Welcome to the future, England - Cricket chiefs can’t hold off India’s Twenty20 bonanza

A goldmine: Kevin Pietersen can see the cash roll in

Should Kevin Pietersen require any further prompting to accept the mounting offers to join the cash-rich carnival of Indian Premier League cricket, the sight of his Ashes rivals lapping it up in Delhi would surely have nudged him in the appropriate direction.

Last night in Delhi, Shane Warne, the man the Aussies used to call 'Hollywood', enjoyed his first taste of Bollywood cricket, as Jaipur's Rajasthan Royals took on the Delhi Daredevils, Glenn McGrath and all.

And with pressure growing on England's cricket chiefs to allow stars such as Pietersen, Andrew Flintoff, Paul Collingwood and Monty Panesar to board the Indian Premier League gravy train as early as next season, Warne's personal message to his former county team-mate might well have been: "Come on in, the lolly's lovely."

The England and Wales Cricket Board last week confirmed a major shift in policy by lifting their objections to Pietersen and his England team-mates signing for the IPL from 2010, as long as they leave next year free to concentrate on the 2009 Ashes and World Twenty20 in England in June.

They continue to hope that their move to agree to a £10million Twenty20 match ? or a reported £50m five-match series? between England and American billionaire Allen Sanford's West Indies All- Stars on November 1 will encourage them to reject offers to play in India this time next year.

They argue that there would be no time left then between the end of England's tour to the Caribbean on April 8 and the start of the two- Test series against either Zimbabwe or Bangladesh on May 7.

But the success of the opening matches of the inaugural tournament in Bangalore on Friday and in Delhi and Mohali yesterday has sharpened the focus of leading England players to cash in while the going is good, and the desire of the Indian franchises to keep the momentum going by signing them for 2009, even if only for 10 days to a fortnight.

Since the ECB softened the hardline stance of chairman Giles Clarke, he has at least curtailed the 'not on my watch' bombast that backed his board into a corner and the players into an aggressive response. No wonder. Clarke has been here and has seen the future.

And no matter how much it hurts him and English cricket that they have lost the race to milk the cash cow they gave birth to in 2003, the only sensible conclusion is that, as they have been unable to beat the Indian Cricket Board to the golden reward, it is a case of better late than never.

Which means that we can put aside any notion of a rival England Premier League being formed any time soon and concentrate on asking questions about the reality of the Twenty20 revolution. Such as when will England players play in the IPL and for how much? And what does it all mean to the English game?

Today in Bombay, the ECB delegation led by Clarke and commercial director John Perera will resume a weekend of negotiations with representatives of the Indian Board and the IPL to try to match their 2010 scheduling with England's less-crowded commitments that year and ensure the end of next-season's IPL does not clash with the World Twenty20 warmup matches in England.

Even though the ECB continue to insist that the final say over which England stars will be allowed to join will rest with coach Peter Moores, what that means is that it will be opensesame for the majority of England's stars from 2010 and for those who will not be stopped from signing up, from 2009.

Last night, Manoj Badale, the UK-based entrepreneur who owns the Jaipur franchise which also features Hampshire's Dimitri Mascarenhas, the only England player taking part this season, pledged to be at the forefront of the bidding to bring Pietersen to the IPL as soon as possible.

"As soon as he becomes available, a lot of franchises will be keen to get him, and we'll be no different," said Badale. "There is no reason why the top England players could not command salaries in line with the highestpaid international stars."

And so the ECB's resistance will finally be broken.

Pietersen, who earlier claimed it was 'ridiculous' that England stars are not allowed to compete in the new 20-over competition, said: 'I've had numerous phone calls and been offered a lot of money.' His appetite was whetted when he received a text from Chris Gayle, the West Indies opening bat and a personal friend, to remind him of what he is missing.

The message said, simply: '$$$$.' In Pietersen's case that would be at least the $4m he has already been offered for a multiseason deal.

With which English cricket cannot hope to compete. And why should it try? There are those who believe the county game will implode without the participation of England players.

Newsflash: England players have hardly played any county cricket for years. And even when they do, has anyone noticed the 'sold out' notices?

Although ECB chief executive David Collier claims English counties will have their chance to cash in via IPL's Champions League ? to be contested this October by the top two domestic Twenty20 teams in India, South Africa, Australia and England, and probably run by the ECB ? their hopes of dissuading England's star names from taking the rupee until they have the chance to come up with proposals for a Premier League of their own from 2010 onwards appear increasingly forlorn.

Barely had the grey-suited official started his opening ceremony mission statement to the Indian public in Bangalore about this tournament adhering to the MCC's spirit of the game than TV pictures showed a young man holding aloft a banner reading: "I'm not here for the cricket. I'm only here for the dancing girls." And why ever not?

ECB announce that England will play four Tests against India in 2011

England will play four Tests against India when they host the series in 2011, the England and Wales Cricket Board announced today.

The ECB have reached an agreement with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) about the tour series to India in 2008 and the reciprocal tour to England in 2011.

Announcement: David Collier

The BCCI preferred England play two Test matches and seven one-day internationals rather than three Tests and five one-day internationals on the tour which begins in November later this year.

In 2011 the ECB's preference was for four Test matches, five one-day Internationals and an international Twenty20 on India's tour of England and Wales.

