Idea Cup renews advertiser interest in cricket

According to media planners Doordarshan is commanding a rate of Rs 2 lakh for a 10 second spot and Ten Sports, which had reserved some inventory for the last few matches, has hiked its rates to Rs 2.5 lakh from its earlier rates, which hovered between Rs 1.80-2 lakh.

“There is almost 20 per cent of inventory left with Ten Sports and it has jacked up its asking rate to Rs 2.5 lakh for the 4th and 5th one day international (ODI) of the Idea Cup,” says Mr Venkat Subramanian, Vice-President, Lintas Media Group.

Having sold spots for clients such as Maruti and Sony Bravia, Lintas Media Group believes it has got good rates having bought spots earlier in the series.

Renewed interest

“Initially there was poor response from the advertisers, but considering India won the last ODI, there was interest shown by advertisers. Now the last two matches are going to be crucial for both the teams and Ten Sports will be jacking up its rates for its left over inventory,” added Mr Subramanian. The fourth match to be played on Tuesday was washed out due to rain and will be played on Wednesday, August 27.

However, the Idea Cup has been attracting the regular set of cricket advertisers with companies such as LG, Airtel, Vodafone, Coke and Pepsi buying airtime on its matches.

But advertisers who booked early had to pay much less and the going rate at the beginning of the series during the test matches hovered at Rs 40,000 for a ten second spot.

“India did not fare well during the first test match and the ad spots would have fetched the channels at least Rs 40,000,” observes Mr Navin Khemka, Vice-President, Zenith Optimedia. The media buying agency has clients such as Hewlett Packard, which was the animation sponsor for the series.

“Ten Sports would be asking a rate of Rs 2 lakh for its ODI matches and would be commanding a 10 per cent premium for the saved inventory in the last two matches which would be full by now,” added Mr Khemka.

At the same time, cricket has not been the flavour of the season on television as new general entertainment channels (GEC) have earmarked huge media spends for their launches.

For instance, of late the new GEC channel Colors has been flooding the media with its new shows such as Big Boss. As Mr Tarun Nigam, Executive Director, Starcom Media, observes, “Today media buying agencies are influenced by the hype created by new GEC channels. There is not much buying happening for cricket right now compared to the reality shows on the GEC channels. It is possible that there was not much media buying for the Idea Cup as there seemed to be sustained hype about the newly-launched GEC channels.”

Australia-India Test in Bangalore will go on

Australia's high-profile cricket Test series in India will begin as scheduled in Bangalore in October, even though a tennis tournament was called off there over security fears, officials said Wednesday.

"There is no change in the itinerary. Bangalore will host the first Test," said Indian cricket board secretary Niranjan Shah.

India's four-match series against world champions Australia opens in Bangalore from October 9-13. The remaining Tests will be played in Mohali, New Delhi and Nagpur.

A string of bomb blasts last month in Bangalore, the country's high-tech hub in the south, left one person dead and a dozen injured.

Australia last week joined a boycott of next month's Champions Trophy tournament in Pakistan due to security concerns, forcing the International Cricket Council to put off the eight-nation tournament till 2009.

The ATP confirmed in a statement issued Wednesday that the tournament, due to begin on September 29, had been cancelled.

"The ATP board can confirm that it has regrettably accepted a petition from the Bangalore Open to suspend the 2008 event due to the local promoter's security concerns," the statement said.

"The total event prize money of 400,000 dollars will now be paid into the ATP player pension fund."

Local media reports speculated that tennis organisers had cited security fears because they had failed to attract top players for the event.

India's only other ATP event, the Chennai Open in January, attracts star players like world number one Rafael Nadal, who use it to prepare for the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam event of the season.

England cricket's deadly weapon: Murray Mints

The Australians have rumbled us. England's cricketers, all appointed MBEs by the Queen, apparently cheated when they won the Ashes in 2005. It wasn't superior bowling or more dogged batting - or even luck - that won England the little urn. Instead, it was their secret weapon: Murray Mints.

According to Marcus Trescothick, the opening batsman, England's bowlers used the sugary saliva from sucking on the sweets to moisten the surface of the cricket ball, making it swing through the air. Trescothick was the go-to man when a gobbet of spittle was needed and always kept a packet of mints in the pocket of his whites for such occasions.

Once this became known through the serialisation of Trescothick's autobiography in a Sunday newspaper, the Australian media gleefully leapt on the news. “The secret behind the devastating swing bowling that took England to its historic 2005 Ashes win has been revealed. They cheated,” wrote The Australian. Former players were dredged up to complain about perfidious Albion.

But bowlers have always tried to give themselves an advantage and generally, unless it has been blatant, umpires have turned a blind eye. Suncream-laden sweat or lip balm has the same effect on leather as mint-infused saliva. Why do you think so many bowlers in the 1950s wore Brylcreem? In 1921, Johnny Douglas, the England captain, threatened to report Arthur Mailey, the Australia leg spinner, for using resin to grip the ball. Mailey countered by pointing out that Douglas's thumbnail was worn to the bone by picking at the ball's seam to aid his own bowlers.

England's Murray Mint strategy is a continuation of a long history of bowlers trying to get away with it. And why not? Cricket is a battle between poachers and gamekeepers. The laws of the game, aided by modern pitches, are biased towards the batsmen, so bowlers have to be cunning, even dastardly, in finding ways to get them out.

