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Northamptonshire claimed their first major trophy since 1992 by winning the Friends Life t20 with a thumping defeat of Surrey in the final at Edgbaston.

George Dobell at Edgbaston17-Aug-2013
ScorecardDavid Willey made the fastest half-century of the season before taking a hat-trick to seal a memorable evening•Getty ImagesNorthamptonshire claimed their first major trophy since 1992 by winning the Friends Life t20 with a thumping defeat of Surrey in the final at Edgbaston.Having won just three of their last 27 T20s before this season, dating back to their quarter-final defeat in 2010, Northants went into the campaign as rank outsiders. But there was nothing fortunate about this success.After winning seven of their 10 group games – by contrast, they won just one out of 10 in 2012 – they produced commanding performances in the quarter-final, semi-final and final against clubs which, on at least two of those three occasions, boasted significantly larger playing budgets.Indeed, this final pitted Northants – one of the smaller counties with a turnover of around £3.4m a year – against Surrey, the undisputed financial giants of English cricket, with a turnover that was £23.8m last year.But this was far more than a heartening tale of an underdog enjoying their moment in the sun. For so long a county sliding into irrelevance, Northants are providing a fine example of what can be achieved by smaller counties with sound financial management, astute coaching and a refusal to accept a place among the also-rans. Having changed their coach, captain and chief executive in the last 18 months, Northants have also changed the culture of their club. It is surely more than coincidence that David Ripley, who took over as coach in August 2012, was a member of the Northants side that won the NatWest Trophy in 1992.Whereas Northants used to be a cosy club content with its own mediocrity playing in front of dwindling numbers of spectators in a weary ground, they are now a club demonstrating the enduring value of team spirit, unity of purpose, wise recruitment and the development of local talent. Here, in front of a fine-spirited crowd and on an excellent T20 surface, they played cricket bursting with confidence and joy, reflective of a side enjoying their game and each other’s successes. Here they completely outplayed Surrey.David Willey will, quite rightly, take the plaudits. A product of the club’s own system – his father, Peter, was a stalwart of the club for two-and-a-half decades – Willey not only thrashed the fastest half-century of the season, but also claimed a hat-trick to finish the game. Aged 23, his form has recently won England Lions recognition and, with England looking for a left-arm seamer to replicate the role once performed by Ryan Sidebottom, it may not be too long before he goes a step further.But this success was built around an innings that contained three half-centuries. After Willey, only opening the batting due to a wrist injury sustained by Kyle Coetzer in the semi-final, Cameron White and Alex Wakely added 107 in 56 balls to take Northants to the highest total in an English T20 final. Bearing in mind that the innings was reduced to 18 overs by rain and that is some achievement.Northants actually started relatively sedately. Perhaps taken aback by Zafar Ansari opening the bowling with his left-arm spin, Northants scored only one off the first over and six off the second.But a break for rain instilled new urgency. Willey, who scored only one from his first four balls, then thrashed 50 from his next 15 to reach a 19-ball half-century. It was a blitz that included 20 off one Jade Dernbach over – “I don’t particularly like the bloke,” Willey said by way of explanation, “he made an idiot of himself out there” – and 17 off another from Azhar Mahmood.Even when Willey was out, slicing to deep cover, Wakely, the team captain and another product of the club’s own system, took up the challenge, pulling strongly and reaching his 50 off 25 balls. While White was, initially at least, more cautious, he accelerated in the dying overs and completed his own 39-ball 50 with a six off the final ball of the innings.Surrey’s bowling wilted in the face of such an assault. Two international seamers conceded 108 in eight overs as Mahmood, so frugal in the semi-final, was plundered for 53 in four overs, while Dernbach, offering a variety of full-tosses and half-volleys in an oddly off-colour performance, went for 55. Perhaps the damp conditions rendered it tough to grip the ball, but it was a disappointing performance in the field from Surrey.They never threatened to go close in pursuit. While Glenn Maxwell hit an aggressive 29, the required run-rate demanded greater risk-taking than Northants’ well-disciplined attack would allow. Having stuttered to 70 for 4, Surrey lost their last six wickets for 22 runs including their final four without the addition of a run. In the end, it was a rout.But, amid the rubble of a chastening defeat, Surrey should take some confidence from their journey to the final. After a grim 18-months, this was a step in the right direction and suggested that brighter days lie ahead.This was a good day for English cricket, too. In front of a good-natured, full-house crowd and on a pitch ideal for such a high-profile encounter – full of runs and offering encouragement to good batsmen and good bowlers – it was a day that showcased talent and provided a fine advertisement for T20 cricket.

