Bacher rejects Majola's R5m World Cup bonus allegation

JOHANNESBURG: Former South African Cricket supremo Ali Bacher has rejected claims by CSA CEO Gerald Majola that he set the precedent for huge bonuses by taking a five million rands payment after the 2003 World Cup.

Breaking his silence for the first time in nearly two years on huge bonus payments from the IPL to himself and other CSA staff, Majola was testifying at the Nicholson inquiry into the financial affairs of CSA, instituted by sports minister Fikile Mbalula.

Majola admitted not having declared the IPL bonuses in the manner prescribed by the Companies Act for corporate governance but denied that the board did not know about the bonuses.

Earlier, former CSA board members testified at the inquiry that the bonuses were not cleared by them. Majola said that the bonuses were cleared and he had merely forgotten to confirm it in writing.

Majola said after the 2003 World Cup, Bacher and others at the then United Cricket Board of South Africa (UCBSA) had shared a nine million rands bonus. Bacher was the managing director of UCBSA and the tournament director for the World Cup.

Approached for comment on Wednesday, Bacher denied that he received the lions' share of the World Cup bonus but admitted to receiving five million rands as part of a retirement fund.

"The bonus was not really related to the success of the tournament," Bacher told 'The Times'.

"It was brought up on the basis that I had served cricket professionally for two decades and it was found that my retirement fund was inadequate. The bonus was partly because of the Cricket World Cup success and partly to improve my retirement fund."

No T20 including IPL for U-21 players, says PCA

CHANDIGARH: In a significant decision aimed to encourage players to hone and perfect their skills first, Punjab Cricket Association has decided not to give NOC to any player registered with the PCA under the age of 21 years who play in T20 game for any club/team/institution including the cash-rich and glamorous IPL. 

The decision was taken at the Administrative Committee meeting of the PCA at Mohali on Sunday chaired by PCA president I S Bindra. 

The Administrative Committee of PCA had met to take stock of the performance of the Punjab's senior and junior teams in the domestic national tournaments. 

M P Pandove, secretary PCA and former member of the senior national committee of the BCCI set the ball rolling by pointing out that the shortest version of the game was distracting the players for acquiring the skills necessary for playing in the longer version of the game--five and four day matches. 

"The shortest version of the game being played by the junior players is causing this damage," Pandove felt. 

However, PCA committee felt that there can be exceptional and extraordinary talent which matures early and reaches a stage of perfection. In order not to deny opportunities to such players, exception would only be made for contracted players of the BCCI even if, they were below the age of 21. 

At the moment, there are only three contracted players from the State - Harbhajan Singh,Yuvraj Singh and Rahul Sharma, all of whom are over 21 years of age. 

Asked if this step would invite criticism from different quarters, Pandove said on Monday, "Look, we are the first Association to take this step in the interest of players, many of whom I know will not like it. We strongly felt that 17-21 years are formative years for any player and there should be no distraction. The step which we have taken is in the larger interest of players and country's cricket as a whole." 

Pandove made it clear that any player defying the latest guideline will result into PCA taking very serious view of the matter. The decision of the Administrative Committee will be put in the next Executive Committee meeting for ratification, he informed. 

He said the members discussed the matter and after various view points put forth, the Committee agreed with the observations made by him and took a decision that PCA youngsters should be groomed and trained for playing in longer version for performing creditably at the senior level. 

"It was therefore thought that the period of four years from the age of 17 to 21 is very crucial for honing the basic cricketing skills, building up stamina and endurance, so important for a first class performer. 

"It was felt that the exposure to the shortest version of the game was dangerous for the upcoming youngsters aiming to play in the longer version of the game and representing the state and country in the bilateral tours," PCA spokesman, Sushil Kapoor said on Monday. 

Kapoor informed that the members of the committee after an in-depth discussion came to the conclusion that the Punjab teams at the junior age tournaments like U-16, 19 and 22 were performing creditably over the years while the senior Ranji Trophy team had failed to deliver and achieve the optimum results. 

The performance at junior level under all age groups has been very encouraging for the last 5-6 years but the performance at the senior level has failed to enthuse, even though the talent for the senior level has been coming through the junior age groups, he said. 

PCA has decided to make it mandatory for all players registered with it and its affiliated units to adhere to the guidelines, he added.

Pietersen to turn out for Delhi Daredevils in IPL 5

NEW DELHI: England's middle-order mainstay Kevin Pietersen is set to move from Deccan Chargers to Delhi Daredevils for the fifth edition of the Indian Premier League, making it the third transfer of the 2012 trading window.

