Australia’s newest one-day cricket sensation Shaun Marsh represents the sport’s future in this country and thankfully for traditionalists he puts Test cricket at the top of his ambitions.

England’s one-day captain Paul Collingwood suggested this week the new 20-over version of the game could dominate all others and the Twenty20 World Cup may become the No.1 competition for the next generation of players.

Marsh gained international attention when he led all scorers in the inaugural Indian Premier League Twenty20 competition with 616 runs at 68.44 in 11 matches.

And the 24-year-old West Australian called on confidence gained from the IPL when he hit 81 this week in a man-of-the-match performance on debut in Australia’s opening one-day international win over West Indies in St Vincent.

But Marsh has played down fears the nation’s best young players could turn their back on Test cricket to chase million-dollar contracts for six-week stints in the IPL.

“Test cricket is the pinnacle,” Marsh told radio 2KY.

“I guess every young cricketer around Australia is gunning to play Test cricket for Australia.

“With all this IPL stuff at the moment, I’m sure all the young kids around Australia still want to play Test cricket for Australia and that’s exactly the way I feel.

“The IPL is just a bonus. To get over there and expose yourself on the world scene.

“To come back here now and play for Australia is my main focus. I’ve got a taste of it and I want to stay here now and be a part of it.”

Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations (FICA) chief Tim May has released a survey detailing the views of 64 players from seven Test-playing nations including Australia.

One hundred per cent of respondents found the IPL an attractive option for players and 52 per cent said they would retire from international cricket prematurely to play exclusively in the IPL.

The players have urged governing body the ICC to formalise a window in the calendar for IPL each year to avoid a clash with international fixtures.

Seventy per cent of players said the Twenty20 game would hurt the popularity of 50-over cricket with fans, while 86 per cent ranked Tests as the most important form of the game, ahead of the 50-over World Cup (10 per cent).

For Marsh, who is yet to play a Test but was included in Australia’s one-day squad, the IPL tournament allowed him to join Ricky Ponting’s side after holding his own against international stars.

“It gave me a lot of confidence knowing I could perform at that level. I’m probably in the best form of my career so far,” Marsh said.

Marsh said he received a congratulatory phone call from his proud father Geoff, the former Australian Test vice-captain.

source : http://news.theage.com.au/sport/

SYDNEY (AFP) — At least half of world-class players say they would be prepared to quit mainstream international cricket to appear exclusively in the lucrative Indian Premier League, according to a survey.

In the Federation International Cricketers’ Associations (FICA) report released on Thursday, 52 percent of those polled said they would be willing to quit the traditional forms to pursue IPL riches.

The FICA findings are in line with a recent poll conducted by the Professional Cricketers’ Association that half of England’s leading players would consider quitting international cricket early to play in the IPL.

World cricket chiefs are meeting in Dubai this weekend hoping to safeguard the game’s future amid a lucrative Twenty20 revolution fuelled by the sport’s economic powerhouse India.

The FICA survey targeted 105 international players and received 64 responses.

FICA chief executive Tim May said the emergence of IPL and the ‘rebel’ Indian Cricket League (ICL), and the potential conflict of fixtures, could result in leading players leaving the international game.

“It is important that such conflicts are avoided by the creation of a window in the international programme,” May said.

“This is not to say the introduction of Twenty20 cricket is all negative — it is far from that.

“Cricket’s biggest challenge is to find a satisfactory balance between the established forms of the game and Twenty 20.”

Most international cricketers want Test matches to remain the sport’s priority and believe the Twenty20 boom will affect the one-day game more than Test cricket, the survey also found.

May, a former Australian Test off-spinner, said the process of constructing the International Cricket Council’s Future Tours Programme beyond 2012 was crucial to achieving that balance.

The survey comes at a time where Twenty20 is bringing an extraordinary cash influx into the game with the creation of the ICL and the officially-backed IPL, both of which offer players huge pay days.

source : http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jiuPsVIHvxgLFWHPbgYmwNaSPdIA

New Delhi: Things are going from bad to worse for Herschelle Gibbs. After being discarded from the national side due to poor form, the opening batsman may have to fork out a major part of his IPL earnings to pay alimony to his wife, Tenelle Gibbs.

Tenelle has accused her husband of having become “verbally abusive, aggressive and erratic”, according to the Daily Mercury. Gibbs charged with alchohol abuse, faces a claim of maintenance for 96,950 rands per month. The couple got married in the West Indies last June and Tenelle said she has got accustomed to the lavish lifestyle in the past one year.

According to an affidavit filed to the Cape Town High Court, Tenelle has said the cricketer ‘embarrasses me at social gatherings often while under the influence of alcohol.’ Gibbs allegedly also sent “disregarding” text messages and stopped her access to his bank accounts.

