Second Edition Champions League Twenty20 from Sep 25-Oct 10 2009

The second edition of the Champions League Twenty20 will be held from September 25th to October 10th 2009, Cricket Boards of India, Australia and South Africa said in a joint statement in Mumbai on Monday.
Twelve teams from five nations will participate in the cash-rich tournament, which will feature 23 matches. Interestingly, the postponed Champions Trophy has also been scheduled for the same time period.
To save the clash between the two tournaments, ICC CEO Haroon Lorgat on Monday said that Executive Committee meeting of the ICC will discuss the calender this week. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Cricket Australia (CA) and Cricket South Africa (CSA) have already announced the dates for the inaugural edition of the Champions League, which is slated for December 3-10 later this year.
However, venues and commercial partnership details of the inaugural edition of the event have not been decided yet.
Eight teams including the winners and runners-up from the domestic Twenty20 competitions in India, Australia and South Africa will compete in the inaugural tournament. Winners of 2008 Twenty20 championships from Pakistan and the reigning Twenty20 Cup champion from England – Middlesex -- have also been invited to compete in the event.
The inaugural Champions League offers a whopping USD six million prize money, the biggest in world cricket at a domestic level competition. The inaugural contest offers $6 million in prize money. The winning team will get $3 million.

TAGS:Champions League Twenty20,Champions League,IPL,Champions League T20.

More about Twenty20 Champions League

The Twenty20 Champions League is an international Twenty20 cricket competition between clubs from Australia, England, India, Pakistan

and South Africa. The Twenty20 Champions League is Chaired by one of the world's most powerful cricket administrators in Lalit Modi. Modi

is also the Chairman and Commisioner of the Indian Premier League, Vice-President of the BCCI, President of the Rajasthan Cricket Association, and

the Vice-President of the Punjab Cricket Association. The competition is being launched in 2008 as a response to the success of national Twenty20

domestic cricket leagues, most notably the Indian Premier League. The first edition was set to take place in late September to early October 2008 in

India, after the tournament organisers resolved various teething problems that had put the inagaural tournament under some doubt, but it was later

announced that the tournament would be held in December.

Background of Twenty20 Champions League:
An international tournament for domestic cricket teams is believed to have been first mooted by Lalit Modi, vice-president of the Board of Control for

Cricket in India (BCCI) in 1996, lalit modi is also the chairman and commisoner on the IPL, president of the Rajasthan Cricket Assocation and

vice-president of the Punjab Cricket Assocation. The launch and subsequent success of Twenty20 cricket some years later was the influence behind

a serious effort to get such a tournament off the ground. Twenty20 cricket was launched by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2003. Its

launch was a result of a long-term decline in the popularity of county championship and domestic limited-overs cricket. By reducing the number of

overs per innings to twenty and by placing a three hour limit on matches, the format was designed to attract a younger crowd and to boost

attendances. Twenty20 proved a success, with an international version launched in 2005 and a World Twenty20 Competition held in September

2007. This proved much more popular than the 50 over Cricket World Cup had been just five months previously.The following year, the Indian Premier

League (IPL) was launched, proving that there could be a market for a big-spending domestic Twenty20 cricket league. The success of Twenty20

and the IPL lead many commentators to suggest that other forms of cricket would suffer, with some worrying about the effect of the popular

fast-paced 'slogging' game on players' abilities in Test cricket.

Immediately after the end of the first series of the IPL, the cricket authorities in England, India, Australia and South Africa entered into discussions

to create a new international club competition, to capitalize on the this success. The new tournament's £2.5m winning prize was described as

"unprecedented" in cricket. A number of different formats for the tournament were considered, with original proposals containing a much lower prize

fund. The T20 Champions League's creation was announced on 7 June 2008, along with the announcement of planned restructuring of some

of the domestic cricket tournaments invovled, including the introduction of franchising in South Africa, England and Australia. Pakistan's participation

was always mooted, but not confirmed when the tournament was first launched. Following a series of discussions and the announcement of the

creation of a Pakistan Super League from 2009, it was confirmed that two Pakistani teams would compete.

Dhoni likely to miss Champions League final.

Chennai Super Kings, the IPL team that has qualified for the Champions Twenty20 League in December, is likely to release captain MS Dhoni in the later stages of the tournament to help him prepare for India's Test series against England, a top franchise official has said.