David Collier, the ECB chief executive, said: "I am delighted that India will play four Test matches on their tour of England and Wales in 2011. The ECB have been strong and consistent in their insistence that Test cricket is still the predominant form of the game.

"I am delighted that the schedule for this winter can now be finalised with the BCCI and our supporters can look forward to visiting a range of venues in this magnificent country of India.

"We would have liked to have played a third test this winter but appreciate that with the India v Australia series starting a week later than originally planned this was not feasible.

"The ECB were also determined that the tour should finish as scheduled under the future tours programme to give the England players the maximum rest period before they embark on the Test and ODI trip to the Caribbean."

The independent Major Match Group, chaired by Lord Morris of Handsworth, has already determined that the Test matches will be at Lord's, Trent Bridge, Edgbaston and The Brit Oval.

They have also selected Cardiff, Durham, the Rose Bowl, Lord's and the Brit Oval as the one-day international venues. The international Twenty20 venue is yet to be determined.

History of the ICC

The ICC as it stands today can be traced back to June 15, 1909 when the all important meeting of the representatives of the then three giants of cricket namely Australia, South Africa and England took place at Lord’s. The meeting was presided over by the President of MCC, the Earl of Chesterfield and the committee was officially called the Imperial Cricket Conference. In the second meeting of the Conference, rules to play Tests were agreed upon. Later in 1926, West Indies, India and New Zealand were also invited to attend the Conference. Subsequently, these three nations were also named as Test playing nations taking the total to six. In 1953, Pakistan too became a Test playing nation. However, in 1961, South Africa was excluded from the Test playing nations due to the practice of apartheid followed by them.

In 1965, the Conference decided to include several non-Test playing nations and termed them as Associate members. This proposal was put forward by Pakistan. This was when the Imperial Cricket Conference was renamed International Cricket Conference. The rules of ICC were reframed in 1969.

In 1973, a draft to hold a World Cup in England in 1975 gained approval.

In 1981, Sri Lanka was invited to join the Conference and admitted as a full member.

In 1982, for the first time the proposal for an International panel of Umpires for Tests was put forward.

The year 1984 saw the admission of a third category called the Affiliates into the International Cricket Conference.

The year 1989 saw another name change of the International Cricket Conference. It came to be known as the International Cricket Council.

In January 1991, the first ICC meet away from England took place in Melbourne. Later that year South Africa was re-admitted into the ICC.

The year 1992 saw the inclusion of Zimbabwe as a Test playing nation.

In 1995, technology was in its full bloom and TV replays were used by the umpires whenever and wherever it was possible.

In 1997, the method of Duckworth-Lewis was first implemented to decide targets in rain-affected matches. After the ICC became an incorporated body with a President, a representative from a member country was chosen to serve the post for a period of three years. This job landed into the lap of Mr. Jagmohan Dalmiya. An executive Board comprising of one member each from all the Test playing nations and three members from the Associates was formed and reporting to them were committees spanning over cricket, development, finance and marketing.

In August 2005, the ICC shifted its base to Dubai. Since then it had conducted all its operations from London. Apart from ruling the game it also deals with matters such as match-fixing, doping, cricket schedules, player conduct, etc. It strives to achieve its true mission of promoting the game of cricket as a global sport.

History of Indian cricket - Before 1930s

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History of Indian cricket - Before 1930s

The game of cricket was introduced in India in the middle of the 18th century. On 3rd March 1845 the ‘Sporting Intelligence’ magazine carried a reasonably lengthy match report between ‘Sepoy’ cricketers and the European ones. The article clearly proved that Indian cricket was underway in a city called Sylhet, in modern day Bangladesh.
An impressed reporter proudly stated “the most enthusiastic European Cricketers could not have played with more energy and cheerfulness than the Sepoys did”.

However, chroniclers of cricket unanimously suggest that the formation of ‘Parsi Oriental Cricket Club’ in Bombay in the year 1848 led to the start of organized cricket by the Indians.

Parsi cricket

The first Indians to take to the game were the Parsis of Bombay, an educated, well-to-do and progressive community. In 1848, the Parsi boys established the ‘Oriental Cricket Club’.

The emerging Parsi middle class supported cricket as a means of strengthening ties with the overlords, while intellectuals welcomed it as a renewal of physical energy for the race. Around thirty Parsi clubs were formed in the within two decades of the formation of the first club. They were named for British viceroys and statesmen and for Roman gods.

Hindu cricket

The Hindu’s took up the game of cricket with the primary reason that they did not want to fall behind the Parsis in any manner. The first Hindu club ‘Bombay Union’ was formed in 1866. Hindus started playing cricket due to social and business rivalry with the Parsis. Hindu cricketers sorted themselves on the lines of caste and region of origin.



One of the primary Hindu cricketer was Ramchandra Vishnu Navlekar.
Some of the main clubs were Gowd Saraswat Cricket Club, Kshatriya Cricket Club, Gujrati Union Cricket Club, Maratha Cricket Club, Teluu Youn Cricketrs etc.


“There is no more agreeable sight to me,” remarked the Mayor of Bombay in 1886, “than of the whole Maidan overspread by a lot of enthusiastic Parsi and Hindu cricketers, keenly and eagerly engaged in this manly game.”

