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South Africans to miss first four IPL games Cricket South Africa has instructed its players to return home after the India Test series to play the semi-finals and final of the Standard Bank Pro20 tournament before competing in the IPL. More... South Africans to miss IPL's first week April 10, 2008 18:52 IST Not ready to let its domestic tournaments suffer because of the Indian Premier League, Cricket South Africa has instructed its players to return home to play the semi-finals and final of the Standard Bank Pro20 tournament before competing in the IPL. Accordingly, Graeme Smith [images] and his colleagues will return after the third and final Test against India to play in the domestic tournament, which means they could miss the first week's action in the IPL, which gets underway on April 18. "The players will be returning home to play in the semi-finals and final of the tournaments. The semi-finals are scheduled on April 18 and 19 and the final is on April 25," South African team's media manager Michael Owen-Smith said on Thursday. Graeme Smith, Jacques Kallis [images], Ashwell Prince, Mark Boucher [images], Makhaya Ntini [images], Morne Morkel, Abraham de Villiers and Dale Steyn were originally allowed to stay back after the Kanpur Test. But realising that their absence would rob the tournament of its sheen, Cricket South Africa has instructed them to return home to complete domestic assignments. "However, players whose team fails to make it to the final would be available to the IPL immediately after the semi-final," Owen-Smith added.

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Media boycott threat of IPL persists The stringent media restrictions put a question mark over its coverage as the Indian Newspaper Society threatens to boycott the cricket league. More... Media boycott threat of IPL persists Indo-Asian News Service New Delhi, April 10, 2008 First Published: 21:03 IST(10/4/2008) Last Updated: 21:34 IST(10/4/2008) Indian Premier League's (IPL) stringent media restrictions have put a question mark over the coverage of the event as the Indian Newspaper Society (INS) threatened to boycott the multi-million dollar cricket league, starting April 18. "The accreditation terms failed to address the issues of intellectual property rights belonging to media as well as issues of press freedom," INS president Bahubali Shah said in a statement on Thursday. Indian media are protesting IPL's decision to ban websites from covering matches and also prohibiting international and local news agencies from supplying photographs to online clients. "The Indian Newspaper Society hopes a serious attempt will be made by the IPL to remove offending terms and conditions for media accreditation. In the absence of remedial action by the IPL, members of the INS will be forced to take an adverse view on the question of coverage of IPL matches," Shah added. The league, promoted by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), features top stars from around the world playing for eight different franchises. The deadline for accreditation was Thursday. The London-based international News Media Coalition (NMC), which was formed by major international agencies to counteract a similar situation during the rugby World Cup in France last year, called the accreditation terms "a serious and unprecedented curtailment of the freedom of the press to fully report events of public interest." In a similar move, global news agencies had boycotted the coverage of the first Test between Sri Lanka and Australia last year after Cricket Australia imposed similar restrictions. CA had to reach a compromise before the second Test after the first Test faced a total blackout.