The Champions League, jointly organised by the BCCI, Cricket Australia (CA) and Cricket South Africa (CSA), will be held from December 3-10, and will be sandwiched between the India-England ODI and Test series.

The first Test begins on December 11 and VB Chandrasekar, director of cricket operations for Super Kings, suggested Dhoni might make himself unavailable for the final to turn out for India. "More weightage should be given to Indian team," Chandrasekar told Cricinfo.

The Australian and South African players taking part in the Champions League - Matthew Hayden, Michael Hussey and Makhaya Ntini for Super Kings and Graeme Smith for Rajasthan Royal Challengers - will also be involved in international encounters till December 2, one day before the Twenty20 tournament starts. While Hayden and Hussey are expected to be part of the Australian Test squad in a Test series against New Zealand, Smith and Ntini are likely to be involved in a home series against Bangladesh.

Chandrasekar said the franchise expected the event to be held in Mohali, Delhi and Jaipur, the venues that were announced last month before the tournament organisers put that decision on hold to evaluate other offers.

Looking ahead to the team's chances and preparations for the Champions League, Chandrasekar said, "I would rate all teams equal. Any team can win a Twenty20 game on their day. We might hold a preparatory camp without the key players like Dhoni, Michael Hussey and Matthew Hayden."

He also said that it's highly unlikely that Super Kings will recruit new players for the tournament as most of the big players would be available to play.

Apart from Chennai Super Kings, the IPL runners-up, the inaugural Champions Twenty20 tournament comprises Rajasthan Royals, the IPL winner, Western Australia and Victoria, Australia's domestic twenty20 finalists, Nashua Titans and Dolphins, the South African finalists, Middlesex, England's champion, and Pakistan's Sialkot Stallions.

Courtesy :

3 cities to host Twenty20 Champions League matches.

Organizers for the Twenty20 Champions League picked Bangalore, Chennai and Mumbai as venues for the inaugural tournament.

Lalit Modi, chairman of the Champions League board, announced the selections for the Dec. 2-10 event in a statement Thursday.

The Champions League will feature the leading provincial teams from India, Australia, South Africa, England and Pakistan.

The top two teams from the domestic Twenty20 competitions in India, Australia and South Africa will feature in the US$6 million tournament. One team each from England and Pakistan will complete the lineup.

India will be represented by Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings, the champion and losing finalist of the inaugural Indian Premier League played earlier this year.

Western Australia Warriors and Victoria Bushrangers are the Australian teams, while South Africa will send Titans and Dolphins. England is represented by its Twenty20 champion county Middlesex.

Pakistan's entry will be the winner of its domestic Twenty20 championship, which will start on Oct. 4.

Courtesy :

BCCI to get richer with T20 Champions league.

It is windfall for the three founding members of Champions Twenty20 League after inking massive USD 900 million television rights deal with ESPN STAR but the Indian Cricket Board will be the biggest beneficiary with 50 per cent of the amount going to its coffers.
According to media reports here, the three founding member boards -- BCCI, Cricket Australia and Cricket South Africa -- will share the 10-year deal amount with India getting half of it and CA and CSA pocketing 25 per cent each.

"Cricket Australia will earn about 25 per cent of the figure, as will Cricket South Africa, while the game's major power-broker -- the Board of Control for Cricket in India -- takes the remaining half," a report in Sydney Morning Herald said.

The Champions Twenty20 League deal is the second biggest rights agreement this year after the USD 1 billion deal for 10 years for the outstandingly successful Indian Premier League.

But the eight-day global Twenty20 league, which will be held from December 3 to 10, will become the highest value cricket tournament on a per game basis ever scheduled.

Eight teams, winners and runners-up of domestic Twenty20 competitions in India, Australia and South Africa, plus winners of 2008 Twenty20 championships from Pakistan and England have been invited to compete in the inaugural edition.

Next year, 12 teams will compete and the tournament will extend to 16 days. Teams will vie for USD 6 million in prize money, with half awarded to the winner and a minimum USD 250,000 to each participant.

India is expected to stage this year's tournament while venues in the United Arab Emirates are vying for hosting rights for next year and beyond.

Courtesy :

Lalit Modi appointed chairman of Champions League T20 board.

Indian Premier League (IPL) commissioner Lalit Modi has been appointed chairman of the board of the Champions League Twenty20 tournament scheduled in December.

The decision was taken at a meeting of the three founding member boards - the Board of Control for Cricket in India, (BCCI) Cricket Australia (CA) and Cricket South Africa (CSA) here.

