This September will witness the launch of the International 20:20 Club Championship. The three-day tournament, to be held at Grace Road, Leicester, from 15th – 17th September, will see six club sides, containing some of the world’s leading players, battling it out to win the £25,000 first prize and the title of International 20:20 Club Champions.
Teams from three continents will contest the first International 20:20 Club Championship. These include Somerset Sabres, the 2005 Twenty20 Cup champions, Leicestershire Foxes, the 2004 champions, the Nashua Titans, winners of South Africa’s Pro20 Series 2005, the Professional Cricketers’ Association’s PCA Masters, Lashings CC and, for the first time in world cricket, a combined Friendship XI consisting of leading international players from India and Pakistan.
Teams have been drawn in groups of three and will play two group matches on the Thursday and Friday of the tournament. The top two teams from each group will qualify for the finals day on Saturday which will consist of two semi-finals and a final.
The players who will be participating include Hylton Ackerman, Darren Maddy, Ottis Gibson and Charl Willoughby of Leicestershire Foxes; Andrew Caddick and Ian Blackwell of Somerset Sabres; and Justin Kemp and Darryl Cullinan of Nashua Titans.
The PCA Masters, Lashings CC and Indo/Pakistani Friendship XI squads will be announced in the coming weeks but will feature international stars such as Chris Cairns, Javagal Srinath and Rohan Gavaskar.
The event is the brainchild of Investors in Cricket (IIC), the company that this year entered into a seven-year commercial partnership with Leicestershire County Cricket Club.
Alex Balfour, Tournament Director for the International 20:20 Club Championship, said: “The Twenty20 format has given English domestic cricket a real shot in the arm, attracting new audiences and giving counties an opportunity to generate increased revenues.
“Our aim is to build a tournament that will help domestic professional teams both here and overseas to thrive commercially. By holding the event on a regular basis in selected venues, we feel that we can develop a genuinely innovative tournament that will capture the imagination of players and fans alike”.
Neil Davidson, Chairman of Leicestershire County Cricket Club said: “When Leicestershire and Investors in Cricket announced our partnership earlier this year, we laid out our intention to work together in order to ensure that the county club achieves success both on and off the field.
“We have made progress on both fronts. IIC has taken up our enthusiasm, as Twenty20 Cup Champions in 2004, for 20:20 cricket and the result has been this tournament. The format has proven spectacularly appealing to our fan base in the East Midlands, and two weeks ago, Grace Road was completely sold out for our quarter final against Middlesex. We are keen to ensure that the county plays its part in helping the ECB to meet the target of raising spectator levels in domestic cricket by 15% over the next four years”.
Note to editors:
Investors in Cricket is a venture that has been created by a group of leading businessmen and entrepreneurs who share a passion for cricket and a desire to see the game put on a stronger commercial footing.
Enquiries:
Alex Balfour, Tournament Director M: 07974 393 734
International 20:20 Club Championship E: amailto:alex.balfour@iicricket.com
Neil Hopkins, Associate T: 0870 420 3274
FourGritti Sports and Sponsorship M: 07968 716 938
E: nhopkins@fourgritti.com