Inaugural Champions League twenty 20 called off

The inaugural Champions League Twenty20 has been postponed with no clear information on when it would be held after terrorist attacks in Mumbai.


Lalit Modi, the chairman of the Champions League Twenty20 and IPL, said in an interview to a private television broadcaster: "We held consultations among all the stakeholders including the founding members, the participating teams and members of the Governing Council after the unfortunate terrorist attacks in Mumbai last night."It was agreed that in the best interests of all concerned, the inaugural edition of the Champions League twenty20 should be postponed.


"We very strongly condemn this dastardly and heinous criminal act of a few which has resulted in the loss of precious lives and injury to hundreds."We offer our heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families and we are with them in their hour of grief.""Taj Mahal Hotel represents India to many of the players when its attacked the feel India is too".


"There was talks of Shifting Venues but I the decision has been made to call of the league."It was only a week's worth of cricket. I would hope very much that we can squeeze it in (another time) because the cricket would have been fantastic."Said Middlesex Captain Shaun Udal.



Should the champions league go ahead as per the schedule, if not in Mumbai may be in some other city in the country?. Please Leave your comments

Shane Warne Shocked by Mumbai Terror Attacks

Rajasthan Royals Captain Shane Warne walked into the transit lounge at Singapore airport this morning, looked up at the TV and could not believe what he was seeing.

What he saw was terror in Mumbai, where he and travelling partner, former Victorian wicketkeeper Darren Berry were heading. Darren Berry is one of the coaching staff of Rajasthan royals

Shae Warne and Berry were heading towards Taj, the hotel in which they were booked to stay. The hotel which being attacked by terrorists and where hostages were being held.

“I’m shocked,’’ he told the Herald Sun. “Chuck (Berry) and I got off the plane and saw the news on TV. It’s unbelievable. The place is chaos.

“We are heading to Mumbai and that’s the hotel we are staying at. I don’t think we will be going (to India) now. Why would you?”

Warne said he had pulled his bags from the connecting flight and would stay put at the Singapore airport and wait for further information.

He said he had been in contact with the Rajasthan Royals owner, who had been talking to the South African firm handling security.

“At this stage I am going to stay where I am for the rest of the day, but I reckon we are certainties to be on a flight heading home later today.

“It is just not worth the risk. No about of money is worth the risk with what is going on over there at the moment.’’Shane Warne told the Herald Sun.

With England and Australian cricket boards putting the departure of their teams on hold, it now looks like even the players want to leave as soon as possible. The situation for the champions League organisers is only getting harder. It will be highly unlikely that the Champions League Cricket will take place on scheduled grounds and dates.

Champions League may not take place after Mumbai Terror Attacks

Mumbai was under terrorist attack late last night several key locations and hotels were targeted.Including the Taj hotel were the Victorian BushRangers were to stay. This is unprecedented in a way and it is a serious security risk for teams touring to India right now.

Middlesex Crusaders have cancelled their flight to India on Thursday for the inaugural Champions League Twenty20 after the attacks in the financial capital Mumbai.

Cricket Australia has also suspended its plans to send the Western Australian and Victorian bushrangers squads to India in the wake of the terrorist attacks.

The Western Australian Warriors and the Victorian Bushrangers were expected to leave for India today for the 20-twenty Champions League competition.

"We are in contact with DFAT, we have been speaking to our own security expert who is in India, we've been speaking to the ACA the players association and our own playing groups and stakeholders," Mr Pope said.

But all hopes are not lost on the tournament it is just an immediate security measure
"We find in circumstances like these that it takes at least 12 hours if not longer to gain a very clear picture and for clear details to emerge."Mr.pope Said

This is a very serious blow to the champions League organisers. As the situation looks grim for Champions Trophy, the options left are to either shift the champions trophy to either Australia or South Africa or use a neutral venue.

Champions League cannot afford to be abandoned, Millions of dollars are riding on this contest.
Every cricket fan would like to see the tournament go ahead. Lets hope so and let we spoil the intentions of terrorists.

