The International Cricket Council and Yahoo!India on Thursday announced the launch of the official website of the ICC World Cup 2011 – iccevents.yahoo.com, the online destination to follow the happenings of the sporting extravaganza, starting from February 19.

The website would have live match updates, detailed match analysis, exclusive video content, engaging games and rewarding contests, an ICC release said.

Fans can also purchase ICC merchandise through the website, the release informed.

ICC General Manager (Commercial) Campbell Jamieson said he and other members of the world governing body of the game were “thrilled to be working with Yahoo! to launch an online destination that offers the exclusive ICC Cricket World Cup content in an innovative and engaging way.”

Among the content will be “Commentweeter” to get a consolidated view of Twitter updates directly from cricket fans and the top cricketers of the world in one single view, the release added.

The mascot of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011, which is an elephant, has been named Stumpy. The name was unveiled in Colombo on Monday.

This is the second elephant mascot. The first was Appu, the baby elephant, in 1982 for the Asian Games in New Delhi.

The International Cricket Council had launched an online competition to suggest names for the mascot of the next year’s mega-event to be held in the sub-continent.

ICC has tried to imbibe morals of an ideal player into the mascot’s personality by stating that the mascot believes in hard work and is always learning to master the art of concentration.

ICC had said the mascot is someone who is young and enthusiastic, and determined individual.

He is someone who thinks cricket is the most fun game in the world and loves playing street cricket. He worships his cricket heroes, their technique, skill and character and dreams of playing in the ICC Cricket World Cup one day.

The first match of the World Cup will be played in Dhaka, Bangladesh on February 19 next year and the final is scheduled to be held in Mumbai on April 2.

Cricket India

Ogilvy & Mather has been selected as the official Advertising and Media Agency for the 50-over ICC Cricket World Cup to be co-hosted by India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh next year.

In 1948, David Ogilvy founded the agency that went on to become Ogilvy & Mather later. The company is eighth largest advertising networks in the world and has more than 450 plus offices in 169 cities.

The 10th edition of the World Cup will take place during February and March 2011, with the first match being played on February 19th in Dhaka and final in Mumbai on April 2nd.

It will be Bangladesh’s first time co-hosting of a World Cup and fourteen cricketing nations will complete in the quadrennial event.

The World Cup was also to be co-hosted by Pakistan, but in the wake of the 2009 attack on the Sri Lanka national cricket team in Lahore, the International Cricket Council (ICC) were forced to strip Pakistan of its hosting rights.

The tournament will take place at 13 venues in Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka. The prize money for the prestigious event has been set by the ICC Board at a record $10 million in order to reflect the importance of the competition.

Tickets for the premium event will go on sale online from June 1, 2010 at www.iccevents.yahoo.com.

Cricket has taken a major stride towards potential inclusion in the Olympics after Games chiefs voted to recognise the governing International Cricket Council (ICC).

The International Olympic Committee (IOC), meeting in Vancouver, also said it would recognise the federations of sport climbing and power boating.

“They are recognised federations by us, which now means that they can take part in IOC events,” said IOC director of communications Mark Adams, adding it could be seen as a first step towards becoming Olympic sports.

Cricket was granted the status of a “recognised” Olympic sport in 2007, for sports not in the Olympic programme but which confirm to certain criteria such as universality, for a two-year period, pending a decision on making the move permanent.

But despite calls from the likes of former Australia star Adam Gilchrist for Twenty20 to be included, the ICC currently has no imminent plans to bid for the format to included.

Cricket was part of the 1900 Olympics in Paris and has not appeared since, but it is set to feature at this year’s Asian Games in Guangzhou, China, and has been in the Commonwealth Games as recently as 1998.

Recent additions to the Olympic sports roster include golf and rugby sevens.

International Cricket Council is now planning to split One-day matches into two innings of 25 overs each, an idea mooted by the Indian batting great Sachin Tendulkar earlier this month.

In order to spice up the One-day format, Tendulkar had proposed that every team should play two innings of 25 overs each and ICC cricket manager Dave Richardson said the governing body might soon conduct a trial.

“I quite like that idea, I believe South Africa may trial something along those lines,” Richardson said.

“This might work in day/night cricket where one team has to bat in day and the other at night. It provides something different and reduces the effects on the team who loses the toss and has to bat first on a damp wicket, for example,” he said.

Even though Tendulkar aired his view earlier this month, Richardson said the idea had popped up in the past as well and came up for discussion at annual meeting of the ICC cricket committee in May.

One-day cricket is already facing tough challenge from Twenty20 and the England and Wales Cricket Board scrapped Friends Provident trophy, the only 50-over domestic tournament, in favour of a Twenty20 event.

