All posts by csb10.top

The Kochi mess

April 11: Consortium winning the Kochi franchise gives the BCCI an agreement listing seven investors.
August 19: BCCI receives a letter from Rendezvous Sports World raising questions over the agreement vis-a-vis equity shares and seeking board’s approval to amend the share-holding structure.
September 9: Sunanda Pushkar informs the board that she has transferred 190 shares in Rendezvous Sports to Pushpa Gaikwad.
September 16: Rendezvous informs the board that Satyajit Gaekwad – appointed CEO – would be the sole point of contact for the company and, in a second letter, asks it to ignore any requests from “any of the other consortium members” to modify share-holding pattern.
September 23: Chintan Vora writes saying he, Vipul Shah and Saket Mehta are the only people authorised to represent the business.
September 25: Vora writes again saying that Kochi Cricket Pvt. Ltd. would be formed to take over the franchise from existing entity.
September 29: BCCI president Shashank Manohar sends show-cause notice to the franchise saying the board is concerned that the internal dispute will damage the IPL and asks for document saying dispute has been resolved and a company will be incorporated in a fixed timeframe.
October 27: The BCCI issues a termination notice to the Kochi franchise but gives it a 30-day deadline to reply, explaining why it shouldn’t be scrapped.

The 30-day deadline given to the Kochi IPL consortium to settle its ownership dispute is not a reprieve for the troubled team, but rather a legal step taken by the IPL governing council towards terminating the franchise.A BCCI insider privy to the meeting held in Nagpur on Wednesday told ESPNcricinfo that the Board is not confident the ownership issue will be resolved amicably between the two factions because of the two different replies sent by them to the board’s October 12 show-cause notice. The franchise was asked to form a registered company in order for the board to communicate with one entity, and not different groups in the five-partner consortium. The consortium has not, the Board believes, come close to arriving at a settlement, with the official calling it, “an irretrievable situation.” He said, “The dispute is not so easy to solve”.According to him, the BCCI were forced to issue a notice under the provisions of the original contract signed with the Kochi franchise when it was formed in March. “It is mandatory process where the board is required to give them the notice of 30 days because theirs is a breach that can be repaired, and it is not irrevocable. In case they are able to resolve their issue, they will have to show it to us and prove it is resolved. Otherwise at the end of the notice, it stands terminated,” he said.Shashank Manohar, the BCCI president, chaired the meeting today and informed the IPL panel about receiving more than one reply from the two groups in the Kochi franchise. One reply arrived from the lawyer of Rendezvous India Pvt. Ltd, led by the Gaikwad family, and the other from the group of investors led by Mehul Shah of the Anchor Group.”Both were asking different things: Rendezvous stated that the sweat equity (originally granted to them for promoting and investing in the company leading to the bid) is paid equity,” the official revealed. “The rival group was of the view that even it if it was paid equity, they did not want to accept the money.”Gaikwad’s lawyer had stated in the reply that his client was willing to buy out the sweat equity of 25% given for life in the original bid document and convert it into paid equity. The rival faction remained adamant, wanting Rendezvous to exit, with the situation leading to a deadlock. In that time both factions tried to find a way out. The Shah group told Gaikwad that they would pay 10% of the sweat equity in cash in exchange of their rivals quitting Kochi. Gaikwad’s original counter proposal stated that he was ready to buy out 15% of the sweat equity, but he subsequently raised the offer, saying he was ready to buy out the entire 25% free equity.After that offer was rejected, Rendezvous went back to the negotiation table with a reduced equity buyout offer from 25% to 20%. Shah and the other investors initially agreed to the 20% offer 24 hours before the BCCI deadline, but under terms and conditions unacceptable to Rendezvous. The next day both the groups submitted individual replies through their lawyers.According to the BCCI source, the conflict is serious. “There are four people [investors] who had been brought together by one person [Gaikwad]. When the investors signed the original document they did not know what they were signing into”. The main deal-breaker in the dispute is that Gaikwad wants to retain his control over the cricket which, the BCCI official said, “the investors are completely against. They want him to leave the consortium and hence the deadlock.”The official fears Kochi might eventually run out of steam. “This cannot be solved. While they are saying they are solving the controversy, they are actually doing the opposite.”Should the Kochi franchise be terminated, it will become the third of the ten teams which were expected to participate in IPL4 to be expelled from the league, following the scrapping of the Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab earlier this month.It is here, however that the BCCI are trying to cover their legal tracks by issuing them a 30 day termination notice. The case with the Royals and Kings XI was handled very differently with both teams being asked to explain their ownership patterns in May. Kings XI for example sent in their reply in May and received neither response or show cause from the BCCI until their franchise was terminated in October without any notice. Already the Royals have gone to court and King’s XI are expected to follow suit.Should Kochi meet with the same fate, the BCCI would have done so in strict adherence with the terms of their contract with the new franchise.