Pietersen, 31, said he was excited at the prospect of joining a team that includes the likes of skipper Virender Sehwag and David Warner.

"I am looking forward to a wonderful time with the Delhi Daredevils. It will be a great experience to be playing in the same squad as Sehwag," he said.

Pietersen was acquired by the Deccan Chargers in the 2011 IPL auction. However, he could not participate in the tournament due to a surgery. He had earlier been a part of Royal Challengers Bangalore in the 2009 and 2010 editions, and had led RCB in six games in 2009.

GMR Sports' Head (Cricket) TA Sekar said Pietersen's addition would strengthen the Delhi Daredevils squad this season.

"We are pleased to add Kevin (Pietersen) to our line-up. He brings rich experience and an explosive quality to our batting and can be a more than handy off-spinner as well. We are sure that Kevin will help us to be very competitive this season and the Delhi Daredevils fans will enjoy this addition," Sekar said.

IPL chairman, Rajeev Shukla, said: "The Delhi Daredevils squad will be bolstered by the entry of Kevin Pietersen. It is great to see the franchises in the process of strategising for the upcoming tournament. We are in for a cracker of a competition in April-May," he said.

Deccan Chargers CEO, Venkat Reddy, wished Pietersen luck. "Kevin Pietersen is a quality player, and there is no doubt that he will be one of the players to watch out for, in the coming edition of the IPL. We wish him all the best," Reddy said.

CA will not allow Pat Cummins to play in IPL

MELBOURNE: Upcoming fast bowler Pat Cummins will not play in the Indian Premier League as Cricket Australia wants to preserve the 18-year-old from injuries as a part of their long-term plan. 

Cummins is recovering from a persistent stress-related heel injury in the hope of touring the West Indies in March and April. 

"The West Indies is a massive tour for us and obviously I want to make that my No 1 goal," Cummins was quoted as saying by The Telegraph. 

According to new team performance manager Pat Howard, a three-year plan will nurse him through his formative years. 

"He (Howard) said because I was pretty young I was more at risk of getting injuries. It's just about managing workloads," Cummins was quoted as saying. 

"Obviously, I can't play every game. It's about what games I can play. I'll see how I go. They think about 70 per cent of games this year, my body will be able to cope with. Then 85 per cent next year and 95 per cent the following year." 

"A lot of that comes down to me getting older and doing a lot of gym work." 

"We can't expect Pat to play all the time," Howard said. "It's about getting Pat from the age he is now to the age of James Pattinson. These guys are very, very young. We expect some injuries over time, but we're going to try to minimise them to the best of our ability by managing the workload. That's all your training and all your playing," he added. 

Cummins might make a comeback to international cricket during the later half of the tri-series involving Sri Lanka and India. 

Space-age science has been part of an almost daily training regime over the last month. 

Initially it included using the Swans' $100,000 AlterG running machine, which reduced the impact of Cummins' body weight to just 70 per cent. 

"It's a treadmill with big air bag. You wear tights with a big air bubble which lifts you up a bit," Cummins explained. 

"It's frustrating not playing, but not as much as I thought it would be. I've always watched the cricket. Growing up I watched the Test matches every year. I don't get of sick of it."

IPL 5: 76 matches; auctions in January

KOLKATA: The Indian Premier League (IPL), which started off with eight teams playing 14 home and away matches each, will adopt another new format in the coming season for the fifth edition of the T20 extravaganza.

Next year, the nine teams in the fray will play 16 matches each. According to sources, this means each team is now going to play eight home games. There will also be an additional four play-off matches which will take the total tally of games in the tournament to 76.

Sources said the play-off matches will be held in Bangalore and Chennai. The tournament is scheduled to be played from April 4 to May 27.

Meanwhile, the governing council of the IPL has decided to increase the numbers of players allowed in each squad. From the existing number of 30, IPL teams can go up to 33 players per squad. There will also be 11 foreign players instead of 10.

Importantly, the 2012 auction will be held in January and each team will get a purse of $2 million. The trading window will be operational from December 15, 2011 to January 20, 2012. Also, it has been decided no uncapped player will be paid more than Rs 30 lakh.

Bollywood's ready to take on Team India, lined up a string of releases during IPL

MUMBAI | NEW DELHI: This season, Bollywood's ready to take on Team India, and is not even scared of the IPL googly. After the drubbing in England, followed by the humiliation Down Under, the cricket-crazy nation seems to have developed some kind of a cricket fatigue, and Bollywood, seizing its opportunity, has lined up a string of releases during the busy cricket season.