Chennai Supers Kings Will have Matthew Hayden

Matthew Hayden the scintillating Australian opener gets the green signal from Cricket Australia to play for his franchise chennai super kings in the inaugural Champions League cricket tournament.

Matthew Hayden also played during IPL but had to leave his franchise after four matches due to national duties. But this time around Hayden will be part of Chennai super kings team throughout the tournament.

Hayden will have Michael Hussey as his company in Chennai Super Kings team while another member of the Australian Test squad. Test series against South Africa has been delayed to December 17th to allow Australian test players to take part in the tournament.

Middlesex Crusaders - Ready to battle for champions league

Middlesex County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Middlesex.




Middlesex crusaders are captained by Shaun Udal.He is a tall right handed batsmen and off break bowler and has represented England, and Middlesex during his wonderful career.

Though the side is full of talent the players that you should watch out for are Owais Shah, Shaun Udal, Tyron Henderson, Andrew strauss and India star Murali Karthik.

Owais shah and Andrew Strauss are currently on tour with the England team in India, if they are allowed by ECB to play for middlesex it will be a great boost to the sides batting line-up. Owais Shah is in great form with three fifties on India tour so far.



South African Tyron Henderson may not be a household name, but he is a dynamite both with bat and ball. He was instrumental in both the final and semi-final of their domestic twenty20 series. He scored an unbeaten 59 in the semi final and took two for 31.In the final he scored a 43 off 33 balls and was instrumental in Justin Kemp's runout. He is an all round player with lot to offer in this format of the game.

Shaun Udal and Murali karthik are two of the best spinners in champions league this season. Both with lots of domestic experience and with respect to karthik he has some international experience too. Karthik has been knocking on Indian team door forever, but the door doesnt seem to open. It remains a mystery why he is been repeatedly left out of the Indian side.Murali Karthik will be a key bowler along with shaun udal.The bowled well together during the stanford super series

Overall they dont start as the bookies favourites, but they will be looking to prove them wrong. They have the crusaders to battle in the middle so why not?? They can be one of the teams in the final or may be even win the champions League cricket title.

This brings the team reviews to an end 10 days before the event starts. you read team reviews of all the 8 teams in champions League cricket 2008.

Champions League cricket Teams Review


Middlesex crusaders Squad:


Shaun Udal (C), Gareth Berg, Steven Finn, Ed Joyce, Murali Kartik, David Malan, Eoin Morgan, Timothy Murtagh, David Nash, Alan Richardson, Ben Scott, Owais Shah, Chris Silverwood, Andrew Strauss, Tyron Henderson


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Middlesex crusaders -set to arrive early for champions league

Middlesex Crusaders had a press release today before leaving for India. The Middlesex Crusaders will be leaving to India on the 27th November, and will have 5 days to prepare for their first match on Dec 3rd vs. Victoria Bushrangers. But that two days before the Champions League organisers are willing to pay their expenses. So they have to acclimatise to the conditions on the sub-continent with money from their pocket.

The main headache for captain Shaun Udal and Middlesex management is Owais shah and Andrew Strauss are of course officially on England duty in India already and are as such unavailable for Middlesex selection as it stands, whilst the champions League’s rules stipulate that only players registered with qualifying clubs at the time of them winning their domestic competitions are eligible for selection.

What made middlesex management spend out of their pockets for two days of extra training?? Well as far as I can think, they dont want a repeat of stanford twenty20 tournament were they failed to acclimatise themselves better to the lighting conditions and grounds.

This is a big tournament than stanford twenty20 and it gives a chance to win $6 million dollars, with millions of television audience this is the biggest stage that some of these players will ever play so preparing the best they can only do good.

Western Australia Warriors - Armed for battle

The Western Warriors is an Australian first class cricket team based in Perth, Western Australia. Its home ground is the WACA Ground.