Gymkhanas

The all-white Bombay Gymkhana, which even refused admission to Ranji, was established in 1875. The Europeans invited the Parsis to paly with them for the first time in 1877. This more or less became a regular feature though it was a decade before the Parsis’ eventually managed to win. Beginning from 1886, the Hindus also began playing an annual match with the Europeans.

With the efforts of Luxmani and Tyebjee families, also famous for their social work such as establishing schools and good work at the law courts, the Muslims had also set up their own cricket club in 1883. This was known as the Muslim Cricket Club.

Cricket in India got a huge impetus by the formation of Parsi, Hindu and Muslim Gymkhanas in the 1890s. The British alloted one plot each to the three major religious communities in the city, for their exclusive use ending their conflict with the colonizers.

Ranjit Singhji

A notable mention in this era is the vital contribution of the Black Prince, Prince Ranjit Singhji who had moved to England to study at Cambridge University and was given a cricket “blue” in his final year by the college.

He then went on to play county cricket for Sussex. He made his Test debut for England in 1896. This made him the first Indian to play Test cricket.
Ranjit Singhji was Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1897. He scored a century in the second innings on his Test debut, making his only the second batsman for England to achieve this feat. Duing the year 1899 he amassed 2,780 runs during a season which was the highest aggregate ever made!

India’s most prestigious first-class cricket tournament – Ranji Trophy was named after him in order to honour this great cricketer.

The Bombay Quadrangular

It started as a contest between the Parsis and the Europeans and evolved thereafter. The Hindus joined in 1886. These matches came to be called the Presidency matches due to their ever-rising popularity. In 1907 a triangular tournament was started which involved the Parsis, Europeans and the Hindus.

It was in 1912 that the Muslims joined the league of the famous Bombay tournaments turning it into a Quadrangular. Neutral umpires were introduced for the first time in 1917. Uptil now, umpires were mainly appointed from the Bombay Gymkhana. However, all this changed and umpires began to be appointed from the non-competing teams.

In the 1920’s, the quadrangular tournament gained immense popularity. Players were being selected from all over the sub-continent region. This gave a huge boost to cricket in India and led to the start of several other tournaments all over the country.

In the year 1937, a new team called the Rests was also added to the already four teams turning it into a Pentangular tournament. However, in 1946 due to communal disturbances this Pentangular tournament was done away with, and a zonal competition came into existence.

The Nayudus from Nagpur

The Nayudu family spent thousands on the promotion of cricket. They formed a club in Nagpur that coached many underprivelaged boys and took care of their education provided they fulfilled the only condition, that is, to play cricket.
Such was the family’s fascination with the sport that C K Nayudu’s birth was celebrated by his granddad by organising a cricket match.

The family’s contribution proved fruitful as C.K Nayudu, the family’s illustrious son, went on to become one of the finest batsmen that India has ever produced.

One of Nayudu’s most memorable innings was his 153 in Bombay in 1926. Coming in an hour and thirteen minutes against six English top line bowlers spoke volumes of the progress made by Indian cricket. CK Nayudu was Wisden’s Cricketer of the Year in 1933 and was also nicknamed as the ‘Hindu Bradman’.

Formation of BCCI

A.E.R Gilligan’s MCC (Marylebone Cricket Club) toured India in 1926 and took on Bombay in a match that proved to be a turning point in the history of Indian cricket. As C K Naidu smashed 153, with elevan sixes and thirteen fours, for the Hindus, India began dreaming big. It eventually led to the formation of BCCI in 1928. Records prove that the first meeting was held on 4 December 1928 and was funded by the Maharaja of Patiala.

The first President of the Board was RE Grant Govan and the founding Secretary was AS De Mello. De Mello later went on to become Board President and was also involved in the creation of the Cricket Club of India. He also helped in establishing Brabourne Stadium which was India’s first permanent cricket venue in 1937.

BCCI releases itinerary for Sri Lanka test tour

CHENNAI (Reuters) - The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) released the itinerary for Sri Lanka's

test and one-day tour starting next month.

Sri Lanka will play three tests, five one-day internationals and two Twenty20 matches over two months.

According to the schedule released on Friday, Sri Lanka willarrive in India on Nov. 8 and play tests in Ahmedabad, Kanpur and Mumbai.

Rajkot, Visakhapatnam, Cuttack, Kolkata and Delhi will each host a one-day international, while the Twenty20s will be played in Nagpur and Mohali.

Itinerary:

Nov. 8: Arrival in Mumbai

Nov. 11-13: Three-day tour match - Mumbai

Nov. 16-20: First test - Ahmedabad

Nov. 24-28: Second test - Kanpur

Dec. 2-6: Third test - Mumbai

Dec. 9: First Twenty20 international - Nagpur (d/n)

Dec. 12: Second Twenty20 international - Mohali (d/n)

Dec. 15: First one-day international - Rajkot

Dec. 18: Second one-day international - Vishakhapatnam (d/n)

Dec. 21: Third one-day international - Cuttack (d/n)

Dec. 24: Fourth one-day international - Kolkata (d/n)

Dec. 27: Fifth one-day international - Delhi (d/n)

Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar profile

Sachin's Profile

Born in Mumbai (formerly Bombay) into a middle class family, Tendulkar was named after his family's favorite music director Sachin Dev Burman. He went to Sharadashram Vidyamandir School where he started his cricketing career. When in school he was involved in a mammoth 664 run partnership in a Harris Shield game with friend and International team mate Vinod Kambli, and in 1988/89 scored 100 not out in his first first-class match, for Bombay against Gujarat. Aged 15 years 232 days, he was by some distance the youngest player to score a century on debut.











