boss in Pakistan.

 

 

 

PCB announces fixtures for Domestic Season 2009- 2010

Pakistan Cricket Board today announced the Calendar for its Domestic Season 2009-10.

 

The Domestic season already started with Regional Inter District U-19 tournament which will be completed on 18 Oct followed by Quaid-e-Azam Trophy First Class tournament from 10 Oct till 24 December 2009. Total 22 teams (13 Regional & 9 Departments) divided into 2 Groups will participate. Bottom two departmental teams will be relegated to Patron's Trophy Grade-II Tournament for the next season i.e. 2010-2011.

 

Pentangular Cup also First Class Tournament will start from 1st Jan 2010 till 4th Feb 2010. 5 Teams will participate in this tournament. Top two teams from each group of Quaid-e-Azam Trophy 2009-2010 (two Departmental and two Regional Teams) and one Rest of Pakistan will participate in this tournament. The Rest of Pakistan Team will be selected by the National Selection Committee.

 

National One Day Tournament RBS Cup will start from 10 Feb till 23rd Feb 2010. Total 22 teams divided into four groups will compete in this tournament.

 

Patron's Trophy Grade-II will start from 27th Feb till 4th April 2010. Total 20 teams divided into 4 Groups. Both the finalist teams will be promoted to Quaid-e-Azam Trophy for the next season i.e. 2010-2011.

 

The most popular domestic tournament RBS Twenty-20 Cup will commence from 20th March till 24th March 2010. Total 13 regional teams will contest for RBS Twenty-20 Cup.

 

Details of the Domestic Calendar 2009-2010 is as follows:

# Regional Inter District U-19 Tournament (82 Teams) - 16th Aug. 2009 to 16th Oct. 2009

# Regional Inter District U-19 Tournament (82 Teams) - 17th Aug. 2009 to 18th Oct. 2009

# Quaid-e-Azam Trophy (First Class, 13 Regional Teams & 9 Departments 22 Teams, 2 Groups) - 10th Oct. 2009 to 24th Dec. 2009

# Inter Region U-19 (One Day, 13 Teams, 2 Groups) - 4th Nov. 2009 to 21st Nov. 2009

# Pentangular Cup (First Class, 5 Teams) - 1st Jan. 2010 to 4th Feb. 2010

# RBS Cup (One Day, 22 Teams, 4 Groups) - 10th Feb. 2010 to 23rd Feb. 2010

# Patron's Trophy Grade-II (20 Teams, 4 Groups, 43 Matches) - 27th Feb. 2010

# to 4th Apr. 2010 RBS Twenty-20 Cup (13 Teams) - 20th Mar. 2010 to 24th Mar. 2010

# Regional Inter District Sr. Tournament (82 Teams) - 8th Apr. 2010 to 27th Apr. 2010

 

 

Source: PCB

ICC Champions Trophy and TV Ratings

---

HT-TRP- 2.6.

aMap-TRP- 3.7%

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Why this contradiction and how is it indicative of the popularity of the ODI format?

 

Hindustan Times claims the match between India and Pakistan garnered a TRP of only 2.6% and smartly concludes, "If TV ratings for India-Pakistan matches are an indicator, then the ongoing Champions Trophy is bad news for one-day cricket".

 

Whereas an aMap Press release says, it garnered a TRP of 3.7% and effusively concludes "The live telecast on Doordarshan was followed closely by more than 30 million viewers (Individuals 4+, All India), registering a spectacular jump in viewership as compared to all the previous matches".

 

There are two points to note.

 

Both TRP's are from the same source.

HT shows TRP of Star Sports whereas aMap shows TRP of Doordarshan.

 

 

 

 

India vs. Australia: Rain KO's India

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India remain winless

Earns 1 point, needs 3 more 

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Heavy rain forced the abandonment of Champions Trophy Group A between match India vs. Australia at Centurion last night.

 

Both teams earned a point each. This means that India will have to beat West Indies and hope and pray that Pakistan beat Australia. 

 

For the record Australia won the toss and reached 234 for four off 42.3 overs before rain played spoilsport.

 

The winless Indian cricket team looks all set to book an early flight home.

 

Pakistan to bid for 2014 Twenty20 World Cup

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PCB bid to host Twenty20 World Cup

Efforts on to muster support.

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Pakistan's cricket board is planning a bid to host the 2014 Twenty20 World Cup and efforts are being made to get other cricket playing countries to support their bid.

 

Though no one will deny that Pakistan has a legitimate right to bid for the Twenty20 World Cup, it remains to be seen whether the tournament will be staged or end up being postponed like the ICC Champions Trophy.