The Western Warriors finished runners up to Victorian bushrangers in KFC bigbash, but they were on a winning streak of four matches before losing to Victorian bushrangers in the final. If there ever was an poll to select the deserving winner of that KFC final it would have been them but Sport doesn't care about if's and but's only results matters. They have an wonderful opportunity come December 3rd to redeem themselves in champions league cricket.

Marcus North captains the side, He is the recipient of Walter Lawrence Trophy, the award for scoring for fastest century during the 2007 English season . So the fans can expect some big hits from Marcus North.Adam Voges is North's vice-captain.



This western Australian is packed with players who have proven their skills at the Indian Premier League, their experience playing in Indian conditions and in a format similar to champions League will definitely come handy.

Some of the notable members of the squad who played in Indian Premier League Adam Gilchrist ( Deccan Chargers), Luke Ronchi (Mumbai Indians), and Shaun Marsh ( Punjab Kings XI). Players who have played in India before Brad Hogg, and Chris Rogers.

This is side looks the better of all the team in competition on paper but unfortunately Champions league is not played on paper,they have to find a way to use all the experience they have in playing the conditions to win matches. This side has the stars and the experience to win this tournament. I rate them as favourites for the title along with chennai super kings.

If they play to their potential this side is next to unbeatable.Look out they are armed and ready.

Western Australian Warriors Squad:

Marcus North (C), Adam Voges, David Bandy, Nathan Coulter Nile, Arron Crawford, Liam Davis, Paul Davis, Brett Dorey, Theo Doropoulos, Ben Edmonson, Aaron Heal, Clint Heron, Michael Hussey, Mitchell Johnson, Matthew Johnston, Trent Kelly, Steve Magoffin, Shaun Marsh, Luke Pomersbach, Wesley Robinson, Luke Ronchi, Craig Simmons

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Champions League Twenty20 Anthem

Espn starsports has roped in A.R.Rahman to compose the anthem for champions league cricket. Indian Premier league chairman lalit modi said "What Twenty20 is to cricket, Rahman is to music” in his statement.

A.R.Rahman the music maestro is at it again doing what he knows best, composing a theme song for champions league twenty20. The theme songs doesn't have any lyrics understandable as it is an international event, but Rahman's music is more powerful than any words that can transcend cultures and languages.The official anthem will reverberate not just in India but will transcend all language barriers across the global cricket fraternity.

The Music composition includes a title track, a music video and other short compositions that will be telecasted during the T20 matches and the tournament’s promotion.

So now you guys have one more reason to watch champions league.

Video and anthem has been released!!

Nashua Titans - South African Great Whites

The Nashua Titans is the name used by the combined Easterns and Northerns first class cricket teams in South Africa.The home venues of the Titans are SuperSport Park, Centurion and Willowmoore Park, Benon


Nashua Titans are the reigning twenty20 domestic champions of standard bank pro20 series beating Nashua Dolphins.They are certainly great white sharks in their own territory. Pierre Albert their captain has made his first class debut way back in 1995/96 and as of the end of the 2006/07 season has 179 wickets at 22.81 to his name with best figures of 7/32.If not for Shaun Pollock and Ntini he would have had a South African jersey on.He is experienced and talented which is a potent combination when it comes to captaincy.In his long career he must have ssen every possible scenario and this more than any skill or strategy should come in handy for Pierre in leading his side.






The most lethal weapon in nashua titans arsenal is Dale Steyn.He has been terrorizing batsmen with his raw unrestrained pace bowling, he reminds me of Allan Donald when he burst into the international scene. He is fast, accurate and intelligent. He will definitely be the star to lookout for in this team.Nashua titans bowling looks even stronger when you take Morne morkel-the tall fast bowler and Paul Harris - the left arm spinner into consideration. Paul Harris if you remember performed relatively well in India during the India-South africa Test series last year.

AB dellivers and Martin van Jaarsveld are the two batsmen that you would look out for. Their fielding is one of their strength and adds another dimension their game.Overall Nashua titans are a good competitive side that we can expect to give their best everytime they set foot on a cricketing field.