He played his first international match against Pakistan in Karachi facing up to the likes of Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis. He scored just 15 runs and was bowled by Waqar Younis, who also made his debut in that match. It was an innings very different from how the rest of his career went. He followed it up with his maiden Test fifty a few days later at Faisalabad. However he could not get a century in that series. His One-day International (ODI) debut on December 18 was equally disappointing where he was dismissed without scoring a run again by Waqar Younis. The series was followed by a non-descript tour of New Zealand in which he fell for 88 in a Test match, thus missing the chance to be the youngest player to score a Test hundred. In the tour of England in 1990 he scored his maiden Test century but the other scores were not remarkable. It was in the 1991/1992 tour of Australia that he made his mark as a remarkable batsman. He has been man of the match 11 times in Test matches and Man of the Series twice, both times in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia.
His maiden ODI century came on September 9, 1994 against Australia in Sri Lanka at Colombo.
He was named by Wisden as one of the Cricketers of the Year 1997 which was the first calendar year in which he scored a 1000 Test runs. He repeated the feat in 1999, 2001 and 2002.

He seems to play his best cricket against the best teams, however he has been criticized for not leading India to more Test match victories away from home. However, for a good part of his career, the Indian team was not very competitive and he was the only redeeming quality about it. There were times where he has brought India to the verge of victory only to be let down by his teammates.
Sachin's batting in ODIs really took off after he was invited to open the innings at Auckland against New Zealand in 1994[1] after he had played nearly 70 matches. At the Auckland ODI Tendulkar slammed the ball all around the stadium with a firepower that was not seen in cricket in those days. He went on to make 82 runs in 49 balls. Tendulkar's considerably better performance as an opener dawned upon everyone else. He was to stay as India's opener for long time after that. His first hundred came later that year against Australia in Colombo. He now scores a century every six innings that he plays.
Tendulkar has a shrewd cricketing brain and has a good arm from the outfield. Sachin's record as captain, however, has not been as outstanding as his batting performance. His contribution to the game and his role in attracting a following to the game goes beyond his record. His game is characterized by style, aggression and often dazzling brilliance. Sachin has earned respect from fans and cricketers around the world due to his down-to-earth nature which he maintains despite being treated as a national icon and a demi-god of sorts.
Tendulkar had an excellent fitness record but in 1999 he suffered a career-threatening back injury. This was followed by another fitness problem. Tendulkar had to miss out on two tournaments in as he was recovering from tennis elbow. He was struggling to be fit for the home Test series against Australia. However, he overcame the injury, and displayed proof of it in fine fashion scoring a double hundred against Bangladesh.
Sachin's fame in his own country is such that he is virtually a prisoner in his own home with his appearances in public causing near-riots amongst fevered fans. He is known to take his car for late-night drives around the city as one of the few chances to escape the protective bubble in which he is forced to exist. Sachin is married to his childhood friend Dr. Anjali. He has a five year old daughter Sara and a son Arjun, who is three.
Perhaps the biggest reminder of his fame, Sachin was recently made a textbook lesson in Indian schools so that children can draw inspiration from his achievements.
Australian bowling great Shane Warne who is among Wisden's list of five greatest cricket players in 21st century has had a particularly bad time against Tendulkar. During the 1998-99 season he was quoted to have had nightmares of Sachin dancing down the track and smashing him for sixes
For last couple of years Sachin has been less aggressive than what he was during his peak time. His once flamboyant style is seldom seen now and has himself admitted that he would be toning down his approach to the game with Virender Sehwag taking on the mantle of the aggressor. Experts have opined that it could be due to age, though surprisingly his average in Tests has been at an all time high indicating the capacity of his new self to gather runs instead of plundering runs. However, in the current ODI series against Sri Lanka (Oct-Nov 2005), Sachin may have reinvented himself and gained the plundering form of old, as he came out all guns blazing in the first two ODIs to score 93 and 67* in commanding style. However in an attempt to keep the flow going he found himself in a mini-slump of sorts. But on the 10th of December 2005, at 16:44:19 IST he again reminded the world of his prowesses with a masterly crafted 35th record breaking ton against the Sri Lankans.

