Cartier to Design C L T20 Trophy

Big news for champions league cricket is that renowned french jewelery brand Cartier will be designing the trophy for the upcoming CL T20 tournament.


The exquisitely hand-sculpted trophy will be unveiled in December prior to the beginning of the tournament.

Trophy details :

• Height - 41 cms
• Diameter - 31 cms
• Weight - 7Kg

Chairman of the Champions League Twenty20 Lalit Modi said:

“Cartier has created some truly exquisite and stunning works of art, be it in jewellery design, watches and accessories, that have adorned Hollywood beauties and Royalty alike.

Bernard Fornas, President & CEO Cartier International said:

“C for Cartier, C for Cricket are two simple seven-letter words that encapsulate passion and a union between elegance and style.

Lets see how the trophy will look when it is unveiled. And I have no doubt that in years to come the trophy will become as coveted as the world cup and as yearning as the UEFA Champions League trophy for the footballers around the world is.

Read About Cartier.

High Definition CL T20 by Espn Star Sports

As we know ESPN-Star has paid a whooping 1 billions USD for 10 year contract for broadcasting champions league t20 cricket. It is spending a lot on promotion of the event also.

Another first for Indian sporting event is for the first time the telecast of the event will be in High Definition (HD). According to IndiaTelevision news ESS will be using 34 cameras to cover the event which are maximum ever used to cover any cricket match.

There will be new range of graphics for stats for enhancing the viewing experiences and above all mozart of east A R Rahman is composing different types of anthems for events.

Here are the few promos. I tried a lot to find them on you tube but was unable to

Champions League T20 Revolution
Champions League T20 Logomation
Champions League T20

Lot more are on air now a days.

Champions League Cricket Teams - Squads & Sponsors

Rambal Warriors :
Marcus North (Captain), Adam Voges (Vice Captain), David Bandy, Arron Crawford, Liam Davis, Brett Dorey, Theo Doropoulos, Ben Edmondson, Aaron Heal, Matt Johnston, Trent Kelly, Steve Magoffin, Shaun Marsh, Luke Pomersbach, Luke Ronchi.

Sponsor - Retravision , VB

Nashua Titans:

Pierre Joubert(Captain),Farhaan Behardien ,Ethy Mbhalati ,Gulam Bodi ,Brendon Reddy ,Jaco Booysen ,Blake Snijman ,Francois du Plessis ,Imran Tahir ,Roelof van der Merwe ,Heino Kuhn ,Martin van Jaarsveld ,Pieter Malan ,Basheer Walters ,Matthew Arnold ,Rushdie Jappie ,AB de Villiers ,Morné Morkel(playing for Chennai) ,Paul Harris ,Dale Steyn ,Albie Morkel .

Sponsor- Nashua, jacaranda(FM), easyinfo.co.za.

Victoria Bushrangers:
Cameron White (Captain), Aiden Blizzard, Adam Crosthwaite, Aaron Finch, Shane Harwood, John Hastings, Brad Hodge, David Hussey, Andrew McDonald, Clinton McKay, Dirk Nannes, Darren Pattinson, Robert Quiney, Peter Siddle and Matthew Wade.

Sponsor- VB, Commonwealth Bank , Jonnie Walker.

Rajasthan Royals:

Graema Smith, Md Kaif, Younis Khan, Niraj Patel, Justin Langer,Anoop Revandkar, Aditya Angle, Kamran Akmal, Yusuf Pathan , Mahesh Rawat, Dimitri Mascarenhas, Shane Watson, Sohail Tanvir, Ravindra Jadeja, Siddharth Trivedi, Swapnis Asnodkar, Sumit Khatri, Dinesh Salunke, Shane Warne, Munaf Patel, Morne Morkel.

Sponsor- Tata AIG, Reebok, Boost, Kingfisher.

Chennai Superkings:

Matthew Hayden , Stephen Fleming , Suresh Raina , Michael Hussey, Anirudha Srikkanth, Subramaniam Badrinath, Arun Karthik, Vidyut Sivaramakrishnan, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Captain) , Parthiv Patel, Jacob Oram, Albie Morkel, Shadab Jakati, Abhinav Mukund, Viraj Kadbe, Napoleon Einstein, Selvam Suresh Kumar, Muttiah Muralitharan, Joginder Sharma, Makhaya Ntini, Ravichandran Ashwin, Manpreet Gony, Lakshmipathy Balaji, Palani Amarnath.