Surrey have signed Azhar Mahmood for this year Friends Life T20 competition

George Dobell19-Apr-2013Surrey have signed Azhar Mahmood for this year Friends Life T20 competition. Mahmood, the former Pakistan allrounder who now qualifies as a non-overseas player, represented Surrey between 2002 and 2007 and is currently with Kings XI Punjab in the IPL.Aged 38, Azhar sustains Surrey’s recent policy of signing ‘mature’ players: Vikram Solanki (37), Gary Keedy (38) and Ricky Ponting (38) are also among the new additions to the club, joining the likes of Zander de Bruyn (37), Gareth Batty (35) and Jon Lewis (37).Azhar is certainly experienced. Only seven men have played more than his 170 T20 games and only three men have taken more than his 190 wickets. He is also 17th on the run-scorer list. He represented Kent between 2008 and 2012.”From what I gather, Azhar has been sorely missed since he left and should never have been released in the first place,” the Surrey team director, Chris Adams, said. “Come the start of the FLt20, to have such a high-skilled player of his quality to fill a number of roles with bat and ball is a great bonus for us. He comes with a wealth of experience, a great record behind him and we’re really, really pleased.”Mahmood said: “It feels very special to be coming back to Surrey. I enjoyed my time with Kent but, ever since I left Surrey in 2007, I was always getting messages from Surrey fans and supporters asking when I was coming back, so I say thank you especially to Chris Adams and Alec Stewart in bringing me home.”Obviously it’s a very different set up to when I was last at Surrey and Twenty20 cricket has also gone from strength to strength so it’s exciting times ahead. I like the squad Surrey have for Twenty20. It looks strong and a real mix of youth and experience, and I look forward to catching up with the guys when I get back from India.”Surrey, who came bottom of the South Group in last year’s competition, have also announced Octopus Investments as a new FLt20 sponsor.

Craig Kieswetter blasted a brilliant 89 not out to lead Somerset to a thrilling four-wicket win over arch-rivals Gloucestershire in the Friends Life t20 at Taunton

05-Jul-2013
ScorecardCraig Kieswetter judged his innings to perfection•Getty ImagesCraig Kieswetter blasted a brilliant 89 not out to lead Somerset to a thrilling four-wicket win over arch-rivals Gloucestershire in the Friends Life t20 at Taunton.A sell-out crowd of 7,500 saw the home side reach a testing target of 191 with just one ball to spare, new overseas signing Yasir Arafat hitting a four off his only ball faced to win the game.Jos Buttler contributed a rapid 29 to a stand of 45 in three overs with Kieswetter, who faced only 55 deliveries, striking four sixes and seven fours. James Fuller kept the pressure on Somerset with 3 for 33.Ian Cockbain had hit 63 off 36 balls, with seven fours and two sixes, to help give Gloucestershire a competitive total. Hamish Marshall (49) and Alex Gidman (36) were the other main contributors as Steve Kirby returned 2 for 22 against his old club.A magnificent game was in the balance even in the final over, which Somerset began needing only five to win. David Payne bowled Craig Meschede with three still needed, but Arafat walked out to settle matters with a sliced boundary to third man.Somerset had bowled tightly to start with after winning the toss. Arafat claimed the first of his two wickets when Michael Klinger top-edged a pull to midwicket and Kirby struck against his old club by pinning Chris Dent lbw for a duck.After the six overs of power play the visitors were becalmed on 35 for two. But Cockbain then went on the attack and, while Marshall was not at his best, the pair added 110 in 10.5 overs.Cockbain pulled the first six of the innings in the ninth over, sent down by Meschede who was also hit for maximums by Marshall and Gidman as his four overs went for 54. Marshall was one short of a half-century when leg-spinner Max Waller accepted a sharp caught and bowled chance.The first ball of the following over saw Cockbain caught at long-on off Kirby and Somerset looked to be reining their visitors in. But Gidman struck some meaty blows in the closing overs and 190 looked around a par score on a flat wicket in glorious sunshine.In the end there was only one candidate for Man-of-the-Match and Kieswetter duly collected the award for a mature, as well as superbly skilful innings.