The inaugural Champions League Twenty20 will be held Dec 3-10 in India. Eight teams, consisting of the reigning winners and runners-up from the domestic Twenty20 competitions in India, Australia and South Africa, plus the winners of Twenty20 championships from Pakistan, and the reigning Twenty20 Cup champion from England, Middlesex, will compete in the event.

The prize money of $6 million will be shared between the teams and their players. The tournament will be contested by 12 teams from next year.

2009 Champions League scheduled for September-October

The second Champions Twenty20 League will take place next year between September 25 and October 10, and will feature 12 teams, four more than the first edition to be held between December 3-10, 2008.

Next year's league has been scheduled in the same month the ICC proposes to hold its Champions Trophy, which was postponed from September 2008 after five of the eight participating nations said they would not send their teams for the event given security concerns in Pakistan.

The dates were announced in a release issued by the three founding members - the BCCI, Cricket Australia and Cricket South Africa.

The 2008 Champions Twenty20 League was initially due to begin on September 29, the reserve day of the Champions Trophy final, but the ICC expressed its unhappiness over the scheduling. It asked the Champions League organisers to rethink the programme after which the tournament was shifted to December.

The 2009 Champions League will involve 12 teams and 23 matches, while this year's competition has eight teams - the winners and runners-up from domestic Twenty20 competitions in India, Australia and South Africa plus the winner of 2008 Twenty20 championships from Pakistan and the reigning Twenty20 Cup champion from England, Middlesex.

According to the Future Tours Programme, Australia are scheduled to play seven one-day internationals in October 2009.

ESS [ESPNSTAR] Nets Champions League Twenty20.

ESPN STAR Sports has secured the ten-year commercial rights for the Champions League Twenty20.

The deal gives ESPN STAR Sports the exclusive Global Commercial Rights for all the matches in the inaugural Champions League Twenty20 season, due to be held from December 3 to 10, 2008, and for all further Champions League Twenty20 seasons until 2017.

The Commercial Rights were won by ESPN STAR Sports with a bid of US$900 million. This makes the Champions League Twenty20 the highest value cricket tournament on a per game basis.

Bids were also received from Abu Dhabi Sports Club and DIC for what is viewed as the most exciting sporting extravaganza for cricket fans all over the world. All the bids were opened in Dubai. While DIC's bid was US$751.3 million, Abu Dhabi Sports Club's bid was disqualified for being a conditional bid.

Lalit Modi, Chairman and Commissioner, Indian Premier League said, "We are absolutely delighted that after a fair and transparent process, we have what we believe to be the best commercial deal for the inaugural Champions League Twenty20 season and for cricket fans across the world. All the bids received were of a very high standard and we would like to thank all of the organisations that participated and for their submissions."

Manu Sawhney, Managing Director Asia, ESPN Star Sports said, ""We're extremely pleased at having won the Global Commercial Rights to the new and exciting Champions League Twenty20. This is a testament to our commitment to the game of cricket and fans as we cement our relationship with the BCCI, Cricket Australia and Cricket South Africa. Through our television channels - ESPN, STAR Sports & STAR Cricket, our website www.espnstar.com, and our wireless platforms mobileESPN and STAR Sports Mobile, we are confident of taking the Champions League Twenty20 to new heights by working along with the various partners involved and are committed to set new benchmarks in the broadcast and distribution, such that fans of this crowd-pulling format can look forward to an exciting time when the league begins this December."

James Sutherland, Chief Executive Officer of Cricket Australia, said, "With ESPN STAR Sports as our Commercial Rights Partner we are now certain this fantastic new competition will reach discerning cricket fans across the globe. The Champions League Twenty20 will build on the success of domestic Twenty20 leagues in Australia and elsewhere in a manner which accelerates the development of cricket globally. Now with ESPN Star Sports as our global Commercial Rights Partner I think that the benefits of this global event will flow down to the interstate cricket level in Australia and in other participant nations, and greatly enhance cricket at the grass roots level, particularly for state-level players who get the chance to pit their skills against players from around the world."

Gerald Majola, Chief Executive of Cricket South Africa, said, "Having ESPN STAR Sports as our Champions League global Commercial Rights Partner will significantly enhance the international stature of the Champions League Twenty20 and encourage the pipeline of cricket development from the club, affiliate and franchise levels through to the international arenas. I am sure the global broadcast of the Champions League Twenty20 will ignite the passion of cricket lovers the world over."