Tenelle Gibbs’ submission says her husband had an IPL contract for 4.75m rands until 2010; a 2m rands contract with Cricket South Africa, and a 1.2m rands contract with Glamorgan Cricket in the UK. In addition to this, there were also unspecified earnings from sponsorships.

source : http://www.cricketnext.com/news/gibbs-to-lose-his-ipl-earnings/32323-13.html

Ambitious plans are being drawn up for the Indian Premier League to extend their sporting interests beyond cricket as the franchise owners look to cash in on the popularity of football on the subcontinent.

Englishman Tim Wright starts work today as the chief executive of the holding company of the Deccan Chargers, the Hyderabad team who finished bottom of the inaugural IPL. Wright has spent the past five months working closely with the IPL in his role as senior vice-president for sports marketing firm IMG, and starts his new job with a brief to tap into India’s ravenous desire for top-level sport.

A top-four Premier League club have already held talks and could be the first English team to play in India. Chelsea have spent the past few months building up contacts in the subcontinent, but Wright is also a keen Manchester United fan and is aware of the value of a one-off appearance in India by the world’s biggest club.

“With the dynamism of this economy, which could pretty much double over the next seven to eight years and the fact we have 450 million Indians under the age of 25, who have a huge demand for sport, the opportunities for the Deccan Chargers, and other franchises, are big as one’s imagination,” Wright said.

“There is great interest in the Premier League and we have already been offered a top-four Premier League side. We have to look at something like that. In Calcutta last week Bayern Munich played against a local side and there were 120,000 people at the game.”

If a match against a top side gets off the ground, the Chargers will look into creating their own football team, comprising of recently retired players. The prospect of a team of travelling all-stars, made up of the likes of Zinedine Zidane and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, is being explored.

On the cricket front, the Chargers, like all of the eight franchises, are keen to play matches in England and sign England players for the second IPL season. Away from headline names such as Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff, players such as Stuart Broad and Monty Panesar could be in demand.

“I love Panesar,” said Wright. “But the way to judge whether a player should be in our team is if he will bowl four tidy overs and take wickets. If the team management feel he is, then fantastic. But will we sign players just because they have marketing value in India? No.”

The prospect of IPL franchises becoming full-time teams is real, with matches likely to take place this year in England, the United States, the Middle East and Canada.

The IPL were put together in a matter of weeks and the time to judge success will be next year, when the organisers have had time to draw up long-term marketing strategies. But the potential is huge in a country that revels in any sporting success.

For the franchise owners, the vast sums paid at the outset look to be savvy investments. “Contrary to what you may think, our objectives in the first season have been more than matched in terms of acquisition of the franchises,” said Vijay Mallya, who paid $111.6 million (£56.4 million) for the Bangalore Royal Challengers. “The exposure we have generated in this tournament for ourselves has been remarkable.”

That is due to the vast television audiences. Independent ratings show that a staggering 99 million watched the IPL group games. But the fear for the IPL’s future is that a nation which has embraced Twenty20 so quickly could fall out of love with it just as fast.

news source : http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/

Mumbai: Twenty a day! That is how many Rs 100 fake Indian Premier League (IPL) jerseys street vendor Amit Pandey is selling in Mumbai’s Fashion Street, even though the tournament has ended.

Strangely, it is not the local team Mumbai Indians or the champions Rajasthan Royals whose jerseys are topping his sales charts. It is Shah Rukh Khan’s Kolkata Knight Riders gold and black that seems to have struck err… gold.

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. If that is the case, the popularity of fake IPL jerseys on the streets of Mumbai should make team-owners break into a jig. But the first season seems to have been an opportunity missed for IPL merchandise as teams underestimated the demand. This meant that the supply didn’t match the demand and fakes flourished.

No amount of raids and policing by authorities and organised brands such as Reebok can kill this illegal competition. Try asking for a Chennai Super Kings jersey at any stall in South Mumbai’s Colaba Causeway and a dozen will pop out of nowhere.

“Just tell us what you want and we’ll get it. We have to hide the stock or else we’ll be in trouble,” said one of the vendors.

The manager of a Reebok store in South Mumbai admitted that the Rajasthan Royals jersey had entered its shelves towards the end of the tournament. “Chennai Super Kings came on the day of the final. But we had people asking for merchandise throughout the tournament,” added the manager.

The mismatch didn’t prevent a Reebok outlet in suburban Mumbai from earning a cool Rs 15 lakh from IPL merchandise, mainly jerseys and t-shirts priced between Rs 999 and Rs 1,500.