Half-centuries from openers Neil Broom and Hamish Rutherford set up Otago’s tight five-wicket win off the final over, against Auckland

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Jan-2013
ScorecardHalf-centuries from openers Neil Broom and Hamish Rutherford set up Otago’s tight five-wicket win off the final over, against Auckland. The openers put on 104 in 9.2 overs, with Rutherford being the dominant partner, to keep their team in hunt of their target of 191. The middle-order batsmen didn’t hit many boundaries, but kept the scoreboard ticking, and despite a few wickets falling towards the end, the win was achieved comfortably.Auckland also played a dominant first innings to give themselves a strong chance to lift themselves from the lower half of the points table. The innings centred around middle-order batsman Anaru Kitchen’s 39-ball 66. After losing their first wicket off the second ball of the match, opener Lou Vincent and Gareth Hopkins put on 68 in 6.1 overs. The other productive stand, which built the strong total, was that of 89 between Kitchen and Colin de Grandhomme.However, Rutherord’s aggressive knock in Otago’s chase, of 50 off 26 deliveries, shifted the momentum their way. His opening partner, Broom, scored 60 off 40 deliveries, as Otago, with their fifth win this season, regained their position at the top of the points table.

Vijay Zol, Yusuf Pathan and Kedar Jadhav struck half-centuries to take West Zone into the final of the Deodhar Trophy with a comfortable five-wicket win over South Zone in Guwahati

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Mar-2013
ScorecardYusuf Pathan’s third consecutive fifty helped West Zone reach the final of the Deodhar Trophy•Associated PressVijay Zol, Yusuf Pathan and Kedar Jadhav struck half-centuries to take West Zone into the final of the Deodhar Trophy with a comfortable five-wicket win over South Zone in Guwahati. West Zone reached their target of 259 with more than eight overs to spare, and will take on North Zone in the final on Wednesday.Zol, who hit the headlines in 2011 with an unbeaten 451 in an Under-19 match, anchored the West Zone reply with a well-compiled 75 off 88 balls – his highest List A score. His 71-run partnership with Rayadu eased some early jitters after West Zone lost Parthiv Patel and Manprit Juneja in consecutive overs with the score at 26 for 2. Once Rayadu was dismissed by B Sudhakar, Zol and Pathan proceeded to shut South Zone out of the match.Pathan played his usual flamboyant game to bring up his third consecutive List-A fifty. He had a reprieve in the 23rd over after a tough chance off an outside edge went down behind the stumps, but he carried on unaffected, bringing up his fifty with a boundary over long-on. With Jadhav chipping in with a brisk 56, a comfortable win was completed.Earlier, fifties from Stuart Binny and Sachin Baby helped South Zone reach 258 for 8 in their 50 overs. The pair added 87 runs for the sixth wicket in 13.1 overs, taking the score past 200 after South Zone were struggling at 143 for 5 in the 34th over. Baby worked hard for his first List-A fifty, hitting just three boundaries in his 58, even as Binny provided a late flourish to the innings.Munaf Patel, playing only his fourth match of this season, picked up 2 for 48 in his 10 overs, while Nayar also picked up two wickets even though he conceded 49 runs in his seven overs. Jaydev Unadkat was the most economical bowler for West conceding 49 runs off his 12 overs and picking up the wicket of the centurion from South’s previous match Baba Aparajith.

