ICC Champions Trophy 2009/2010

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[Feed]

"WI breached ICC agreement" FICA chief executive Tim May said that WICB has breached an ICC agreement by picking up a 'third rate' side for the Champions Trophy. More...

[DomainK]

Best side is a qualitative term. Who decides whats the best side? Isn't then Pakistan in violation by picking Afridi over the years?

[DomainK]

Mediator says board's surprise document sank talks The West Indies players' dispute could have been settled this week but for the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) submitting a new document at the last minute, according to the mediator Sir Shridath Ramphal. Talks broke down between the WICB and the West Indies Players Association (WIPA) after more than a month of mediation over contract disputes, leaving a second-string team to represent West Indies at the Champions Trophy and raising doubts over when the leading players will be available. The CARICOM-appointed mediator Ramphal, a former Commonwealth secretary-general, said that with a day of negotiations remaining earlier this week, he had been confident the parties would reach an agreement. However, Ramphal's report, which has appeared on caribbeancricket.com, indicated the WICB had surprised him and the WIPA with the late addition of a new set of requirements. "As those efforts were unfolding, the board produced an alternative document which differed in significant respects from the evolved text and was not acceptable to WIPA," Ramphal wrote. "It was the only text the board was willing to sign ... [and] it was proposed should be kept 'secret' while a protracted arbitration process on fourteen issues was pursued." However, WICB vice-president Dave Cameron said the board needed to submit the new proposal as Ramphal's earlier interpretation of the board's positions "did not reflect the views and issues of the WICB". "That is part of the problem," Cameron told the Trinidad & Tobago Express. "None of the issues we brought to the table, we felt, were being dealt with in a serious way and we kept saying that there could only be a long-term solution if we deal with these issues." But the board also came under fire from Bharrat Jagdeo, the president of Guyana and the CARICOM chairman, who met with WICB and WIPA representatives in July before appointing Ramphal as mediator. Jagdeo said the WICB had hurt negotiations right from the start by not disclosing that a second-string Champions Trophy squad had already been selected. "The members of the board did not disclose to me or to WIPA that the board had already selected a 'B' team for the Champions Trophy in South Africa," Jagdeo said. Ramphal agreed that the non-disclosure had "handicapped the 'mediation' - but did not halt it." The breakdown in talks leaves arbitration as the most likely next step. Cameron said arbitration was almost inevitable, because "some of the issues neither party will be able to resolve". Dinanath Ramnarine, the WIPA president and CEO, said the association's executive and players would meet in Guyana over the weekend to discuss their next move. He said it was disappointing that the WICB had introduced the new "not negotiable" document when a resolution had appeared to be within sight. "After our meeting over the weekend we are going to be very clear as to how we proceed going forward given the action taken by the board," Ramnarine said. For now, Floyd Reifer will continue as acting captain and will lead a severely weakened side to the Champions Trophy after he also led the team to Test and ODI series losses against Bangladesh. The players' strike has also raised concerns in Australia that West Indies will send a weak squad for their Test series beginning in Brisbane in November. Chris Gayle said it was too early to predict when he and the rest of the leading players would make themselves available. "It's sad but this is how it is," Gayle told CMC. "The last thing we wanted to do was bring the game into disrepute and make the cricket have to suffer."

http://www.cricinfo.com/westindies/content/current/story/423461.html

[Lord]

Best side is a qualitative term. Who decides whats the best side?

icc rankings

Isn't then Pakistan in violation by picking Afridi over the years?

:giggle: but they dont much better players waiting in the fold

[vvvslaxman]

lol @ Afridi. I think what Tim May means is WI is sending a bunch of rookies to an ICC knockout tournament where they have excluded a team like Bangladesh who beat this WI comprehensively. WICB wants to teach a lesson to their players. But unfortunately cricket fans around the world are the victims.

[coffee_rules]

WI board can't fix their own mess, but wants a 4-year test championship. If they send a third rate side to the test championship, how it's going to help the game. Idiotas.

[iHammad]

Time to prove we are the best: AB de Villiers Time to prove we are the best: AB de Villiers Saturday, September 05, 2009 JOHANNESBURG: South Africa's AB de Villiers believes the ICC Champions Trophy presents the hosts with an "ideal opportunity" to prove they are the best in the world. South Africa are currently No.1 in the ICC ODI rankings but their record in ICC tournaments has been below expectations, having only emerged triumphant in the inaugural Champions Trophy in 1998. They've reached the semifinals of the competition each time except in 2004, appeared three times in the final four of the World Cup, qualified for the semis of the ICC World Twenty20 this year and were knocked out in the Super Six round of the same tournament at home in 2007. But de Villiers was confident his team would go the extra mile this time around. "We came short a few times, but there are many players in the team who are eager to improve," he told Beeld. "We believe we are the best team in the world and now is a good chance to prove that. It's the ideal opportunity." South Africa have hosted two ICC tournaments at home and have disappointed each time, but are training rigorously for the Champions Trophy which commences on September 22. They are currently in Potchefstroom, attending a training camp, and de Villiers admitted it's the hardest they've been made to work. South Africa have played ten ODIs this year, all against Australia, winning seven and losing three. They've won both the ODI series against them, home and away, but will be playing their first ODI after a gap of more than four months. de Villiers said the intense preparation, which includes practice matches, was adequate for gearing up for the Champions Trophy. One of the practice games de Villiers was referring to took place in Potchefstroom on September 3, with Johan Botha's XI beating Jacques Kallis' XI. JP Duminy was the star, making 68 in 78 balls with four boundaries. The match was a high-scoring encounter with both teams managing over 270, and coach Mickey Arthur said he was encouraged by the batting performances on a pitch that wasn't too favourable. Source: http://thenews.jang.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=196721

[Riley's Girl]

They should be able to win with the team that they have and the way they are playing. I don't think it's a question of the ability to win games but rather a question about the ability to win tournaments. I think the team is better than ever and that they can do just about anything they set their minds on. Yet in big tournaments they always come up short. They do have the ability but can they pull it together and get rid of the big tournament ghosts of the past? I just don't know...

