Champions League Twenty20 2008 News
Champions League Twenty20 fixtures announced
Oct 23, 2008
Middlesex Crusaders of England will challenge Victoria Bushrangers of Australia in the opening match of the Champions League Twenty20 to be held in India in December.
The draws and fixtures were announced on Thursday night in a glittering function in New Delhi, which also saw the presentation of the inaugural T20 Champions Awards.
The eight teams have been divided into two groups.
Chennai Super Kings, Victoria Bushrangers, Pretoria Titans and Middlesex Crusaders have been slotted in Group A, while Group B comprises Sialkot Stallions, Rajasthan Royals, Western Warriors and Natal Dolphins.
Match one to be played in Mumbai between the English and Australian domestic T20 champions will be followed by a high-voltage contest between Indian Premier League champions Rajasthan Royals and Natal Dolphins in Bangalore.
Pakistan T20 champions Sialkot Stallions will take on Aussie T20 runners-up Western Warriors in Bangalore the next day, followed by a match between IPL runners-up Chennai Super Kings and Victoria Bushrangers in Mumbai.
On December 5, the action will, for the first time in the tournament, shift to Chennai where Middlesex Crusaders take on Pretoria Titans, while Sialkot Stallions come over to Mumbai to take on Rajasthan Royals.
Saturday will be a triple treat for fans of the T20 format with three matches slated to be held on that day.
Western Australia will take on Natal Dolphins for the first match of the day in Bangalore while Victoria Bushrangers play Pretoria Titan and Chennai Super Kings play Middlesex Crusaders in Chennai.
Sunday will see the Dolphins taking on the Stallions and the Royals crossing swords with the Warriors in Bangalore. The Super Kings will get another home game in Chennai when they take on Titans for the third game of the day.
The first semi-final of the Champions League T-20 would be played on December 8, when the first placed team from Group B takes on the second placed team from Group A in Bangalore.
The first placed team from Group A will play the second placed team from Group B in Chennai on December 9 to decide the second finalist.
The final of the Champions League T-20 will be played in Chennai on December 10.
Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai to host Champions League
Sept 25, 2008
The inaugural edition of Champions League Twenty20 cricket tournament, involving eight teams from five countries, will be hosted by three metro cities, Mumbai, Bangalore and Chennai, between December 3 and 10.
Final of the eight-day-long tournament, which offers USD six million as prize money, including USD three million to the winner, will be hosted by Mumbai, Lalit Modi, Chairman of the Board of Champions League Twenty20 Tournament Lalit Modi announced at Mumbai.
The teams participating in the tournament, will be placed under two groups with four sides in each one. Top two sides from each group will qualify for the semifinal round, which will be played in cross-wise basis.
Modi, who unveiled the tournament logo at a function here, said "Champions League will inspire and motivate the future generation of club, state and country cricketers while accelerating development of the game globally." Modi, who devised the lucrative Indian Premier League, also hoped that the tournament will play a pioneering role as a "feeder league" to the cash-rich IPL.
"IPL is the feeder league to the Champions League and in future there will be similar tournament in other countries," said Modi, also the BCCI Vie-President.
Besides IPL champions Rajasthan Royals and runners-up Chennai Super Kings, the other participating teams are Western Australia Warriors and Victoria Rangers from Australia and Titans and Dolphins from South Africa.
Reigning champions of domestic T20 tournament in Pakistan and England's local tournament runners-up Middlesex will also be participating in the tournament. There will be 15 matches in all, although in the next year there will be 12 teams and 23 matches, Modi said.
Younis to skip Champions League
Sept 20, 2008
Younis Khan will skip the inaugural Twenty20 Champions League tournament to concentrate on playing first class cricket with South Australia.
He confirmed that he would not play the tournament to be to be held in December, which clashes with his commitments with the Aussie side.
“(T20) might be popular but to me it is nothing compared to first class cricket…I would prefer first class because that is real cricket and that is where a player is really tested.” he said.
Pakistan's T20 finalists to play in Champions League
Sept 15, 2008
The Pakistan Cricket Board on Monday said winners of next month's National Twenty20 championship will participate in the Champions League to be held in December this year.
Making it clear that the champions of the last domestic Twenty20 championship would not represent Pakistan in the 6 million dollars Champions League, PCB chief operating officer Shafqat Naghmi said this year's Twenty20 was very significant given the lack of international cricket opportunities for Pakistani players.
"There is added incentive for the winners this year as they will represent Pakistan in the prestigious Champions League," he said.
In the Champions League, victorious Twenty20 teams from Pakistan, Australia, South Africa and England will compete with the Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Kings who played the final of the Indian Premier League.
The National Twenty20 championship will be the first major cricket event in Pakistan after the Asia Cup held in June and July.
Naghmi also made it clear that only players who represent their regional teams in the national championship would be considered for selection for the Twenty20 four-nation international event being held in Toronto from October 10.
He announced that a total of 13 regional teams would compete in the championship after being divided into four groups.
