All posts by csb10.top

IntroIt was only a few weeks ago that Scotland scraped through by the skin of their teeth to retain their ODI status in the ICC World Cup Qualifiers in South Africa. They had a remarkably poor tournament, failing to qualify for the 2011 event, and only thanks to Gavin Hamilton’s consistency did they manage to hold onto the lucrative ODI status. They enter this much higher-profile tournament in fairly shambolic fashion, after losing their main sponsor, Lloyds TSB, which preceded Ryan Watson’s resignation as captain.It got worse, too. On the eve of the ICC World Twenty20 warm-ups, the newly installed skipper, Gavin Hamilton, had a verbal bust-up with John Blain, one of his most experienced bowlers, who then walked out on the side. This was hardly ideal preparation yet, as ever, Scotland somehow dug deep against England to produce the sort of gritty performance they were becoming renowned for.Paul Collingwood for one was impressed with Scotland’s performance, in which Colin Smith top-scored with 45, while Majid Haq conceded just 19 with his very tidy offspin. These were promising signs of a side able to rise to the occasion in spite of their off-field travails, and in spite of their minnow status, Scotland will never appear timid or overawed by the occasion. Scottish fans shouldn’t get too excited, nor their opponents too concerned. They are gritty fighters, and the shortest of formats does increase the chances of an unlikely upset against a snoozing Full Member, but realistically they are shorn of explosive hitters and will struggle against better Twenty20 teams than England. This, as ever, is all about exposure to a higher level and intensity of international cricket.StrengthsA mostly fit and athletic side. The oft maligned Majid Haq used to resemble Ramesh Powar in bulk but has cut down his weight, though Ryan Watson, the former captain, is still a little on the hefty side. Gavin Hamilton, Kyle Coetzer (who has benefited hugely by playing for Durham) and Neal McCallum all offer ballast and bolshy hitting, while Haq’s offspin and a solid seam-attack should keep things relatively tight.WeaknessesA lack of experience is their main, glaring problem. They have only played six Twenty20s, and only two of those were against Full Member nations (losing one; the other was washed out). The majority of the side are amateurs, doing fairly regular 9-5 jobs, playing club cricket against mediocre opposition when they can. The gap in class between that, and playing internationals, is vast.X FactorHamilton has the ability to produce an extraordinary knock if bowlers stray onto his legs, and McCallum can hit the ball miles, but much depends on whether their opponents have a really, really bad day. This is not very likely.Key playersHamilton is their best batsmen by a furlong, and although Craig Wright is nearing the end of his career, his experience with bat and ball offers stability.Form guideJust six Twenty20 internationals for Scotland. They were poor in the recent ICC World Cup Qualifiers in South Africa, and lost seven out of eight matches in this year’s Friends Provident Trophy.SquadGavin Hamilton (capt), Richie Berrington, Kyle Coetzer, Gordon Drummond, Majid Haq, Neil McCallum, Calum Macleod, Dewald Nel, Navdeep Poonia, Glenn Rogers, Colin Smith (wk), Jan Stander, Ryan Watson, Fraser Watts, Craig Wright, John Blain

Match facts

April 27, 2009
Start time 3pm (11.00GMT)Pakistan will look to Salman Butt for a strong platform in Abu Dhabi•Associated Press

Big Picture

A committed Australia hit back to level the series on Friday and show they would not be swept aside by Pakistan’s crafty spin. While Shahid Afridi starred again with both disciplines, the performance of Andrew Symonds, who struck a half-century and two blows with the ball, gave Michael Clarke’s team a big boost after the allrounder’s troubles on and off the field over the past year.After Symonds’ innings the Australians were able to cruise to an important victory by six wickets, which moved them alongside their opponents, who were more professional in the opening match in Dubai on Wednesday. Abu Dhabi hosts the final three encounters of the tight series that is testing the progress of both sides as they peer towards the World Twenty20 in June.

