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Pro-cricket league to take off in US
This week the American pro-cricket league begins across 8 cities on July 2.
- NDTVSports
- Updated: February 25, 2007 09:07 AM IST
Read Time:2 min
New York:
It's the land where three and a half hour baseball games are thought of as being too long, but now cricket has re-invented itself to target the American audience. This week the American pro-cricket league begins across 8 cities on July 2 and though the Indian cricket board advised its players against taking part, there are a few Indians like Ajay Jadeja adding glamour to the event. However the event has got off to a slightly controversial start with the International Cricket Council telling its member boards not to release players for this event, since it does not have any official status. Ajay Jadeja, Nikhil Chopra, Rahul Sanghvi and a few West Indian players have already confirmed their participation. Pro-cricket is based on the 20/20 format in England and the Pro-series in South Africa, though there are a few differences. The games have to end in 3 hours. There can be designated hitters who don't have to bowl or field - in short it's fast and furious action and the players seem to like it. The pro-cricket series will have 8 teams all have catchy names and there will be a total of 24 matches. Players are believed to be getting paid about US$ 1000 per game and tickets will cost about US$ 7. The 40 odd international players will be joined by some local Indian and Pakistani players. The games will be played in baseball grounds around the country, with matches in Florida, New Jersey and six other venues. There are believed to be about 30 thousand club level players in USA and the organisers hope that the number will increase because they plan to get live coverage for all the games, though sponsorship details are yet to be announced.Topics mentioned in this article
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