It does not take a genius to work out how mad India is for its cricket.

But a new international Twenty20 league, the Indian Premier League, has raised the stakes even higher with $800m (£411m) being spent on TV rights for a 59-game tournament in April, featuring eights teams comprising many of the world’s top stars and young Indian players. Read the rest of this entry »

Tectonic plates are shifting in cricket. Last week the ICC made the first moves towards a smaller and shorter World Cup on the sub-continent in 2011, with 14 countries rather than 16, and an international programme spread over a longer timescale, probably six years for each country to play the others at least once at home and away, rather than five. Read the rest of this entry »

The power battle between the two Twenty20 leagues in India escalated yesterday with Lalit Modi, the head of the official Indian Premier League, saying that he wanted to work with the ECB to ensure that the league did not clash with the English domestic season in the future, meaning that England players would be free to play. Read the rest of this entry »

Watching England’s warm-up match at the quiet and picturesque University Oval in Dunedin seems a million miles away from the storm which seems to be brewing in the world game.

Today’s editorial in the local newspaper the Otago Daily Times makes very interesting reading. The headline is “Hit for six” and it is a strongly worded warning about what it describes are the dangers of the Indian Premier League. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s been another serious week for cricket and a very busy one for the lawyers on the books of county clubs. As always, what one legal brain believes to be the truth another will dispute, and it won’t be stopping here. Read the rest of this entry »

Star England batsman Kevin Pietersen has ruled out playing in the multi-million pound Indian Premier League Twenty20 competition.
Pietersen said he had been approached by the IPL but that no amount of money would tempt him away from England. Read the rest of this entry »

“I was not surprised by this amount. I have been around for quite a while and the only player to have scored a century at the Twenty20 international level, and this is probably what assisted me in gaining such a good price.”
Chris Gayle, who went for US$800,000, knows his worth Read the rest of this entry »

Kevin Pietersen has insisted no amount of money will tempt him to join the Indian Premier League (IPL). Despite offers coming his way to play in the multi-million dollar tournament, Pietersen says he’s focused on his England career, which is too important to him.

No England player was involved in the first IPL auction as the tournament clashes with the start of the county season. However, interest was shown in a few leading stars such as Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff.

“I know there is interest and, yes, there have been offers, etc etc, but it’s not something I’m particularly interested in,” Pietersen told BBC Five Live. “Money’s not really too important, it’s not as if I need money right now,” he said. “I’m really enjoying doing what I’m doing. I love playing for England, I love playing for the spectators.”

“England has given me a fantastic opportunity to a fantastic life at the moment. So I’m fully committed 100% to playing for England, to winning games for England, to scoring thousands more runs for England.”

Earlier, Lalit Modi, the IPL chairman and commissioner, had indicated that future editions of the tournament might be rescheduled in order to avoid a clash with England’s domestic season.

SOURCE : CRICINFO

A week after the IPL’s high-profile first-ever cricket auction, the unofficial Indian Cricket League (ICL) has responded by announcing its second international Twenty20 tournament - which will be bigger, have more international players, new venues and an additional broadcaster. Read the rest of this entry »

All About Rajasthan Royals
City: Jaipur
Front Office:
Owner - Emerging Media (Manoj Badale, Lachlan Murdoch, Suresh Chellaram)
CEO - Fraser Castellino
President - TBA
Coaches:
Head Coach - Shane Warne
Assistant Head Coach - TBA
Physiotherapist - John Gloster
Read the rest of this entry »