BCCI and ECB will agree to delay the start of 1st test between India and England by one day that will enable players who will participate in the Champions League Twenty20 Cricket tournament to take some rest. Champions League 2008 Final will end on December 10th while first test will start on December 11th. Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni will play for Chennai Super Kings in the Champions League. He is the only cricketer who plays in the inaugural edition of Champions Twenty20 cricket from both teams. Middlesex requested ECB to release Owais Shah and Andrew Strauss to play in the Champions League. But tournament rules will not allow clubs to play with newly signed players (after winning the domestic tournament). So, Middlesex will play in this prestigious T20 tournament without their 5 first choice players. Middlesex is the sole representative from England in the Champions League.  First edition of Champions League cricket will be played with 8 times while 12 teams will play in the second edition. Abu Dhabi cricket administration evinced interest to host second edition of the Champions League T20 tournament. Champions league rights: Internet rights were sold to for $50 million for 10 years while TV rights were grabbed by ESPN and Star Sports for $975 million for 10 years. This is the first sports event that will be broad cast in high-definition in India. ESPN holds the exclusive global telecast rights for all ICC events till 2015. Strange news: Nashua Titans player, Albie Morkel, will play against Chennai Super Kings on December 7th. Morkel played for Chennai in the IPL 2008 tournament. Australian cricket star Michael Hussey opted for Chennai instead of home state Victoria. Morne Morkel will play for Nashua Titans instead of Rajasthan Royals.  Champions League teams: 1. India: Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings. 2. Pakistan: Sialkot Stallions. 3. Australia: Western Australia and Victoria. 4. England: Middlesex. 5. South Africa: Nashua Titans and Dolphins. Except Middlesex, all other teams are looking extremely strong and viewers will get … [Read more...]