Unlike the previous four seasons of the IPL, when Bollywood deferred new movie launches during the well-televised IPL season in April-May , this year at least half-a-dozen big films, with close to Rs 200 crore riding on them, have planned their releases bang in the middle of the event. These include Ajay Devgan, Akshay Kumar-starrers as well as a Raju Hirani scripted film.

"IPL has lost its charm," says Utpal Acharya, head of distribution and acquisition at Reliance Entertainment, which has co-produced the Karishma Kapoor-starrer Dangerous Ishq. "We are confident that audiences will visit cinema halls irrespective of IPL this year." Almost all the others who are releasing their films in April-May endorse Acharya's views.

From Sajid Nadiadwala , who is releasing a sequel to the successful comedy flick, Housefull, which has been acquired by Eros, to Vidhu Vinod Chopra, who is releasing the Raju Hirani-written Ferrari Ki Sawari , to the Priyadarshan-directed Ajay Devgan-starrer Tezz, and the Mukesh Bhatt-Emraan Hashmi Jannat sequel --they all think that films will do well this summer.

"People are not only going to watch IPL all of April and May. So, we are releasing Ferrari Ki Sawari during the school vacations, which we think is the ideal time for family audiences," says Samir Rao, chief executive officer at Vinod Chopra Productions. With cricket touching a low after the euphoric World Cup victory last year, Bollywood's taking everything on the front foot.

Says Deepak Marda, joint managing director Cinepolis India, "I believe the lacklustre performance of the Indian team and the lack of buzz around the IPL has given confidence to film producers to schedule their movie releases during the fifth IPL season." The dip in cricket's popularity is evident from the fact that average ratings of the fourth IPL were the lowest among all the seasons.

TRPs of the matches averaged about 3.91 across six metros compared to 5.51 in IPL-3 . In the past four seasons, Bollywood, realising that it couldn't match up to the fire power of IPL, decided to join the cricketing tamasha, with some stars being owners of some teams, while many others endorsing the game's biggest brand by revenues during the games, and at the aftermatch parties.

IPL's impact was so huge that cinema halls wore a deserted look -- some even start showing IPL matches live -- and film producers didn't dare to launch new movies. Before IPL was launched in 2008, the April-June period was considered the best for new movies since it coincided with the vacation for students. Things changed a bit in the past two years, when Mukesh Bhatt's Jannat (in 2009) and the romantic comedy Tanu Weds Manu (2010) bucked the trend and made some money in the middle of IPL season.


"The growing number of movies released every year have led film producers to plan their releases in a manner that they do not clash with each other. This too has led film producers to choose April-May to release their movies ," says Ashish Saksena, chief operating officer of Big Cinemas.

Top executives in the movie hall business, like Sunil Punjabi, chief executive officer at Cinemax agree with Saksena and expect the first quarter of the 2012-13 to be better in terms of revenues than the previous year due to a stronger line-up of movies. Hollywood too has slotted a few releases like Men in Black-3 and The Avengers as well as James Cameron's Titanic which is being re-released in 3D, all which should add to the kitty during the same period.

IPL teams mull loan system for players

NEW DELHI: Plucking a leaf out of the European club soccer book, some of the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchisees are toying with the idea of introducing an inter-club 'loan' system for players. The 'loan' system was one of several ideas proposed by franchisees to the IPL governing council during the two-day workshop meant to facilitate interaction between team owners and the GC. The workshop concluded on Tuesday. 

A top IPL official told TOI that the suggestions were "noted", adding: "We're going to discuss them further before deciding whether to implement them." Another source, however, insisted that the idea of allowing players out on loan had been received well and there was strong likelihood it might become regular practice from 2013. 

Some teams also sought the permission of the GC to travel abroad and play matches with other teams, maybe even in non-cricket-playing countries. In the past, Rajasthan Royals played such matches during ex-IPL chairman Lalit Modi's days. 

The likelihood of increased interaction during matches between owners and players also came up for discussion. It is learnt that some franchisees were willing to discuss the idea of owners having more access to players, if it was possible without compromising on the "sanctity" of the game or "security" parameters. 

Others suggested the owners' enclosures should have basic amenities like a shed on top of the dugout. "Some of the matches are played during the day and there are suggestions to improve the team owners' dugout. We are looking into it and will take all the necessary measures to make a successful IPL," an official said.