SA to host CL T20 in October

South Africa will host the fourth edition of the Champions League Twenty20 in October with Pakistan's Sialkot Stallions being the new entrant.

The decision to shift the tournament out of India was taken at a CLT20 Governing Council meeting in Chennai last month.

It was also decided that the Mumbai Indians would be included as the fourth Indian team in the eight-team tournament.

The reasons for shifting the tournament to South Africa range from monsoon to Durga Puja celebrations that will coincide with the event.

It will be the second time that South Africa will host the tournament after 2010. Cape Town, Johannesburg, Centurion and Durban will be the venues for the event.

Earlier, GC had also approved the participation of Pakistan's Sialkot Stallions in the tournament. They will take part in the qualifiers to make the cut in the main draw, which will feature four teams from India, two from Australia and one from South Africa.

New IPL champions Kolkata Knight Riders, runners-up Chennai Super Kings and Delhi Daredevils are the confirmed participants for this year's CLT20.

Greatest ODI match of all time.

            The fans had between 22 December 2010 and 2 January 2011 to cast their vote on their favourite game from a choice of 10 memorable matches on ICC's official website or via Facebook or Twitter.


            A run-fest at Johannesburg's famous Wanderers Stadium in March 2006. Batting first, Australia made a record 434-4 in 50 overs with captain Ricky Ponting setting the day alight with 164 off just 105 balls.

            The mood of the capacity crowd did not improve when SA lost a wicket with just three runs on the board. But then an innings of magic from Herschelle Gibbs (175 off 111) backed up by cameos by Graeme Smith (90 off 55), Mark Boucher (50 not out) and Johan van der Wath (35) saw the Proteas to a scarcely possible winning score of 438 with nine wickets down and one ball remaining. It was a wonderful occasion and truly an ODI never to be forgotten.

Greatest Test team of all time.

Four Australians, four Indians, two West Indians and one Pakistani have been named in the Dream XI. The final selection is as follows: 

1. Virender Sehwag
2. Sunil Gavaskar
3. Donald Bradman
4. Sachin Tendulkar
5. Brian Lara
6. Kapil Dev
7. Adam Gilchrist (wk)
8. Shane Warne
9. Wasim Akram
10. Curtly Ambrose
11. Glenn McGrath

Gayle back in his team.

            Chris Gayle is set to put more than a year in the international wilderness behind him when West Indies face England in the opening match of their one-day series at Southampton on Saturday.Gayle has an impressive one-day record, with over 8,000 runs in 228 ODIS including 19 hundreds at an average of nearly 40.

            But it is the manner in which the Jamaican left-hander bats that has made him one of cricket's biggest box-office draws.
Indeed when it was confirmed Gayle had made his peace with the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), ticket sales for Saturday's match quickened to the extent of ensuring a near-capacity 14,000 crowd.

            At his best, the 32-year-old opener and former West Indies captain is a ferocious, if essentially orthodox, hitter who is capable of driving the world's fastest bowlers straight back over their heads for six.

            A strike-rate of 83.95 is testament to Gayle's attacking approach, yet until Wednesday's warm-up match against Middlesex at Lord's he hadn't played for the West Indies for some 15 months since their World Cup quarter-final defeat by Pakistan in Dhaka.

            Criticisms of coach Ottis Gibson and senior Caribbean cricket officials led to Gayle's exile by the WICB.However, a meeting earlier this month between the WICB, selectors and Gayle, brokered by Ralph Gonsalves, the Prime Minister of St Vincent, and Baldwin Spencer, the Prime Minister of Antigua, saw him restored to the squad.

Stanford in jail

Allen Stanford, who bankrolled a USD 20 million T20 match between England and West Indies, has been sentenced to 110 years in prison.

The disgraced American businessman was convicted of defrauding investors.

The Texan financier was convicted of 13 charges of fraud.

He was found guilty of defrauding investors of more than USD seven billion.

The 62-year-old created quite a flutter during his association with the England and Wales Cricket Board which later became an embarrassment for the body. He was arrested in 2009 after an investigation by the United States regulators.

But Stanford has always denied any wrongdoing. He told the District Judge David Hittner at his sentencing hearing: "I did not defraud anybody".

"I'm not here to ask for sympathy or forgiveness or to throw myself at your mercy. I did not run a Ponzi scheme. I didn't defraud anybody."

