ICC finalises dates for 2009 Champions Trophy

[Sachinism]

The ICC has identified a "potential window" for the Champions Trophy, which will now be held in September-October next year, and will formalise it at its board meeting over the next two days. The dates, Cricinfo has learnt, were identified after senior officials of various national boards agreed over the last month to adjust individual fixtures to accommodate the tournament. The ICC board members will also discuss the umpire decision review system and possibly sanction more trials this season, have another look at formulating a more practical international calendar from 2012, and hear David Morgan, the ICC president, report on a meeting he had last week in London with Subhash Chandra, who owns the Zee Group and the ICL. The league had presented its case to be recognised under ICC rules as authorised unofficial cricket. The other issue that might be discussed with considerable interest among the members does not feature on the official agenda: the possible financial tie-up between the BCCI's IPL and the Sri Lankan cricket board. With senior IPL officials refusing to comment on the deal and dismissing news reports as speculation, the issue is likely to be discussed "more outside the meetings, than inside." The Champions Trophy, though, is more or less a certainty after it was postponed in August following security concerns expressed by certain teams over Pakistan, the host country - as of now. Pakistan remains the host for the 2009 version, too, but pending a security review early next year. It's understood that all the major national boards have agreed to adjust their dates for the event, including India, which will now have to tweak the dates of the Champions T20 League - scheduled to start on September 25 - and the one-day series against Australia, tentatively slotted from October 13. The breakthrough follows a series of separate discussions over the last month involving Haroon Lorgat, the ICC chief executive, IS Bindra, the ICC's principal advisor who oversees ties between member nations, and senior officials of national boards. The task, sources said, was to reconcile the interests of the various national boards and arrive at a common ground. The buzz in Dubai is expected to centre on the reported US$70 million "bailout" arrangement between the BCCI's IPL and Sri Lanka Cricket. The deal would mean that Sri Lankan players will participate in the IPL and Champions League, but will result in a cancellation of the country's two-Test series in England next year, which clashes with the IPL. Morgan has already criticised the possible arrangement as "unacceptable behaviour" because it undermines the stature of Test cricket. And the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) privately endorses that view, though it officially maintains that the Sri Lanka Test visit of 2009 "is still on as there has been no official word from the Sri Lankans to suggest otherwise." The Indian side, meanwhile, argues that the Sri Lankan tour was hastily arranged in July by Arjuna Ranatunga, who heads the interim committee that runs SLC, and violates an NOC granted in March by the same board to its players to participate in the IPL. "Considering that Morgan has come out with his views on the issue, it would be surprising if this matter was not discussed at all, either inside or outside," the sources said. What would be of particular interest are the views of Ranatunga who will represent Sri Lanka in Dubai - he has publicly spoken out before against the IPL - and does not support this deal which is reportedly being negotiated by his country's sports minister and Indian officials. The board is also expected to cover some ground on reaching a consensus for an international schedule that protects "icon" Test series, tries to streamline the various one-day tournaments, and identifies suitable slots for the mushrooming growth of Twenty20 cricket. Besides, its members are likely to recommend that the umpire decision review system, which was trialled in Sri Lanka for the India series in August, be tried out in four series before the next meeting of the ICC's Cricket Committee, due to take place in April/May next year. If the ICC decides to go ahead with the trials, the major series where they could take place include Australia's home-and-away series against South Africa and India's series against England and tours of Pakistan and New Zealand. http://content-www.cricinfo.com/ci-icc/content/current/story/373765.html

[Feed]

ICC finalises dates for 2009 Champions Trophy The ICC has decided to conduct the Champions Trophy between September 24 and October 5, 2009. More... Champions Trophy 2009 ICC finalises dates for 2009 Champions Trophy Cricinfo staff October 15, 2008 The ICC will hold the postponed Champions Trophy between September 24 and October 5, 2009, it was decided during the second day of the board meeting in Dubai. The event was originally scheduled for September this year in Pakistan but was postponed after several participating countries refused to travel over security fears in the country. The 2009 edition, which will still be held in Pakistan, has been shortened to 12 days - as opposed to the original 17- and will be played in only one city. The board will decide on that venue following India's tour of Pakistan in early 2009, after which a security assessment is due, so that it can provide certainty to teams, broadcasters, commercial partners and other stakeholders. The schedule will be announced in due course. The announcement of the dates means that the BCCI might have to reschedule the second edition of the Twenty20 Champions League, which had originally been slotted for September 25-October 10. "There will be no clash," N Srinivasan, the BCCI secretary, told Cricinfo. "The new programme takes into account a provision for the Champions League also." David Morgan, the ICC president, welcomed the decision to find a place for the tournament despite an increasingly packed Future Tours Program (FTP). "We are delighted to have slotted the ICC Champions Trophy into the FTP in 2009 thus maintaining the primacy of ICC events," Morgan said. "We now look forward to staging an outstanding, memorable event next September/October." Haroon Lorgat, the chief executive, thanked the participating countries for their cooperation. "I'm hugely encouraged by the spirit of togetherness and teamwork shown by our members in ensuring we have found a place for the ICC Champions Trophy in next year's calendar," Lorgat said. "The tournament, with its new format of the top eight teams playing in a short, sharp event, is vitally important for the world game because it allows those Members, as well as the developing cricket world, to grow the sport."

[PaiN_KiLLeR]

With no non-asian country willing to set foot in Pakistan, I don't see how the ICC 'ook forward to staging an 'outstanding, memorable event' in 12 months time. BTW, haven't Pakistan's home matches been shifted to Dubai?

[DomainK]

This CT will not happen. I dont see the world's perception of Pakistan will change enough in a year. And I think ICC and PCB know it well enough.

[Dinx - the Jinx]

ICC finalises dates for 2009 Champions Trophy >>> Pakistani militants finalize dates for suicide bomb attacks in major hotels As simple as that... CT or any Internation cricket in Pakistan is doomed