MUMBAI: All along it was known that T20 was a format designed to cater to the audiences. It was just a matter of time before it took off in some fertile territories like the United States of America.
The North American Cricket League T20 Tournament, scheduled to commence in July 2011, is gaining momentum. And, Anil Kumble of New York Warriors bowling to Sachin Tendulkar of Chicago Eagles in an American stadium is a possibility. Some of the leading Indian and international stars are being approached, it is reliably learnt.
The other teams in the eight-team league are named Los Angeles Panthers, New Jersey Tornados, Houston Riggers, Florida Alligators, Seattle Indians and Washington Tigers.
The league will be based on the model of the extremely popular Indian Premier League and will have a 60% to 40% domestic/international contingent which will enable the development of cricketers in North America.
Like the IPL, there will be eight teams on the park and its another instance of franchise-based cricket, revealed an ex-Indian cricketer who was part of the victorious 1983 World Cup winning team and is now working with the NACL T20 and helping them out with the operations.
Like me, there are other ex-cricketers from different countries who have been approached to popularise the league and work on the operations bit. We are keen to have the participation of top cricketers if their boards allow it.
"The legal documents and contracts are about to be finalised. There are also several popular Hindi filmstars and Hollywood stars that have been lined up to act as brand ambassadors of the different teams. America has a large Indian and Pakistani expat population and they are surely going to love it, the cricketer stated and revealed that it was the brainchild of USACA president Gladstone Dainty.
Both the cricketer and NACL claim that the league has the blessings of the International Cricket Council.
Says a statement from NACL: The intention is to work closely with USACA Cricket and under the guidelines of the ICC to organise, host, promote and develop the T20 format, develop cricket and cricketing infrastructure in the US."
The North American Cricket League T20 Tournament, scheduled to commence in July 2011, is gaining momentum. And, Anil Kumble of New York Warriors bowling to Sachin Tendulkar of Chicago Eagles in an American stadium is a possibility. Some of the leading Indian and international stars are being approached, it is reliably learnt.
The other teams in the eight-team league are named Los Angeles Panthers, New Jersey Tornados, Houston Riggers, Florida Alligators, Seattle Indians and Washington Tigers.
The league will be based on the model of the extremely popular Indian Premier League and will have a 60% to 40% domestic/international contingent which will enable the development of cricketers in North America.
Like the IPL, there will be eight teams on the park and its another instance of franchise-based cricket, revealed an ex-Indian cricketer who was part of the victorious 1983 World Cup winning team and is now working with the NACL T20 and helping them out with the operations.
Like me, there are other ex-cricketers from different countries who have been approached to popularise the league and work on the operations bit. We are keen to have the participation of top cricketers if their boards allow it.
"The legal documents and contracts are about to be finalised. There are also several popular Hindi filmstars and Hollywood stars that have been lined up to act as brand ambassadors of the different teams. America has a large Indian and Pakistani expat population and they are surely going to love it, the cricketer stated and revealed that it was the brainchild of USACA president Gladstone Dainty.
Both the cricketer and NACL claim that the league has the blessings of the International Cricket Council.
Says a statement from NACL: The intention is to work closely with USACA Cricket and under the guidelines of the ICC to organise, host, promote and develop the T20 format, develop cricket and cricketing infrastructure in the US."