ESPNcricinfo previews the third ODI between England and South Africa at The Oval

The Preview by David Hopps30-Aug-2012Match factsAugust 31, The Oval
Start time 1300 (1200 GMT)AB de Villiers: captain, wicketkeeper and key batsman in the world’s No. 1 ODI side•PA PhotosBig PictureSouth Africa are tempted to smirk at England’s captaincy predicament, with Andrew Strauss’ resignation after the defeat in the Test series still fresh in the mind, and gossip sounding about how much damage Kevin Pietersen’s stand-off with the powers-that-be is causing English cricket. The England dressing room was a sad place in Southampton when Strauss stood down and if the opposition are not at their best it all helps South Africa implant their status as the best side in world cricket.Delve too deeply, however, and before too long they will have issues of their own. Nobody is sure quite how long Graeme Smith will want to continue as Test captain and whether South Africa’s rise to No. 1 in the Test rankings has silenced for the time being his occasional musings that he would like to finish his international career as a respected senior player with no leadership responsibilities.The odds are that Smith is a leader in Test cricket until the day he retires, but that all puts the spotlight on his replacement in the one-day side, AB de Villiers. He has recently taken on the triple role of batsman, wicketkeeper and captain in one-day cricket, but surely to do that at Test level, after Mark Boucher’s tragic accident, would be unthinkable. Comparisons with MS Dhoni, who fulfils all three roles but bats at No. 7, are not entirely valid.This is de Villiers’ third series in charge and in Southampton it all went swimmingly. Already he seems to be confirmed to keep wicket in the Test series in Australia before the New Year. Ranked No. 1 in all three formats or not, those youthful looks could soon be coming under pressure.Form guide (Most recent first, completed matches)
South Africa WWWWL
England LWWWW
Players to watch …Ravi Bopara’s place seems assured in England’s top six because of his ability to share a bowling spot with Samit Patel so that makes it hard to include the new kid on the block, Jonny Bairstow. One way to balance things up would be for England to play five specialist bowlers. The lack of Graeme Swann at No. 9 – he is rested for the last three ODIs – as a dangerous tail-ender makes this less likely, if not out of the question.Robin Peterson, once forced into a stock bowler’s role, now regards himself as South Africa’s attack dog in one-day cricket. When he conceded runs, captains and coaches used to question his ability. Then two years ago, he was given more licence to attack, finished the World Cup as South Africa’s leading wicket-taker and is now established in the side.Pitch and conditionsIt has rained in England seemingly since time began. It is not going to be quick.Team newsSwann’s withdrawal from the rest of the series means a probable return for James Tredwell, while Chris Woakes could oust Tim Bresnan after the latter’s expensive showing at West End.England (probable) 1 Alastair Cook (capt), 2 Ian Bell, 3 Jonathan Trott, 4 Ravi Bopara, 5 Eoin Morgan, 6 Craig Kieswetter (wk), 7 Samit Patel, 8 Chris Woakes, 9 James Tredwell, 10 James Anderson, 11 Steve Finn.South Africa have not taken their media commitments very seriously since the end of their victorious Test series. They were an hour late for the media conference for The Oval by which time pretty much everyone had lost interest so it is hard to know what they will do. Albie Morkel is ruled out, though Dale Steyn could be closer to a return.South Africa (probable) 1 Graeme Smith, 2 Hashim Amla, 3 JP Duminy, 4 Dean Elgar, 5 AB de Villiers (capt, wk), 6 Faf du Plessis, 7 Wayne Parnell, 8 Ryan McLaren, 9 Robin Peterson, 10 Morne Morkel, 11 Lonwabo Tsotsobe.Stats and triviaEngland’s appointment of Alastair Cook as Test captain in succession to Andrew Strauss ends their unique reliance on different captains for all three formats of the game.Paul Collingwood first suspected that Strauss was planning to retire when he told him he had bought a dog.South Africa last won an ODI at The Oval against England in 1999.Quotes “I jagged one down to him, he ducked under it and fell over. I remember the coach shouting from the back of the net, ‘You just got put on your arse by a 14-year-old!'”
“I like to take wickets instead of containing people. It’s probably the way one-day cricket has gone these days: the only way to control the run rate is by taking wickets all the time.”

The IPL governing council has set August 31 as the deadline for the owners of Deccan Chargers franchise to clear player payments and sort out the financial problems with the banks to avoid any stringent action

