CA Defends BCCI After Channel 7's Attack in Court

Cricket Australia (CA) has rebuked its official broadcast partner, Channel 7, for claiming that the board wilted under the might of Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) while decided the schedule of international cricket in its home season.

The dispute between CA and Seven West Media, the parent company of Channel 7, arose due to an affidavit filed by the latter against the cricket's top governing body in Australia. As per this affidavit, Channel 7 claimed that CA altered the schedule of Australia's home season to suit the convenience of BCCI, as a result hurting the interests of the broadcasters and violating the agreements between the two parties.

But now, Nick Hockley, CEO of CA, has hit back at these allegations through his latest statement. "With so much positivity around Australian cricket, it is disappointing that Seven West Media has again chosen to use the media to talk our wonderful game down," Hockley was quoted as saying by cricket.com.au.

"CA has maintained all along our commitment to delivering a thrilling summer of cricket. I'm proud to say we are doing just that. We remain confident in our contractual position," he added.

In fact, the CEO went one step further and countered Channel 7's claim of his organisation being 'terrified' of BCCI by thanking the Indian board.

"In the most challenging environment sport has faced, with the support of our friends at the BCCI, CA has ensured that the much-anticipated series with India can go ahead safely."

This latest dispute between CA and the official broadcasters of the cricket it hosts has, ironically, come at a time when the first two ODIs of the three-match series has earned record viewership. Still, Channel 7 feels that the Australian summer ought to have begun with the day-night Test instead of the ODI series.

Channel 7's association with CA in its present capacity as the main broadcasters began in 2018 after it replaced Channel 9 after the latter's nearly four decade long stint as broadcasters of cricket played in Australia. With every cricket board around the world, a series involving India is most valuable and brings in higher revenues than other tours.

This makes it even more surprising that Channel 7 has decided to take the matter to court. India had last toured Australia for a full series two seasons ago where it played four Tests, three ODIs and three T20Is. The same number of games in all formats are being played this time too.

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State bodies prefer Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 trophy over Ranji Trophy

Most of the state cricket associations have preferred to play a Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy instead of a Ranji Trophy in a curtailed season that the Board of Control for Cricket in India is planning. The answer came in replies to the letter by the General Secretary of BCCI, Jay Shah, in which he has asked the preference of the state bodies regarding the upcoming season, which would be a shorter one than the usual domestic season due to the covid-19 outbreak in the country. "The pandemic is a definite matter of concern since the king term effects of the disease are still not clear. You don't want the players to be exposed to this,” a state board official citing anonymity told ANI as to why the states have chosen T20 instead of the traditional first-class tournament. "The T20 format gives you the option of a smaller window in time and therefore is the preferred format in these circumstances if a tournament is indeed conducted,” he added. In the mail that the BCCI had sent to state associations, it had asked the state bodies to choose between the four options which were: Option A- only Ranji Option B - only Syed Mushtaq Ali Option C- both Ranji and Mushtaq Ali Option D - Syed Mushtaq Ali and Vijay Hazare (50 overs). Saying that the preparations are going on for the upcoming season, the Sec. also informed that BCCI would be preparing six Bio-Secure hubs and each hub would have one group as six groups would be created in total. "The BCCI will have to create a total of six bio-secure hubs across the country. The 38 teams will be divided into five elite groups and one plate group. The elite groups will consist of six teams each while the plate group will have eight teams. Each BCCI hub will have a minimum of three venues which are broadcast (digital) friendly," the letter read.

I back Kohli’s comments on Rohit injury: CAC chief Madan Lal

Chief of Cricket Advisory Committee, an independent agency set up by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for appointing selectors and coaches of the Indian teams, Madan Lal has backed Indian captain Virat Kohli on the matter of Rohit Sharma’s injury. Lal, a former World Cup-winning team member from the 1983 World Cup believes that skipper and coach must be kept in the loop regarding any players’ injury. “Whatever Virat Kohli said in his press conference that is absolutely correct, I back him for the same because clarity with the captain is a must as the leader runs the team. Both coach and captain should be aware of what is happening with their players,” Lal was quoted as saying in TOI. Speaking about Rohit’s injury, the 69-year-old said that that the kind of communication right now happening in the team is not ideal. “Only Rohit or his franchise (Mumbai Indians) can answer why he played for the franchise when he was just 70 percent fit. I think that communication in the team should be on a good level. The kind of communication which is required is not happening, there should be clarity regarding what is happening,” Lal said. Saying that last time around, India was benefitted because of David Warner and Steve Smith not playing, which have been exposed with its bowling lineup. He also suggested what can be done to avoid the hammering that the Indian bowlers have been receiving. “Wicket-to-wicket bowling should be done in my point of view but at this time, the problem is that Indian bowlers are struggling to take wickets early on. We are also not fielding well and that is not ideal as the bowlers always need the support of their fielders,” he added.

