Flintoff May Make Return in Champions League
The Chennai Super Kings have allowed the possibility of the return of Andrew Flintoff to competitive cricket by naming him in the 20-member provisional squad that was named by them for the Champions League T20, 2010. Flintoff is currently out of international cricket due to a knee injury that has kept him out since the 2009 edition of the Ashes, where he was responsible in England winning the series.
Flintoff is currently rehabilitating back at home, and will probably turn up for the domestic cricket that his first class team, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Lancashire-c806, will play over the next few weeks. Flintoff had clarified that he will play as a batsman-only and that will mean that the side will miss an important cog in the all-rounder’s wheel – his bowling. Flintoff has also said that he is at least a fortnight away from decent enough recovery to be able to play cricket. He said that he will not be able to bowl for now, but over time, if his knee becomes strong enough, he would consider doing it.
Champions League T20 is an event which sees the best cricket clubs from around the world fight it for ultimate glory. This is the second season in which the Champions League T20 will be played, after the first edition in 2009. In 2009, there were 12 teams that had participated in the tournament, but this time, there are going to be only ten.
Last year, there were teams from http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758 and the West Indies which had participated in the tournament. This year, the English sides have not been invited because of their county commitments and a clash of dates.
Flintoff had signed up for Chennai in 2009 for a $1.55 million deal which had meant that he was joint-most expensive cricketer in the tournament along with Kevin Pietersen. However, he had played in only three matches in the tournament, scored 62 runs, picked up a couple of wickets, before the injury put paid to his chances.
Apart from Chennai, seven other teams participating in the tournament named their provisional 20-member squads. The sides will be further pruned down to 15 members by the 9th of August. These include the teams of Royal Challengers Bangalore and Mumbai Indians from the IPL, Lions and Warriors from http://www.senore.com/Cricket/West-Indies-c760 has not yet been named, as the qualifying tournament for the same will begin from tomorrow in the West Indies.
Chennai will be led by http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mumbai-c820 Indians will have Sachin Tendulkar as their captain, while the skippers of the rest of the sides will be named afterwards.
The format of the tournament is as follows. There are ten teams and they will be divided into two groups of five sides each. The teams in each group will play a round-robin format, which will allow each side to play four games each. At the end of this league stage, the top two teams in each group will enter the semi-finals and then there will be a final.
There were 23 games in all, which is the same number as the previous edition.
The two groups are as follows:
Group A: Warriors, Wayamba, Central Districts, Chennai, Victoria
Group B: Mumbai, Lions, South Australia, Bangalore, West Indian representative
The tournament will be played in South Africa on the grounds of Centurion, Port Elizabeth, Johannesburg and Durban. Mumbai Indians will play the hosts Lions in the first game on the 10th of September.
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