Pierre Joubert (C), Farhaan Behardien, Gulam Bodi, Jaco Booysen, Francois du Plessis, Heino Kuhn, Pieter Malan, Ethy Mbhalati, Brendon Reddy, Blake Snijman, Muhammed Imran Tahir, Roelof van der Merwe, Martin van Jaarsveld, Basheer Walter, AB de Villiers, Paul Harris, Albie Morkel, Morne Morkel, Dale Steyn

Coach: Richard Pybus


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Champions League cricket gets the best of broadcasting technology

ESPN STAR Sports (ESS), Asia's leading Sports Broadcaster, has been appointed the preferred bidder as the long-term global television production partner for the Champions League twenty 20 by Champions League Twenty20 Committee.

ESPN STAR Sports recently acquired exclusive global commercial rights of the league for a period of 10 years after a successful bid. ESS and Champions League twenty20 are currently finalising the necessary long form agreement.Read full story about the deal here.

ESS has lined up a series of innovative and new features to create the most compelling presentation of the tournament that begins December 3, 2008 in India.

• One of the firsts includes a High Definition (HD) telecast of the championship, making it the first HD telecast for any sporting event in the Indian subcontinent.
  
  
• Another first will be the use of as many as 34 cameras at each venue to cover all the matches - the highest number of cameras used to cover any multi venue cricket tournament to date.
  
  
• It will include many interesting angles like aerial views with Fly cameras, a boundary side field camera to showcase fielding and a new mid-wicket camera position to highlight running between the wickets that will deliver another new viewing dimension to viewers.
  
  
• To capture every moment of the fast paced action both on and off the field, ESS will use Super Slow Motion cameras at each match, player and umpire microphones as well as new dugout and crowd cameras to capture the reactions and emotions off the field, bringing fans closer to the action like never before.
  
  
• In addition, ESS will be using a new suite of graphics for the broadcast, specially developed for the Champions League twenty20 by a Hollywood based production house, and utilizing a range of new statistics specifically tailored for the Twenty20 format to further enhance the viewing experience of audience.
  
  
• In addition, a special champions league anthem for the tournament has been composed by the renowned music maestro A R Rahman who is known for his stellar work that transcends boundaries and has various hits under his belt including the popular international musical 'Bombay Dreams'. Different versions of the anthem will feature in the presentation including title sequence, music video and other on-air elements.

So Champions League cricket fans buckle up and enjoy the cricket extravaganza!!

Chennai Super Kings - Lions from India

Chennai Super Kings is the Chennai based franchise of the Indian Premier League. The team is led by Mahendra Singh Dhoni, currently the highest-paid IPL Player. Chennai super kings is a incredibly powerful side with seven overseas players accuried.

Batting lineup looks exhilarating with Mattew Hayden, Australia's opener is an imposing figure at 6 ft 2 in he cammands respect from the bowlers.He has the reputation to be a match winner.Micheal hussey, adds strength to the middle order along with tamilnadu's captain S.Badrinath who has been knocking on the doors of Indian cricket team for quite sometime. Micheal hussey popularly known as Mr.Cricket is known for his consistency and ability to score runs when its needed the most."when things get tough the tough get going".


But the biggest of them all is captain courageous M.S.Dhoni, he is their trump card, if he performs chennai will be a very difficult side to beat.

Bowling is lead by Muttiah Muralitharan, he didnt perform to expectations during the IPL though he was economical he didnt pick up too many wickets so the champion bowler will be raring to go. Makhaya Ntini, Lakshmipathy Balaji, Manpreet Gony, along with the all rounder Albie morkel make up one potent bowling lineup. Albie morkel was instrumental with his power hitting during the IPL season.

If half of this sensational Chennai super kings side play well they will be hard to beat, Chennai Super kings is my pick for the title.They have good batting and bowling lineup but what makes them even more lethal is M.S.Dhoni's Cricketing Mastermind.