Sachin sets new Test runs record

Oct 17, 2008

Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar has become the world record Test runs scorer, surpassing Brian Lara's previous best mark of 11,953.
Tendulkar, 35, needed 15 runs to overtake West Indies legend Lara in the standings on the first day of the second Test against Australia in Mohali. And despite being forced to go to tea on 13 not out, the 'Little Master' came out after the interval to hit Australian debutant Peter Siddle's first ball of the session for three runs to spark wild celebrations in the ground.
The crowd gave Tendulkar a standing ovation to celebrate his achievement, while a pre-prepared fireworks display was also set off outside. The entire Australian team also stood to applaud the batsman, who received warm handshakes from each member of the opposition lineup.
Tendulkar already held the record for Test centuries with 39 in 152 Test matches for India and he is regarded as a living legend in many parts of his homeland - particularly in his native city, Mumbai (formerly Bombay). The batsman's achievement - and brilliance on the big occasion - was almost underlined with a 40th Test century, but it was not to be as he was dismissed on 88 after a catch at slip by Matthew Hayden off the bowling of Sidde.
The innings takes Tendulkar's career total to 12,041 – making him the first batsman ever to surpass 12,000 Test runs.

Sachin Tendulkar Memorabilia

Unframed and Unsigned print - 80cm x 40cm - 22 USD

As a tribute to this outstanding feat, we are proud to release a magnificent, full colour print, titled "Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar 35". ". This collage style print contains the details of all of Sachin's 35 Test Centuries, various images taken during his career and also his Record Breaking innings. Unlimited in volume, this piece has been especially created to enable Sachin fans all around the World to be able to own a little piece of this historic achievement. Unsigned and unframed, this print is a very affordable piece of cricket memorabilia.
"While every Cricketer dreams of being the best in his time, this boy dreamt a little more - of being the best there ever was. Even as a little boy playing in the park, he was introspective, quiet, critical of every century he scored, every shot he played. At 16, he debuted for India, and is today the only batsman ever to have been compared with Sir Donald Bradman universally, including by Bradman himself."

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Signed and Framed print

Signed and Framed print - 100cm x 50cm - 550 USD

During the 1st Test, Pakistan v India at Karachi in November 1989, a quiet 16 year-old named Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar made his Test debut for his beloved India.
Then, during the 2nd Test, England v India at Manchester in 1990, Sachin showed the cricket world what he was capable of, scoring his first ever Test century, he finished 119 not out after facing 189 balls.
On December 10th 2005, during the 2nd Test, India v Sri Lanka at Delhi, Sachin Tendulkar scored an amazing 109. This Test century, being the 35th of his career, saw Sachin surpass the World Test Record of 34, previously held by Indian great Sunil Gavaskar since his retirement in 1987. Facing 196 balls, Sachin displayed his true brilliance at the crease, hitting 14 fours and 1 six, until being trapped LBW by a spectacular delivery from Muralitharan.
This outstanding achievement is destined to stand for many years to come.
As a tribute to this outstanding feat, we are proud to release a limited edition of 1000 prints, titled "Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar 35". This collage style print contains the details of all of Sachin's 35 Test Centuries, various images taken during his career and also his Record Breaking innings. These prints have been elegantly framed in a quality timber and frame and Perspex glazed.
This strictly limited piece of Test Cricket history has been personally signed by Sachin and will be the only signed print released World wide to officially commemorate his World Test Record.
This product is supported by A-Tag Authentication Technology and includes an official a-Tag Certificate of Authenticity.
"While every Cricketer dreams of being the best in his time, this boy dreamt a little more - of being the best there ever was. Even as a little boy playing in the park, he was introspective, quiet, critical of every century he scored, every shot he played. At 16, he debuted for India, and is today the only batsman ever to have been compared with Sir Donald Bradman universally, including by Bradman himself."

Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar

Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar (born April 24, 1973) is an Indian cricketer, widely considered to be one of the greatest batsmen of all time. He currently holds the records for the most cumulative runs in One-Day Internationals, and the most number of centuries scored in both One-day Internationals and Test cricket. He made his international debut against Pakistan in 1989 at the age of sixteen, becoming India's youngest Test player. Although primarily a top-order batsman, Tendulkar has often proved to be a useful and effective slow bowler. He received India's highest sporting honour, the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna in the year 1997-1998 and the civilian award Padma Shri in 1999. His cricketing and batting abilities are widely regarded as genius by many stalwarts of the game. For instance, Sir Donald Bradman, the Australian great said of Sachin, "He reminds me of myself". He is affectionately known as The Little Master by his adoring fans.

Tendulkar backs India to retain T20 WC

June 02, 2009

Tendulkar's money is on India, which has an explosive batting line up and a balanced team, to successfully defend the Twenty20 World Cup title they won two years back in South Africa. He added, "I know in cricket nothing is certain. The game is full of uncertainties. But going by our strengths and balance I think we have a good chance."

Eden truly special for me

June 01, 2009

Recollecting his exploits at the theatre of some of his memorable innings, Sachin Tendulkar said on Tuesday that every one of his outings at the Eden Gardens had been special for him.
"I always have very fond memories of Eden Gardens right from the day I first played here (in 1991)," said Tendulkar.
Tendulkar was controversially run out in a Test against Pakistan at the Eden in 1999 that led to play being held up for about three hours due to crowd trouble, and he said he would always cherish the vibrant atmosphere inside the stadium whenever India played there.

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IPL inaugural edition more vibrant than IPL II

June 01, 2009

Sachin Tendulkar has said that the inaugural edition of the Indian Premier League in India last year was far more vibrant than the IPL II which was held in South Africa in April-May.
The Mumbai Indians captain, who featured in both editions of the Twenty20 extravaganza, said, "The first year was definitely better. When you play in India, it's a different ball game altogether. (But) the reception we got each time (in South Africa) was terrific.

