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September 28, 2007

Ravi Shastri appointed NCA chairman

Ravi Shastri, the former India captain, was today appointed chairman of the National Cricket Academy by the Indian board.

Shastri takes over from Ajay Shirke, who was made acting chairman of the Bangalore-based academy after Kapil Dev was sacked from the post for signing up with the Indian Cricket League. Kapil had refused to step down as chairman of the ICL’s executive board even after the BCCI refused permission for the league.

The BCCI’s general meeting held in Mumbai today came to a common consensus that Shastri should be made the chairman.

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18 more join Indian Cricket League

New Delhi, Sept 28: Unfazed by BCCI’s ambitious and cash-rich Twenty20 tournaments, the rebel Indian Cricket League (ICL) today announced the signing of 18 more players, including six overseas cricketers.

After lying low for several weeks, the ICL came out with its second list of players, which included four from New Zealand - Chris Cairns, Chris Harris, Nathan Astle and Hamish Marshal - and England’s Darren Maddy and Pakistan all-rounder Azhar Mahmood. Kapil Dev, chairman of the executive board for the ICL said, “we are extremely pleased to welcome these players to the ICL family.”“These talented experienced cricketers will definitely be a great source of learning for the youngsters who will play with them. Under their guidance, the Indian Cricket League players will develop skills comparable to the best of international cricketing talent,” he said while announcing the signings.The ICL, a brainchild of the Subhash Chandra-owned Essel Group, has earlier signed over 60 cricketers with batting great Brian Lara and former Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul Haq in its ranks. (Agencies)

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Chris Cairns and Darren Maddy among latest ICL signings

September 28, 2007

Chris Cairns, who bid farewell to international cricket early last year, has signed with the Indian Cricket League

Chris Cairns, Chris Harris, Nathan Astle, Hamish Marshall, Darren Maddy and Azhar Mahmood have become the latest international cricketers to sign with the Indian Cricket League. Of these six cricketers only Maddy is still actively playing cricket at the highest level, with the others having either retired or fallen out of favour with their respective selectors.

Marshall refused a contract from New Zealand Cricket recently as he wished to pursue a career playing county cricket in England, qualifying as a Kolpak player. Cairns, Harris and Astle have not been in the New Zealand team for some time now, while Mahmood has figured in just four matches for Pakistan since 2004.

Announcing their latest signings, Kapil Dev, the chairman of the executive board of the ICL, said, “We are extremely pleased to welcome these players to the ICL family. These talented experienced cricketers will definitely be a great source of learning for the youngsters who will play with them. Under their guidance, the Indian Cricket League players will develop skills comparable to the best of international cricketing talent.”

“These signings are in line with our objective of providing the best platform for young cricketers from all corners of India to play alongside the superstars of international cricket, learn the tricks of the trade from them and gain confidence to excel.”

The ICL also officially announced the signing of twelve Indian domestic cricketers. Although some of these names were already on the ICL radar and in the news, it was announced on Friday that Abu Nachem, Amit Uniyal, Aniruddh Singh, Gaurav Gupta, Love Ablish, Mihir Diwakar, Rakesh Patel, Abid Nabi, Kiran Powar, Pritam Das and former India internationals S Sriram and Nilesh Kulkarni, had signed on the dotted line.

The domestic players who have already signed with the ICL are currently participating in a training camp in Chennai at the Mayajaal ground on the outskirts of the city. It has been suggested that the ICL is targeting to play its first Twenty20 matches in mid-November although it is as yet unclear where these matches will be held.

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New Zealand’s Craig McMillan Set To Retire From International Cricket

New Zealand middle order batsman Craig McMillan is set to call it quits from international cricket after his omission from the Test squad.

Media reports in New Zealand said that McMillan missed a place in the Test side for next month’s tour of South Africa, which was announced yesterday, and may be seeking to secure his future.

There were also speculations that McMillan may join the rebel Indian Cricket League as today happens to be the final day for contracts to be signed with ICL.

McMillan,31,represented New Zealand since 1997.

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Advertisers turn cautious over ICL

India’s top-notch companies, which put their money in cricket, are cold to spending money on the Indian Cricket League (ICL), especially after the victory of the country in the Twenty20 World Cup and a busy 90 days of international cricket that will continue till the December-end (the Australian tour will be followed by Pakistan). However, media buyers are divided on the impact of the Twenty20 on the fate of Chandra’s ICL.

Consumer durables major LG Electronics, which is a big player in cricket, is not planning to put in money on the ICL. “We are not looking at sponsoring the ICL. It is not in our focus this time,” says V Ramachandran, director, sales and marketing, LG Electronics India.

Mineral water giant Bisleri International, which has been negotiating with the ICL to become an anchor sponsor, is also changing tack.

“We wanted to be associated with a programme that did not have the clutter of reality shows. However, for the last one month, we have not heard anything from the ICL.”

Confectionery and beverage company Cadbury’s too is believed to have been in talks with the ICL. “However, things did not materialise and, currently, the deal is put on hold,” said a source close to the development.

Dairy major Amul too isn’t keen. “Our media planners chalk out our advertising spends. Till date, they have not advised us on the ICL,” said an Amul executive.

Large spenders such as telecom companies are also sitting and watching. Says a senior executive of a leading mobile company that has a large ad budget this year: “The question is we still do not know who the teams are, what the format is, what they will offer us, so you cannot take a decision. The World Cup Twenty20 struck an emotional chord with people. It is totally different from what the ICL is looking at.”

Media experts are however divided in their approach to the ICL. “At the moment, the ICL has nothing to offer advertisers. There still is uncertainty about players, teams and the stadiums,” said Pratap Bose, CEO, Ogilvy & Mather India. The concerns have grown after the ICL decided to postpone its tournaments from October 1 to mid-November this year.

“The ICC World Twenty20 win will have a positive impact on the ICL. However, the teams playing for the ICL will be a crucial deciding factor for marketers,” said Hiren Pandit, managing partner, GroupM ESP, a media buying house.

A similar view is echoed by others too. “No doubt the Twenty20 format has worked and for this reason viewers may tune in. And the ICL can capitalise on the same. But where has the ICL reached so far? The progress made by the league isn’t known,” said Nirvik Singh, president, South and South-East Asia, Grey Global Group.

Subash Chandra’s ICL will comprise six teams playing against each other, for which it has managed to rope in domestic and international cricketers.

The 50 domestic cricketers include Dinesh Mongia, Reetinder Singh Sodhi, J P Yadav, Deep Das Gupta, Laxmi Ratan Shukla, T Kumaran and Ambati Rayudu. Among the international players, it has on board Pakistan’s Mohammad Yousuf, who is at the peak of his career having broken Vivian Richards’ long-standing record for the maximum Test runs in a calendar year in 2006, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Imran Farhat and Abdul Razzaq, former South African all-rounders Lance Klusener and Nicky Boje.

The league aims to have on board three key sponsors and seven associate partners, apart from a team sponsor. While key sponsors may be shelling out about Rs 5 crore each, the associates will pay Rs 1.5-2.5 crore each, while the team sponsor may be required to pay over Rs 4 crore.

The ICL has other supporters too, who believe that good cricket will find audiences. “Initially, both the Twenty20 format and the ICL had to prove their worth. Now that the format has been established and well accepted, it’s only the league that will have to prove itself. In fact, interest levels for the ICL will now be high,” said Manish Porwal, managing director, Starcom India.

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