Richardson, however, is concerned that splitting it into two innings would mean less centuries as batsmen would have less overs to bat.

“I don’t necessarily like the idea of playing two matches of 25 overs each with the openers batting again. The charm of One-day cricket is seeing someone batting at four and scoring a good hundred,” Richardson said.

“If you bat in the middle order of a Twenty20 or a new 25-over innings, you’re not to get much of an opportunity to hit three figures, one downside of the Twenty20 game,” he said.

He, however, made it clear that such an experiment should be conducted at the domestic level before pushing it into international cricket.

“If it has been trialled successfully at domestic level, it may give the trial to give it the go-ahead at international level,” he said.

“The ICC has been proactive with ideas and innovations, like the powerplays. The idea of the ‘super-sub’ wasn’t as successful and got rid of quite quickly. One of the criticisms was that we trialled things at international as opposed to domestic level.

“Our tactics going forward are member countries trial changes first domestically and if they are successful, then we can take them on board at the international level,” Richardson said.

The ICC cricket committee will discuss the result of the experiment when it meets next year.

The International Cricket Council and the Pakistan Cricket Board on Thursday amicably resolved the dispute over staging of the 2011 World Cup matches in the strife-torn country, clearing the way for the smooth hosting of the elite event in the sub-continent.

As per the agreement, to be signed soon, the PCB will retain its host fees and also receive an additional payment as reasonable compensation for loss of hosting rights that it would have enjoyed had it hosted the matches on Pakistan soil.

The PCB, on its part, has agreed to withdraw its legal proceedings against the ICC.

The resolution was reached during a meeting between ICC President David Morgan and PCB Chairman Ejaz Butt.

According to the agreement between the PCB and commercial arm of the world governing body “the PCB would be free of its liabilities and obligations associated with hosting matches during the tournament, including the location of the tournament secretariat which had originally been set for Lahore.”

“This resolution is good for world cricket and provides an improved platform for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 as we now have a degree of certainty surrounding the event that was not there while the dispute was ongoing,” Morgan said in a statement.

“I am glad we were able to come to an amicable agreement and I believe this is a fair resolution for the PCB and the ICC,” Morgan said.

The ICC Board in April had stripped the host status of Pakistan, taking away the 14 matches it was originally allocated because of security situation in that country.

Morgan also promised Pakistan to bring cricket back in that country as and when security improves.

“When the position in Pakistan, from a safety and security point of view, becomes satisfactory to the ICC and its specialist security advisors as well as to visiting teams, then international cricket will return to Pakistan,” he said.

PCB chief Butt also expressed satisfaction at the outcome of the talks.

“The PCB is content with the settlement that has been reached. We are able to see this dispute from the other side. We realise also the logistical and administrative difficulties that would be associated with organising our matches in the other three co-host countries.

“Our number-one priority is that cricket in Pakistan must not be allowed to suffer unduly and I believe this agreement is the best possible outcome for the game,” he said.

A lawyer representing the International Cricket Council will arrive in Mumbai on Saturday to discuss the new anti-doping code of WADA with BCCI. The development follows refusal on part of Indian players to sign the Wada form, saying that one of its clauses infringes upon their privacy.

Iain Higgins, ICC’s company lawyer, will be here to explain to the Indian board that the full implementation of the WADA code cannot be delayed. ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat said in Dubai that Higgins will make it clear to the BCCI that “the requirements specified by the WADA code have to be implemented without any delay”.

The ICC says it does understand the players’ concerns, but has to adhere to the WADA code in order to keep the sport clean. “The anti-doping measures are very necessary, quite like the security checks that are done at all airports these days,” Lorgat told a cricket website.

“During the trial period, the overwhelming majority of players from all countries, except India, submitted whereabouts information,” Lorgat added. “I understand and appreciate that there will be some concerns and reservations from all players and I am sure they feel that those concerns are genuine. However, the ICC has spent the past few months addressing all of those concerns, and, having taken great care to do so, we see no further reason to delay the full implementation of the requirements specified by the WADA code.”

Lorgat said ICC might even consider making some changes to the code. “If we think that there are things that need to change in the system, we will provide feedback to WADA in the course of our wider review of the IRTP (International Registered Testing Pool) at the end of the year,” he said.

Penalise Indian players: FICA

The Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations (FICA) has demanded that either ICC penalise Indian players, who missed the deadline to submit the WADA anti-doping form because of its ‘whereabout clause’, or withdraw the code.