Newzealand all rounder Jacob oram and Indian medium pacer joginder sharma who played the IPL are not included in the present squad for champions league cricket.

Chennai Super Kings Squad:

MS Dhoni(cap), Mathew Hayden, , Suresh Raina, Michael Hussey, S Anirudha, S Badrinath, Arun Karthik, S Vidyut, Abhinav Mukund, Parthiv Patel, Jacob Oram, Albie Morkel, Shadab Jakati, Viraj Kadbe, Suresh Kumar, Napolean Einstein, M Muralitharan, Joginder Sharma, Makhaya Ntini, R Ashwin, MS Gony, L Balaji, P Amarnath

COACH: Stephen Fleming

Victorian Bushrangers - Champions from downunder

The Victorian Bushrangers is an Australian cricket team based in Melbourne, that represents the state of Victoria.Victoria had won all three of the KFC Twenty20 Big Bash competitions which have been staged, losing just one match in the competition.






The Bushrangers are captained by Cameron White, though he has yet to produce an innings of substance at the international level he has a reputation to be a big hitter through out the KFC Twenty20 Bigbash circuit.Brad Hodge who has the most runs by any player in this format with 1600 runs under his belt at a great strike rate of over 135 is the Vice-captain of the side, has played 50 Twenty20 matches which is also the highest number of matches by any player in this format. Adding more strength to the batting lineup is David Hussey who played for Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL.


They also have a very good bowling lineup with variety to assist these three hard hitting batsmens. Bryce McGain leads the spin bowling, as far as I know he is the most experienced spinner in Australian now.He will be very handy is the slow wickets of India.Peter siddle who made his test debut recently got accalades from all quaters for his superlative performance in the India-Australia series. When experienced bowlers like bret lee and stuart clark struggled he bowled with passion and heart. If he repeats his performance Victorian bushrangers bowling lineup will be strong.


Victorians are starting Champions League as one of the favourites for the trophy.They are certainly dynamites to watch out for in this explosive Twenty20 format of the game.

Victorian Bushrangers Squad

Cameron White (C), Aiden Blizzard, Adam Crosthwaite, Gerard Denton, Aaron Finch, John Hastings, Shane Harwood, Brad Hodge, David Hussey, Nick Jewell, Michael Klinger, Michael Lewis, Llyod Marsh, Andrew McDonald, Bryce McGain, Clint McKay, Dirk Nannes, Darren Pattinson, Roberty Quiney, Peter Siddle, Matthew Wade, Allan Wise

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Nashua Dolphins-The South african challenge in champions league cricket

Nashua Dolphins is one of the two teams that is all set to represent South Africa in the inaugural Champions League Cricket. They are impressive team lead by Ahmed Amla who is the brother of South African cricketer Hashim Amla.

He is a thinking captain and a right hand bat. He scored a lot of runs in the Standard Bank Pro20 Series.He is definitely a player to watch out for along with his brother Hashim Amla, who is in great nick as he along with Kallis destroyed the Kenyan bowling attack in the second ODI at De Beers Diamond Oval, Kimberley,

But the big news is Sanath Jayasuriya is all set to play for Nashua dolphins this will be a shot in the arm for the south african domestic side's bid for the champions league cricket title.

Their bowling is lead by Alfonso Thomas and what I have seen about his game in English Twenty20 league is impressive. He is not express like Dale Steyn he is more a line and length bowler who gives no pace to work with, an ideal bowler in twenty 20. He performed well for his county somerset and Nashua dolphins will be hoping that his form continues.

They are a decent side but will be the less fancied side to lift the champions league cricket title. They will be under no pressure and they have nothing lose. This can be a blessing in disguise and help them lift their game one step further.The team from Diamond town has a lot to look forward too as it will be the biggest stage that most them have ever played.They were the runner up in their own domestic Standard Bank Pro twenty20 but would be looking to go on better in champions league cricket.