The three founding member boards had already announced the dates for the inaugural edition of the 2008 Champions League Twenty20 from 3rd – 10th December, 2008 inclusive. Eight teams, consisting of the reigning winners and runners-up from the domestic Twenty20 competitions in India, Australia and South Africa, plus the winners of 2008 Twenty20 championships (to be held in October 2008) from Pakistan, and the reigning Twenty20 Cup champion from England, Middlesex, have been invited to contest the 2008 Champions League Twenty20. The tournament will be contested by 12 teams in year two between September 25 and October 10, 2009.

The prize money of US$6 million, will be shared between the teams and their players. The Governing Council of the event together with its founding cricket boards believes that the significant prize money to be shared by teams and players will ensure that the benefits of the event will foster cricket's development by injecting new funding into domestic-level cricket and at the same time will handsomely reward domestic-level cricketers and provide a unique opportunity for a higher public profile for players at the level below international cricket.

Courtesy : ESPNSTAR.com

Mumbai to host Champions League Twenty20 final.

It had all the ingredients of a press conference, and more.

Besides the bustling sports scribes and clamour of photographers, there were also business journalists trying to have their share of the pie.As one rightly put it, "Cricket is now the biggest business in India and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) the biggest conglomerate."

The occasion was the launch of the logo of what is so far the biggest product from the behemoth - the Champions League Twenty20 [Images], coming on the heels of the hugely successfully inaugural edition of the Indian Premier League [Images] (IPL). The evening palpably belonged to the chairman, Lalit Modi, and he began by thanking the media.

"I want to thank the media for the coverage of the IPL. It is because of the media and the fans that the IPL became such a huge success," he said, before going on to explain that the Champions League T20 will be bigger -- with a purse of $6 million (with the winner alone taking home $3 million). The inaugural edition -- palpably modeled on the UEFA [Images] Champions League -- was scheduled to be held at Chandigarh, Delhi [Images] and Jaipur [Images], but will now be held in a completely different set of venues.

"Bangalore, Chennai and Mumbai will host the matches, with Mumbai hosting the final on December 10," said Modi. But what prompted the change of venues?. "Weather was a crucial factor. The tournament is in December and it is usually very cold in North India at that time. Also, with most matches being played at night, the dew factor will also have to be taken into consideration," he explained. Now that Mumbai has been finalised to host the final, where will it be staged? "DY Patil is an option; so is CCI. We will take a decision on the venue soon," said Modi.

The inaugural edition will feature eight teams -- Rajasthan Royals [Images], Chennai Super Kings [Images], Western Australia [Images] Warriors, Victoria Bushrangers, Titans, Dolphins, Middlesex and the reigning T20 champions from Pakistan - and 15 matches. But in the second edition the number of teams will be increased to 12 and the number of matches to 23.

As regard the participation of players, they will be bound by their contractual obligations even though there's a provision for them to choose. "I'll give the example of Morne Morkel. He belonged to Royals but played for Titans instead. So, he will play for the latter," explained Modi. "Similarly, for players like Hayden it is a matter of choice. What we want to ensure though is that the competition is of the highest standard." With the inaugural IPL being such a success, the winners Rajasthan Royals are intending to go public.

"Yes, the owners have expressed to me their desire to go public and it is great," said Modi. "I would encourage all other teams to follow suit." Now that most questions pertaining to the Champions League T20 and the IPL had been answered, the topic veered towards the touring Australians.
There is a lot of criticism about the Aussies coming early and being provided top class facilities to train when India hardly has time for the same when it tours Down Under. "It is not as if the Australians have a problem with us going early," explained Modi, trying to be defensive. "It is because of our packed commitments that we don't get the time to go there early.

"This year, thanks to the cancellation of the Champions Trophy [Images], the Aussies had the spare time and they asked me about this possibility and I welcomed them. We're a fledgling academy and if one of the best teams comes to train with us, it is great thing for our young players." The precision with which the chairman answered all questions, it seemed he had done his homework well. And even if some answers were not as convincing, at least he has to be given the credit for being able to come up with an answer.

As the noted commentator Harsha Bhogle, the emcee for the show, put it, "Meet the man who dons three hats, the chairman of the IPL, the chairman of the Champions League and the chairman of the Rajasthan Cricket Academy (RCA)." Indeed, it would be an understatement to say that Mr Modi is successfully performing all the roles.

