Controversy in Twenty20 final

Leicestershire have beaten Nottinghamshire in ther final of the Twenty20 cup, but not without some controversy. Nottinghamshire looked dead and buried, needing 11 of the last ball. Allenby bowled it, and David Lloyd on commentary instantly called it no-ball as Will Smith hit it for six. This should have left 3 runs needed from the extra ball, but the umpires didn’t spot it.

Mick Newell, the Nottinghamshire coach will not make a formal complaint, although TV replays clearly show that it should have been called a no-ball. Congratulations to the Foxes anyway for their second Twenty20 title.

A conflict of interest?

In August, Bermuda will be visiting Canada, to play an Intercontinental Cup game and two ODIs against Canada, plus two ODIs against Kenya. The problem is, if they progress to the semi final or final of the Stanford 20/20, they will have to be in two places at once. Their fixture list would be like this:

• 9th August: 1st ODI v Kenya (Toronto)
• 10th August: 2nd ODI v Kenya (Toronto)
• 11th August: Stanford 20/20 Semi Final (Antigua)
• 12th August: 4 day game v Canada (Toronto)
• 13th August: Stanford 20/20 Final (Antigua)

This is obviously impossible. So what will happen? Teams are obligated to send their best XI to ICC events, but would Bermuda really send a second XI to a tournament with a million dollar first prize? I highly doubt it.

West Indies join the Twenty20 club

Tomorrow will see the start of the first Twenty20 competition in the Caribbean, the Stanford 20/20. The billionaire businessman Alan Stanford has already invested $28 million into the event, which as well as featuring all the countries/territories that make up the West Indies, will also see participation from Bermuda, the Bahamas, and the Cayman Islands.

There is a million dollars for the winner of the knockout competition, and an all-star team will take on South Africa in a one off match where the winners will take home a cool five million dollars later this year.

This leaves just three countries not to join the Twenty20 bandwagon; Zimbabwe, who’s domestic structure is in such a mess, a Twenty20 tournament wouldn’t even be worth bothering with, India, who have a severe phobia of Twenty20 in much the same way they avoided one day cricket for so long after it’s introduction (11 years), as well as Bangladesh.

It would be nice if Stanford could also get involved with the Twenty20 World Championship next year, especially if he could bring along his juicy prize money. Time will tell though wether Stanford is in for the long haul in West Indian cricket.

First Twenty20 World Cup

The ICC have announced that the first Twenty20 world cup will take place next year in South Africa. The tournament will last 9 days, and will feature 12 teams.

Two questions are unanswered, and that is with regards to the exact format, and how the 12 teams will be decided.

Firstly, the format, for which I’d use the much-maligned format of the 2002 and 2004 ICC Champions Trophies, with 4 groups of 3 teams, followed by semi finals and a final. This is no problem getting things over and done with, all though it remains to be seen how many games will be played on one ground on each day. Even if only two grounds are used, 4, or even six games a day would be no problem. Having both semi finals and the final on the same day, as in the English domestic competition is an absolute must, as combined with the entertainment used in the break between matches, it makes for an exciting spectacle.

Which leaves the question of how to decide the 12 teams. The ICC has said that all the test nations will take part, so that leaves room for 2 associates. I doubt they’ll have another qualification tournament in addition to the myriad of qualifying tournaments for the ODI World Cup, so they’ll probably just use the top 12 teams in the ODI rankings, which is currently the 10 test playing nations plus Kenya and Scotland.

Another alternative is to use the ODI World Cup itself as a qualifying tournament, where top 3 teams in each of the first round groups will play in the Twenty20 World Cup. A team such as Bermuda may have little hope of progressing to the second stage of the 2007 World Cup, but knowing that an upset over one of the big boys could possbily give them a spot in the Twenty20 World Cup, where they would probably have more chance of an upset over a full member, may just give them an extra little incentive.

India and Pakistan against Twenty20 World Cup

I’ve written earlier about the BCCIs objections to a Twenty20 world cup, saying that they’re totally against Twenty20. Pakistan are also along for the ride, at least according to the BCCI. Although having a domestic Twenty20 cup, and playing an international in England this summer seem to contradict that.

John Cook at CricketBlog.com has an interesting comment on this.

Pakistan and India will also be bidding to host the 2011 World Cup, going up against Australian and NZ. I wonder if the combative approach they’ve taken with the ICC, not only with the Twenty20 World Cup but also with India boycotting the Champion’s Trophy, will harm their chances of winning the bid.

It’s a good point. Will the BCCI and the PCB want to piss off the people who could put a lot of money their way with the 2011 World Cup? I doubt it.