ICC announce shorter World Cup format

The 2011 World Cup will be considerably shorter than the 2007 version, with the International Cricket Council today revealing a new format and vowing to learn from the mistakes made two and a half years ago in the Caribbean.

The new structure for the tournament in India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, which will see the overall number of games reduced from 51 to 49, will take over from the much-criticised six-week format of the last World Cup which began with four groups of four and progressed to a Super Eight stage.

"We're already certain that it will be shorter. You can be sure that we at the ICC had learnt from past mistakes," ICC president David Morgan said following a two-day board meeting in Johannesburg.

"I mean there is no doubt that the ICC World Cup in the Caribbean was unsuccessful in some aspects. We've learnt from that and I think that it's not worthy that we've now staged three highly successful events - 2007 and 2009 - World Twenty20 and now the Champions Trophy in the same years."

ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat added: "We're on record as saying that we acknowledged that 2007 might have been longer than desired. So we want to take a week off, if not more."

England will face India and South Africa in an expanded seven-team group in the first round of the competition.

The new format - two groups of seven teams - was confirmed by the ICC today and England were placed in Group B, with West Indies, Bangladesh, Ireland and Holland also awaiting them.

On the grouping, Lorgat added: "We wanted to get the balance correct.

"We had one proviso that we would not have wanted more than two of the sub-continent teams in any one group.

"The rest depends on where you stand in the rankings and you use the formula that allocates the teams, dependent on your positioning on the ranking tables."

Meanwhile, Morgan claims the response received for the Champions Trophy has been "overwhelmingly positive".

Australia were crowned winners after beating New Zealand in the final on Monday, ending a two-week spectacle that had initially faced serious questions in the face of the rising popularity of Twenty20 cricket.

The 20-over format has grown rapidly worldwide and there have plenty of calls for the abolishment of its 50-over sibling, but there are no such sentiments coming from the ICC.

"A great deal of progress has been made," said Morgan.

"The cricket was enthralling and the feedback on the event has been overwhelmingly positive.

"It's been well received by the cricketers, spectators and the board members. I believe the cricketing world thoroughly enjoyed this re-branded competition as I did."

Morgan, whose comments come after several competing captains also gave the tournament the thumbs-up, insists there is a room for one-day cricket to continue existing on the international calendar.

He continued: "It also gives me immense pleasure to say the quality of cricket we have seen in the last 14 days proves that 50-over format can comfortably co-exist with the traditional five-day Test and the short 20-over formats.

"We're very pleased with an exhibition of 50-over cricket over a short period of time involving the top-eight teams in the world.

"We believe that the sport of cricket is advantaged by having three properties at international level - Test match cricket, one-day international cricket and Twenty20 cricket.

"It's important to optimise the programme of recognising that we have those three vibrant forms of the game."

Regarding Test cricket, Morgan said the ICC would continue to look at ways to safeguard the game.

He added: "We continue to recognise Test match cricket as the pinnacle of our game. It's the form of the game that emerging cricketers aspire to.

"We've just seen a wonderful Test series between England and Australia in the Ashes. And quite clearly we want to make other series as important and as interesting as matches between India and Pakistan and Australia and England.

"I know that this is a big task, but it's one that we engaged in."

Peter Williams: Future cricket looks shorter

If the 2007 World Cup was the most tedious international cricket tournament of all time, will the 2011 event have any relevance in an evolving marketplace? Will the 2015 event, scheduled for New Zealand and Australia, even happen?

What's become the traditional one-day version in the past 30 years, 50 overs per side, is dying a slow death. England's domestic one-day format next season will be 40 overs a side and in South Africa it'll be 45-over matches.

Both those competitions will play second fiddle in public interest and television ratings to Twenty20. Those who run the game should take their lesson from history. From the start, cricket's most popular contemporary form is a continuous evolution to shorter versions of the game.

Even test matches were once played until there was a result. But the 12 days of the "timeless test" between England and South Africa at Durban in 1939 put paid to that idea, especially as it still ended in a draw.

When three-day English county matches dropped in popularity in the early 1960s, the one-day competition started. The Gillette Cup was 60 overs a side from 1963. It was so successful, other one-day formats followed, each reducing the number of overs. The Benson and Hedges Knockout was 55 overs and the John Player Sunday League 40.

One-day internationals, which only started after a rain-wrecked Ashes test in Melbourne in January 1971, began as 40-over matches, with 8-ball overs. The first three World Cups, in England, were 60-over, daytime affairs.

Kerry Packer's World Series Cricket invented day-night cricket and 50-over innings in three-and-a-half hours. They could play up until the six o'clock news and continue in prime time. They were ratings bonanzas, especially when Packer gained the rights to official cricket.

That set the international standard for nearly three decades but it now produces too many dull, one-sided contests where the result can be known in the first hour.

In keeping with the evolution of limited overs cricket, Twenty20 was an inevitable format. So was its popularity. Once, 50-over matches were extraordinarily popular. Remember Eden Park being packed out with 45,000 spectators for famous matches against Australia and England in the early 1980s? Fans had an eight-hour attention span then. Now cricket's biggest audiences are for three-hour contests.