Everything you wanted to know about the Champions League.

What is the Twenty20 Champions League?
The Twenty20 Champions League is an international tournament featuring the best teams of the domestic Twenty20 tournaments in various nations. It is scheduled to be held in October 2008.

Who is behind it and is it official?
It will be run by the cricket boards of India, Australia, South Africa, and England. The league has the backing of the ICC, so it will be deemed official.

What's all the buzz about?
Simply put, it's probably the first international tournament for domestic sides. It's not too different from the similarly named football tournament in Europe. Just as football clubs from various European nations qualify through their individual leagues for the football Champions League, the top two teams from each of these cricket-playing nations will qualify through their respective Twenty20 domestic leagues for the Twenty20 Champions League. Teams in England, Australia and South Africa will qualify through existing competitions; for India, where the Twenty20 structure barely exists, a new league called the Indian Premier League (IPL) will be put in place.

Have the details been worked out? The where, when and how?
As mentioned above, it will be played next October between eight teams, two from each country, divided into two groups. There will be a total of 15 matches, including the semi-finals and the final. The venues are yet to be decided, but it shouldn't be a problem because the organisers have the support of the ICC and the national boards.

What will they be playing for?
The overall prize money for the Twenty20 Champions League will be $5 million, the winners taking home $2 million. There will be $3 million up for grabs in the IPL. By contrast, the winners of the ICC World Cup in the Caribbean took home $1 million; the team that wins the current ICC World Twenty20 will take home half of that.

Where did the idea come from?
There is a school of thought that the idea was originally put forward in 1996 by the same man who is in charge of the project now: Lalit Modi, BCCI's vice-president. But it was shot down then because it would go against the zonal system that the BCCI runs under. Modi, though, says the work seriously got underway a couple of years ago when Sharad Pawar became the BCCI president. It is believed that the project was fast-tracked when the Zee group in India announced the Indian Cricket League in April this year.

How are they different to each other?
They both use the Twenty20 format but that's about all they have in common. The ICL is not recognised by any of the national boards or the ICC; it is a one-nation tournament lacking the status, international reach, players, and the infrastructure that the Twenty20 Champions League will have by default. The players here won't be barred from representing their nations, unlike the ones who have joined the ICL. It will eliminate the concept of regional representation. For example, it is possible in theory that Glenn McGrath plays for Mumbai Maulers against New South Wales in the final of the Twenty20 Champions League.

And there's one more difference: Franchises. Franchises? What's that?
That means the teams making up the Twenty20 league in each participating country will no longer have regional affiliation as they do now - states in Australia and India, counties in England - but will be owned by corporate houses, rather like football teams in Europe or the major sports teams in the US. And, like them, they can trade, appoint coaches and support staff, buy equipment and make best use of whatever resources they have. Apart from the prize money (more on that later) the sources of revenue will be gate money, a share of TV earnings, and sale of merchandise. It hasn't yet been decided if they will have a share in the players' endorsements. To begin with, the franchise concept will apply to the IPL; the organisers plan to extend it to the other countries in a couple of years' time. The overall prize money for the Twenty20 Champions League will be $5 million, the winners taking home $2 million. There will be $3 million up for grabs in the IPL. By contrast, the winners of the ICC World Cup in the Caribbean took home $1 million; the team that wins the current ICC World Twenty20 will take home half of that.

Hang on - what about other countries where they play Twenty20, Pakistan, for example??
Pakistan is a notable missing name but Modi says it will be part of the inaugural Champions League. However, it's yet to be seen in what capacity Pakistan is involved; it is believed that Pakistan, like Sri Lanka, does not have the economy to sustain a full-fledged franchise concept. It's possible that the IPL includes one team from Pakistan. New Zealand have also not been directly involved in the Champions League so far but the country's cricket board is already talking of its teams joining Australia's Twenty20 competition to have a shot at the international event.

All this is pretty radical, isn't it?
It certainly has potential to change the game. Lalit Modi wasn't joking when he told Cricinfo, "We're going forward and trying to change the world order." One, the money could make Twenty20 the most lucrative form of cricket any aspiring cricketer wants to play. So what would that do to cricket skills and talent pools for longer versions of the game is anyone's guess. Two, it could change the way we look at cricket. Teams based on regional affiliations will be replaced by teams based on commerce, players playing not for local pride but for top dollar. That's how football has grown in the last 20 years - and not everyone's happy with the shape it's in today.