Form guide (last five ODIs, most recent first)

Pakistan LWLLW
Australia WLWLL

Watch out for

Andrew Symonds displayed good form with the bat for the first time in a long time during his 58 on Friday, an innings which was a relief to him and his supporters. More strong showings in the final three games will help seal his passage to England.Salman Butt was lucky to survive after his awful mix-up with Ahmed Shehzad in the third over on Friday, but he stayed calm following his reprieve and moved to a useful half-century. With Pakistan’s batting not going as well as their bowling, Butt has an important job at the top of the order in setting up the side for a match-winning total.

Team news

Clarke called Australia’s performance on Friday “brilliant” so don’t expect too many changes to the line-up. James Hopes fitted in well at opener and Doug Bollinger was tight in his maiden ODI. Stuart Clark and Ben Hilfenhaus are also in the squad so one of them may come in for the young Ben Laughlin.Australia (possible) 1 Brad Haddin (wk), 2 James Hopes, 3 Shane Watson, 4 Michael Clarke (capt), 5 Andrew Symonds, 6 Callum Ferguson, 7 David Hussey, 8 Nathan Hauritz, 9 Stuart Clark, 10 Nathan Bracken, 11 Doug Bollinger.Pakistan’s batting continued to contain rust on Friday as they were dismissed in the 47th over and some tinkering to the line-up could occur. Shehzad, the 17-year-old opener, will be keen for another chance after his unfortunate run-out for 4 on debut.Pakistan (possible) 1 Salman Butt, 2 Ahmed Shehzad, 3 Younis Khan (capt), 4 Shoaib Malik, 5 Misbah-ul-Haq, 6 Shahid Afridi, 7 Kamran Akmal (wk), 8 Umar Gul, 9 Shoaib Akhtar, 10 Iftikhar Anjum, 11 Saeed Ajmal.

Pitch and conditions

Abu Dhabi is about 125km south-west of Dubai and its ground is the Sheikh Zayed Stadium. The forecast for Monday is a warm, clear day with a maximum of 37C.

Stats and Trivia

• Symonds’ half-century on Friday was only his fourth in state and international cricket since the beginning of 2008-09
• Afridi picked up his 250th ODI wicket in Dubai and has eight victims in two matches
• Australia’s win in game two took their record for the year to six wins in 17 matches

Quotes

“Now we’ve had a win and hopefully we can start getting a bit of a roll on from here. We’ve spoken about the amount of games we’ve failed to win in the last little bit, so hopefully from here we can continue to improve. We’ve got things we can work on but [Friday] was not a bad effort from us.”
“We knew that Australia would come down hard on us, they were our fears.”

England’s turbulent tour of the Caribbean had a happy ending in St Lucia where they clinched the one-day series 3-2 with a 26-run victory against West Indies. They bounced back admirably after trailing 1-2 in the contest and captain Andrew Strauss said he was “delighted” with how his team “handled the pressure”.”It has been a long, hard tour and to come out at the end with something is pretty special,” Strauss said. “I’m delighted. We played really well and handled the pressure well. Given that we lost the Test series, the one-day series is very important to us.”The star of England’s victory was Andrew Flintoff who took his first international hat-trick, the third by an England bowler in ODIs. “Freddie has had a tough tour – he’s been injured a couple of times, but he showed his quality today,” Strauss said. “That is why he is one of the best bowlers in the world – because under pressure he can deliver.”Flintoff was the Man of the Match for his spell of 5 for 19, his best in ODIs, which helped England dismiss West Indies for 146 in 28 overs. “It’s been an on and off winter for me and I’ve had a few injuries, but it’s for nights like this that you do come back,” Flintoff said. “To finish with a win for the team and also have a personal performance in there as well is very pleasing.”I’ve not been quite at my best – a few runs wouldn’t go amiss. I’ve been working hard on my batting – I hope a score is just around the corner. We can go back home now and look ahead to what we’ve got over the next few months and get a bit of momentum for the summer.”