Sponsors- Aircel, Peter England, Jet Airways, Big FM, Royal Challenge, Radio One, Coromandel King.

Nashua Dolphins:

Ahmed Amla (Captain), Imraan Khan, Hashim Amla, Jon Kent, Grant Rowley, Martin Bekker, Pierre de Bruyn, Daryn Smit, Johann Louw, Morne van Vuuren, Quinton Friend, Alfonso Thomas, Saidi Mlongo, Yusuf Abdullah and David Miller.

Sponsor- Standard Bank, Nashua, Kwazulu Natal Sports & Recreation.

MiddlesexCrusadors:

Ed Smith,Nick Compton,Neil Dexter,Andrew Strauss,Eoin Morgan,Shaun Udal (Captain),Steve Finn,David Nash,Chris Peploe,Shaun Levy, Chris Silverwood ,Robbie Williams,Kabir Toor,Alan Richardson ,Ben Scott,Danny Evans,Murali Kartik,Billy Godleman,Neil Carter,Dawid Malan,Dirk Nannes,Dan Housego,Tim Murtagh,Tyron Henderson ,Gareth Berg,Owais Shah

Sponsors- Northern Rock,

Sailkot Stallions:

Abdur Rehman,Adeel Malik ,Ali Khan ,Bilal Hussain ,Faisal Naved ,Kamran Younis ,Kashif Raza,Mansoor Amjad,Mohammad Ali ,Mohammad Ayub ,Naeemuddin ,Qaiser Abbas ,Sarfraz Ahmed ,Shakeel Ansar ,Shoaib Malik

Sponsor- RBS.

Twenty20 Champions League Cricket Promo

Promos are on air for the coming champions league . This is the main promo which is running on every channel.

Promo is quite innovative one with every player aka champion is being portrayed like an LOTR style warrior urging the consumers to imagine the scenario of cricket when the bowler, batsman , wicketkeeper and fielder all will be champion.

The promo is trying to place champions league cricket differently from the other normal cricket , being played by the champions who are shown having more powers compared to normal cricketers.

Champions takaraye toh game hi badal jaye -- i hope this happens

Hats off to the promo.

Watch it:







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Twenty Twenty Cricket Power Rankings

Here are the power rankings of the top twenty clubs in the twenty twenty cricket. All rankings can be seen here .

The ratings are based on a number of important factors including runs scored, totals chased, the loss of wickets and margins of victory. A teams rating is then worked out by dividing the points scored in each game by the number of matches played, the totals are then given to the nearest whole number.




1 Victorian Bushrangers AUS
2 Rajasthan Royals IND
3 Sialkot Stallions PAK
4 Kings XI Punjab IND
5 Chennai Super Kings IND
6 Lahore Lions PAK
7 Chennai Superstars IND
8 Karachi Dolphins PAK
9 Kent Spitfires ENG
10 Middlesex Crusaders ENG
11 Lancashire Lightning ENG
12 Faisalabad Wolves PAK
13 Rawalpindi Rams PAK
14 Lahore Eagles PAK
15 Northamptonshire Steelbacks ENG
16 Lahore Badshahs IND
17 Somerset Sabres ENG
18 Mumbai Indians IND
19 Dhaka Warriors IND
20 Delhi DareDevils IND
21 Hyderabad Heroes IND

Top 21 clubs contains 9 indian teams from icl and ipl, 6 teams from pakistan , 1 from australia, 5 english counties.

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Victoria Bushrangers - Australia

Another great australian club probable title contendor for the champions league cricket tournament. The club is based in Melbourne and represent the state of victoria. Team is the winner of the KFC twenty twenty tournament in Australia.

