Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy to compose World Cup song

De Ghumaa Ke' with versions in Hindi, Bangla and Sinhalese is the World Cup's official song composed by the musical trio Shankar, Ehsaan and Loy. All three versions will feature in the build-up to and during the tournament that will run from February 19 to April 2 in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

"'De Ghumaa Ke' is a passionate expression that creatively captures the fierce sense of competition and the desire to win. It literally means Hit It Hard. This local cricket euphemism is every fan's wish and every cricketer's intention. It encapsulates all that it takes to win a match," ICC said.

Will Eden Gardens and Wankede get ready on time?

The Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) and Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) on Saturday expressed their confidence that the venues for ICC World Cup 2011 -Eden Gardens and Wankhede Stadium -- would be ready by the middle of January.

Jagmohan Dalmiyah said that he expected Eden Gardens to be prepared two months earlier but that will not happen now.

At Wankhede Stadium, the umpires' room, medical and anti-doping room were thought of as ill-fit for hosting the Cup.

"We are going to modify as per the ICC suggestion. We are confident that everything would be ready when the ICC inspection team returns by the middle of January. We are ready to host the World Cup matches,"said Dalmiyah.

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Students ThinkWise at World Cup

Think Wise initiative, a joint partnership between the ICC, UNAIDS, UNICEF and the Global Media AIDS Initiative has taken the World Cup opportunity to spread the World Cup fever and make the students aware about HIV-AIDS. In this laudable venture a tournament would be held in Mumbai (14-15 December), Nagpur (14-15 December), Mohali (14-15 December), Kolkata (14-15 December), Ahmedabad (17-18 December), Delhi (17-18 December), Chennai (17-18 December) and Bengaluru (17-18 December), wherein young adults will receive HIV education and awareness sessions both at school and during the tournaments as part of the Think Wise initiative.

Indian batsman and Think Wise champion Virender Sehwag said: “I am very excited about playing in the ICC Cricket World Cup next year and it is great to see that young people across the country are getting involved in the tournament as well.

Read the full story here

Sachin and Dhoni in Cola fight

The Great Wars of Cola have begun as the World Cup countdown has come nearer. The big companies are eyeing for the biggest players and this time they have put Sachin and Dhoni at loggerheads. Coca Cola may rope in Sachin Tendulkar who was associated with Pepsi earlier. Although no contract has been confirmed as signed yet. Dhoni on the other hand is endorsing the Coke's competitor Pepsi and it would be fun to watch them take potshot at each other off the field.

More here

sachin-and-dhoni

ICC Launches ICCArchive.com

A few months ahead of the World Cup, the International Cricket Council, has launched a website ICCArchive.com. The site has the archive of broadcast footage from all its events. The site is managed by ESPN-Star Sports and targets broadcasters, docu film makers and media houses. According to a statement, archives include footage from “all of the ICC’s televised events, such as the ICC Cricket World Cup, ICC World Twenty20, ICC Champions Trophy, ICC Women’s World Cup, ICC U19 Cricket World Cup and many others”.

ESPN-Star Sports gear up production

ESPN-Star Sports the official broadcaster of ICC World Cup 2011 is elated over the fact that ad rates may see a 50 per cent hike for this season.

A top media executive says on conditions of anonymity, "The channel is commanding Rs 4-5 lakh per 10 seconds, while the sponsors are paying about Rs 3.5 lakh. This is a large increase over what the tournament had witnessed in the last season."

The live coverage of the matches will also be available in 3G mobile phones and special Hindi feeds for select matches. The production has also invested heavily in the quality of the content by assigning 27 cameras, including innovative features such as movable slip cameras and new low 45 degree field cameras. The production will also have a mid-wicket camera position for live running between wickets.

Afridi to win World Cup?

Pakistan cricket team captain, Shahid Afridi, is riding on a hope that Pakistan will win the World Cup to be held in February 2011. The captain seems to be doing his job well i.e believing in his team but for all the unpopularity that Pakistan cricketers face, this team has slided down from being the favorites at one time.

The captain also said that he was hopeful that his team would perform well in New Zealand and in the World Cup as the men in green were working hard day and night to improve their last made mistakes especially on the fielding front.

"New Zealand will prove us with a great opportunity to get fully ready for the World Cup," said Afridi. "We are more or less sure about our World Cup combination and the one-day series in New Zealand will help us take a final decision on it."

