ICC CWC 2007 venue summary

Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, Antigua

Capacity: 20,000 of which 10,000 will be permanent

Location: the stadium is to be conveniently built between the city and the airport.

Kensington Oval, Barbados

History: hosted its first Test in 1929-30 and first ODI in 1984-85

Capacity: 32,000

Status: major upgrade to be undertaken to add additional seats and improvements to player, media and sponsor facilities

Queens Park, Grenada

Built: 1998

Capacity: present capacity of 13,000 to increase to 20,000 through temporary stands

Status: minor upgrade required

Providence Stadium, Guyana

Capacity: 20,000

Status: to be built on a completely new site

Sabina Park, Jamaica

Capacity: 30,000

History: hosted its first Test in 1929-30 and first ODI in 1983-84

Status: major upgrade to be undertaken

Warner Park Stadium, St Kitts and Nevis

Capacity: increase from 4000 to 10,000 with the addition of temporary stands

Status: the stadium is to be completely renovated and rebuilt with new facilities for media, spectators and players

Beausejour Stadium, St Lucia

Built: 2001-02

Capacity: increase existing capacity of 12,000 to 20,000 with the addition of temporary stands

Status: relatively new stadium - minor upgrade required

Queens Park Oval, Trinidad and Tobago

The oldest ground in the Caribbean

Capacity: 25,000

Status: minor upgrade required

Sri Lankan Cricket Board has intimated the BCCI of its decision not to introduce the new rules

The tri-series between India, Sri Lanka and West Indies will not be played under the new rules for ODI matches announced recently by the International Cricket Council.

The Sri Lankan Cricket Board has intimated the BCCI of its decision not to introduce the new rules for the seven ODIs to be played in the tournament starting from July 30.

Confirming this here, BCCI joint secretary Gautam Dasgupta today said, “We have received a letter from the Sri Lankan Cricket Board in this regard.

“It is the prerogative of the hosts to decide on this matter.” He added that the BCCI had no problem with the decision of Sri Lanka to stick to the old rules.

The new rules, which will come into effect from July 30, allows every team to make one substitution during the game and has 20 overs of fielding restrictions instead of 15.

India crawl in through back door

Till late Thursday evening there was an air of suspended disbelief in cricketing circles in India. On Wednesday night the ICC issued a statement from Dublin, saying that the Champions Trophy, scheduled to be held in India next year, will have an all-new eight-team format.

According to this, the top six ODI teams in the world rankings as of April 1, 2006 will qualify. The remaining two spots will be fought for among teams ranked seven to 10, in a qualifying event.

The shocker was this. Currently (and for the past year or so) India have moved between seventh and eighth in the rankings. This meant that unless there was a dramatic turnaround in India’s form this year, they would not have qualified directly.

They would have to go through the embarrassment of having to qualify for a tournament on home ground. And of course, this being one-day cricket where Bangladesh have beaten India and Australia, there’s no predicting what could happen.

For a long time, the ICC spokespersons could not be contacted. Finally, late on Thursday, the ICC’s Mark Harrison, after seeming initially stumped himself, clarified to HT that it would be the “host country plus five top teams”, with the next four fighting it out for the remaining two spots.

India can rest easy then. Even if they continue their abysmal performance of last season, they are assured of a back-door entry to the Champions Trophy.

Japan has been upgraded to associate member status of the International Cricket Council, in a boost for the ICC’s East Asia-Pacific (EAP) Development Program, the EAP said here Thursday.

Japan, who received their ratification at this week’s ICC annual conference in London, join new affiliate members Jersey, Guernsey, Mali and Slovenia, taking the total membership of the ICC to 96 countries.

Japan, an affiliate ICC member since 1989, join Fiji and Papua New Guinea as associate members of the ICC EAP region, the EAP said in a statement.

The region also has seven ICC affiliate members including Indonesia, Cook Islands, Vanuatu, Samoa, Tonga, South Korea and Philippines.

There are now 915 senior and 2,896 junior players playing in organised cricket activities in Japan with 22 grounds used for regular competition including a facility at the base of Mt Fuji, the EAP said.

ICC EAP Regional Development Manager Tim Anderson welcomed the approval of Japan as an associate member.

“The ICC EAP Development Program is excited about working with the Japan Cricket Association as it now takes the development of cricket in Japan to the next level.”

From September 23 to 29 Japan will be competing against Cook Islands, Samoa, Tonga, Indonesia and tournament hosts Vanuatu in the 2005 EAP Cricket Cup, a regional component of the ICCs World Cup qualifying series.

England and Australia to trial rule changes

New rule, new format during games at Headingley (July 7), Lord’s (July 10) and The Oval (July 12)

England and Australia will be the first sides to trial new one-day innovations on substitutes and fielding restrictions after both agreed to implement the changes in their three-match series, which starts next week.

The changes, which come into force formally at the end of July for a 10-month trial period, will include teams being able to bring on one substitute who can bat or bowl.

And unlike the current 15 overs of fielding restrictions at the start of the innings, only the first 10 overs will be so restricted with two other five-over spells to be used by the fielding captain during the remainder of the innings.

“We are delighted that the host grounds, the players and our commercial partners have embraced these new regulations,” England and Wales Cricket Board chief executive David Collier said Thursday.

England captain Michael Vaughan added: “It’s a new concept and it should be fascinating for the game and very interesting to see how it develops.

“It will certainly be challenging for the team to see how you use your 12th man and how to utilise the five-over periods. I think it will be good for cricket.”

England head coach Duncan Fletcher added: “I think that this is a very good idea. It will bring more excitement into the game and it is exactly what was needed.

“Captains and coaches will have a lot more thinking to do and I am particularly pleased that the two five over periods are variable rather than being allocated.”

Australia head coach John Buchanan said: “We fully support these new changes which place a greater emphasis on tactics in one-day cricket.”

The tens, who meet in the Triangular final at Lord’s on Saturday, will adopt the new rules during their games at Headingley (July 7), Lord’s (July 10) and The Oval (July 12).

Australia beat Bangladesh

Australia beat Bangladesh by six wickets ahead of the triangular series final against England on Saturday.Ricky Ponting, the Australia captain, found his form in the nick of time today to help his team avoid further embarrassment against Bangladesh and put them in good heart for this weekend’s NatWest Series final against England.

Ponting’s first 50 in this triangular tournament set his side on course for a six-wicket win at Canterbury - and probably settled his own nerves too after a sequence of only 62 runs in four previous limited-overs international innings this summer. (more…)

New Champions Trophy rule puts India in a conundrum

Makeover of Cricket continues, as now this time there will be a new format for Champions Trophy. ICC Development International (IDI), the commercial arm of the International Cricket Council, has approved a new format that will see just eight teams in action for next year’s ICC Champions Trophy in India.

“After the last ICC Champions Trophy we sought the opinions of a wide range of stakeholders and conducted a thorough review of the tournament’s structure,” ICC CEO Malcolm Speed said in a release.

“The IDI Board is of the view that the new format has addressed the main flaws of the previous 12-team system and we now look forward to an exciting major international event in India.”

A new simplified format will be introduced for next year’s ICC Champions Trophy in India. But it is not yet over.

(more…)