MELBOURNE, March 29: Australian fast bowler Nathan Bracken’s will not be available for the early stages of the lucrative Indian Premier League after he underwent a major surgery on his knee.

Bracken, who signed up for Bangalore Royal Challengers in the April 18-June 1 IPL for $325,000, underwent surgery on Thursday after a scan showed his knee cartilage was on the verge of snapping, and surgeons said his recuperation could take between four and 10 weeks.

‘The Age’ reported that Bracken has told Bangalore Royal Challengers that he won’t be available for the early stages of IPL, but could be fit for the Twenty20 competition’s latter stages.

“The big thing now is that I do the right rehabilitation. If there is any pain and discomfort I’m going to have to stop. It’s important I don’t push it too hard,” said Bracken, who was the man of the series in the recent tri-series also involving India and Sri Lanka.”

Cartilage injuries aren’t normally very serious but Bracken was told by his surgeon that his carrier could have been seriously threatened had his knee snapped while bowling.

“I was doing more damage to the ligament every time I walked or moved. It was serious. It could have ended my career if it went, for sure,” Bracken said.

“I had bone bruising and, while that was an issue, I actually had a large tear in my cartilage. When I was on the operating table, the doctor said the cartilage in the area was like old paint peeling off a wall.”

“A big chunk of cartilage came out while he was cleaning the area up. He (the surgeon) was amazed I was able to play through the summer.”  

29 March 2008

Source: PTI

MUMBAI, March 28: Former Mumbai opener Shishir Hattangadi has quit the rebel Indian Cricket League (ICL) and joined Indian Premier League’s (IPL) Hyderabad franchise team, Deccan Chargers, as manager.

Hattangadi’s return to the official cricket fold after leaving the Essel Group-floated ICL seems to have given a fresh lease of life to the hopes of those who have crossed over to the breakaway entity.

The BCCI has banned cricketers who have joined the ICL from playing in any of its tournaments and also stopped the pension to former players, including 1983 World Cup-winning captain Kapil Dev, for their links to the rival league.

Asked how Hattangadi was allowed to join the Hyderabad franchise team as its manager, BCCI’s Chief Administrative Officer Ratnakar Shetty said that the former Mumbai Ranji Trophy player has sought and obtained a ‘No Objection Certificate’ from the ICL after leaving the rebel league. 

“He was asked to get a NOC from ICL before joining the franchise team. Our contention has been that you cannot be part of both (entities) at the same time,” Shetty explained.  

29 March 2008

Source: PTI

The youngest owner of an IPL team, Preity Zinta, spoke to Sumit Mukherjee about her team- King’s XI Punjab, Yuvraj Singh, Brett Lee and shared her excitement about being a part of the most talked-about event in world cricket that will debut next month.

Excerpts from the interview:

”We not only have some of the best young players in the game today, but ours is also a well-balanced side. Yuvraj Singh is the best Twenty20 player in the world and Brett Lee is the fastest bowler in the world. Our top players are regulars in their respective national teams. I expect King’s XI Punjab to win the trophy”

”Mohali has the best cricket ground in the country. I am told that the pitch will suit our fast bowlers (Brett Lee, Sree Santh and Kyle Mills). The facilities are fantastic and the spectators will surely love it.”

”I have been a sportsperson all my life. My father used to have tournaments in his name in Himachal Pradesh. I wanted to set up a sports school in Himachal. Then I heard about the BCCI opening up an avenue for private participation in the IPL and I jumped at it. It’s a matter of great pride for me to be able to promote the game at the grassroots level.”

”We are a country of more than one billion people, but unfortunately parents do not encourage their kids to take up sports as a career because there is no money in it hence no future. India is the most happening place right now. Now is the time to change all that. I am sure soon all that our sportspersons will make their presence felt on the world stage.”

”Yesterday is the past, tomorrow is the future, today is a gift that’s why we call it the present. Our time has come. Let’s grab it,” is her advice to the youngsters of India.

”Bollywood and cricket remain the biggest draws in our country. The IPL will witness the marriage of entertainment and cricket. It will be a great fusion and the possibilities are endless.

”Yes. It’s already a part and parcel of sports worldwide. What we are about to witness in India is only the tip of the iceberg. India is shinning and sky is the limit.”

”Right now we are busy with the launch to be held next week. From designing the team jersey with Surily Goel to making of the promos with McCann Erikson I am into it up to my neck.

I am used to facing the camera. Now I am getting a feel of life behind it.” Said Priety Zinta.

29 March 2008

Source: TNN

English cricketers will be quizzed on their feelings towards the Indian Premier League next week. Players’ chiefs will also talk to Lord’s officials in a bid to find a way to accommodate those who wish to play in future IPL seasons.

After Lalit Modi, the IPL chairman, reiterated his willingness to shift the dates of the cash-rich 20-over competition in future years to accommodate Englishmen, the Professional Cricketers’ Association will canvass the views of the national side once they are over their jet lag after the return trip from New Zealand. Dimitri Mascarenhas is the only England international in this year’s tournament.

“We will ask the players how they feel,” PCA chief executive Sean Morris said. “We need to sit them down and ask their personal views - some might have different opinions to others.

“But I would like to think on behalf of the players we would be able to take advantage of this concept and allow them to reap the benefits.There may be a very strong collective view but there may also be different circumstances for each individual which would affect their decision. We have a very open dialogue with the ECB right now, we met this week and will be meeting with them again next week, so there is a strong channel of communication.”

“Mr Modi is saying that he’s prepared to move his tournament to accommodate English players and that is music to everyone’s ears in this country.”