A 128-run for the ninth wicket between wicketkeeper Chadwick Walton and Kevin McClean, and a good bowling display, put Combined Campuses and Colleges firmly on top against Barbados in Bridgetown. Barbados were struggling at 167 for 7 at stumps on the third day after spinners Ryan Austin, Anderson Sealy and Kavesh Kantasingh took five wickets between them. The home team are just 25 ahead with three wickets in hand – only Dwayne Smith offered some resistance with a fighting 87 – and with a day left, CCC, who have won twice this season, are the favourites. Barbados had fought well on the third day, capturing eight wickets and limiting CCC’s overnight lead to 36 but they were denied by Walton (87) and Mclean (50 not out). Ryan Hinds took 6 for 89 for Barbados but his efforts were undone by a hapless batting performance.Jamaica, who have already won the competition, held the edge against Guyana in a closely contested match in Montego Bay, extending their lead to 296 at stumps with three wickets remaining. Their bowlers did an admirable job in the morning session to run through the Guyana tail, taking four wickets for 40 to bowl them out for 308 and secure a lead of 81. Medium-pacer David Bernard (4-85) and legspinner Gavin Wallace (3 for 39) bagged two wickets each before lunch to hand their team the advantage. However, Jamaica faltered in their second innings after a solid start, as spinners Davendra Bishoo and Veerasammy Permaul shared five wickets to put them under pressure. At one stage, Jamaica slumped from 95 for one to 159 for six, but Brendan Nash (40 not out) and Daren Powell (27) eased the nerves by adding 48.Trinidad and Tobago retained control of their contest against Leeward Islands in Anguilla, despite a career-best 5 for 88 by fast bowler Bront Defreitas. The brothers Ganga were the stars as first Daren shephered the innings with an unbeaten 96 and then Sherwin bagged two wickets at the death to leave Leewards struggling at 142 for 4, only 12 runs ahead. Defreitas had helped Leewards claw back into the match after T&T were sitting pretty at 292 for 3 overnight. But Daren Ganga stayed firm and held one end together to help his team secure a sizeable 130-run lead. Leeward responded well initially; Keiran Powell (40) and Runako Morton (72) made useful contributions. But a double-burst from Sherwin Ganga in a space of five runs meant T&T remained the favourites for a win going into the fourth day.

The New Zealand board has declined an Indian broadcaster’s request to start the Test in Hamilton at noon instead of the traditional 11am after discussions with the teams and match officials. Multi Screen Media Pvt Ltd (formerly Sony Entertainment Television) had approached New Zealand Cricket with the request as it wants to maximise its viewership in India. If the start had been pushed back, the Test would have begun at 4.30 am in India, as opposed to 3.30 am.The starting times for the second and third Tests, to be played in Napier and Wellington, haven’t been finalised yet.New Zealand Cricket chief executive Justin Vaughan was quoted by the as saying negotiations with the Indian board and Sony led to a “very amicable outcome”. He said Test start times were normally set in concrete months ago but there had been a recent change in leadership at Sony and with it some new ideas on the table.”Sony had wanted better time slots broadcast back into India and we want to keep them happy because they are our broadcast partner but it just wasn’t to be this time,” Vaughan said. “The players weren’t happy to play under lights and Sony is fine about that, they understand, and everyone is happy. It’s a very amicable outcome.”While over the past two days in Hamilton, light has held well until 7 pm, which would have been the new scheduled close, the second and third days of the Test were expected to be cloudy. If any time had been lost to rain, it would have been difficult to make up for it in the evenings. Moreover, there was the small matter of the bowlers’ wanting to use the early-morning freshness and moisture.The idea of a later start, as Vaughan suggested, didn’t seem to sit well with the players. Mahendra Singh Dhoni, India’s captain, said it would be a strange experience if the match were to start at noon. “It will be very different for us,” Dhoni said. “Playing at night it seems like. Will go on till don’t know what time. That will be definitely difficult. I have not played any Test that starts at 12. Definitely a bit of concern.”The other Tests in the New Zealand season, the ones against West Indies which were played in December (the middle of summer), had noon starts. And since the timings for the next two Tests have not been finalised, delayed starts remain a possibility.