Ashley Noffke has retired from the first-class arena after 118 matches but wants to stay on as a limited-overs player for Western Australia. Noffke, who spent most of his career at Queensland, revealed his decision immediately after the Warriors suffered an eight-wicket defeat to Victoria.Noffke, 33, struggled with figures of 1 for 127 in the first innings and then went for 14 in his only over on Wednesday, although he signed off with Aaron Finch’s wicket from his final ball. The off-season included long periods of rehabilitation following a knee operation and he said he didn’t have the physical or mental energy to prolong his first-class career.”A lot of past players have said to me it hits you like a wall and that’s what happened,” he said. “It became apparent I wasn’t at my best and it’s unfair to myself and my team-mates, I didn’t want to let them down. I feel it’s definitely time. I’ve really enjoyed my time in the sun. Four-day cricket’s a tough process.”Mickey Arthur, the new coach, said Noffke had been an exceptional performer and deserved to bow out of the first-class scene with “the utmost respect”. “His record speaks for itself and he is an outstanding character, always displaying the finest of values,” Arthur said.In 2001 Noffke toured England with the Test squad and completed two trips to the Caribbean without playing a Test. He collected 386 first-class wickets at 29.41 in appearances with Queensland, Western Australia, Middlesex, Worcestershire and Durham, and also posted two hundreds for his home state.He peaked in 2007-08 with 51 first-class wickets and 741 runs for the Bulls, becoming the third Australian behind George Giffen and Greg Matthews to capture the 50-wicket, 500-run season double. There were three first-class trophies with Queensland, who he left last year to take up a two-season deal with the Warriors.After completing his level three coaching qualification in the winter, he will now monitor the young players in the Western Australia squad. Ryan Duffield collected three wickets on debut against Victoria, but Noffke’s departure adds to the list of missing fast bowlers in the state. Brad Knowles is out for the entire campaign with a knee injury and Steve Magoffin is also unfit, while Brett Dorey is coming back slowly from an Achilles problem.

Match facts

Friday, September 24
Start time 1730 (1530 GMT)Michael Hussey and M Vijay have given Chennai two solid starts in two matches•AFP

Big Picture

The Champions League Twenty20 may not have the massive following that its more glamorous sibling, the IPL, has but it is clear the players consider it an important tournament. Several incidents highlighted how desperate they are to win it: the dejection on Virat Kohli’s face as he sat on his haunches mid-pitch in Durban after a revelatory innings which nearly pulled off a heist against Mumbai Indians; and the ever-smiling Muttiah Muralitharan’s broadside at S Badrinath for a less-than-perfect piece of fielding when Warriors were threatening to dump Chennai Super Kings out of the competition.Perhaps the people happiest with the results over the two days will be the organisers, with two of the IPL teams making it through to the semi-finals and one of them guaranteed a place in the final, ensuring a higher number of eye-balls than if non-Indian teams had qualified.Chennai have the bragging rights after winning this year’s IPL, but Royal Challengers Bangalore can have something to boast about if they upstage MS Dhoni’s men on Friday. The two sides have already met in the semi-final of a tournament in South Africa – in the 2009 IPL, when Bangalore eased to a six-wicket victory.Both have had stop-start league phases, but they will take heart from the fact that their best seasons in the IPL also came after campaigns that started off poorly. Both possess formidable batting line-ups, and their main difference lies in the nature of their bowling attack – Chennai have plenty of spinners, while Bangalore rely heavily on quick bowlers.The two sides also missed key South African allrounders in their final league matches – Jacques Kallis is out of the tournament with a neck injury, while Albie Morkel has been out for two matches due to an illness. Kallis’ absence has upset Bangalore’s balance, and Chennai will have even more of an advantage if Morkel recovers from his illness in time.The overall head-to-head record – Bangalore winning four to Chennai’s three – shows how competitive the rivalry between the two sides has been. Friday’s semi-final promises to live up to that.