High-profile names like Andrew Flintoff and Kevin Pietersen will remain on the wishlists of the eight Indian city franchises, and although both those men have expressed their commitment to England, allowing them to play a few weeks a year on the subcontinent might keep them happy within the current framework of central contracts.

Next year’s tournament appears out of bounds to centrally-contracted individuals as things stand, given that England are due to tour the Caribbean in the spring.

“All the players have said that England is their priority but the issue will come to a head in September when they are due to sign their contracts,” Morris added. Although that is some months away, it appears in everyone’s interests to evaluate the best way forward as soon as possible.

One sensible solution might be to factor in a gap in the scheduling for 2010 as a reward for touring the West Indies as planned in 12 months’ time.

PCA chairman Dougie Brown, a former England one-day international, added: “It’s important for everyone to get together - PCA, the players’ representatives and the ECB - to try to come to an agreement as to what is and isn’t acceptable.

“IPL is not something that is going to go away - it’s going to be around for 10 years at least because they have signed a 10-year agreement.

“So we have to compartmentalise it within our own calendar, create a window of opportunity, or it will be a precarious situation that the ECB will find themselves in. You might find guys coming to the end of their careers will not sign a central contract, they will go and sign with the IPL instead. Suddenly you will be losing people a couple of years earlier than you might have.”

However, the Board of Control for Cricket in India have an understanding with other major nations that individuals who participate in the unauthorised Indian Cricket League will not be allowed to ply their trade in any top-level competition.

And the BCCI have already warned that any teams with links to the ICL will be ineligible for the Champions League-style club Twenty20 event scheduled for October.

Given that as-yet unfinalised tournament - between the top two 20-over teams from India, England, Australia and South Africa - offers £1million to the winners, playing either man is potentially costly.

“That is a worry,” admitted Yorkshire chief executive Stewart Regan, whose has a copy of the NOC dated March 17, after Rana played in the ICL.

“The England and Wales Cricket Board are standing by their original view that the Twenty20 Champions League is a tournament by invitation only.” Sussex chief executive Gus MacKay added: “Our main priority has been to get Mushy registered.

“We cannot afford to wait a month and then have to find an overseas player. There has been an indication this tournament will take place but we have seen no tournament arrangements.”
29 March 2008.
Sourcce: cricinfo

The two international grounds of England, Lord’s and The Oval, are considering offers to stage exhibition games involving teams from the Indian Premier League, according to a report in The Times.

The venues for the initial games have already been allocated in India. But there seems an increasing likelihood that other international venues will be also be used, as a way to promote the tournament around the world as much as provide world-class facilities.

The London venues will only host exhibition matches. Paul Sheldon, the Surrey chief executive, declined to comment to The Times, while a spokesman for the MCC also refused to make a statement.

Meanwhile, the Domestic Structure Review Group, chaired by Glamorgan chairman Paul Russell, will go before the ECB on April 9 and is due to suggest a radical response to the IPL.

The committee proposes two new Twenty20 competitions, the first of which will run in early summer along similar lines to the old Benson & Hedges Cup which ran for 30 years from 1972.

It will feature Minor Counties, the universities and Ireland and Scotland. The second tournament, according to today’s Daily Telegraph, will be called the English Premier League, taking place at the height of summer and consisting of 21 teams in three groups of seven - with county sides supplemented by international players from India, Australia and South Africa.

The idea falls in line with the suggestions made by ECB’s chairman, Giles Clarke, that England should mirror some of the IPL’s makeup: namely, that Twenty20 sides field three overseas players and four players under the age of 23.

“We wanted to see something radical come out of this committee,” an insider told the Daily Telegraph, “but instead it is as if they have put all the same balls into the hat, shaken them around a bit and taken them out again.

The $1 bn IPL initial offers are being considered by the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), which administers Lord’s, and Surrey County Cricket Club, the Times reported.

29 March 2008.

Sources: cricinfo, newspostindia.

Kolkata, Mar 28 (PTI): A city court today directed petitioners and Red Chillies Entertainment to file affidavits by April 8 on a plea seeking free tickets for the 31,000 Cricket Association of Bengal members during the upcoming Indian Premier League ties at the Eden Gardens.

The court, however, did not pass any order of injunction as prayed for by the petitioners Bengal Cricket Lovers’ Forum on distribution of tickets for the matches. Appearing for the petioners, lawyer Ajay Sanyal contended that according to CAB rules, life, annual and associate members were entitled to watch all matches - except charity ties - at Eden Gardens free of cost.

He claimed that the rights and privileges of all the CAB members were being infringed upon by asking them to pay for viewing the matches to be held here from April 20. CAB counsel Narendranath Chakraborty sought time from the court saying his client had not yet received any notice from the petitioners and as such was not prepared for the case.

Nobody appeared for the other respondents, including RCE of filmstar Shah Rukh Khan. The Bengal Cricket Lovers’ Forum has been floated by nearly 6,000 CAB members.

Justice Murari Mohan Ghosh, directed that the matter would come up for hearing on the said date. The court, however, did not pass any order of injunction as prayed for by the petitioners Bengal Cricket Lovers’ Forum on distribution of tickets for the matches.

Appearing for the petioners, lawyer Ajay Sanyal contended that according to CAB rules, life, annual and associate members were entitled to watch all matches - except charity ties - at Eden Gardens free of cost. He claimed that the rights and privileges of all the CAB members were being infringed upon by asking them to pay for viewing the matches to be held here from April 20.

RCE is the franchisee owner of the team ‘Kolkata Knight Riders’ that would organise the matches at the Eden as per IPL rules.

 Fri, Mar 28 06:20 PMSource: PTI.