By John Howden

A new name will appear on Spanish cricket's winners trophy after Barcelona meets Valencia Green in the national league final today (Saturday). Click here for the Cricket Spain website.

Last year's winners Sporting Alfas CC were knocked out in the semi-final stages by league newcomers Valencia Green in a tight game earlier this month. The other game was a one-sided affair, which saw Northern league winners Barcelona Madrid side, missing several key players, by 226 runs.

Both Barcelona and Valencia Green had won the Northern and Southern league sections respectively during the group stages and the final on paper looks to be a close affair.

Barcelona CC will be looking to its captain Muharram Ali to deliver with the bat and he will be expected to open the innings for the Catalan side when batting. A lot is also be expected from Spain opening quick bowler Tanveer Iqbal.

From Valencia's perspective, the left-arm spin and guile of Spanish international Gulzar Ahmed will be an important factor if Green are to topple Spain's Twenty20 champions. They will also seek telling contributions from their talented allrounder and captain Asad Awan.

The final will take place at the prestigious La Manga club in Spain, which is the current home of the ECC's Centre of Excellence.

Next week's ICC annual get-together promises to have more than its fair share of politicking, posturing and controversy. But, unless there is a major about-turn, it should also be a watershed for the Associates and Affiliates.

In 2009, income from the ICC's six-year media deal with ESPN-Star, worth over US$1 billion, kicks in, and while the game's big boys will still keep the lion's share, the rest will see substantial increases in their incomes.

Continue reading "Future bright beyond the Test world"

The number of people actively participating in cricket outside the Test-playing countries increased 17% in 2007, according to the ICC.

The research, carried out by the ICC's development program, was collated from 33 Associate and 58 Affiliate members. It showed that there were 338,051 male and female players in those countries in 2007, an increase of 49,158 on the previous year. Since 2002, when there were 144,047 participants, there has been a 135% rise.

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Guernsey secured their first ever title when they beat Jersey in the final of the European Under-15 Division 2 Championship in La Manga, Spain on Saturday. Click here to read the full story.

The European Cricket Council has announced a deal with ICC Europe, ECB and Premium TV to make ECBtv available on subscription throughout Europe.

In many areas of Europe there is no access to TV highlights of matches, and this move looks to make coverage accessible to everyone.

"ECB is pleased and excited to be able to offer Europe’s cricket fans access to ECBtv and it is hoped that it will take the game to previously uncharted areas, inspiring people to get involved in this great sport,” Richard Holdsworth, the ICC’s regional development manager, said. "Delivering live video coverage via broadband to European territories has brought people closer to the game than ever before.”

ECBtv shows Test and one-day international matches live to certain territories, as well as match highlights, exclusive interviews, press conferences, coaching master classes and many other features to a global audience. Live streams start at £2.99. Click here for full details.

It won't get many column inches in the mainstream cricket press, but the World Cricket League, which started in Nairobi yesterday and continues into next week, features the best of the rest, the six sides just under the ten Test-playing countries. For the two finalists, the rewards are bountiful - a place among the big boys in the inaugural Twenty20 World Championship in South Africa this September, along with $250,000. For countries used to surviving on annual handouts from the ICC of less than $200,000, that's big money.

Continue reading "A long way from home"