Rebook has been retailing kits of teams such as Kolkata, Rajasthan, Chennai and Bangalore.

news source : http://sify.com/finance/fullstory.php?id=14688224

After one and half month of entertaining cricket, the final of the IPL ended with a nail biting last ball finish and deservingly Shane Warne ’s Rajasthan Royals ended as the winner. Batting first Chennai Superkings put up a fighting 163 on a slower outfield, riding on Suresh Raina ’s 43 (off 30 balls) and Parthiv Patel ’s 38 (off 33). The major brakes and breaks were provided by Yusuf Pathan with an impressive 3-22 off his four overs.

Rajasthan Royals progressed steadily toward the total with some lucky reliefs in form of missed catches and some ordinary fielding. Morkel (2 - 25) and Muralitharan (2 - 39) provided the much needed breakthroughs and brought the match to a thrilling last over. Yusuf Pathan got a life when Raina dropped a takeable catch and later Goni missed a relatively tougher catch. Yusuf went on to score 56 with four big super sixes, before Raina got him run out off a brilliant direct hit.

Sohail Tanvir and Shane Warne were at the crease when the Royals needed one run off the last ball and Tanvir made sure the party is not spoiled as he hit Balaji for a four. The Rajasthan Royals who won 13 of their 16 matches had a brilliant IPL and are deservingly the winner of this years edition of the IPL. Dhoni ’s men put up a brave fight and ensured the final was as interesting as it could be. Shane Warne marshalled his relatively weeker (on paper) side from transforming them from underdogs before the start of the IPL to the favorites before the final. Congratulations to a deserving win !

source : http://www.newsline365.com/20081228/

Mumbai: The onus is on the Delhi DareDevils players to execute the elaborate plans chalked out by the teams think-tank during their IPL semi-final against Rajasthan Royals, captain Virender Sehwag said on Friday.

“Our planning is complete for the match and now we have to execute those plans. Both sides are equally matched,” the flamboyant India opening batsman said a press conference ahead of the tie at the Wankhede Stadium.

The Delhi swashbuckler felt that regaining momentum once lost in this format was difficult. “It’s difficult to regain the momentum if we lose it in this format,” he said.

About his batsmen’s prospects in facing the tournament’s most successful bowler (21 wickets) Sohail Tanvir, Sehwag said the key was to play each ball on its merit.

“We will play Tanvir on the merit of the ball (he delivers),” he said.

Sehwag denied that his middle order was fragile pointing out how wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik (56 not out) and Manoj Tiwary (36 run out) had bailed the team out in their last week IPL tie against Mumbai Indians Sehwag said that his team had enough experience in the ranks to handle the pressure of a knock-out match which, he said, was different to the “normal tie”.

“We have experienced international players like McGrath, Fervez Mahroof, Shoaib Malik, myself, Dinesh Karthik and others.

“They know how to handle the pressure of a semi-final which is different from the pressure which exists in a normal tie,” he said.

On Younis Khan, who has recently joined the rival ranks, the Delhi captain said that the experienced Pakistan player cannot be dismissed lightly in this format as he was capable of hitting a hundred in twenty overs.

Team adviser Dennis Lillee felt that the team’s three matches were more or less “finals” and the experience would stand the squad in good stead.

news source : http://www.telegraphindia.com/1080530/jsp/sports/story_9340504.jsp

Shaun Marsh struck a century to confirm himself as the Indian Premier League’s leading runscorer as the Kings XI Punjab coasted to a 41-run win in their top-of-the-table clash with the Rajasthan Royals.

The gloss of the encounter, the 56th and final match of a protracted round-robin series, was reduced by its dead-rubber status as both team’s had already secured their place in the weekend’s semi-finals.

And while defeat for Rajasthan did not prevent them from finishing as table leaders, perhaps worryingly for their title hopes was the ease in which they were cast aside by the home team.

The Royals were without the inspiration of captain Shane Warne, who opted to rest his 38-year-old body, but in his absence Marsh led a demolition of their attack as the Kings XI posted a formidable 221 for three.

The 24-year-old West Australian confirmed his rising talent as he struck his maiden Twenty20 century, ably assisted by countryman James Hopes (51) and a 16-ball 49 from Yuvraj Singh.

Marsh was not selected in the original player lottery, instead arriving at Mohali as a late purchase following the recommendation of Punjab coach Tom Moody - Marsh’s coach at Western Australia.

It has proved an astute piece of business as Marsh, who was also the leading runscorer in the Australian Twenty20 competition earlier this year, has scored a competition-high 593 runs at an average of 74.12.

His latest innings was undoubtedly his best so far as he crunched 11 fours and seven sixes in his career-high 115 from 69 balls.

He combined with Hopes in an opening stand of 133 from 81 balls to set the hosts on their way, before Yuvraj’s destructive knock.

At one stage he and Marsh traded sixes, with Yuvraj edging their own personal battle with a hat-trick of maximums to end the 18th over, bowled by Siddharth Trivedi.