Indian players have missed the July 31 deadline for submitting the information, voicing concerns about the security and practicality aspects associated with the WADA compliant code.

“From a player association perspective, if the Indian players do not have to comply with the whereabouts provision or don’t suffer penalties for not filing such information, then we will certainly be ensuring that ICC lift this obligation from the rest of the teams,” FICA chief executive Tim May was quoted as saying in Australian papers.

Lawyers have advised the Pakistan Cricket Board to drop its legal action against the International Cricket Council for taking away the country’s share of 2011 World Cup matches, local media reported on Saturday.

“(Lawyer) Mark Gay advised the board to take back the case as it was not strong enough,” daily newspaper Dawn quoted unnamed PCB sources to say.

The PCB had taken legal action questioning the authority of the ICC to make the decision, but the newspaper said PCB chairman Ijaz Butt will formally withdraw the action when he meets ICC chairman David Morgan in Dubai next week.

Pakistan was ruled out as World Cup venue after gunmen attacked Sri Lanka’s team bus and security detail during a March test, killing six police officials and a van driver. Several Sri Lanka players and officials also suffered injuries.

The ICC had already reallocated Pakistan’s share of 14 World Cup matches among three other co-hosts – India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

The three World Cup co-hosts have rejected a PCB proposal to hold Pakistan’s share of matches at a neutral venue, but the ICC has promised to give Pakistan $10.5 million as co-host.

The 2011 World Cup, to be hosted in the sub-continent, was on Tuesday launched with all the fanfare by the International Cricket Council with a member each from most of the previous winners present along with ICC vice-president Sharad Pawar and Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat.

Clive Lloyd, the captain of the West Indies sides that won in 1975 and 1979 in England, India’s 1983 winning-team members Balwinder Sandhu and Dilip Vengsarkar, Sri Lanka’s Aravinda D’Silva who played a major role in the 1996 Cup winning squad and Michael Bevan of Australia who was part of the team that won the crown in 1999 and 2003 were those present.

The sound and laser show that showcased the key moments of all the previous World Cups was a breathtaking affair.

Lorgat sought to dispel fears of One-day format being overtaken by the huge popularity of the Twenty20 version saying that the limited overs World Cup continued to be ICC’s showpiece event.

“The (50-over) World Cup is the flagship event of the ICC. What we have will hold up in the future,” he announced to the audience which had several former Mumbai-based Test cricketers including Ajit Wadekar, Bapu Nadkarni and Umesh Kulkarni.

Lorgat also said that the 2011 World Cup would be over in 40-plus dates and would involve 14 teams.

Pawar, the chairman of the 2011 World Cup Organising Committee, announced that the Indian board has decided to keep the ticket prices at affordable rates to encourage the student community to witness the matches and reiterated that Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium would host the final.

“The Indian board has decided to keep the rates of the tickets low to encourage the student community. We don’t want to make too much money out of gates. This has come after what we saw in the West Indies (during the 2007 World Cup),” he added.

The last World Cup was played in front of a lot of empty seats.

Pawar also said that Pakistan, which would not hold any matches, would continue to be part of the organizational set-up.

“I’m upset that a major partner Pakistan is not organising a match due to unfortunate circumstances. They will be very much part of the organising committee and would help organize the World Cup in a dignified manner,” he said.

Pakistan’s representative — PCB’s cricket operations manager — Zakir Khan took part in the ceremony though he did not attend the meeting of the World Cup Central Organising Committee which preceded it.

Recalling the first two World Cups that he guided the West Indies to victory as captain, Lloyd said in 1975 the limited overs game was in its infancy and to that extent his team can be considered as the pioneers of driving it forward.

“The West Indies has a population of only five million people and to be crowned the best in the world was an achievement,” he said.

Sandhu brought the roof down with his comments that the biggest mistake that Lloyd and his men made while playing against India in the final at the Lord’s in June 1983 was to hit him on the head with a bouncer.

“The biggest mistake that the West Indies made was to hit a ‘Sardar’ on the head with a bouncer. Now we have two Sardars in the Indian team, Yuvraj Singh (who was part of the audience) and Harbhajan Singh. And Sachin Tendulkar wants to be part of a World Cup winning squad. If he remains fit India will win the next World Cup,” he said.

Sandhu said that the 1983 title triumph was a turning point in Indian cricket as it gave the players the confidence that they can beat the best in the world.

“We then went on to win the Benson and Hedges World Championships in Australia in 1985 and the Twenty20 World Championship (in 2007),” he recollected.

He also said that he has kept the winners’ medal in his safe. “It’s a very precious thing for me,” he pointed out.