Team news

Chennai packed their bowling with spinners for their match against Warriors in Port Elizabeth, but that strategy might not work in Durban where the track has been less helpful for the slow bowlers. That means they might consider picking one of either L Balaji or Joginder Sharma in place of Shadab Jakati.Chennai Super Kings (probable): 1 M Vijay, 2 Michael Hussey, 3 Suresh Raina, 4 S Badrinath, 5 MS Dhoni (capt. & wk), 6 S Anirudha, 7 Albie Morkel / Justin Kemp, 8 Doug Bollinger, 9 R Ashwin, 10 Muttiah Muralitharan, 11 L Balaji/ Joginder Sharma.Bangalore are unlikely to make too many changes to their line-up that beat Lions on Tuesday. That they have only one recognised spinner in Anil Kumble is a drawback. They do have Cameron White in the line-up, who once played as a specialist Test legspinner, but he has bowled only one over in Twenty20s in his previous 37 matches.Royal Challengers Bangalore: (probable) 1 Manish Pandey, 2 Rahul Dravid, 3 Robin Uthappa (wk), 4 Ross Taylor, 5 Cameron White, 6 Virat Kohli, 7 Dillon du Preez, 8 Praveen Kumar, 9 Dale Steyn, 10 Anil Kumble (capt), 11 R Vinay Kumar

Watch out for …

Ross Taylor was a part of three teams which qualified for the Champions League, but he hasn’t yet shown the form that has made him such a coveted Twenty20 player. The semi-final presents a chance for the world’s leading six-hitter in Twenty20s to make the impact expected of him.Another big-name player who has had a quiet tournament so far is Dhoni. A late onslaught against Warriors showed glimpses of what he is capable of, but Chennai will be hoping for more from their captain on Friday.

Key contests

Murali v Bangalore middle-order The constricting spin of Murali, bowling from around the stumps and choking the batsman for room, has been effective all tournament. Bangalore, though, possess a bunch of lethal hitters in the middle-order who could prove hard to contain.Kumars v Chennai openers M Vijay and Michael Hussey have provided Chennai with solid starts in both the matches they have opened together, giving the likes of Suresh Raina and MS Dhoni the license to go for the big hits. Vinay Kumar and Praveen Kumar could face a stern test.

Quotes

“Your plans have to be very fluid in this format.”
“The spinners have done the job for us so far. Hopefully, on the Durban pitch, the fast bowlers will do well for the team.”
MS Dhoni

