Suneer S. Chowdhary
Arnold
Tash Jayasinghe
Dexter
CibbuanoCricket going the Champions League way? (LINK)
May 8th 2008 05:57
The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), the governing body for the Lord's Cricket Ground, has come out with some earth shattering revelations. No, it has nothing to do with changes in the fine print of the MCC coaching manual, or a selection of a woman as their next Chief Executive.
It is simply this that the MCC has decided to agree to host neutral Test matches at Lord's and more importantly, it has also consented to host some of the matches of the proposed Champions League! We are not alluding to the sport of soccer here; it is the extension of the Indian Premier League (IPL) that would be played between the best teams of the various T20 leagues across the world. So, a Chennai Super Kings, a Pura Milk Perth Riders, a Vodafone Londoners and an Auckland Blacks side (names are definitely fictitious!), may face off in the Champions League of Cricket, with some of the matches being played in London, more specifically at Lord’s.
The biggest issue that would be faced by the organizers – each one of them – is the lack of availability of a proper playing window under the current ICC’s FTP, which means that the only time all the Test playing nations would be shorn of an international commitment would be just after the Champions Trophy in September, and that too for a very short period of time. Squeezing in such an itinerary could take further toll on the player bodies.
But, with so much cash flowing around, the players themselves do not seem to be minding it too much, are they?
It is simply this that the MCC has decided to agree to host neutral Test matches at Lord's and more importantly, it has also consented to host some of the matches of the proposed Champions League! We are not alluding to the sport of soccer here; it is the extension of the Indian Premier League (IPL) that would be played between the best teams of the various T20 leagues across the world. So, a Chennai Super Kings, a Pura Milk Perth Riders, a Vodafone Londoners and an Auckland Blacks side (names are definitely fictitious!), may face off in the Champions League of Cricket, with some of the matches being played in London, more specifically at Lord’s.
The biggest issue that would be faced by the organizers – each one of them – is the lack of availability of a proper playing window under the current ICC’s FTP, which means that the only time all the Test playing nations would be shorn of an international commitment would be just after the Champions Trophy in September, and that too for a very short period of time. Squeezing in such an itinerary could take further toll on the player bodies.
But, with so much cash flowing around, the players themselves do not seem to be minding it too much, are they?
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