Hampshire have announced that six players have signed extensions to their existing contracts.Batsmen Michael Lumb and Michael Carberry and bowler Chris Tremlett have signed new three-year deals, while Jimmy Adams, Chris Benham and David Balcombe have all signed new two-year deals.”I am delighted that this group of players have extended their contracts,” said team manager Giles White “They’re all highly valued by the club and it is hoped that they will form the core of the side for years to come.”For the first time, five development contracts have also been awarded. The one-year deals have been signed by Tom Parsons, Benny Howell, James Vince, Hamza Riazzuddin and Chris Morgan, all graduates from Hampshire’s Academy.

Muttiah Muralitharan has become the highest wicket-taker in one-day internationals, going past Pakistan fast bowler Wasim Akram’s haul of 502 wickets, in the fourth ODI against India in Colombo. Murali started his 328th match level with Akram and dismissed Gautam Gambhir in his 10th over for the record.Murali, 36, is also the highest wicket-taker in Tests, with 769 wickets in 125 matches. The last person to simultaneously hold the record for most Test and ODI wickets was the former Indian captain Kapil Dev.The record came with his 17650th legal delivery. Murali floated the ball outside off stump to induce a thin edge from Gambhir. He turned around to look at his old team-mate Kumar Dharmasena, now an umpire, who raised his finger. Muralitharan then jogged towards the catcher Kumar Sangakkara, who patted him on his back before enveloping him with a hug. The rest of the Sri Lankans joined in the huddle but the celebration was muted.Murali dedicated the record to his family for their constant encouragement. “They are great supporters of mine, and have stood by me through the bad times and the good.” He also said the feat was a great achievement for Sri Lanka “because we are not a great cricket-playing nation, we are a smaller nation compared to others”.Akram, the man whose record was broken, led the tributes to Murali.” I noticed his progress in 2003 and realised he was the only man who could break my record,” he told . “At times I jokingly told him not to play one-day cricket, so that my record would remain intact, but he is relentless in taking wickets. I am happy that a bowler of his calibre has broken my record.”No matter what type of surface he has played on, no matter in which country, and against which team … he is simply great and more than a good bowler, he is a good human being.”

Saurashtra 183 for 9 (RA Jadeja 38, Raghu 2-8, Joshi 2-32, Vinay 2-46 ) trail Karnataka 305 (Uthappa 139, Vinay 48, RA Jadeja 5-82, Odedra 3-68) by 122 runs
Scorecard