Modi appointed Champions League T20 Board chairman
Sept 12, 2008
Indian Premier League Commissioner and BCCI Vice-President Lalit Modi was on Friday appointed as chairman of the board of Champions League Twenty20, the cricket boards of India, Australia and South Africa said in a joint statement.
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).
Eight teams, 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 Twenty20 Cup champions from England, Middlesex, have been invited to compete in the inaugural Champions League Twenty20 to be held from December 3 to 10 this year.
The second edition of the tournament will be contested by 12 teams between September 25 and October 10 next year.
Twenty20 Champions League in December
Aug 14, 2008
The inaugural Champions League Twenty20 tournament has been rescheduled from September-October to early December.
The tournament, featuring eight teams, will now be played from Dec 3-10, it was announced by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Cricket Australia (CA) and Cricket South Africa (CSA), the three participating member-teams, in a joint statement on Thursday.
The change of dates for the event was agreed by the event's governing council at the ICC's request for a clearer window for the event after the Champions Trophy.
Venues and commercial partnership details will be finalised in the coming weeks.
Winners and runners-up of the domestic Twenty20 competitions in India, Australia and South Africa, plus the Pakistan champions Sialkot and the English champions Middlesex have been invited to play for the $6 million prize money.
"We are happy that we were able to find a window during the first week of December for the inaugural edition of the Twenty20 Champions League.
"There was a gap between the One-Day Internationals and Test series against the touring England squad and that will enable both the Rajasthan Royals and the Chennai Super Kings to regroup and focus on the inaugural edition of the Champions League Twenty20," Lalit Modi, Chairman & Commissioner of the Indian Premier League(IPL)and vice-president BCCI, said.
BCCI decline ECB invite
July 29, 2008
The Board of Control for Cricket in India has rejected England's invitation to play in their version of the Champions League, to be held in Sharjah in October, giving a new twist to the wrangling between the two boards over the Twenty20 event.
BCCI vice-president and
Indian Premier League Commissioner Lalit Modi conveyed India's decision to England and Wales Cricket Board Chief Executive David Collier, who had sent the invite.
India's refusal to take part in ECB's Twenty20 initiative came a day after the BCCI made it clear that it would go ahead with its own version of the Champions League in India and is prepared to leave out teams from England if it did not agree to the terms and conditions.
The BCCI replied on Monday saying that though it wishes the ECB all the best with its tournament, it is not in a position to accept the invitation.
Modi also clearly informed the eight IPL franchises that they can participate only in tournaments run and approved by the BCCI.
The BCCI and ECB are insisting on staging their versions of the Champions League, with each claiming that the Australian and South African Boards are with them.
India, England fight over T20 Champions League
July 29, 2008
India and England were Tuesday embroiled in an acrimonious tug-of-war over the inaugural Twenty20 Champions League, with both wanting to host it with or without each other.
The lucrative football-style League, featuring top Twenty20 domestic sides from around the world, is scheduled to be played between September 29 and October 8.
India insists it will host the tournament while England, which opposes the terms and conditions laid down by the Indians, wants to stage its own version in the United Arab Emirates on the same dates.
Utter chaos prevailed in cricket circles on Tuesday as both sides claimed that teams from Australia and South Africa will take part in their respective tournaments.
India, buoyed by the success of the Indian Premier League earlier this year, said it will finalise details of its tournament at a meeting in Mumbai on Wednesday with Australian and South African chiefs.
The northern cities of New Delhi, Mohali and Jaipur have already been announced as the possible venues in the 10-million dollar event, with half that amount going to the winners.
The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) said the Abu Dhabi royal family had agreed to bankroll their tournament to be held in the UAE capital and the adjoining emirate of Sharjah.
"At the moment we are progressing with our plans and we have no plans to travel to Mumbai and attend Wednesday's meeting," an ECB spokesman said in London on Monday.
Who plays where is undecided, although the original plans had the top two Twenty20 teams from Australia, England, South Africa and India taking part.
Local media reports on Tuesday said India had turned down England's offer to send two teams for their event in the Gulf -- and also does not expect English sides to feature in their own tournament.
In a letter to the ECB, the Indian board wrote it "wished the ECB all the best" with its tournament but "unfortunately, we cannot accept" the invitation, reports said.
Talks between the Indian board and the ECB failed to resolve the issues of tournament rights and the availability of players who took part in the unauthorised Indian Cricket League (ICL).
India, the sport's financial powerhouse, wanted to retain a 50 percent stake in the tournament and would not allow teams that fielded ICL players from taking part.
Kent, one of the two teams set to represent England in the Champions League, has two ICL players in Pakistan's Azhar Mahmood and Justin Kemp of South Africa.
Indian official Lalit Modi had said last week the Champions League was being put off to a later date, but appeared to change his mind after being told England were going ahead with their own tournament.
The tournament is sandwiched in the short 11-day gap between the Champions Trophy final in Pakistan on September 28 and the first Test between Australia and India in Bangalore from October 9.
First Twenty20 Champions League to be held in India
July 28, 2008
The first Twenty20 Champions League will be played in India this year, said Lalit Modi, the Indian Cricket Board (BCCI) official and the Indian Premier League (IPL) commissioner on Monday.