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Media stand has IPL franchises worried The stand-off between the IPL and leading news agencies over contentious accreditation clauses for the Twenty20 tournament has been termed as a matter of concern by franchises. More... Indian Premier League Media stand has IPL franchises worried Ajay S Shankar April 11, 2008 The Hyderabad franchise is confident that the IPL officials will handle the media coalition smoothly © AFP The stand-off between the Indian Premier League (IPL) and leading news agencies over contentious accreditation clauses for the Twenty20 tournament starting on April 18 has been termed as a matter of concern by franchises, with some of them planning to discuss the issue with IPL officials if media coverage of the event is affected. "If the issue escalates to a point where media or sections of the media will choose to ignore the IPL, we will have to step in, meet with IPL and seek clarifications. We need to find an amicable solution," Charu Sharma, the chief executive of the Bangalore Royal Challengers, told Cricinfo. Fraser Castellino, the CEO of Jaipur's Rajasthan Royals, said they had invested heavily in the venture and would like the entire media on board to ensure that the event "reaches every heart". J Krishnan, of Hyderabad's Deccan Chargers, said he was sure the IPL officials would sort out the issue. Sharma is a well-known television professional while the Jaipur franchise is backed by the UK-based Investors in Cricket, a media group with significant interests in television. The Hyderabad franchise is owned by Deccan Chronicle, the newspaper group. The Press Trust of India (PTI), the country's leading news agency, on Friday joined leading international agencies in calling for modifications in IPL's coverage norms, failing which they have decided to ignore the event. The News Media Coalition (NMC), the umbrella body that covers global news and photograph agencies Reuters, Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Getty Images, had earlier expressed deep concerns about IPL's media norms, including curbs on selling photographs to websites and a press-box bar on websites. The Editors Guild of India has expressed reservations on the IPL's media clauses and the Indian Newspaper Society (INS), a representative body of newspaper publishers, said it was disappointed about the accreditation terms, even after the IPL revised them following discussions with media representatives on Monday. "As far as we are concerned, this issue involves the IPL's IPR, and has to be sorted out by the IPL. However, if the situation [on media accreditation] escalates we will have to have a say in the matter and will want to discuss the issue with IPL," said Sharma. "If push comes to shove, we will want to get involved as a franchise on this matter. Generally, we believe that nobody can go forward on an event of this magnitude without getting the media on board and addressing all their concerns." Castellino offered help to resolve the issue because the franchises needed "the entire media" on their side. "Definitely, the possibility of the media ignoring the event is not a great development from the franchise point of view. We are concerned and may need to discuss with the IPL if the situation is not resolved," he said. "We have invested heavily in this venture, and we need the event to touch every heart. For that, we need the entire media on our side. We hope the two parties, like two sensible people, will sit across the table and resolve the issue. We really have no time but we, as a franchise, are willing to step in and help resolve this situation." Krishnan said Hyderabad will leave the issue to the "capable" IPL officials. "We really don't want to comment on this matter, except to state that we are sure the IPL will find a solution to this issue." The inaugural IPL tournament starts in Bangalore with the Royal Challengers, the home team, taking on the Kolkata Knight Riders. A Knight Riders spokesman declined to comment on the issue.

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Don't give up country for IPL, warns Bindra I S Bindra, the ICC's principal advisor, warned cricketers against giving up their central contracts to participate in the cash-rich Indian Premier League, saying the Twenty20 event will not accept any rebel. A member of the IPL's governing board, he urged players to be patient and wait for the league to adjust in the cricket calendar. More... Don't give up country for IPL, warns Bindra April 15, 2008 16:59 IST I S Bindra, the ICC's [images] principal advisor, warned cricketers against giving up their central contracts to participate in the cash-rich Indian Premier League, saying the Twenty20 event will not accept any rebel. Bindra, also a member of the IPL's governing board, urged players to be patient and wait for the league to adjust in the cricket calendar. "That solution [players rejecting central contracts] is not acceptable to us," Bindra told BBC Sport. "We will not have any player revolting against their establishment and becoming part of the IPL," he added. His comments came in the wake of England [images] Cricket Board's refusal to allow its players to participate in the next edition of the IPL, which triggered speculation that the cricketers might revolt against the move. Apart from this, a players' survey in Australia also revealed that easy money on offer in the IPL is too tempting for the cricketers to resist and they are willing to give up national duty for it. However, Bindra said the IPL does not wish to be labeled a rebel tournament by allowing revolting players to participate. He said he would speak to ECB chairman Giles Clarke during the IPL inauguration in Bangalore to work out a window for English players. "We don't want to be a rebel league; we want to be part of the system with the support of the ECB. We are looking forward to meeting Giles Clarke and other members of the ECB during the inauguration in Bangalore," he said. "We can make adjustments, we can postpone our league by a couple of weeks. If we can find a solution, it will be in the interests of everyone involved, including the players," Bindra said. Bindra said all concerns about a players' revolt would be mitigated once the ICC finds a permanent slot for the IPL in the international calendar. "The ICC have said they will try and find if they can have a permanent slot for the IPL. That will make it a lot easier for the players to know what the calendar is, what the options are. It will facilitate everyone going forward," he said. The former BCCI chief said although he is confident of the IPL being a success, he will keep his fingers crossed till the first ball is bowled. "At the end of the day, it depends how many bums are on seats and how many people are in the grounds. That is where the major success of the tournament will lie. These are early days and the real sales pick up in India a few days before the match," he said. "In terms of marketing it's been a great success and we're looking forward to a wonderful tournament. I hope it's the beginning of a new milestone in the cricketing history of the world. In the long run, we will do a lot of good to cricket and make it truly a global sport," he said. Bindra said despite the massive build-up, the IPL was bound to face a few hiccups initially but he was confident of a smooth run nonetheless. "It's the first season and there will be a few hiccups, a few aberrations, but I'm sure it will settle down in a couple of years to a very smooth and very significant league that will become a prominent part of world cricket," he said.