Nagraj Gollapudi15-Aug-2012The IPL governing council has set August 31 as the deadline for the owners of Deccan Chargers franchise to clear player payments and sort out the financial problems with the banks to avoid any stringent action. In an emergency meeting called on Tuesday in New Delhi, the governing council confronted the owners of Deccan Chronicle Holdings Limited, who hold the rights for the Hyderabad-based franchise, to explain in detail as to why the company had mortgaged the team ownership rights with two leading Indian banks.According to the BCCI officials, the board owns the ownership rights and that no franchise could mortgage the rights on its own.”The governing council asked the owners of Chargers to clear the players’ payments as by this time usually almost 60-70% of the contractual amount usually gets paid. But the franchise had defaulted on that. Secondly, they need to sort out the financial mess with the various banks to make sure the team remains unbothered. We need to protect both the IPL and the players,” a governing council official said.According to the official, the BCCI was concerned after the banks had directly sought the board’s involvement, asking to pay all the money set for the franchise, directly to them as Deccan Chronicle Holdings Limited owned them big money. “What is more concerning is the Deccan Chargers owners have hypothecated the intangibles. They have told the banks that the team has a certain market value and based on that they had procured the loans,” the official said.T Venkatram Reddy, the owner of franchise, was present at the meeting, but was adamant that the issue was unnecessarily blown out of proportion. “He outrightly blocked all the allegations by the banks and was confident all issues would get sorted by August 31,” the official said. However, it is understood that the BCCI had already checked with the Registrar of Companies and found out that Deccan Chronicle Holdings Limited had accumulated borrowing charges amounting to INR 3200 crore.According to the official, the banks were interested in knowing if they were in any position to sell the franchise on their own since the owners had defaulted to clear the dues. “We don’t know what exactly the amount is but the very fact that the banks have approached us means it is a serious issue,” the board official said.At the two-hour meeting, the Deccan Chargers were told that their immediate step should be to clear player dues over the next fortnight. The 15-day deadline has also given the Deccan Chargers owners the option of giving the presenting the details of the prospective buyers of their franchise to the Governing Council. Officials say that the prospect of the termination of the franchise had arisen “almost 15-20 days ago” however, the BCCI was “keen to be seen to aid the franchises to a limit.”

England’s professional cricketers have overwhelmingly rejected the Morgan Report into the future of the first-class game and have called for the introduction of a high-profile T20 tournament that bears comparison with IPL

David Hopps02-May-2012England’s professional cricketers have overwhelmingly rejected the findings of the Morgan Report into the future of the first-class game and have called for the introduction of a high-profile Twenty20 tournament that can bear comparison with IPL.The survey, conducted by the Professional Cricketers’ Association (PCA), reveals in detail for the first time the strength of opposition to the proposed shake-up.The players show almost universal support for the retention of the 16-match Championship and calls for T20 to become a highly promoted tournament in the middle of the season – in the manner of the IPL – to maximise the chances of attracting some of the world’s best players.The PCA report concludes that the English game must: “Establish a high quality T20 competition which draws on experience from other T20 events worldwide, and balances the requirement for short-term financial return for the counties with the need to establish a sustainable T20 income stream.”For that, we need a competition which has the potential to attract the best overseas players and maximises overseas broadcast interest. A significant increase in the prize money at stake is a critical element of that.”The T20 competition has a crucial role to play, both from a cricketing perspective, and for county finances. From the point of view of the players, the limitations on their ability to play a full part in the IPL because of the overlap with the start of our season … make it critical that our own T20 competition delivers adequate compensation in terms of excitement and reward.”The question for T20 is not simply ‘how many games can we squeeze in?’ particularly given the dangers of putting quantity before quality, but ‘how can we make our T20 competition as good as it can be?'”In designing the optimal competition, we believe ECB must engage with players (including those who have played in the IPL, Champions League, and Big Bash), spectators, sponsors and broadcasters (both at home and overseas) to understand how best to create a successful competition, played in front of large crowds, and attracting a good TV audience.”But the desire for a high-profile T20 tournament comes alongside a desire to protect the integrity of the 16-match two-divisional Championship.The report concludes: “The County Championship remains the priority, and this is a competition which must have full fixture symmetry and integrity. This is regarded by the players as more important than creating space in the schedule to allow our teams to compete in the Champions League, and this in turn is a higher priority than achieving further reductions in the amount of cricket played in the domestic season.”We cannot support changes to our premier competition which are made to allow more room in the schedule for the other competitions … We would further argue that the financial benefits claimed are (a) unproven, and (b) relatively small compared with the cricketing and commercial imperative of sustaining England’s position as No. 1 Test playing nation.”As many as 91% of players regarded the Championship, often derided for its low crowds, as the most important tournament, with a similar number (87%) placing the Friends Life t20 as the second-most important competition. CB40 came a distant third, with the PCA calling for a “fundamental review” of how much 40 or 50-over cricket is played by the counties.The players’ views, which preliminary soundings conducted by ESPNcricinfo also suggest are shared by the bulk of spectators, place further pressure on the ECB to accept that the Morgan Report’s solutions to the game’s ills are not supported either by those who play or watch.The exhaustive review, conducted by David Morgan, a former ECB chairman, was shelved by the ECB in March as the board decided instead to conduct further research throughout the 2012 season into the future of professional cricket in England.Growing opposition to Morgan’s recommendations, which included a reduction in Championship matches from 16 to 14, a return to 50-over cricket and 14 T20 matches, left the ECB board unable immediately to adopt a report that many senior officials still want to see become reality.Morgan’s proposal to play T20 cricket across much of the summer, on nights preferred by individual counties, was opposed by 77% of players polled who wanted the group stages to be played in a single block.The PCA research was carried out online and involved 277 registered professionals, with a response rate of approximately 70%.