The matches will be played in three venues - Jaipur, New Delhi and Mohali from September 29 to October 8.
Eight teams are expected to participate in the event that will include the teams securing the first and the second positions in the domestic Twenty20 events of South Africa and Australia, besides the winner and runners-up of the IPL.
Apart from this, one team from Pakistan will also take part in the tournament and the PCB has ensured its complete cooperation in this regard.
However, because of the differences that occurred between the India and the England boards on some administrative matters of the Champions League, no team from England is likely to take part in the competition.
But Modi is not too worried about the issue and confirmed if no team comes from England then any team from Sri Lanka or New Zealand would fill the gap.
The details of the event is scheduled to be finalised in Mumbai on Wednesday at a meeting that is suppose to be attended by officials from the BCCI, Cricket South Africa (CSA) and Cricket Australia (CA).
Champions League dates to be announced after Champions Trophy
July 24, 2008
Indian Premier League Commissioner Lalit Modi on Thursday dismissed media reports about plans to shelve the Champions League and said dates for the inaugural Twenty20 event would be announced soon.
"There is no plan to shelve the Champions League. We will decide on the dates of the Champions League after the Champions Trophy," said Modi.
Media reports claimed that the plans for the Champions Trophy, scheduled in October, had been shelved.
According to reports, England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) insisted on having 50 percent ownership and some other boards also threw in the spanner, forcing IPL authorities to drop the plan.
The ICC too was not sure if two BCCI-backed Twenty20 events, IPL and Champions League, could be accommodated in an already crammed calendar. Besides, there was also the fear of Twenty20 overshadowing other forms of the game, the reports claimed.
BCCI approves Champions Twenty20
June 22, 2008
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
June 12, 2008
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.
Australia keep best players out of Twenty20
June 10, 2008
Australia's international representatives will have to miss the inaugural Twenty20 Champions League later this year due to touring commitments.
The 15-match competition, which involves eight teams from England, India, South Africa and Australia, will be held during a 10-day period in late September and early October in the Middle East or India. The four countries will be represented by the winner and runner-up of their domestic Twenty20 competition.
The prize money will be in excess of $5 million.
Cricket Australia (CA) chief executive James Sutherland stated that the country's leading players were committed to the Champions Trophy in Pakistan and a Test tour of India.
IPL wants grand finale at Lords
Apr 21, 2008
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".
BCCI launches Twenty20 league
Sep 13, 2007
The
Board of Control for Cricket in India on Thursday (September 13), unveiled its ambitious plans for its Twenty20 league –
Indian Premier League – at an event in Delhi to rival the
Indian Cricket League (ICL).
The event was attended by representatives of national cricketing bodies of all Test-playing nations as well as some of the top cricketers in the world, namely Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly, Glen McGrath, Stephen Fleming, and Anil Kumble – all recruits of the IPL.
IS Bindra, Chirayu Amin, Arun Jaitley, Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi, Ravi Shastri, Sunil Gavaskar, Rajiv Shukla and Lalit Modi were named as members of the BCCI Indian Premier League Committee with Lalit Modi assuming the role of the chairman of the 7-member Governing Council which will run the league. ICC President Ray Mali also fully supported the BCCI's initiative to launch the league.
The Indian Premier League is scheduled to start in April 2008 and will last for 44 days involving 59 matches on a home-and-away basis
with all matches being played under flood lights. Besides the IPL, the
Champions Twenty20 League will be played in the first week of October 2008. Eight domestic teams from four nations will participate in the Champions Twenty20 League. Apart from India, Australia, England, South Africa will participate in the league, which will kick off in October 2008.
Prize money for the Indian Premier League will be US $3 million, where as the champion team in the Champions Twenty20 league will get US $5 million. This is the highest ever prize money for a cricket event.
BCCI planning Twenty20 league
Aug 24, 2007
The
Board of Control for Cricket in India is planning to organise a high-profile Twenty20 league of its own to counter the challenge posed by the 'unofficial'
Indian Cricket League.
The plan is still at a formative stage and it is learnt that the legendary Sunil Gavaskar will be asked to head the organising committee of the event, to be called
"Professional Cricket League".
"We have been working on something for sometime now, but we are not yet ready to announce anything right now. When we are ready we will let you know," BCCI vice-president and marketing committee chief Lalit Modi said on Thursday.
The proposal was not discussed at the BCCI's special General Body in Mumbai on Tuesday.
"There has been no discussion on this in the BCCI," a top source in the board said.
Although BCCI officials were not willing to shed much light on the new proposal, it is learnt that two or three foreign players will be allowed to play in each team.
Jolted by the rebel ICL's massive recruitment drive, the BCCI has not only decided to ban defecting players but also announced substantial hikes in match fees and prize-money for domestic competition to prevent a fresh exodus.
The ICL, the brainchild of the Subhash Chandra-owned Essel Group, has so far recruited 44 first class players and seven from overseas, including West Indies batting great Brian Lara and former Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul Haq.