Karnataka, buoyed by probing spells of swing bowling, wrested control of their quarter-final from Saurashtra on the second day in Mumbai. Despite possessing a line-up that has scored heavily in the league phase, Saurashtra stuttered in reply to Karnataka’s 305, and ended the day 122 runs adrift with one wicket left.It was a completely different picture to the first day, when spin dominated proceedings – a situation that raised questions over the teams’ strategy to go with an extra fast bowler. But the success of Vinay Kumar, S Aravind and B Akhil has silenced those doubts, at least for the moment.Aided by the presence of a constant breeze, the fast bowlers repeatedly beat the bat and never allowed the batsmen to settle down. The numbers provided the proof: Ravindra Jadeja’s 38 was the best by a Saurashtra batsman while the biggest partnership was also 38, for the sixth wicket between Jadeja and Sagar Jogiyani.Although opener Chirag Pathak used the bottom hand to pick up a few boundaries initially, Karnataka were not worried since their new-ball pair of Vinay and NC Aiyappa got appreciable movement. After being pulled by Pathak for four early, Vinay finally beat the left-hander from around the wicket. A brilliant outswinger moved into Pathak, who opened up, and then swung away, catching the edge en route to Thilak Naidu behind stumps.Saurashtra took lunch with no further damage but their hopes were completely deflated in the middle session, during which five wickets fell. Sunil Joshi, Karnataka’s leading wicket-taker, struck off the fourth ball after the break. Bhushan Chauhan, the other opener, tried to prod at one, only edging to Rahul Dravid at first slip.At the other end, debutant left-armer Aravind impressed with his aggression: in addition to injecting more pace, he progressively improved his length to a fuller one while taking the ball away from the batsmen. What was also commendable was a firm wrist, which remained straight at the point of delivery – a trait useful for generating swing.A memorable moment for Aravind arrived when he worked out Cheteshwar Pujara to earn his maiden wicket: Saurashtra’s highest run-getter was new to the crease and was trying to shrug off early nerves. Slanting a delivery away, Aravind was successful in forcing a faint edge, which was picked well by Naidu.Aravind was unlucky when he beat Jadeja with a straighter one in his next over. A few overs later Jadeja’s leading edge travelled past the outstretched hands of the diving C Raghu at gully. In the final delivery of the same over, Jadeja pulled Aravind straight to a charging Joshi at deep square leg, who spilled an easy offering. Jadeja was on eight, Saurashtra 68. The bowler’s frustration was obvious, but it did not prove to be an expensive miss.Shitanshu Kotak, Saurashtra’s senior-most batsman, looked miserable in his near two-hour stint at the crease. He eventually poked at an away-going delivery from Vinay to give Naidu his third catch. Akhil, after a wayward over to begin with, got in to the groove with a superb inswinger that beat the clueless Saurashtra captain, Jaydev Shah, in the air before sending the off stump flying.With Saurashtra in danger of following on, the pair of Jadeja and Sagar Jogiyani went for their shots. Jogiyani hit two fluent square-drives off Aiyappa, Karnataka’s weakest bowler. Furious, Aiyappa fired in low and short on off stump, but a vigilant Jogiyani pushed deftly for consecutive boundaries past third man despite two slips and a gully. It also brought up Saurashtra’s hundred.However, just like the first day, a crucial wicket fell just before tea when Jadeja, having pushed to mid-on off Joshi, rushed for a quick single. Jogiyani did not respond and Jadeja failed to make his ground as Akhil’s throw to the keeper beat him. It was a rude jolt for Saurashtra and Jadeja raised arms in disappointment, obviously displeased at his partner. Their 38-run stand was the last significant effort of the day from Saurashtra as Karnataka strengthened their position.Earlier, Saurashtra, frustrated by a 40-run eighth-wicket stand on the first day, had to wait nearly ten overs and 40 runs to take the final two Karnataka wickets. Vinay, overnight on 22, hit some fluent strokes as they went past 300, and was last man out, falling two short of a maiden first-class half-century.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

Bangladesh fell 107 short of pulling off the most miraculous chase as Sri Lanka clawed back after lunch to seal a victory they had taken for granted after declaring in the second innings. Mohammad Ashraful resisted with a hundred, and a 111-run stand between Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim gave the Sri Lankans a mighty scare. The game was still wide open, with Bangladesh needing 118 and Shakib and Mushfiqur going strong, until a double-strike by Dammika Prasad broke not only the partnership but several hearts across an expectant crowd hoping for the best new year’s gift they could have asked for.Lost in the frenzy was Muttiah Muraitharan’s 10 for 190. His efforts restricted Bangladesh to a paltry 178 and the first-innings lead Sri Lanka gained ultimately proved crucial. Shakib also walked away with his head held high; The figures were impressive – 5 for 76 in the first innings and a 96 in the second – and his temperament stood out as well.It’s been a freakish month for massive fourth-innings chases, after famous victories by India and South Africa famous in Chennai and Perth respectively. In Chennai, Kevin Pietersen was left to rue his declaration and Mahela Jayawardene nearly suffered the same fate today after two successive 100-plus stands gave the Sri Lankans plenty of anxious moments.Bangladesh’s lower-middle order has stepped up in recent months and their performance here would have given betting men the world over – banking on an easy Sri Lanka win – a real scare. All hopes of a miraculous chase at the start of the day hinged on Ashraful, who had just two specialist batsmen – Shakib and Mushfiqur – to support him. His neat drives through extra cover characterised his fourth-day effort and he carried on in a similar vein today. He refused to get bogged down, charging Murali down the pitch and easily clearing mid-on.