New Zealand bowling coach, Damien Wright, has had success during his playing days in Hobart, and his charges are looking to learn from him

Brydon Coverdale in Hobart07-Dec-2011As New Zealand regroup following their loss at the Gabba, they can take comfort from one important fact. The second Test is at Bellerive Oval, and nobody has taken more first-class wickets at the venue than their bowling coach, Damien Wright.In a 14-year first-class career, a decade of which was spent playing for Tasmania, Wright collected 127 victims in Hobart, at an average of 26.92. If anyone is qualified to preach on seam and swing bowling at the ground, it is Wright.When he took on the job in July, Wright was looking forward to helping the New Zealanders understand Australian conditions, from how to play on the different venues to technical knowledge like how to keep the Kookaburra ball swinging all day. His first outing against the Australians was far from unsuccessful: it was the batting and fielding that let New Zealand down in Brisbane more than the bowling.Now, they must adjust from the bouncier Gabba surface to Bellerive, where the ball tends to swing early, but life can become harder for bowlers as matches wear on. There are also breezes from the Derwent River to take into account, all of which the New Zealand fast men hope to learn about from Wright.”It will change, in Brisbane there was a lot more bounce and carry,” the fast bowler Tim Southee said on Wednesday. “We’ll reassess and talk about it after training today. Damien Wright who played a lot of cricket down here will have his knowledge to pass on to us and hopefully we can learn from that.”He’s been great for us. He has played a lot in Australia and has a lot of experience and has played a lot of cricket. I’ve only had a few weeks with Damien. Now he has seen me bowl a bit so he has some things that we’ll talk about today. He’s got an exciting knowledge of cricket. We’ll need that leading up to this Test.”New Zealand can also count history on their side as they aim to provide more fight than in Brisbane. They are the only side ever to deny Australia victory in Bellerive Oval Test matches – and they’ve done it twice. Rain played a part in both those draws, in 1997-98 and 2001-02, but it’s a decent record all the same.”By all accounts it’s more like a New Zealand wicket,” Southee said of Bellerive. It is certainly more so than the Gabba. Hobart is further south than Wellington and has a similar annual rainfall to Christchurch. It could hardly be a more familiar climate for the New Zealanders.But in order to capitalise on that, they will need to grab their opportunities. New Zealand spilled four catches in Brisbane, all behind the wicket and all chances that should have been taken. The culprits were the wicketkeeper Reece Young and slip catchers Ross Taylor, Brendon McCullum and Jesse Ryder. Doug Bracewell also gave Michael Clarke a life by bowling him off a no-ball.”No one means to drop catches but everyone drops catches at some point,” Southee said. “We didn’t have lot of luck with the ball. Obviously Dougie bowling Michael Clarke was a massive turning point. I’m sure he’s working on that. Chris Martin bowled well and Doug bowled extremely well in periods. It was just very unlucky with those chances that went down.”But we have a good fielding outfit and we were disappointed to let our standards slip. The guys set very high standards in the field. When things aren’t going so well it’s something we rely on to get us going. We’ve put in some hard work since Brisbane and I’m sure there’ll be a lot of catching [practice] today and tomorrow.”All the bowlers can do is keep creating the chances.