It is significant that the league was launched in the presence of cricket's most powerful men - the heads of the ICC and the Indian, Australian and South African boards, and the ECB's No. 2 (not to mention Messrs Dravid, Tendulkar, Ganguly, McGrath and Fleming).

And who are the big players bidding to purchase teams?
On January 24, 2008 the IPL announced the eight city franchises and their owners, a mix of the biggest names in business and Bollywood, after an auction worth US$723.59 million, almost double the combined base price of US$400 million. Top industrialists and Bollywood stars led the bandwagon as the BCCI raked in the money - Mukesh Ambani, the Reliance Industries chairman, acquired the Mumbai franchise for $111.9 million over a 10-year period; beer and airline baron Vijay Mallya, who also owns a Formula 1 team, won the Bangalore franchise for $111.6 million; Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan's Red Chillies Entertainment won the Kolkata franchise for $75 million; the biggest surprise was the Chandigarh franchise, which went to Preity Zinta, another Bollywood star, and Ness Wadia, together with two other major industrialists, for $75 million. The IPL sure does mean big, big business.

BCCI approves Champions Twenty20.

After the huge success of the Indian Premier League, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Sunday approved another money-spinner, the Champions Twenty20 tournament, with a clause to debar English counties having players aligned to the Indian Cricket League (ICL).
The BCCI Working Committee, which met here, approved the proposal to jointly organise the tournament with Australia, South Africa and Pakistan in late September and early October. Clubs from England, which qualify, can play provided the teams do not include players who are with the ICL, Board Secretary Niranjan Shah said in a statement. Only the England and Wales Cricket Board has allowed players aligning with the ICL to play for the counties. But the BCCI vice-president and IPL commissioner Lalit Modi said BCCI would stay away from any tournament involving ICL players.
“The rules and structure of the tournament will be framed by Cricket Australia while BCCI, which will be 50 per cent partner in the venture, will run and manage it,” Mr. Modi said. Mr. Modi said the ECB had stated it could not restrict ICL players in its counties. But the BCCI would stick to its stand. On whether there was a chance that the ECB might not participate in the event at all because of this issue, Mr. Modi said, “That is for the ECB to decide. If that is the case, it will be very sad.” Mr. Modi, however, expected that a solution would be reached at the meeting of the organising boards to be held in Dubai next week.
The Champions Twenty20 will be held in the first year in India. Form the second edition onwards attempts would be made to hold it in the Middle East, Australia, South Africa and England. The tournament, featuring the top two Twenty20 sides of the participating countries, will have a total prize money of $10 million, with winner getting $5 million and the runner-up $2.5 million.
On accommodating the Twenty20 tournament in the packed schedule and its impact on the players before important assignments, Mr. Modi said the tournament, of only nine or 10 days duration, would not impact national teams. It would impact only one or two national squad players of each country. Mr. Modi denied that the proposed Stanford competition involving England players would affect the BCCI-backed Twenty20 venture. “It’s good for the game. It is only adding to the pie. There is no conflict (of interests),” he said.
The BCCI Working Committee also discussed the proposed ICC World Test Championship, but Mr. Modi said the Board would have a detailed discussion about it later.
Meanwhile, BCCI vice-president Rajiv Shukla said the Board had sanctioned $50,000 for the improvement of the game in China. The committee also reviewed the conduct of the IPL and approved the schedule of women’s team’s tours of England and Australia.

Pakistan also a part of Champions League.

Nasim Ashraf, the Chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Thursday claimed that one team from Pakistan would also be seen in action at the $5 million Champions League, slated to be held later this year.
The Indian Premier League (IPL) management and the English cricket Board have announced that the Champions League would be held around September with the domestic Twenty20 champions from India, South Africa, Australia and England taking part. There was no mention of any Pakistani team participating in it but Ashraf told reporters that the domestic T20 champions would play in the event.
"It is not correct that Pakistan is not in the Champions League. When the idea of this event was discussed in Mumbai sometime back I was there and the Indian Board, specifically the IPL governing body invited Pakistan to send one team for the championship," Ashraf said. Pakistan was one of the main supporters of the IPL when it was launched last year with the support of Australia, England and South Africa.
Sources within the Board also confirmed that senior officials were in touch with the IPL officials to find out the status of Pakistan in the Champions League. "The PCB officials were not very happy when they saw the announcement conveniently ignoring Pakistan's contribution or participation, specially since the Board was one of the big supporters of the IPL and did its best to discourage the rebel Indian Cricket League," one source said. Sources said Ashraf was due to take up the issue with BCCI officials when he visits Dhaka on Saturday to witness the final of the tri-series between India and Pakistan.