There are still calls to keep 50-over cricket alive. I don't see the point. It's a shortened form of the game that has reached its use-by date.

There are other advantages. You can play two Twenty20 matches in one day on the same ground and charge admission for both. TV companies can play twice the number of commercials.

By 2011, the concept of a World Cup for 50-over cricket will be an anachronism. It'll have to happen because it's in India. But we shouldn't worry about having to organise 2015 here. By then the international Twenty20 cash cow will have rotated around the cricket world and New Zealand will have had a taste of the riches.

As our attention spans shorten, what's the next stage of evolution? Remember that rain-affected New Zealand-Scotland match this year? A mere seven overs per side. Did we see the future that day?

Twenty20 Test matches in future?

How about a Twenty20 match? Sounds odd but who knows, it could become a reality in future.

As the International Cricket Council (ICC ) mulls on ways to save Test cricket from the Twenty20 onslaught, a new format of a two innings Twenty20 match is slowly gaining momentum.

And many former players are not averse to the idea though some of them question whether it would suit the needs of spectators, who have lapped up the slam-bang version for its quick results.

The new format has been mooted by cricket experts and broadly envisages a Twenty20 match in two innings of 20 overs each. In other words, the match will have four innings like in Tests but would be restricted to a total of 80 overs (40 for each team in two innings).

The idea of two innings mainly stems from the fact that it would give an opportunity to top players, who fail in the opening essay to make amends in the second innings.

Moreover, the proposal has innovations like each team would be allowed to make two substitutions in the second innings.

Although the proposal has not been formally submitted to the ICC, many Indian cricketers like former captain Chandu Borde [ and Syed Kirmani have supported the idea. Others like former captain Ajit Wadekar, Sandeep Patil and Erapalli Prasanna are not sure whether it will work.

"It [proposal] sounds interesting and worth experimenting. Also if one team does not do well in the first innings it has a chance to do well in the second. Not a bad idea, but it would be better if it's tried out at a lower level, at the club or state level, to see how it works, but it definitely looks to be an interesting concept," Borde said.

Sandeep Patil, a former India cricketer and coach, said it is necessary to take the views of the sponsors, teams and players before proposing such a format.

"It's the ICC's take. First of all it has to be seen whether it's logical. A lot of money is involved and it's important to take the views of the sponsors, teams and players.

"There should not be a tendency to rush for fast food all the time. There should also be time to savour a lovely meal," Patil said.

Former India wicketkeeper Kirmani wanted his modifications in the format.

"It will become little laborious and spectators will not be able to get the result in quick time. The present T20 format can be played in two innings of four 10-overs-a-side in a match which would mean the team that opts to bat will play the first 10 overs and then the rivals and the same is repeated for the second time," he suggested.

Prasanna, however, is not in favour of introducing such a format.

"It should not be done as the sheen of the format is taken away. The present T20 format is comparable to Fast Food at McDonalds," he said.

"If two innings in a match is introduced, only venues in the sub-continent will attract spectators. In all other cricket playing nations in the world, time is money and people shift to entertainment only in the evenings as was seen in England , West Indies and South Africa ," he added.

"You cannot afford to change the present format. Time is more important and people want entertainment too. It is like walking in to McDonalds and waiting for over 25 minutes for delivery and the very essence of the word fast food is lost," he explained.

Former India captain Ajit Wadekar is worried that stretching the match to 80 overs could take interest away from the game as the spectators would have to wait longer for the results.

"It will lose its sheen if played in two innings a side. The present slam-bang style is the reason why more spectators watch the matches. If people are to wait longer for a result, the charm of the format is lost," he said.

"The present Twenty20 format is good for youngsters to get attracted to the game and thereby reflect in the development of the game," Wadekar said.

The ICC, on its part, said that such proposals are referred to the Cricket Committee, which decides whether they can be sent for further deliberations.

"The process is that the proposal is discussed by the Cricket Committee first. After deliberating on the issue and if it wants the proposal to go ahead, it is moved to the Chief Executive's Committee and ultimately to the Executive Board which is the final decision making authority of the ICC," an ICC spokesman said.

Future of Cricket, suggestion to the ICC

Cricket is one of the best sports played in the world. It has various forms of the game but three of them are recognized by the ICC- Test cricket, One-day International cricket and last but not least Twenty20 International Cricket. Since the ICC don't want Twenty20 to take over ODI's but still be formal, the ICC should:
*Put a Twenty20 raking system into affect for it.
*The mandatory minimum requirements of at least 1 Twenty20 International,home and away, against every other Full Member over a period, while still would schedule rest periods for their players.
*It should have a limit of 10 Twenty20 Internationals (instead of the confusing 3 home Twenty20 matches/year), just like 15 Tests and 30 One Day Internationals per calendar year per country averaged out through the 6 FTP year plan.
*Associate teams right now works hard to get ODI status then eventually Test status, what if ICC created Twenty20 status. This form of the game can be played competitively between any sides, be it a full member vs a associate. ICC should give Twenty20 status out to a broader number of nations who could compete in the Twenty20 level then try to gain ODI status then eventually test status!
*The second Twenty20 World Championship should be a knockout tournament(the form being fast pacing so should it's tournament) consisting 32 teams making cricket really a global sport; ten full members and the top 22 associates from the ranking systems. Even though this tournament would have more teams, it would not have more value than the World Cup, first of all because the World Cup is the most pure tournament with the best teams(currently 16) playing the more pure form of the sport ever to be played in a tournament for more than 30 years. Secondly, while the world cup is played every four years, which is like sacred, the Twenty20 World Championship would be played every 2 years making it the junior tournament. Twenty20 is a junior compared to it's older brothers ODI's and Tests so it's tournament would also be a junior to the world cup; sort of like a mini world cup for the mini form of ODI. But the ICC still needs to take advantage of what they can, which is more teams can participate competitively in it. So the knockout tournament with 32 teams would have 29 matches played in 15-18 days and have its own values that would make it different from the world cup.

