Sri Lanka cricket’s crisis over the timing of the England tour which clashes with the lucrative Indian Premier League (IPL) next year deepened on Saturday with the interim administration and several key players in the team refusing to budge an inch from their positions.
Via Sify
SOMERSET will target moves for Cameron White, Graeme Smith and Ricky Ponting in 2010 if the regulations for the new English Premier League allow them. All three are former Somerset overseas players of a recent vintage. The new EPL is being designed to mirror the successful Indian Premier League which featured four overseas players per side.
Via thisisBristol
Following the tremendous success of the cash-rich Indian Premier League, the BCCI on Friday warned junior cricketers of falling prey to agents who could lure them to sign deals in return for berths in one of the eight IPL squads.
Via ExpressIndia
RAJASTHAN ROYALS: The Royals lost just three of their 14 games on the way to winning the inaugural Indian Premier League crown. Coach Shane Warne could end up leading them against his home state Victoria in the Champions League.
Star player: Yusuf Pathan - Contributed with both bat and ball in Rajasthan’s triumph, hitting four half-centuries and claiming eight wickets, and taking the man-of-the-match award in the final.
CHENNAI SUPER KINGS: The Super Kings needed fewer than 15 overs to brush aside the Delhi Daredevils in the semi-finals before losing the IPL final on the final ball.
Star player: Mahendra Singh Dhoni - The IPL’s most expensive player averaged over 40 with the bat and took six catches behind the stumps as his team made it to the final.
VICTORIA BUSHRANGERS: The Bushrangers have dominated Twenty20 cricket in Australia winning all three of the domestic tournaments to have been held. During that time they have lost just once, against Western Australia last season, however they earned revenge for that defeat in the final when they defeated the Warriors by 32 runs.
Star player: Brad Hodge - The 33-year-old right-hander is the highest run scorer in the short history of Twenty20 cricket Down Under having scored 476 runs for Victoria.
WESTERN AUSTRALIA WARRIORS: The vast array of batting talent in the Western Australian team endears them to the batsman-friendly version of the game with Shaun Marsh and Luke Pomersbach finishing inside the top-three run scorers in last season’s Twenty20 competition.
Star player: Shaun Marsh - The left-hander has topped the runscorers’ list in both the Australian Twenty20 competition and the Indian Premier League in the past six months.
PRETORIA TITANS: The Pretoria-based side claimed the Pro-20 Series title and the MTN Championship - the premier domestic one-day cricket competition of South Africa - in 2008.
Star player: Dale Steyn - The South Africa paceman had a breakthrough year on the Test scene and has also impressed at the shorter form of the game, recording career-best figures of four for nine in Twenty20 cricket.
DOLPHINS: The Dolphins finished second in the Pro-20 Series after winning four of their six matches. The Natal-based team lost by 18 runs in the final against the Titans in April, failing to chase down a victoty target of 153 for six.
Star player: Pierre de Bruyn - The wicketkeeper-batsman was the Dolphins leading runscorer in last season’s Por-20 Series scoring 152 runs at an average of 50.6.
MIDDLESEX: Middlesex County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Middlesex. n 2008, Middlesex won the Twenty20 Cup, beating Kent in the final, and earning trips to both the Twenty20 Champions League in India and the Stanford Series in Antigua.
SIALKOT STALLIONS: The Sialkot cricket team in Pakistan is also known as the Sialkot Stallions. Its home ground is Jinnah Stadium Sialkot. It plays in first-class domestic competitions. It was national champion in 2005-2006 and won Quaid-i-Azam Trophy Championship (Golden League) . It was runnerup in 2006-2007. Sialkot Stallions also won ABN-AMRO Twenty-20 Cup in 2005-2006 and 2006-2007. Noted players in recent years include Imran Nazir, Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Asif.
Indian Premier League (IPL) would be a tempting option for Andrew Symonds but teammate Shane Watson does not want the feisty all-rounder to tread that path and waste his talent. Watson reckons playing just two months a year and getting paid USD 1.5 million might tempt Symonds to abandon the baggy green for the IPL but feels it would be a waste if he falls for the lure.
Via PTI
I am putting a wish list that I would like to see in the Indian Premier League 2009 season.
Dedicated slot
Indian Premier League to have a dedicated slot in ICC calendar so that the world’s best cricketers are available
Additional Franchises
There should be additional two more franchises which would take the total to 10. If all the international players are available then they need to be accommodated also.
5 International players per team
International players per team should be increased to 5 from the current limit of 4. This would give some flexibility for the teams to varied combination of batsmen and bowlers for a match. 5 International and 6 Indian players should be a good combination. Also it would enable all the international players to get a chance.
Best of three finals
Best of three finals between the top two teams of the league instead of the semi-finals and one finals.
Rest of the razzmatazz of cheer leaders, bollwood, music, fun, fireworks included in the IPL 2009 season.
Any other wish list you have? Do share…
The Indian Premier League commissioner Lalit Modi has told Andrew Symonds, who is weighing up his options after being suspended by Australia for going fishing, that the competition is not a venue for a “bunch of retired cricketers”.
Via Yahoo Sport
Chargers chief executive Tim Wright said they would love to have Symonds available for the entire 2009 series, which runs from April 10 to June 1. “The Deccan Chargers would - as would any IPL team - want Andrew Symonds in from the very first ball of the competition to the very last ball,” he told AAP.
Via The Age
Chargers chief executive Tim Wright said they would love to have Symonds available for the entire 2009 series, which runs from April 10 to June 1. “The Deccan Chargers would - as would any IPL team - want Andrew Symonds in from the very first ball of the competition to the very last ball,” he told AAP.
Via The Age