India are considering playing an extra batsman in Saturday’s final following a slew of collapses in the tri-series. MS Dhoni said at the pre-match press conference that they were toying with the idea of picking a specialist batsman in place of the struggling Ravindra Jadeja.”If we feel the wicket is dry and not hard then Jadeja will get a spot,” Dhoni said, “but if we feel it won’t help the spinners and we feel like playing an extra batsman then Jadeja will have to miss.”Allrounder Jadeja has been the preferred option at No. 7 for the past couple of months, but he has not contributed much with the bat on the difficult Dambulla tracks either in the Asia Cup or the current tri-series. The absence of Harbhajan Singh and Zaheer Khan, both of whom are capable batsmen, has weakened India’s ability to resist down the order when the specialists fail.”In this tournament the lower order looks completely different because you don’t have Harbhajan Singh who bats at No.8 and you don’t have Zaheer Khan who bats at nine,” Dhoni said. “They are two batsmen who can score a few runs. When it comes to the four batsmen who we have right now… they have not been able to score, but it won’t be justified to put the blame on them because they are in the side for their bowling and they are doing that job.”Virender Sehwag has been the architect of both of India’s victories in this tournament, scoring nearly as much as the rest of the team. “I don’t want to put pressure on Sehwag since he is a free-flowing cricketer,” Dhoni said. “He is a natural aggressive cricketer. So he should back himself and bat the way he bats.”India reached the final after their pumped-up quick bowlers demolished New Zealand’s batting on Wednesday. “Last game there was lot of intensity and we are hoping that in tomorrow’s match also there is enough intensity,” Dhoni said. “First 15 overs and last 10-12 overs and Powerplay is important. In the middle if the intensity drops down a bit it is okay but at the start of the game it sets up the tone for the whole match.”Right through the tournament, Dhoni has stressed on the need to give the opposition bowlers respect in the initial stages of the innings. “I think this has been a series of ups and down not only for our batsman but for all the three teams that have participated. The new ball spell has been important. It will be crucial not too lose too many wickets early. How you do that is not important, whether it looks good or doesn’t.”On Saturday, Dhoni will be looking to win his fifth successive one-day series in Sri Lanka as captain. Calling correctly at the toss helps. “We have won many tosses; in the series before the Asia Cup when we had come to Sri Lanka, at the Premadasa, we won four tosses out of five,” he said. “Before it we had played the initial part of a series in Dambulla, where again we won several tosses. In this tournament we have seen that the toss is not the factor like in the earlier series.”

The days of overseas players in English domestic cricket forming lasting links with their county and become part of the club’s fabric are long gone. There are still some who return year after year, but nowadays it’s almost impossible to keep up with the comings and goings. Taking it to the extreme is Dwayne Bravo, who has jetted in to join Essex for Friends Provident t20 finals day and whose stay with the club could last one match.It is a product of the Twenty20 game where clubs are desperate to attract big-name signings to help their push for success and it’s no surprise that talk of freelance cricketers is becoming stronger. Although Bravo is still fully committed to international cricket it is another example of a player who is willing to hire out his services to any team that wants them around the world. He may need reminding about a few of his new team-mates names on Saturday.”I’m really excited to be over here and it’s nice to play for a team I’ve watched over the years,” he told Cricinfo. “It’s becoming quite normal for cricketers to play for a lot of teams all over the world so it won’t be a problem slotting into a new dressing room. There are some new faces, but a lot of the guys I know and have played against before.”Essex searched for an allrounder after injuries to Graham Napier and Ryan ten Doeschate, two key figures in their Twenty20 success over the years, and Bravo will add to a strong batting line-up that includes Ravi Bopara, Mark Pettini and Alastair Cook – who has been released from England duty.Despite the fleeting nature of his visit this time Bravo, who played for Kent in 2006, would like another opportunity in English cricket although knows the packed international calender will make it difficult for him to find a window.”If the chance came up I’d love another go,” he said. “But there’s a lot of international cricket these days and it’s hard to find the time. County cricket is something a lot of players say has improved their game so it would be good to have a longer spell.”The four teams at Finals Day this year – Essex are joined by Nottinghamshire, Somerset and Hampshire – know they are playing without the prize of a Champions League spot for the two who make the final. The global club tournament, which takes place in South Africa next month, won’t include a county after the dates clashed with the end of the domestic season and the situation has led to tension around the shires.Bravo, though, is already heading to the event as part of Mumbai Indians, another of the group of teams he now turns out for. He has also recently completed the Caribbean T20 tournament with Trinidad and Tobago, where he made 116 runs in three innings and took six wickets with an economy rate under six, so brings some form to Essex and hopes to maintain that heading into South Africa.”I’m feeling good, it went well in the [Caribbean] T20 where I got some runs and wickets. The standard was good and I was satisfied with how it was run. For me the more cricket I play the better and Essex is another challenge for me followed by the Champions League.”Although Bravo is keen to play as much as possible the issue of workload is never far away as demands on the top players continues to climb, both on the international stage and with extra Twenty20 events such as the IPL and Champions League. Bravo, though, doesn’t believe it has reached breaking point.”It’s all about managing your time and body properly,” he said. “Yes, there is a lot of cricket but if you look after yourself you should be okay.” Dwayne Bravo will be playing for Essex Eagles on Friends Provident t20 Finals Day. For more information on Friends Provident’s pensions, protection and investment products visit www.friendsprovident.com

