MATCH REPORTS
STAT SHEET
DIARY
OTHER SPORTS
SLIDE SHOW
PEOPLE
DEAR REDIFF

India take on England in Sharjah opener

Sharjah's first ever day-night tournament, featuring four teams including India and slated for December, will have a total prize money of US $85,000.

The other three teams in the December 11-19 event are Pakistan, West Indies and England.

The event, to be known as the Akai-Singer Champions Trophy tournament, is being billed as the biggest ever cricket show in Sharjah. The tournament is to be relayed live on Star Sports, as also on television channels in Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

The 50-overs-a-side tournament will be played as per rules governing floodlit international tournaments, with white balls and black sight screens, also coloured clothing for players.

The four teams will play each other once in the preliminary round, and the top two sides at the end of the round robin will contest the final.

The winning side gets $40,000, while the runner up gets $25,000, and $10,000 apiece to teams three and four. Besides, there are man of the match prizes worth $1000 dollars for each of the games in the preliminary round, and $1,500 dollars for the man of the finals. The man of the series award carries a cash purse of $2,500. There will also be prizes of $1000 apiece for the fastest 50, the best bowler, and the best fielder, of the tournament.

The panel of umpires comprises Cyril Mitchley of South Africa, K T Francis of Sri Lanka and Steve Bucknor of the West Indies. Bucknor, however, will not officiate in games involving the West Indies. The ICC is also likely to name a fourth umpire to the panel shortly. Peter Burge of Australia, meanwhile, has been named tournament referee.

Abdul Rahman Bukhatir, chairman of the Cricketers Benefit Fund Series which organises tournaments in Sharjah, told the media that six beneficiaries have been chosen for this tournament. They are Ashok Mankad, Dilip Doshi and G S Ramchand from India, Asif Mujtaba and Saleem Altaf of Pakistan and Richie Richardson of the West Indies. Each of them will receive $35,000 dollars.

Testimonial purses will also be presented to Shujauddin Butt, Haseeb Ahsan, Abdul Qadir Mufti and Antao D'Souza.

India and England are expected to arrive in Sharjah on December 8 for practise and acclimatisation, while Pakistan and the West Indies will arrive on December 10.

The full schedule is as follows:

December 11: India versus England
December 12: Pakistan versus West Indies
December 13: England versus West Indies
December 14: India versus Pakistan
December 15: England versus Pakistan
December 16: India versus West Indies
December 19: Finals.

All games are scheduled to begin at 1600 IST.