In dire need of a breakthrough, Jayawardene opted for the new ball as soon as it was available but it didn’t bring about an immediate change of luck. Prasad and Chaminda Vaas failed to get any movement in the air or off the seam and Ashraful, who took the bulk of the strike early on, was only happy to shoulder arms.His celebration on reaching three figures was testament to how he had applied himself. An overpitched delivery by Vaas was scooped over mid-off and a roar from Ashraful resonated through the ground even before the ball reached the rope. He stayed put at the crease and punched the air twice – a far cry from his muted acknowledgement after reaching fifty yesterday. He has spent several agonising months unable to come to terms with his loss of form, and the performances of his struggling team, but his moment of elation rendered that a distant memory.His dismissal soon after, however, was an anti-climax. Vaas pitched it up on middle and leg and got the ball to straighten. Ashraful shaped to tuck it away to leg but was struck low on the pads, in line with the stumps. As he trudged back, Jayawardene broke away from the huddle and patted his opposite number in appreciation of a memorable knock.Shakib and Mushfiqur then ensured the chase remained on with a battling stand. Oddly enough for Muralitharan, he failed to get enough turn from the rough and that affected Sri Lanka’s chances of wrapping it up earlier. He landed it on a good length on several occasions, only to be whipped off the backfoot by Shakib across the line. Shakib wasn’t afraid to slog-sweep Murali against the turn and seemed intent on proving he wasn’t so easily intimidated by him. He reached his fifty with a drive through extra cover and also slogged him over the same area. Mushfiqur was also not unduly troubled by Murali, often lunging forward to smother the spin and pushing the singles.Watching the pair gain in confidence forced Sri Lanka to go on the defensive. Sweepers were placed either side of the wicket though the batsmen were equally happy to graft. And all the luck seemed to go Bangladesh’s way, several edges traveled to the boundary.With the ball having lost its shine, Jayawardene brought back his quickest bowler, Prasad, into the attack. He didn’t start off very well – Shakib even pulled him nonchalantly, bisecting the gap at deep square-leg – but came back once the ball started to reverse. Shakib dragged a wide ball on to his stumps and soon after Mashrafe Mortaza edged an inswinger to the keeper.Mushfiqur had the unenviable task of shepherding the tail but succumbed while trying to force Murali through the on side. That a run-out – following confusion over a third run – had to end the chase was unfortunate given the way Bangladesh had fought. Sri Lanka may have won by 107 runs but the moral victory was with Bangladesh.