A number of IPL franchises have expressed concern about the potential damage to the IPL’s image from Sahara Pune Warriors’ abrupt withdrawal from the league

Tariq Engineer05-Feb-2012A number of IPL franchises have expressed concern about the potential damage to the IPL’s image from Sahara Pune Warriors’ abrupt withdrawal from the league, with some saying the decision might make sponsors think twice about associating with the tournament in the future. An hour before the player auction on Saturday, Sahara India Parivar cut its ties with the BCCI, withdrawing its sponsorship of the Indian team and its ownership of the IPL Pune franchise. The announcement took the other franchises “completely by surprise” and has thrown the schedule and format of the tournament into doubt again.”When a franchise like this walks, it is not good for the league,” a team administrator told ESPNcricinfo. While he said allowances must be made as the IPL is a new product and, as with any new business, there will be teething problems, he said the reasons “why this is happening are not good”.The Pune Warriors are the fourth team over the past 18 months whose status ahead of an IPL season remains unclear. In 2010, the BCCI terminated Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab but they took the board to court and won the right to participate in the 2011 IPL. Last September, Kochi Tuskers Kerala became the third team to be terminated, though one of the team’s co-owners said last week that they plan to file a case of their own in court and are confident of being part of the 2012 season despite their players having been sold to other teams.It is this uncertainty over which teams will be part of the league, franchises said, that sends the wrong signal to sponsors and partners. No business likes uncertainty. Franchises typically sign multi-year deals with their sponsors. But if a sponsor can’t be sure the team they are backing will remain in the league, they are going to be jittery about committing their money and resources.The operational details of the IPL – number of matches, dates etc – are up in the air as well but, beyond the logistics, it is the constantly shifting goalposts that add to the confusion. It renders decision-making by both franchises and their partners more difficult because the underlying factors that determine those decisions are unclear. A sponsorship deal for a team that plays 14 matches will naturally differ from one for a team that plays 18 matches. If you can’t be sure of the number of matches, it becomes that much harder to put a value on a contract.Adding to the league’s concerns is the fact that the 2011 IPL produced the lowest television ratings of any of the four seasons, an average Television Viewer Rating (TVR) of 3.91 per game, down 29% from 5.51 in 2010. Even the final, which drew a TVR of 6.96, paled in comparison to the 12.85 rating in 2010. It was also the first final to draw a single-digit rating.Santosh Desai, brand analyst and managing director of Future Brands, said he felt that the 2012 season would be a crucial barometer of the IPL’s long-term prospects because of a number of coalescing factors, including the general slowdown of economies around the world and the other problems surrounding Indian cricket at the moment: the national team’s poor performances away from home and the loss of the domestic broadcaster. In such a scenario, he said, something like the Warriors quitting the league takes on a larger significance.”[The IPL] is sentiment-driven. The moment you take away the good cheer, everything looks darker and gloomier. It begs greater scrutiny on the part of the franchises of the harder, more rational aspects of the IPL. From every single quarter there seems to be some reason for doubt. So this could be the most challenging season.”Desai also said a lack of proper governance, going back to when Lalit Modi was the IPL chairman, was part of the problem. “Once you build something, you need a steady hand, someone with a long-term perspective. Auctions are too frequent. If you look at the manner of the BCCI overall, the conflict of interest issues have not been resolved. So certainly governance is an issue.”It’s too early, though, to say the IPL itself is in serious trouble. When the NBA went on strike last year, the consensus opinion was that the league’s viewership would suffer if and when the league started up again. The strike was eventually called off and six weeks into the 2011-12 season, television ratings are up across the board.Sahara’s issues with the BCCI relate largely to the IPL. In 2008, Sahara’s bid for one of the first eight IPL franchises was “thwarted”, as it said; in 2010, Sahara successfully bid US$370 million for the Pune franchise but later asked the board for a refund of what it called its “extra bid money” stating that its bid price had been calculated on the basis that 94 matches would be played per season from 2011 onwards but only 74 matches were played last season. Other requests, such as not having player retention to create a “level-playing field” or allowing one extra foreign player for the two new teams were also turned down.Some are also still hopeful that a compromise can be reached between Sahara and the BCCI. “We sincerely hope the parties come to a consensus and a solution is reached in the best interest of the league and cricket,” a franchise official said.