Prosecutors had demanded a 230-year sentence for the businessman, 'ESPNCricinfo' reported.

Stanford signed a five-year deal with the ECB worth USD 100 million but after fraud cases against him came to light, it left the English Board red-faced.

He was knighted in 2006 but was later stripped of the title.

The greatest ODI team of all time!!

           In total, fans from 97 countries cast almost 600,000 votes on www.icc-cricket.com between 22 December and 2 January to make their views known as to who have been the best ODI players of the past 40 years in the key categories of opening batsmen, middle-order batsmen, wicketkeeper, spin bowlers and fast bowlers.

           Three players from Australia and India, two from the West Indies and one each from South Africa, Sri Lanka and Pakistan have made the final dream XI with another Aussie named as 12th man.

The All-Time ODI Dream Team (as voted for by visitors to www.icc-cricket.com) is:

Opening batsmen: Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag (both Ind)
Middle order: Brian Lara, Viv Richards (both WI) and Ricky Ponting (Aus)
All-rounder: Kapil Dev (Ind)
Wicketkeeper: Adam Gilchrist (Aus)
Spinner: Muttiah Muralidaran (SL)
Fast bowlers: Wasim Akram (Pak), Glenn McGrath (Aus) and Allan Donald (SA)
12th man: Michael Bevan (Aus, the player who received the most number of votes without being enough to make the would-be starting XI).

           Supporters had a chance to select the dream team from a shortlist of 48 players in different categories. The fans had between 22 December 2010 and 2 January 2011 to to make their selections on ICC's official website or via Facebook or Twitter.

                    

                          Sachin Tendulkar

Virendar Sehwag

Kapil Dev

                                                    

Adam Gilchrist

Brian Lara

Ricky Ponting

Vivian Richards

Alan Donald

Muttaiah Muralitharan

Glenn Mcgrath

Micheal Bevan

Wasim Akram

Amazing facts!!

Did you know that ? 

• South Africans were the first to introduce TV run outs! 

• No one has completed an innings at the score of 228!

• Graham Yallop, in 1978 was the first man to wear a helmet! 

• Wasim Akram is the first (an only?) man to perform a hat-trick in both one days and tests! 

• England and Australia played the first ever one day international at Melbourne in 1971! 

• Sachin Tendulkar was the first victim of the third umpire. In the Test match! 

• Hanif Mohammed (Pakistan) batted for 16 hours and 10 minutes - nearly 3 full days - against the West Indies, scoring 337*. 

• Sourav Ganguly is the only cricketer to have won four successive Man of the Match awards in One-day Internationals. 

• The first Test match began on 15 March 1877 and had a timeless format with four balls per over. It ended on 19 March 1877 with Australia winning by 45 runs. 

• The first Twenty20 international was between Australia and New Zealand in 2005. 

• The Test match between England and South Africa at Durban in 1939 was finally abandoned as a draw on the tenth day because England players had to catch their ship home.                                                    

• There are 10 ways a batsman can be declared "out" in cricket:        
• Caught.  
• Bowled.    
• Leg Before Wicket.
• Hit Wicket. 
• Timed Out (wonder what is this?).  
• Handling the ball.    
• Obstructing the field.  
• Hit the ball twice.      
• Run Out.
• Stumped                                     
• "Timed Out (wonder what is this?)                                                                                          Timed out means a batsman can be declared out if he fails to come to the crease in 5 mins. After a batsman is out, if the next batsman takes more then 5 mins to come to the crease and the fielding team appeals, he can be declared out. 

                                                                                                                                         

Recalling the winning moments!!

Sleepless Nights, grey hairs with the same fade of beard… It was a bunch of youngsters given to me along with a GOD.. Everyone mastered their skills but I alone was failing everytime…

But when Sachin walked back into the pavilion with his face down I was upset… I quickly padded up. The whole team was looking at me and Garry alone backed my decision to move up the order.

I was not even able to run but the only thing that flashed my mind was Sachin’s childish face looking at the entire crowd ” OHH sorry, it was my mistake to leave the ground so soon”.. Will anyone like GOD putting his face down in front of his own crowd?? I cant allow that happen…

I controlled my pian and decided to go… and we had the last laugh along with the cry….”
-Mahendra Singh Dhoni