The organisers of the Champions Twenty20 League are gearing up for intense negotiations in the coming weeks to get the inaugural edition of the tournament back on the road, but it has become clear they “face a highly complex challenge”.The BCCI, which owns a 50% stake in the league, is confident it may be able to hold the postponed tournament early next year in India but sources in the governing council, the participating teams and broadcasters that Cricinfo spoke to suggest the only way out will involve a “lot of give and take” from all parties involved.The organisers are working the phone lines to first ensure a meeting of the tournament’s governing council in India or abroad. Sources spoke of “working around” a Cricket Australia board meeting on December 5, while the reported the meeting would be held on December 8 in Cape Town.The obvious concern is over finding a new window in the packed international calendar early next year (see box), though the organisers are extremely hopeful that some adjustment can be made, considering that most of these matches involve Australia and South Africa, both of whom are founding partners of the event.”We are working towards a position from where we can hold the tournament in India early next year,” Sundar Raman, the Champions League chief executive, told Cricinfo. “There will be discussions with all stakeholders in the next 10-12 days. We are working on it and we are confident that a satisfactory resolution can be arrived at.”As of now, the organisers and ESPN-STAR Sports (ESS), the broadcasters who struck a ten-year deal for US$975 million to telecast and market the event, are on the same page and relatively safe, in the sense that the financial cycle for them will continue to be that of ten years. “If it’s not Year 1-Year 10, then it’s Year 2-Year 11, so that is not really a huge worry,” a source said. “There will be some kind of financial hit because of the postponement, but the larger picture remains unaffected. If any payments have been made, they will be adjusted in the coming years.” ESS, incidentally, were yet to name a title sponsor with just a few days to go for the tournament’s original start date [it was scheduled to be held from December 3-10 in Mumbai, Bangalore and Chennai].The real losers, if the tournament is delayed beyond the next three-four months, could be the eight teams that qualified for the event by virtue of being the Twenty20 domestic finalists in their respective countries. “The way the cards are stacked, it looks extremely difficult,” an IPL franchise official said. First on the firing line are the four teams from Australia – Victoria and Western Australia – and South Africa – Titans and Dolphins. The current domestic schedules indicate that Australia and South Africa would have completed their next Twenty20 tournaments, which act as the qualifiers for the Champions League, by February 21, which will possibly throw four new qualifiers in the fray.James Sutherland, the Cricket Australia chief executive, told the that the “planned approach is a 12-month postponement”. Victoria, one of the present qualifiers, said they have got an assurance from Cricket Australia following Sutherland’s remarks. “We have made arrangements in good faith and we would certainly hope our qualification would be respected,” Tony Dodemaide, the Cricket Victoria chief executive, told the .

Australia’s Twenty20 Big Bash is scheduled from December 26-January 24, and South Africa’s Standard Bank Pro20 event is to be held from January 21-February 21. “It would be pretty tough if we didn’t qualify in January,” Victoria’s Brad Hodge was quoted in the . “Everyone was excited about it and this competition ticks over in the back of your mind while you’re playing so it would be pretty disappointing if we can’t compete in it … I know players had budgeted for it; that is what you do. I hope they hadn’t spent it,” he said.”We don’t have any information from the organisers yet but the situation, as we see it now, is complicated,” a source in one of the participating teams said. “If the Champions League is held after these domestic tournaments, who will qualify: the new winners, assuming they are different? If the league decides to go with the old winners, you have a bizarre situation where this season’s champions qualify for next season’s Champions League. Now, if the new winners are the qualifiers, what happens to the other four teams from India, England and Pakistan? The one solution is to postpone the internal schedules of Australia and South Africa, but that – if at all possible – will only lead to further disruptions down the line.”The losses for the teams that miss out are substantial. The Champions League offers a general annual pot of US$6m, with $3m for the winners, and more importantly, a minimum guaranteed participation fee of US$250,000 for each of the eight teams.There is also individual sponsorships the teams have worked out. The two IPL teams, Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals, are believed to have sold 100% of their inventory for the tournament, mostly in the form of associate sponsors and uniform logos. Middlesex has sold at least 80% of their inventory and the Australian and South African teams have also managed local sponsorship. A large part of this is promised money, in the sense that the money will be paid during or after the tournament, but these were funds the teams had already factored in, and were banking on.In Western Australia’s case, there is more money in the balance. The team had an arrangement with Vikas Rambal, an Indian-born businessman, which saw it change its name to Rambal Warriors specifically for the event. Sources said the team was to get a few thousands more from the organisers for letting Michael Hussey, their star batsman, appear for Chennai Super Kings.For the two Indian teams, meanwhile, the primary concern is to ensure that their foreign players agree to tour India so soon after the terror strikes in Mumbai. A franchise official highlighted the immediate reaction from Shane Warne, the skipper of Rajasthan Royals, after the Mumbai strikes to indicate the current mood among these players. “It is just not worth the risk,” Warne said. “No amount of money is worth the risk with what is going on over there at the moment.”