Alastair Cook is confident of taking part in England’s Test series against Pakistan after recovering from the back injury that kept him out of most of the England Lions fixtures in their recent tri-series against A sides from India and West Indies. But the left-handed opening batsman conceded that the problem may require further treatment and surgery in the future.”There is a possibility that I may need surgery in the future, but it’s not high at the moment and I was fully fit to play in the final,” said Cook, who returned for the final of the series against India A after missing three games. “If it [the back] stays like this, I’ll be fully fit and I won’t need surgery in the future.”I’ll also definitely be fit for the series with Pakistan unless something drastic happens and I’ll now go and play Twenty20 and four-day cricket for Essex.”Cook previously suffered back problems on England’s tour of South Africa last year when he was pulled out of the one-day squad mid-way through the series. It was diagnosed as a bulging disc and at the time Cook said it was something he would need to manage, but recovered to take part in the Test matches.”My back is obviously a little bit frustrating but hopefully I’ve just turned the corner on that. Hopefully, with the treatment I’ve just had, it works.”It is something I’m having to manage at the moment. I don’t think it will be ongoing forever. Whilst we know what it is, we are just trying to sort it out and try and make sure I can carry on playing as well.”The first Test between England and Pakistan, which takes place at Trent Bridge, starts on July 29. Essex have five Friends Provident t20 fixtures in the interim, as well as a home County Championship game against Yorkshire and a Clydesdale Bank 40 engagement against Northamptonshire.

ScorecardMatt Prior issued a powerful message to the England selectors as reigning champions Sussex beat Gloucestershire by seven wickets to strengthen their position at the top of the Friends Provident t20 Southern Division.Left out of England’s 13-man one-day international squad earlier this week, Prior smashed an unbeaten 90 from 49 balls to help the reigning champions chase down a victory target of 167 with more than four overs to spare as county cricket returned to Gloucester’s Kings School for the first time since 2008.Chris Taylor top-scored with 35 for Gloucestershire, yet their total of 166 for eight was never likely to deter a batting line-up ideally equipped to take advantage of the Archdeacon Meadow boundaries. Sussex effectively had the game in the bag after amassing 71 runs during the Powerplay for the loss of Brendan McCullum.Brash and brutal in equal measure, New Zealander McCullum gave the reply early impetus, crashing 22 runs off 10 balls and striking three fours and a six to confirm his reputation as a bruiser of Twenty20 new ball bowling. Thereafter, Prior took centre stage, his 50 occupying just 28 balls and sending a timely reminder to the selectors, who preferred Somerset’s Craig Kieswetter for the one-day international series against Australia and the match against Scotland.Aggressive from the outset, the South African-born 28-year-old clearly had a point to prove, smashing three sixes and 11 fours and sharing in stands of 39, 69 and 60 with McCullum, Murray Goodwin and Michael Yardy respectively to render a fourth straight victory a formality for the Sharks.Gloucestershire came out of the traps with all guns blazing, the all-left-handed pairing of James Franklin and Will Porterfield raising 32 in just three overs in a manner which suggested Sussex skipper Yardy had perhaps made the wrong decision after opting to bowl first on an unfamiliar ground.Anything short of a length was unceremoniously pulled for four, while Irish international Porterfield greeted England World Twenty20 winner Luke Wright by lifting him over square leg for the first six of the match. Adept at strangling the life out of opponents, Sussex refused to panic, readjusted their length and slowly but surely regained control, removing the dashing Porterfield and skipper Alex Gidman in successive overs.Porterfield wafted at James Kirtley’s first delivery and was caught at short third man for 18 and Gidman played a false shot across the line and surrendered his off stump to Wright as Gloucestershire reached the end of the six-over Powerplay on 49 for 2.England one-day international Yardy then turned the screw, persuading Franklin to hit to short mid-wicket for 26, to further reduce the home side. The innings was in need of fresh impetus, but the defending champions know a thing or two about restricting batsmen and Hamish Marshall, frustrated at being tied down, was bowled for 17 attempting to smear Chris Nash over cow corner as Gloucestershire listed to 88 for 4 in the 12th over.Constantly varying his pace and flight, slow left armer Yardy proved especially difficult to get away and his four-over spell of one for 18 confirmed the impression the visitors were in the ascendancy. Gloucestershire urgently required a response and Taylor met the demands of the day in thrilling fashion, slog-sweeping Nash and Kirtley for handsome sixes to get the scoreboard moving again.By the time he was caught in the deep to become Wright’s second victim, he had harvested 35 from 21 balls and shared in a progressive stand of 37 with Kadeer Ali for the fifth wicket. Ian Butler adopted long-handle tactics to bludgeon 19 from nine balls and Kadeer finished unbeaten on 24 to at least carry his side to a respectable total.