IPL wants grand finale at Lords

Officials of the Indian Premier League (IPL) have offered to stage the grand finale of the multimillion-dollar championship this September at Lord's, the Mecca of cricket, according to a report on Monday.
The week-long finale would feature the top two teams from the IPL and the leading sides from the domestic Twenty20 leagues in England, Australia, South Africa and Pakistan, the Daily Telegraph reported. The report, written by ex-England cricketer Simon Hughes, said Dubai had been earmarked for the event, but the ground was unlikely to be ready in time.
However, there are said to be scheduling difficulties for such a grand event to be staged at Lord's. The paper said it would be hard to find a whole week in September to stage the finale. While the ideal time would be straight after England's final one-day international against South Africa Sep 3, the ICC championship in Pakistan begins just a week later. There is a free period in October, but England has never hosted a top-class tournament so late in the year.
However, the paper said the finale could still happen because whittling the teams down to one winner could be achieved in five days in the Twenty20 format. It said the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) would prefer to wait and see the Indian public and business community's response to the IPL before they take the discussions further.
England fast bowler Matthew Hoggard recently said he had little doubt that England players would opt for the IPL if asked to choose between the Indian league and the ICC Champions Trophy. Simon Hughes described the ICC championship as representing "one of world sport's most pointless and derided events".

Million-dollar Twenty20 Champions League announced.

The inaugural Champions League tournament, involving the domestic Twenty20 finalists from England, Australia, South Africa and the IPL, will take place over a 10-day period in late September and early October with US$5 million on offer for the winners.

The fine detail is yet to be confirmed, but Cricket Australia are currently drawing up the regulations which will deal with the issues of Indian Cricket League players and potential conflicts for players involved with more than one team.

It is possible that the Indian board will be generous towards ICL players after the success of IPL. It was also agreed, verbally, between the boards that foreign players will turn out for their local teams in the tournament. That undertaking was sought by the England and Australia boards at a meeting in Singapore.

However, it has been confirmed the event will feature 15 matches over 10 days, and will take place in either the Middle East or India. Alongside the huge sum for the winners, there will be significant prize money for the teams finishing second, third and fourth.

Stuart Broad, the England quick bowler, is excited by the move. "It's certainly an incentive for domestic sides to take Twenty20 seriously which can only help the international team," he said after the third day's play against New Zealand. "I've always thought Championship cricket is the priority because it develops players for Test cricket and that's the ultimate. But this could change the emphasis."

Western Australia and Victoria from Australia, Rajasthan and Chennai from the IPL along with the Dolphins and Titans from the Pro20 in South Africa have already qualified. They will be joined by the two finalists from the English Twenty20 Cup, which starts next week.

Following meetings late last week between the ECB, represented by chairman Giles Clarke and chief executive David Collier, Cricket Australia's chairman Creagh O'Connor and chief executive James Sutherland, an agreement was reached yesterday between Clarke, IPL commissioner and BCCI representative Lalit Modi, and Cricket South Africa president Norman Arendse.

"We are extremely grateful to our great friends from Australia, India and South Africa for their hard work and determination to get this tournament off the ground," Clarke said. "The Twenty20 Cup will be even more fiercely contested this season in the knowledge that the two teams who reach the final will qualify for the Champions League and the chance to win US$5 million."

This event throws up a number of potential conflicts, not least involving an players linked to the unofficial ICL. Chris Read, Vikram Solanki, Stuart Law, Niall O'Brien and Paul Nixon all appeared in the ICL, and if their counties qualify their inclusion will be a major conflict with the Indian board.

The other issue that will occur is involving players who are contracted to more than one of the teams involved, for example Mike Hussey who played for Chennai in the IPL and is also from Western Australia. The clash could also happen with overseas players in county cricket, for example David Hussey, who plays for Nottinghamshire and Victoria.

Somerset chief executive Richard Gould admitted to Sky Sports News: "We've already had some discussions and we're basically looking to mirror what the IPL contracts are. It was first mooted at the Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa and it's taken a while but now it's there, I think it's brilliant for club cricket. It gives it much more juice."

Courtesy : Cricinfo.