Here is their Nashua dolphins team line up





Captain and Batsman

Ahmed Amla








Batsmen
HD Ackerman, Hashim Amla, Rivash Gobind, and Imran Khaan

All-rounders
Pierre De Bruyn, Jon Kent, and Morne van Vuuren

Wicket Keepers
Bradley Barnes,Daryn Smit

Bowlers
Yusuf Abdullah ,Quinton Friend,Ugasen Govender, Johann Louw, Alfonso Thomas, and Saidi Mlongo

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England Lose $20 million dollars as Stanford Super stars wins

Superstars Won the $20 million dollar Stanford super series match against England by 10 wickets with seven overs to spare. England was beaten all ends up, its is a comprehensive win in any format alone Twenty20.






From the start, Bowlers of super stars were breathing fire Jerome Taylor in particular was fired up.Cheered on by a packed home crowd he bowled with pace and picked up two wickets in one over.Ian bell's Off stumps was pecked back.





Taylor's performance was supported by another wonderful performance by the tall left arm spinner sulemann benn.He picked up the three wickets and darren sammy picked up the important wicket of KP.England score just seven boundaries in their entire innings that just sums up their performance on the day. .It was the usual English performance like in the recent past, they just never turn up in the big clashes.

After the superb effort with the ball, Superstars were in a hurry to get the $20 million dollars. Their openers Andre Fletcher and Chris Gayle humbled the English Bowlers with some sizzling WestIndian strokePlay.After a quite first over from Steve Harmison, the openers got stuck into the English Bowling line up, Chris Gayle in particular samshing 5 Fours and 5 Sixes. And he did finish the game with a six.

Every Member of the Superstars team is overwhelmed by emotions, Andre flectcher Sinking to his knees after the ball sailing over mid wicket ensure the million dollars. Seeing the packed house, West indian performance and the support for the game in carribean is heart warming. It may be the right way to improve West Indian cricket.

Bring Young West Indian men back to criket from NBA. This touranament has the potential to do so. If that happens we can once again enjo y the flair and flamboyance of seeing a west indian play.

All the best to stanford Super stars

Anil Kumble retires From International Cricket

Today Anil kumble the Indian captain, the cricketer with a Lion's heart. has announced his retirement.

This is a huge loss for the Indian test team.Kumble has been the pillar of India's bowling attack which used to rely heavily on the spinners but India's bowling attacks have changed since then but his contribution to the team has never changed, Anil Kumble is a captain's dreams,throw him a ball and he will bowl from an end all day without complaining. He is the pinnacle of determination and perseverance. Kumble who made his Test debut 9 August 1990: v England has played for India for almost 16 years.

Anil Kumble has taken 619 test wicket and he is the third test bowler in the world after M.Muralitharan and Shane Warne to cross 600.His retirement has left a big void to fill in.

His performance against the pakistani's during the 2001 test match series in which he took 10 wickets in a single innings was the stuff of legends. He shares this rare feet with Jim laker of England.

His arrival to the ODI Seen was through a spectacular display of line and control . When he single handed won the match against the then strong West Indians in the Hero Cup Final.Anil kumble has already retired from ODI in 2007.


He has now picked up 619 test wickets and 337 ODI wickets. Becoming the Highest wicket taker in Test for India.

Kumble will always be remembered as the gentlemen with a lion's heart.Will always be rememberd for the courage he showed when he bowled with a broken jaw,the gentlemaly behaviour he showed in the sydney test. Lets just say he will be remembered for being Anil Kumble.
Here is the stat of Kumble:

Personal information
Full name	Anil Kumble
Nickname	Jumbo
Born	17 October 1970 (1970-10-17) (age 38)
	Bangalore, India
Batting style	Right-handed
Bowling style	Right-arm Leg Break
Role	Bowler: Current Test Captain
International information
Test debut (cap 192)	9 August 1990: v England
Last Test	9 October 2008: v Australia
ODI debut (Cap 78)	25 April 1990: v Srilanka
Last ODI	19 March 2007: v Bermuda

Last Test Match 2 November 2008: v Australia