Frank Duckworth and Tony Lewis, the inventors of what is widely regarded as the best available system to set revised targets in shortened limited-overs games, have been awarded the MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire).The Duckworth-Lewis method was first used in international cricket in 1997 and formally adopted by the ICC as the standard method for setting revised targets in truncated games in 2001. The complicated method, which also rewards the fielding side for taking wickets, has been a subject of controversy, most recently in the World Twenty20. Paul Collingwood, the England captain, complained of the revised target – 60 in six overs – set for West Indies after a rain delay as undermining a strong performance with the bat from his own team, which posted 191.There have been instances of teams miscalculating their revised targets, most famously in Durban during the 2003 World Cup when South Africa fatally erred, thinking they had secured a win when Mark Boucher hit a six off Muttiah Muralitharan. In fact they had only levelled the revised score at that stage before rain intervened, leading to their exit from the tournament.The method, however, has survived the test of time and the pair responsible for its creation was thrilled its contribution had been recognised. “I hope this award demonstrates to the outside world that the country believes we have made a useful contribution to the game – a lot of people haven’t actually realised we are actual people,” Duckworth said.Lewis added: “I was thrilled to get the news and it’s very satisfying that our solution to the rain-interruption problem on one-day cricket has been recognised in this way.”The system has also made its way into pop culture, with a band and its album of cricket songs going by the name ‘The Duckworth-Lewis method.’

Waqar Younis, the Pakistan coach, has echoed captain Shahid Afridi’s call for the inclusion of young talent for the upcoming Asia Cup and the tour of England. The squad for the Asia Cup is expected to be announced on Thursday, and Waqar said a rotation policy had to be put in place to try out new players in a packed schedule for Pakistan in the next few months.”We are starting a hectic period with the Asia Cup but I think the England tour is very important for the team, where we need to adopt a rotation policy and I think some new players will come into the fray,” Waqar told reporters in Lahore. “I think the objective behind naming a number of youngsters is to encourage them and it is important that players be rotated because we have a series against South Africa in October-November this year as well.”Waqar backed Afridi as captain for the Tests, even though he hasn’t led Pakistan in the format. “Afridi has not led Pakistan in Tests before,” Waqar said. “But he conducted himself well in the World Twenty20 and unity and fighting spirit would be the key to success and he can achieve both from the team.”Waqar added Pakistan needed the services of Mohammad Yousuf, but admitted he couldn’t be forced out of retirement. Yousuf quit international cricket following an indefinite ban imposed on him by the PCB. “Yousuf seems to be adamant on his retirement and although we need him for Tests, we cannot force him out of retirement,” Waqar said.Pakistan have also included Younis Khan and Shoaib Malik, two players penalised by the PCB in the aftermath of a winless tour of Australia, as well as Shoaib Akhtar in a preliminary squad of 35 for Asia Cup and the tour of England.