 

If Pakistan wins the bid, one foresees further uncertainties and petulant behavior from the PCB.

 

ICC Champions Trophy: India vs. Australia

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Semifinal berth at stake

Harbhajan Singh will be the difference

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The Indian cricket team is facing a familiar predicament. By losing to Pakistan, team India is on the brink of elimination. The only way out is to win 2 matches in succession in order to book its berth for the ICC Champions Trophy semifinal.

 

This is where today's match gains significance. This match against the Australian's will be the decider. If India loses then it will abruptly terminate India's trophy ambitions.

 

Considering the manner in which Australia steamrolled England in the ODI series recently, Indian cricket fans have every reason to feel dispirited.

 

However, they can take heart from the fact that Australia has repeatedly succumbed to spin bowling. Even in their opening match against West Indies, the Australian batting stuttered against a virtually unknown spinner.

 

This where Harbhajan Singh's spin can make victory possible. He has to come out of his restrictive ways and bowl in the Test match mode. To put it succinctly he has to spin the ball.

 

Having said that, the onus still lies with the blow hot blow cold batsmen. The result will hinge on whether their form.

Cricket: The Word's first Digital Cup

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Compaq sponsored the tri-nation ODI cricket tournament in Sri Lanka

Designed a unique trophy. 

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The tri-nation cricket tournament in Colombo, involving India, Sri Lanka and New Zealand marked a first for cricket.

 

The 'Q' shaped cup denoting the sponsor Compaq's logo, was the world's first digital Cup.

 

The innovative trophy had a LCD screen that could stream match winning moments, key statistics, photographs and fan messages.

 

 

 

Who said ODI's are dead?

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Interest in ODI's have not waned

India Vs Pakistan cricket match still affects normal day in the subcontinent.

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Two news report having the India Pakistan ICC Champions Trophy ODI as a common thread clearly shows that the ODI format is alive and well. 

Three persons have been arrested here for allegedly running a hi-tech betting racket, which booked 'satta' of Rs 70 lakh for the India-Pakistan cricket match in the ICC Champions Trophy. 

 

The streets in the metropolis city were presenting the look of deserted due to the cricket match between archrivals Pakistan and India on Saturday.

Will India make it to the semi-final?

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Indian cricket team's path to semi-finals hits a rough patch

Must win matches against Australia and West Indies

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The Indian cricket team is up against it after losing their opening match to Pakistan in the ICC Champions Trophy.

 

The 54 –runs loss to Pakistan has left India in the untenable position of having to win both their matches.

 

While West Indies may prove canon fodder to the big guns in the Indian cricket team batting line-up, it is unlikely that Australia will prove as easy.

 

The problem with the Indian cricket team is that both the batsmen and bowlers struggled to find form in the opening match.

Stanford hospitalized after prison fight

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Stanford in jail for financial fraud

Injured in fight with prison inmate

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Sir Allen Stanford, the man behind the now defunct Stanford Twenty20 cricket tournament and Stanford Financial Group, was injured in a fight with a prison inmate at the Joe Corley Detention Facility in Houston, USA.

 

The jail authorities confirmed the incident and stated that the injury was minor.

 

It is time the 59-year-old millionaire read 'How to win friends and influence people'.

 

 

 

Kirsten denies urging cricketers to have sex

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Says 'sex' is not a part of team strategy

Lays blame on Paddy Upton

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Gary Kirsten denied having a hand in urging Indian cricketers to have sex before a cricket match.

 

He says he is as bemused about it as others are as he saw the report only a couple of days ago. Kirsten said Paddy Upton, his close pal and the mental conditioning expert of the Indian team, prepared the report.

 

Sadly, for keen cricket followers, Kirsten denied contemplating using 'sex' as a strategy thus ruling out the possibility of watching one of our cricketers fine performance and wondering with whom he had sex with.

 

Cricket Schedules in Google Calendar

• Add Cricket Tournament Schedules
• Follow the Indian Cricket team

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Did you know that you could add ICC Cricket Tournament schedules to your Google Calendar?

 

If you are using Google Calendar, just sign in. You will see New: Sports Calendar in red at the top.

 

Click on it and choose Sports. The next step is obvious, choose cricket and then click on the team (India) and the tournaments schedule you want to follow.

 

The only draw back is this will create a separate calendar and if there is any game you want to follow you will have to copy paste to your original calendar.

 

(If you can find a way out of this duplication, please let us know.)

 

 

 

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