Seventy-five years ago England invented Bodyline - bowling fast at the batsman's head - to counter the batting of Don Bradman (born, coincidentally, 100 years ago today). That was against the spirit of the game but not the rules as they then stood. Attacking a ball with mint-spit is against the rules, which say you can't use any artificial substance on the ball, but not the spirit.

Anyway, the Sunday newspaper got the story wrong. As Trescothick's autobiography makes quite clear, the mischief with the Murray Mints did not happen in 2005 but during the Ashes summer of 2001. England lost that series 4-1, proving that when it comes to cheating, we suck.

‘Mendis has not been exposed’

Australia’s John Buchanan has been one of the most successful coaches of this era. Since he joined the Australian team as a coach, the bar has only risen. It has become one of the toughest team to beat.

After his term ended with the Australian team, he was approached by IPL team Kolkata Knight Riders, however, he failed to recreate the same magic in the first edition. Buchnan is in the city for a two-day talent hunt program organised by Omtex for the IPL francisee at the Goregaon Sports Club, where he will select the best players
from U-19 and U-22 category and train them.

“We want to reach out to the grass-root level and build up an infrastructure, pick up talented players for the future. We are going to select a few players and send them to
Australia for training,” Buchanan said. He also revealed that some might get an opportunity to play for KKR in the next season. “If we find good players, they might play for us next season. We are not only looking at the current scenario but also the future.”

The 55-year-old also expressed his views on cricket’s latest debate, the game being included in the Olympics. He said the game needs to clean its image before making in it.
“Cricket ought to initially clean its own backyard and then strive to secure a place in the Olympics,” he added.

india vs srilanka 4th odi

Rain delays 4th ODI between India and Sri Lanka

Intermittent drizzle today delayed the day-night fourth and penultimate cricket one-dayer between India and Sri Lanka here.
It started raining around half an hour before the match was scheduled to begin, leaving the outfield of the R Premadasa stadium damp. The covers were still on.

India is leading the five-match rubber 2-1 and looking to seal the match while the home side would be trying to keep the series alive. PTI

NZ Cricket names A team for Australia, India tour

New Zealand Cricket has named the A team which will tour Australia and India over the next two months.

The team's selection was delayed while the future of Pakistan's Champions Trophy was in doubt over security fears. It has now been postponed until next year.

New Zealand coach John Bracewell said players were selected with an eye to the future.

"We have taken the opportunity to assemble a team of emerging talent and players who will benefit from the experience of touring and playing in Australia and India.

"The tour is helping to build the experience of these players and is part of a programme to build greater depth at the international level."

The team leaves on Friday for Brisbane where they will play warm up matches against the Queensland Bulls before heading to India next week for a one-day tri-series against India A and Australia A.

The New Zealanders will then stay on for two first class matches against India A.

Black Caps Jeetan Patel and Mark Gillespie will take part in the one-day matches while Iain O'Brien joins the team for the first class games.

Otago's Mike Hesson takes the reins as coach with Glenn Turner as manager.

New Zealand A Team: Brent Arnel, Neil Broom, Grant Elliott, Peter Fulton, Mark Gillespie, Iain O'Brien, Martin Guptill, Greg Hay, Nathan McCullum, James Marshall, Michael Mason, Jeetan Patel, Trent Boult, Aaron Redmond, Bradley Scott, Reece Young, BJ Watling.

CRICKET BRIEFS

Lillee wants rotation policy for pacers

Chennai: Expressing concern over increasing workload of the fast bowlers due to more one-day and Twenty20 cricket, former Australian speedster Dennis Lillee said on Monday that genuine pacers need to be rotated and preserved if they are to prolong their careers.The pace ‘guru’ said, “the genuinely quick have to be preserved and if it means they have to miss a few games it should not bother.”

Saheba to officiate

Calcutta: The ICC on Monday appointed Jawagal Srinath as the Match Referee for the upcoming ODI series between Australia and Bangladesh, says A Staff Reporter. Jawagal Srinath, who is in the elite panel of ICC Match Referees, will oversee the series while the on-field umpire would be India’s Amish Saheba, an ICC release said. Umpires: Aug: 30: Amish Saheba & Peter Parker (local); Sept. 3: Amish Saheba & Bruce Oxenford (local); Sept. 6: Amish Saheba & Peter Parker (local).

Clarke’s view

Brisbane: Stand-in Australian captain Michael Clarke has played down the furore over former England opener Marcus Trescothick’s revelation that he illegally used a breath mint to help his bowlers gain extra swing during the 2005 Ashes series.

Hayden to miss

Brisbane: Opening batsman Matthew Hayden will miss Australia’s limited overs cricket series against Bangladesh starting Saturday because of an Achilles tendon injury. Michael Clarke will lead the team in Ponting’s absence.

Ryan out

Calcutta: England bowler Ryan Sidebottom will miss the last four one-day Internationals against South Africa because of groin and hip problems, says A Staff Reporter. Tim Bresnan had already been called up as cover, while Steve Harmison rescinded his retirement from one-day cricket to take two wickets at Headingley on Friday.

Asif inquiry

Karachi: Mohammed Asif and his lawyer Hamid Karim are coming to India next week to appear before the drugs inquiry tribunal of the Indian Premier League (IPL). Karim said on Monday that he had asked for some clarifications from the IPL on the Asif doping case and they would travel to India next week to attend a tribunal hearing.

Kapil’s take

Thiruvananthapuram: Sreesanth should concentrate on cricket instead of fiddling his hand in off-field activities if he wants to continue to make a mark in cricket, says former India captain Kapil Dev.