[DomainK]

I think SA are the favorites for CT anyways. Anything less than winning the title will be disappointing for them.

[Mr. Wicket]

SA will find a way to choke.

[zubinpepsi]

eevry tournament they go as favorites only to choke later..

[Guest gaurav_indian]

Time to prove we are the best chokers: AB de Villiers

:blink: fixed

[MUMBAISKIPPER]

SA's History: SA before tournament starts-Favorites SA after tournament ends-Chokers Hope SA creates history this time.

[Chandan]

Can we keep discussing Champions trophy here? For starters, who do you think will win? Should we add a prediction poll in the thread or start one separately? I think India's chances are bleak since the bowling, especially the seam bowling is really poor and the fielding at the moment is really shoddy with several misfields and catches going down. So I'm not optimistic for India's chances. SA, Australia and Pakistan have strong squads and SL won't be far behind if the seamers can make an impact! Your views?

[graphic23]

I will say that South Africa are best placed to win the tournament. For starters, their ODI form has been amazing for the past couple of series. They've an awesome all-round unit. They are also playing at home. For our seam bowling, I figure that RP will do well because he has generally done well in South Africa. To my surprise, he has not played at any ODI games there at all. So my perception comes from all the T20 games he's played. I figure it will match his bowling style. I am not very positive about Ashish Nehra or Ishant. I think if we do well in the tournament, Praveen Kumar and RP Singh will play a big role. Our batsmen are in decent form with Sachin being in terrific form. The fielding, as mentioned, is atrocious at the moment. I figure they'll work on it though. I expect us to reach the semis by beating West Indies and Pakistan. Australia can go either way because Brett Lee seems to be bowling well at the moment, and their batsmen (Ponting and Clarke in particular) are in good form. I think we'll still beat them but I wouldn't be surprised if they defeated us. After semis its anyone's game though.

[The Outsider]

India, Pakistan, South Africa, and Sri Lanka are my picks for the semis. Tough call between Sri Lanka and New Zealand though, but Sri Lanka might shade it if Murali plays. If the pitches are regular ODI pitches with par scores around the 280 mark, I don't think Australia has the fire power to get past either India or Pakistan. The opposition has an extra player in Michael Clarke who kills the momentum of any ODI innings with amazing consistency. South Africa will surely be the team to beat and one would have to count on their ability to choke in big tournaments and not playing well with the favorites tag for them not to win the trophy. I predict an India-South Africa final with the winner rightly taking top spot in the ODI rankings.

[graphic23]

I was just curious to see how the core of our batting line up have performed in South Africa in ODIs (only showing stats for teams that are participating in the CT): Dravid

Grouping	Span	   Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	BF	SR	100	50	0	4s	6s	
v Australia	2003-2003	2	2	0	48	47	24.00	80	60.00	0	0	0	2	0	
v England	2003-2003	1	1	0	62	62	62.00	72	86.11	0	1	0	3	1	
v New Zealand	2003-2003	1	1	1	53	53*	-	89	59.55	0	1	0	7	0	
v Pakistan	2003-2003	1	1	1	44	44*	-	76	57.89	0	0	0	2	0	
v South Africa	1997-2006	11	11	1	512	84	51.20	764	67.01	0	7	0	41	3	
v Sri Lanka	2003-2003	1	1	1	18	18*	-	12	150.00	0	0	0	2	0	

Sachin

Grouping	Span	       Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	BF	SR	100	50	0	4s	6s	
v Australia	2003-2003	2	2	0	40	36	20.00	64	62.50	0	0	0	4	0	
v England	2003-2003	1	1	0	50	50	50.00	52	96.15	0	1	0	8	1	
v New Zealand	2003-2003	1	1	0	15	15	15.00	16	93.75	0	0	0	3	0	
v Pakistan	2003-2003	1	1	0	98	98	98.00	75	130.66	0	1	0	12	1	
v South Africa	1992-2006	20	20	0	522	101	26.10	785	66.49	1	1	1	58	1	
v Sri Lanka	2003-2003	1	1	0	97	97	97.00	120	80.83	0	1	0	7	1	

Yuvraj

Grouping       Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	BF	SR	100	50	0	4s	6s	
v Australia	2	2	0	24	24	12.00	42	57.14	0	0	1	1	0	
v England	1	1	0	42	42	42.00	38	110.52	0	0	0	4	1	
v New Zealand	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	
v Pakistan	1	1	1	50	50*	-	53	94.33	0	1	0	6	0	
v South Africa	4	4	0	59	42	14.75	83	71.08	0	0	1	6	1	
v Sri Lanka	1	1	0	5	5	5.00	6	83.33	0	0	0	0	0

Dhoni

Grouping	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	BF	SR	100	50	0	4s	6s	
v South Africa	4	4	0	139	55	34.75	145	95.86	0	1	0	12	7

By their standards the records are rather average to be honest. But I think the pitches will not behave like they did in December/January 2006, when we were beaten 4-0. I think they will be more similar to the 2007 September pitches ( just a guess - it being the same month and all :P). Given that premise, our batting *should* ideally flourish.

[Sachinism]

I dont see India beating SA with our bowling attack