Son, I Was Scoring 100s Before You Were Born: Afridi Lashes Out in LPL

A very ugly exchange of words took place in the ongoing Lanka Premier League (LPL). The players involved in the spat, or the spats, since their were two such instances, were Pakistani legend Shahid Afridi, the same country's pacer Mohammed Amir, and young Afghan seamer Naveen ul Haq. During the sixth match of the league, featuring Kandy Tuskers and Galle Gladiators. The first altercation happened during the 18th over of the second innings of the match. In an over where a boundary was hit by Amir off Naveen, the latter seemed to use some salty language against the former. Then, just after the end of the match when Naveen, representing Tuskers, got into a heated exchange of words with Amir, playing for the other side. Even the teammates of the 21-year old Afghan, including former Indian pacer Munaf Patel, tried to desist him from continuing his barrage, but the youngster didn't heed the advice. The second part of the drama happened immediately after that when the players of the two teams were shaking hands. When Afridi, playing in the same team as his compatriot Amir, came face-to-face with Naveen, he seemingly asked the youngster what happened. The reply of Naveen was, apparently, so disrespectful that Afridi had to remind the Afghan player how senior he is. "Son, I was scoring 100s in international cricket before you were born," the man known as Boom Boom Afridi reportedly told the younger man. The video and pictures of the incident are circulating on Twitter. People on the social media site seem to be unimpressed by the actions of Naveen and are telling him to be more respectful. As far as the match is concerned, Tuskers came out on top, beating Gladiators by 25 runs. Danushka Gunathilkaka scored 82 off 53 balls to take his team to a total of 197. In reply Gladiators could only get to 172.

Shahrukh Khan, Knight Riders bet big on USA-based Major Cricket League

Taking its ambitions to take the game into different parts of the world, the Knight Riders Groups which is owned by Sharukh Khan and Juhi Chawla among others have decided to invest in the Major League Cricket (MLC) that is scheduled to take off in 2022. The investment by the group will enable USA Cricket in running a league comprising six teams. The investment in the MLC will be the third strategic investment by the group in the game as it also knows the Kolkata Knight Riders franchise in the Indian Premier League along with the Trinidad Knight Riders in the Caribbean Premier League. The CEO of KKR, Venky Mysore said that the group was keen on the prospect of the development of Cricket in the United States and that the latest investment is an extension of its plans for global expansion of the game. He also heaped optimism that the experience of running two franchises in the two different leagues will help the group in playing a ‘broader role’ for the success of the Major Cricket League. “We feel fortunate to have been consistently recognized as one of the best franchises in T20 cricket and have become one of the fastest-growing sports brands in the world. As T20 cricket expands internationally, we are flattered by the regular inbound requests to play a major role in growing the sport abroad. We have had a keen interest in the developments in the United States and our expansion into the U.S. is consistent with our long-term strategy. We look forward to the new challenge of building cricket in the world’s most sophisticated sports and media market and we believe that we can bring a huge amount of expertise to help make Major League Cricket realize the potential that it undoubtedly has,” Mysore said. Shahrukh Khan said that the expansion of the Knight Riders brand has always been the agenda paramount for the group and they have been watching the potential of UAS as a market for the development of a T20 league. Sharukh, too, said that the MLC holds great potential for the future of Cricket in the US and he also emphasized the role the Knight Riders group will play for its success. “For several years now, we have been expanding the Knight Riders brand globally and closely watching the potential for T20 cricket in the USA. We are convinced that Major League Cricket has all the pieces in place to execute on its plans and we look forward to making our partnership an enormous success in the coming years,” Sharukh Khan said. The MLC was scheduled to take off in 2021 but now has been delayed to 2022 due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. The USA Cricket had made its intentions clear back in 2018 about the league and had asked for the Request of Proposal. "This is an exciting time for cricket in the United States with the formation of our new Board of Directors, USA Cricket's pending recognition as an ICC approved National Federation and the performance of our athletes on the field of play," This RFP continues on the positive momentum as we seek to build a successful and sustainable league domestically,” USA Cricket chairman Paraag Marathe had said in 2021.