Team Facts

One-day Name: Victorian Bushrangers
Coach: Greg Shipperd
Captain: Cameron White
Founded: 1851
Home Ground: Melbourne Cricket Ground
Pura Cup Wins: 26
Ford Ranger Cup Wins: 4
Twenty20 Cup Wins: 3

Squad

Cameron White (Captain), Aiden Blizzard, Adam Crosthwaite, Aaron Finch, Shane Harwood, John Hastings, Brad Hodge, David Hussey, Andrew McDonald, Clinton McKay, Dirk Nannes, Darren Pattinson, Robert Quiney, Peter Siddle and Matthew Wade.

Prominent players are brad hodge and david hussey who have experience of playing in indian ipl.

Victoria Bushrangers is the top team in the twenty twenty power rankings which i will cover in the next post.

Probable semi finalist according to me.

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Middlesex County Cricket Club - England

The oldest club to participate in the champions league cricket. It is one of the 18 other county teams. It won the domestic champions in 2007 and qualified for both the champions league cricket and standford super series.

Team Facts

One-day Name: Middlesex Crusaders
Coach: Toby Radford
Captain: Shaun Udal
Overseas Player(s): Murali Kartik
Founded: 1864
Home Ground: Lord's
Capacity: 30,000
Kit : Pink Color (support for cancer)

Famous Star players are

• Shaun Udal


• Andrew Strauss


• Owais Shah


• Murali Kartik

The team was out of form in recently happened Standford super series loosing all its three matches.

1. Lost to England by 12 runs


2. Lost by 5 wickets to Trinidad and Tobago
   


3. Lost by 58 runs to Standford Superstars

Only time will tell how the team will perform. ....

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Nashua Dolphins - South Africa

Nashua Dolphins is the second South African team which will take part in the coming champions league cricket tournament, other being the Titans.

The team has got a big boost for the upcoming tournament as swashbuckling Sanath jayasurya is set to play for the dolphins.

Team facts:

One-day Name: Dolphins
Coach: Y Ebrahim
Captain: Ahmed Amla
Founded: 2003
Home Ground: Kingsmead, Durban
Capacity: 25,000
Dolphins Website: dolphins

Team captain Ahmed Amla is the brother of SA cricketer Hashim Amla and team's vice captain is Imraan Khan who is in full form nowadays as is the player of the month.

There are not many known stars in the team of dolphins as compared to other teams. They might not be the favorites but they definitely are the dark horses.

More about the team in coming weeks.....

cricket twenty20 championsleaguecricket bcci champions ipl

Rambal Warriors aka Western Australia Warriors

Next up is western warriors aka rambal warriors aka retravision warriors, runners up of Australia's KFC Twenty20 tournament. As Australia have few local teams which means that team will be studded with national players.

Team has given many legends to the cricketing world from Dennis Lillee, Justin Langer to Tom Moody.

Team Facts

One-day Name: Western Warriors
Coach: Tom Moody
Captain: Marcus North
Founded: 1851
Home Ground: WACA Ground
Capacity: 20,000
Pura Cup Wins: 15
Ford Ranger Cup Wins: 11

The team is preparing hard for the upcoming tournament and they have also announced the team for the champions league. Main stars whom we are aware about are Shaun Marsh (Kings XI Punjab), Luke Pomersbach (Kings XI Punjab) and Luke Ronchi (Mumbai Indians) .

The team has many players who have experience in playing in Indian conditions and they are raring to go and represent their team on global stage. They will be missing the services of hussey as he has decided to represent chennai superkings in the upcoming tournament .

The Full Squad :

Marcus North (Captain), Adam Voges (Vice Captain), David Bandy, Arron Crawford, Liam Davis, Brett Dorey, Theo Doropoulos, Ben Edmondson, Aaron Heal, Matt Johnston, Trent Kelly, Steve Magoffin, Shaun Marsh, Luke Pomersbach, Luke Ronchi.

The WACA - where legends are made. This is their slogan and they truly will be out here in india to lift the first cup.

Team to look out for in the tournament according to me.

Sialkot Stallions

Today we move on to our neighboring country Pakistan which is sending lone team Sialkot Stallions in the coming champions league.

Team is the winner of lot of tournaments in Pakistan domestic circuit.