Sir Viv Richards believes that next week’s ICC World Twenty20 will provide Caribbean cricket the perfect opportunity to lay the ghosts of the 2007 World Cup, and he is optimistic that the lessons learnt both at the IPL and by Trinidad & Tobago during their successful run in last year’s Champions League Twenty20 will give West Indies an excellent chance of progressing in the tournament.”It’s a great opportunity to make some amends for the hiccup that we had during the World Cup that was held in the region,” Richards told Cricinfo. “It was a disaster in my opinion, there were so many things that went wrong, but you don’t want to look back too much. We have an opportunity to move forward now with this new exciting format, and the support in the West Indies will be passionate enough for the world to enjoy.”The 2007 tournament was a crushing disappointment on almost every conceivable level. The ICC’s draconian regulations led to a clampdown on musical instruments and other factors that have made West Indian cricket so vibrant over the years, while the ticket prices were simply too steep too allow any significant levels of local support.The death of Pakistan’s coach, Bob Woolmer, during the early weeks of the tournament cast a further pall over the self-styled “carnival of cricket”, while the early exit of such big-name teams as India and Pakistan took much of the anticipation out of the protracted latter stages of the competition, which was eventually won by Australia in a farcical finish in near-darkness.This time, however, Richards expects a rich fortnight of entertainment in a compact schedule across three venues in Guyana, St Lucia and Barbados. “It’s going to have much more of a Caribbean flavour this time and rightly so,” he said. “I definitely know the tickets will be much more affordable, so that will lead to more relaxed individuals. This is a trial to see how much we’ve learned from last time.”Guyana was one of the venues that came in for some criticism in 2007, with much of the area outside the purpose-built stadium still awaiting completion come the start of the competition. But three years later, Richards is confident they’ll put up a good show on behalf of the region. “They wouldn’t put it on the agenda if it wasn’t ready,” he said. “They are a passionate cricket-loving nation and they always attract good crowds, which is one of the reasons why they were chosen.”Richards’ own island of Antigua will not be hosting any games, however, but such is the lure of Twenty20 cricket, he was sure that there would be plenty interest in the tournament , especially given how much Sir Allen Stanford’s involvement ramped up the profile of the game’s newest format. And he also believed that the West Indies team would respond to the home expectations.”There is excitement in Antigua,” he said. “Remember the attendances we got for the Stanford 20/20. That was even before the IPL, and it was a real success, with big crowds throughout. Our grounds may not be as huge as the grounds in India, but they were a credit to our island. And for that US$20million purse [against England], the professionalism that the team showed proved that they can be successful. With this shortened version they can go places.”One team that has shown the potential of Caribbean cricket in recent times is Trinidad & Tobago, who were the surprise package of the inaugural Champions Trophy in India last year. With passion and panache, and stars such as Kieron Pollard and Ravi Rampaul, they made it all the way to the final of the competition, before losing to New South Wales, spearheaded by a pumped-up Brett Lee.”Trinidad were great representatives of the region, and it shows the region can compete at the very highest level,” said Richards. “That performance was a huge success, not just for Trinidad but the whole Caribbean region. For any young guys who saw that, it’s the sort of motivation they need to gain confidence, to believe that they can also be part of that success.”With the way things are in the world at the moment, it’s good for this tournament to be held in the Caribbean,” said Richards. “When a team goes away from home in soccer, when they get a draw they feel happy about themselves. But now West Indies are at home, with the public behind them, and lots of experience gained in India at the IPL, I’m sure they can be competitive.”Sir Viv Richards is a Johnnie Walker Responsible Drinking Ambassador and is part of a global “Walk with Giants” program, with the message: ‘Be a giant, and don’t drink and drive’