Their stand, 80 from 34 balls, was ended in the final over when Marsh was caught in the deep off Shane Watson, before Yuvraj was run out off the final ball.

The Royals’ reply was immediately undermined by the early dismissals of Mohammad Kaif (one) and Younis Khan (three).

With nothing riding on the game the visitors’ batsmen seemed more intent on gaining some valuable time in the middle ahead of their semi-final against the Delhi Daredevils on Friday.

Niraj Patel did his hopes of playing in that game no harm with a breezy 57 at the top of the order while Yusuf Pathan chipped in with 39, including three sixes, as the visitors completed their 20 overs at 180 for seven.

Teenage leg-spinner Piyush Chawla was the pick of the Kings XI bowlers claiming three for 35 from four overs.

The Kings XI will play the Chennai Super Kings on Saturday for the right to play in the IPL’s first ever final.

source : http://www.cricket365.co.za/story/0,18305,6575_3622654,00.html

Chennai has secured a spot in the semi-finals of the Indian Premier League (IPL) with a seven-wicket win over Deccan in Hyderabad overnight.

After winning the toss and batting, Adam Gilchrist’s Chargers recorded 8 for 147 off their 20 overs, Venugopal Rao (46) and Ravi Teja (40) putting on a 76-run stand.

Gilchrist’s tournament came to a disappointing end, dimissed for 5 at the top of the order.

The Super Kings surpassed the total with just three wickets down and four balls to spare, with Suresh Raina starring with an unbeaten 54.

The win earned them a semi-final position at the expense of the Mumbai Indians.

There are two more final round-robin matches tonight but they have no bearing on the semi-finals, which will take place on Friday evening.

Chennai will face Kings XI Punjab in one semi while the other sees the Rajasthan Royals take on Delhi Daredevils in the other.

source : http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/05/28/2257697.htm

Calcutta: The thrills and frills associated with Twenty20 cricket were on display at the Eden on Sunday. Fortunes swung wildly before Sourav Ganguly clinched it the Kolkata Knight Riders’ way in the final over.

Sourav Ganguly continued with his golden form in the tournament. A little more consistency could have changed Knight Riders’ fate in the inaugural edition of the Indian Premier League. Time for Dilip Vengsarkar and Co. to take a fresh look at some of the oldies!

The past few days have been strenuous for the team for happenings on and off the field. Sourav chose the perfect way to keep the detractors at bay and end their campaign on a winning note. The three-wicket victory once again confirmed the side’s potential which has remained largely unfulfilled.

The Knight Riders captain’s unbeaten 86 off 53 balls with six boundaries and six sixes sealed Kings XI Punjab’s fate. If Sourav provided the perfect finish with an unblemished innings, Man-of-the-Match Umar Gul will also share part of the credit.

When Gul (24 off 11 balls) joined Sourav, 70 were needed of the last 30 balls. Forty nine runs came of the next 18 balls that turned the equation in the home team’s favour. Fifteen runs were needed of the last over and two sixes by Sourav off Irfan Pathan’s first two balls clinched the issue.

The last rites of Kolkata Knight Riders campaign had been written long back. It was a matter of restoring some pride and they did it in style.

Yuvraj Singh’s men have been on a roll. On Sunday they failed to live up to their reputation till the final overs.

Shah Rukh Khan though missed it all after having decided to stay away from the action, for different reasons. The superstar did make an appearance at the Eden but left the ground before the start.

The Badshah was not at hand to witness the nail biting finish but Preity Zinta cheered every run from the dugout. Korbo, lorbo, jeetbo re suddenly sprang to life as Sourav and Gul blasted away.

The start was not that encouraging. Given the circumstances and past performances, it was assumed that Knight Riders would find it tough to overhaul the 175-run target. But all that was proved wrong.

Ajanta Mendis was included keeping in mind the number of lefthanders in the visiting team. The spinner along with Gul did come out with a specific plan and managed to keep the batsmen in check but the profligacy of the rest proved to be a huge impediment in their performance.

Ishant Sharma started by giving away 16 runs in his first over and continued bowling to the batsman’s strengths. He ended up with 49 runs in his four overs. Why David Hussey was given to bowl his full quota of overs will remain a mystery! Why Sourav kept himself away will also be questioned.

Amid the mayhem, Gul tried to keep things in control. Two consecutive wickets in his final over did raise hopes of another hattrick in the tournament but Tanmay Srivastava foiled the attempt. Had Dinda and Gul not given away only 11 runs in the final two overs it would have been worse for Knight Riders.

The early loss of James Hopes had no impact as Shaun Marsh (40 off 31 balls) and Kumar Sangakkara (64 off 45 balls) put on 83 runs in 57 balls for the second wicket. The duo have been in prolific form for Kings XI Punjab and they were on song. Later Yuvraj Singh too joined the party.

source : http://www.google.com/news?