Indian Umpires in the Elite Panel of ICC

The ICC Panel of Umpires has added six new umpires to its team; the panel also has two Indians officiating at the international cricket event. The ICC Elite Panel of Umpires identified the following six umpires for their contribution in cricket umpiring at the international level. The member chosen are Sri Lanka's Kumar Dharmasena, Australia's Bruce Oxenford, India's Amiesh Saheba and Shavir Tarapore and England's Richard Kettleborough and Nigel Llong.

The umpires who form the ICC's Elite Panel are: Billy Bowden, Aleem Dar, Steve Davis, Billy Doctrove, Marais Erasmus, Ian Gould, Daryl Harper, Tony Hill, Asad Rauf, Asoka de Silva, Simon Taufel and Rod Tucker.

Imran is upto some thumb-exercise - Cricket legends promote World Cup: Images

Imran is upto some thumb-exercise - Cricket legends promote World Cup: Images

Lorgat: A corruption free WC - Cricket - Sportal India

Lorgat: A corruption free WC

International Cricket Council (ICC) chief Haroon Lorgat has slammed suggestions corruption will be present at next year's cricket World Cup.

The spectre of match fixing has hovered over the sport since three Pakistani cricketers — Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir — were accused of spot fixing during a Test series against England in September.

Only recently, Pakistan wicket-keeper Zulqarnain Haider claimed he was approached by a bookie who threatened him if he would not fix matches, again casting doubt over the credibility of the sport.

But speaking at a news conference in New Delhi, Lorgat denied corruption will be a part of cricket's showpiece tournament, which will be hosted by India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh from February to early April 2011.

"We say repeatedly that we do not tolerate any sort of corruption within sport," Lorgat said.

"We will do everything that is necessary to ensure that every match is under fair play circumstances."

"There are detailed plans, there are backup plans and it is a matter that we do not treat lightly. So we have done and we will continue to do and take every precaution necessary to ensure that the event is safe and secure."

ICC revamps Intercontinental Cup and scraps Shield | Cricket News | Cricinfo ICC Site | ESPN Cricinfo

ICC revamps Intercontinental Cup and scraps Shield | Cricket News | Cricinfo ICC Site | ESPN Cricinfo

ESPNcricinfo staff

December 6, 2010

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	Nawroz Mangal is handed the trophy by ICC's Richard Done after Afghanistan's victory over Scotland© International Cricket Council Enlarge
Related Links Series/Tournaments: ICC Intercontinental Shield | ICC Intercontinental Cup Sites: Cricinfo ICC Site

The ICC has announced that the ICC Intercontinental Cup will return to being a single-division, biennial eight-team, first-class tournament, and at the same time has scrapped the less-than-popular Intercontinental Shield.

The sixth staging of the tournament is scheduled to run from May 2011 until December 2012 with the top six Associate and Affiliate teams with ODI status from 2009-2012 automatically included, namely Afghanistan, Canada, Ireland, Kenya, Netherlands and Scotland.

The remaining two places will be determined by the ICC Development Committee from the top four teams of the ICC World Cricket League Division 2 event which is scheduled for April 2011 in Dubai.

WCL Division 2 is currently made up of Bermuda, Namibia, UAE and Uganda with two qualifiers to proceed from WCL Division 3 (scheduled for 22-29 January 2011). The Cup will again be played on a round-robin basis with the top two teams progressing towards the final.

ICC Global Development Manager Matthew Kennedy said: "Due to the Zimbabwe XI no longer participating, it has been decided to revert to the previous Intercontinental Cup structure of eight teams with more guaranteed games for all. In making this decision, consideration was given to the international cricket opportunities now provided to all 95 Associate and Affiliate Members across all three formats of the game.

"With balancing these formats in mind, it is important to offer the best non-Test-playing nations the opportunity to compete in meaningful multi-day cricket. And as a result of this expanded I Cup, the second division that was the ICC Intercontinental Shield is no longer required."

In addition, the ICC Development Committee has allocated the staging of two Pepsi ICC WCL events to Malaysia (Division 6 in September 2011) and Singapore (Division 5 in February 2012).

It has also been decided that the first 16-team ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier, which will determine the six teams to join the ten Full Members at the ICC World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka in September 2012, will be staged in the UAE in the early part of 2012.

Following the conclusion of WCL Division 4 in Italy in August and the subsequent global rankings, the Development Committee has confirmed that the regional Twenty20 qualification systems through 2011 will provide the ten teams that will join the six ODI nations in the WT20 Qualifier. The teams would be drawn from Asia (3), Europe (2), Africa (2), Americas (2) and East Asia - Pacific (1).