Aravinda, who played a match-winning knock of 100 besides taking three wickets in the 1996 final at Lahore against Australia, considered both the feats with the bat and ball as important and complimented the entire team led by Arjuna Ranatunga for the triumph.

“It was a great team effort. We had a strong batting line up with the openers (Sanath Jayasuriya and Romesh Kaluwitharana) followed by Roshan (Mahanama), Asanka (Gurusinha) and Arjuna which gave me the opportunity to play my natural game,” he said.

Bevan, considered among the finest finishers the one-day game has seen, said that though he batted at number six like Yuvraj Singh had done for India earlier, their batting styles were different.

“We had to win seven games in a row and we treated every game as a final,” he recalled about Australia’s performance in the 1999 World Cup held in England.

He also remembered the sad part of losing seven shirts with the autographs of players when he returned home. “I had kept the coffin (kit bag) outside as I did not want to spoil the new white carpet at my home. When I returned to pick it up it had been stolen,” he said.

Asked about the winners’ medal, Bevan said it was in his garage.

Addressing the media after the formal launch of the 2011 World Cup, Lorgat ruled out any further possibility of Pakistan still hosting any matches but re-iterated that the PCB will get the hosting fees.

“No possibility (of hosting any match). Pakistan can choose to hold the World Cup with the other three hosting boards,” Lorgat said.

“The decision (to pay Pakistan hosting fees) was taken by all the four co-hosts and even the Pakistan representative was present. They will get three quarter million US dollars per match for 14 matches,” he said.

On Pakistan going to court after it was stripped of 2011 WC hosting rights, Lorgat said, “I think perhaps they are not that well advised. They should be engaged in dialogue to sort out the issues and not get into legal issues.”

The ICC CEO said the Champions Trophy will be held every four years after this year’s edition in September and the Twenty20 World Championship will be held in April 2010 to get the scheduling right.

He said Twenty20 World Cup will not overshadow limited overs World Cup. “You cannot compare the World Cup with the T20 World Cup,” he said.

Prof Shetty said Wankhede Stadium renovation work will be completed by October 2010 and it will start hosting matches in December 2010-January 2011.

After a number of trials in past few months, the International Cricket Council has finally decided to roll out the umpire referral system in Tests from October.

The ICC Board, on it first day of meeting at Lord’s, also decided to double the fine for slow over-rates besides agreeing to trial day/night Test cricket provided several crucial factors related to it were addressed.

“The Umpire Decision Review System (UDRS) should be rolled out in Test cricket from October 2009,” said an ICC statement after the first day of the ICC Board meeting last night.

ICC President David Morgan said the Cricket Committee received the draft of Futures Tour Programme post-2012 which would be refined by the ICC and Members nations.

“I am encouraged by the hard and effective work put in by Members towards a long-term structure for international cricket,” he said.

“It is vitally important that this framework is put in place to create certainty for our Members, as well as other key stakeholders, including players, broadcasters and the public.

“We will work with our Members in refining the draft model over the coming weeks, consult with those stakeholders and seek approval of a new programme as soon as possible,” he added.

The current FTP concludes in May 2012 and the draft proposals for a new programme was made following bi-lateral and multi-lateral discussions between Members ahead of the meeting.

On the issue of slow over-rates, the ICC said fines imposed under the Code of Conduct be doubled and captain of a side guilty of three over-rate fines in the same format of the game in a rolling 12-month period should be automatically banned for one match.

The ban will be applicable in the next match played by his side in that same format.

It also said members should be far more diligent in ensuring delays within their control, such as sightscreen issues, are minimised, team over-rates (including permitted allowances) are displayed on scoreboards to ensure everyone was aware of the situation at all times.

The ICC agreed to explore the possibility of day/night Test cricket but said factors like successful trials of an appropriate ball; research on whether or not it was what stakeholders want; and successful trials at first-class level should be addressed.

“Providing these factors could be satisfactorily addressed over the coming months then the Cricket Committee agreed the concept could be explored further,” the ICC statement said.

“This could involve the committee receiving an update at the start of 2010 ahead of an update to the CEC and, if appropriate, a day/night Test could be trialled later that year,” it said.

Among other decisions the ICC ruled that stricter penalties should be imposed on Boards and venues found guilty of producing pitches considered “poor” or “unfit”.

It was also agreed the term “poor” would include batsmen-friendly “featherbed” surfaces which, it was felt, were a serious threat to the game.

The committee also decided that play should only be suspended for bad light when umpires considered conditions unreasonable or dangerous (rather than as is currently the case, unsuitable) and that the umpires would make that decision rather than offer the batsmen the option to choose.