Cricket World Cup Groups decided

South Africa will be in Group B for the 2011 World Cup Also in Group B are India, England and the West Indies.

This was decided at the conclusion of the two day ICC Board meeting in Johannesburg on Wednesday.

The results of day two meeting include the following: ICC Cricket World Cup 2011

The Board approved the groupings for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 as follows:

Group A: Australia, Pakistan, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe, Canada, Kenya

Group B: India, South Africa, England, West Indies, Bangladesh, Ireland, Netherlands

ICC U19 Cricket World Cup 2010 The Board approved the schedule for the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup, which will take place in New Zealand in January 2010.

ICC agrees new 2011 World cup schedule

World Cup 2011 organisers on Tuesday handed out Pakistan's share of the tournament schedule with the 14 matches originally set for the troubled nation split between India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

The saga over Pakistan's status as co-host of the 2011 event has seen threats of legal action and even moves to have games played in the UAE and was prompted by the deteriorating security situation in the Asian nation.

Now 29 of the 49 games will be played in India, including eight which were set for Pakistan, 12 will be in Sri Lanka (including four from Pakistan) and eight in Bangladesh (two moved from Pakistan).

A total of 13 venues will be used with eight in India, three in Sri Lanka and two in Bangladesh.

Bangladesh will now stage two of the four quarter-finals, with India and Sri Lanka hosting one each.

Under the previous arrangement each of Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka were to have staged one each The two semi-finals will be staged in India and Sri Lanka, with the final in India.

The meeting of the central organising committee was chaired by ICC vice-president Sharad Pawar and attended by ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat and representatives of Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka.

Pakistan was invited to the meeting but no Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) representative attended.

It was also agreed that the tournament secretariat will be based in Mumbai rather than Pakistan.

Tournament director Ratnakar Shetty said: "We had a good, productive meeting.

"There was a recognition that there is much hard work to be done but we are confident we are now well on the way, with operational plans in place to become effective from the start of August.

"Moving forward, the COC will meet on a regular basis with everyone committed to a successful event, something we are confident we can achieve." The recommendations of the committee will now go to the ICC board.

In June, the ICC stressed that the Pakistan Cricket Board remained a World Cup co-host and would still receive a hosting fee of 750,000 dollars per match - 10.5 million dollars in total.

Pakistan ends 2011 World Cup legal battle

Pakistan has decided to end its legal battle against cricket's governing body over being stripped of its share of World Cup 2011 matches, an official said Thursday.

The decision came after a meeting of the governing board of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) decided to opt for an out of court settlement with the International Cricket Council (ICC).

"We have decided 90-95 percent that the matter of the World Cup 2011 will be settled out of court as Pakistan remains the co-host of the mega event. The legal course has ended," PCB chairman Ijaz Butt told a press conference.

Pakistan initiated a legal case against the ICC after being stripped of its World Cup 2011 matches in April.

The ICC relocated Pakistan's share of 14 matches because of security fears after attacks in its eastern city of Lahore on the Sri Lankan team on March 3.

The attacks, which injured seven players and their assistant coach and killed eight people, appeared to end any chance of hosting international cricket in Pakistan, where teams had already refused to tour over security fears.

Butt said Pakistan will be compensated a "substantial amount" in the settlement.

"Pakistan will get the hosting rights fee of 10.5 million dollars and apart from that the ICC will compensate us a substantial amount, which at this point of time I don't want to reveal," said Butt.

The ICC had also ruled out relocating the matches to a neutral venue such as the United Arab Emirates, where Pakistan played their recent international matches.

The Central Organising Committee of the World Cup 2011 last month awarded eight of Pakistan's matches to India, four to Sri Lanka and two to Bangladesh.

Butt said that hosting World Cup matches on neutral venues could have meant Pakistan taking a financial hit.

"We did think over hosting the matches on neutral venues but it could have cost us huge losses," he said.

Besides World Cup matches, the Champions trophy 2008 was also moved out to South Africa after several teams refused to tour Pakistan over security fears.

The competition will be held from September 21 to October 5 this year.

Asked about the chances of Pakistan playing their World Cup 2011 matches in India, Butt said: "We will have to take advice from the government and if not allowed we will not play our matches in India."

India refused to send its team to Pakistan for a January-February tour amidst heightened political tension in the wake of last year's attacks on Mumbai, which New Delhi blamed on militants based across the border.

The two countries played a warm-up match before the World Twenty20 in England in June, but analysts say a bilateral series in the near future looks unlikely.