• National champion in 2005-2006
• Won Quaid-i-Azam Trophy Championship (Golden League) .
• Runnerup in 2006-2007.
• Won ABN-AMRO Twenty-20 Cup in 2005-2006, 2006-2007
• RBS Twenty-20 Cup in 2007-2008

Team Facts are

One-day Name: Sialkot Stallions
Coach: Shahid Anwar
Captain: Shoaib Malik
Founded: 2002
Home Ground: Jinnah Stadium (Sialkot)
Capacity: 20,000
Kit: Silver and Red

Team lost few players to the ICL , but still has many players of international repute

Players who went to ICL

Imran Nazir
Naved-ul-Hasan
Shahid Yousuf
Tahir Mughal
Khalid Mahmood

Md Asif is also the part of team though he is now facing doping charges. I will try to dig more into the team in coming weeks.

Noshua Titans - South Africa

As promised i now start about the participating teams in the first ever champions league cricket tournament.

Noshua Titans is the winner of Standard Bank Pro20 Series 2007-08 and dolphins were the runners up of the tournament.

From their website
Nashua Titans - the name used by the combined Easterns Cricket Union and Northerns Cricket Union first class cricket teams. The franchise which was formed in 2004 is also known as the Northern Gauteng franchise. The home venues of the Nashua Titans are at SuperSport Park, Centurion and Willowmoore Park, Benoni.

• CEO: Elise Lombard
• Coach: Richard Pybus
• Captain: Pierre Joubert
  Home ground – SuperSport Park and Willowmoore Park Capacity – 17 500
  

Team has few players who are part of South African national cricket team namely

AB Devilliers
Dale Steyn
Albie Morkel
Paul Harris
Morne Morkel

The stadium has hosted many matches famous one for the indians is the india-pakistan match in the 2003 world cup.

Magic Moments can be seen at their website.

next up is dolphins.....

Champions League Cricket - Matches Schedule

8 teams are divided into 2 groups of 4 teams each.

Group A

• Chennai Super Kings
• Titans
• Victorian Bushrangers
• Middlesex Crusaders

Group B

• Rajasthan Royals
• Dolphins
• Western Warriors
• Sialkot Stallions

3 December 2008 Middlesex Crusaders Victoria Bushrangers Mumbai
3 December 2008 Rajasthan Royals Natal Dolphins Mumbai

4 December 2008 Sialkot Stallions Western Warriors Bangalore
4 December 2008 Chennai Super Kings Victoria Mumbai

5 December 2008 Middlesex Pretoria Titans Chennai
5 December 2008 Sialkot Rajasthan Mumbai

6 December 2008 Western Australia Natal Bangalore
6 December 2008 Victoria Pretoria Chennai
6 December 2008 Chennai Middlesex Chennai

7 December 2008 Natal Sialkot Bangalore
7 December 2008 Rajasthan Western Australia Bangalore
7 December 2008 Chennai Pretoria Chennai

8 December 2008 Group B winners Group A runners-up Bangalore
9 December 2008 Group A winners Group B runners-up Chennai

10 December 2008 Final, Mumbai

next up teams , sponsors etc


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Champions League Twenty20 Cricket

I am back after 3-4 months lay off and will start writing on the champions league twenty twenty scheduled to start from december 3. Those of you who dont know about the team, there will be 8 teams participating in this year tournament and the number will be increased to 12 from 2009.


Teams as taken from wikipedia are

Team	Country	Winner/Runner-up in Domestic Tournament	Domestic Tournament
Victoria Bushrangers	Australia	Winner	KFC Twenty20 Big Bash
Western Warriors	Australia	Runner-up	KFC Twenty20 Big Bash
Rajasthan Royals	India	Winner	Indian Premier League
Chennai Super Kings	India	Runner-up	Indian Premier League
Titans	South Africa	Winner	Standard Bank Pro 20 Series
Dolphins	South Africa	Runner-up	Standard Bank Pro 20 Series
Middlesex Crusaders	England	Winner	Twenty20 Cup
Sialkot Stallions	Pakistan	Winner	RBS Twenty-20 Cup

These teams are winners of their respective twenty twenty tournaments in their countries. From england their is only one team as kent is not allowed to take part as their team consists of players of indian cricket league.

Lots of posts coming soon....

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