Charles Coventry Equals Record Of Saeed Anwar

Zimbabwean batsmen Charles Coventry has been chosen as this week’s Cricket World Player of the Week after his record breaking feats against Bangladesh.
In the fourth ODI between the two sides, Coventry hit an unbeaten 194 to record a national record for an individual innings and also equals the all time highest score in One Day Internationals that Saeed Anwar set in 1997. The previous best for Zimbabwe was an impressive 172 by Craig Wishart against a not so impressive Namibia side back in 2003, but Coventry’s innings surpassed that mark easily, and if it weren’t for a flurry of wickets late on in the innings, he probably would have recorded the first double century in ODI history.
The mammoth innings was in vain however, as Tamim Iqbal struck a big century to guide Bangladesh to the win and in the process they claimed the series win, taking an unassailable 3-1 lead into the final match.
The 26 year old Coventry had never previously scored a one day international century having played in 14 other matches. Before his record breaking knock, he had averaged just 23.15 with two half centuries to his name, but now after his maiden ton, he has bumped that up to an impressive 38.07.
Charles Coventry was the clear choice for the award this week as only Tamim Iqbal’s 154 to beat Zimbabwe in the same match came close to taking the honours away from Coventry.

BCCI Triples Ranji Trophy's Prize Money

The BCCI's working committee approved a raft of decisions on Thursday that, when implemented, could improve significantly the state of domestic cricket. The most notable decisions are a massive hike in prize money for the Ranji Trophy and the approval of an umpire's academy.
Winners of the Ranji Trophy will now get Rs 2 crore (previously Rs 60 lakhs), the runners-up Rs 1 crore (previously Rs 30 lakhs) and the semi-finalists Rs 50 lakhs. To put things in context, the winners in 2005 received all of Rs 7 lakh. This amount also places the Ranji Trophy above the board's corporate tournament, scheduled to be held in the coming season, whose winners will get Rs 1 crore.
While no details were available on the decision to set up an umpires' academy, it could, if properly implemented, go some way in improve the standard of umpiring in domestic cricket.
The other decisions taken at the meeting are:
Former ICL players who have been granted amnesty, are eligible to play the IPL in the next season (2010), with a cap on the payment being a maximum of Rs 20 lakhs.
Umpires Amiesh Saheba and Shavir Tarapore have been nominated to the ICC international panel.
The Indian board will also give Rs 25 crores over the next two years to the All-India Football Federation for the development of football in the country.
Specialised coaching centres dealing with batting in Mumbai, with fast bowling in Mohali, and with spinners and wicketkeepers in Chennai will be started in September 2009. Specialist coaches will be appointed on an annual retainership at each of the centres.
Umpires in domestic matches (excluding IPL) will be paid Rs 7500 per match day, while umpire coaches and match referees will be paid Rs 10,000 per day.
The team and support staff that won the Emerging Players tournament in Australia will be paid a bonus of Rs 1 lakh each.
The National Cricket Academy's coaching manual was released by BCCI president Shashank Manohar.

ICC Champions Trophy 2009 Schedule

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ICC Champions Trophy 2009 Description

Holders Australia begin the defence of its ICC Champions Trophy crown against the West Indies in a repeat of the 2006 final.
That match will take place as a day game at The Wanderers, Johannesburg, on Saturday, September 26, and is part of a blockbuster day of action as, later on, India and Pakistan will go head-to-head in a day-night encounter at Centurion Park.
The teams in this year's Champions Trophy will be battling it out for a record prize pool of US $4 million.
The figure is an-almost four-fold increase in the prize-money on the 2004 and 2006 editions of the tournament, which saw a total of US $1.15 million on offer on each of those occasions.
The funds are at stake during a re-modelled short, sharp event of 15 matches in only 14 days in September and October, taking place at two venues -- Centurion Park and The Wanderers.

Sehwag Hoping to Play ICC Champions Trophy 2009

Virendra Sehwag ,the India batsman who is undergoing rehabilitation after a shoulder injury, has targeted next month's Champions Trophy for a return. Sehwag missed the World Twenty20 in June due to the injury, sustained during the semi-final of the IPL.
He was operated on June 11, and was expected to be ruled out for 12 to 16 weeks. "I am hoping to play in the ICC Champions Trophy," he said. "My rehabilitation is going well. But I can't bat or throw yet."
Sehwag was at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bangalore as part of his rehabilitation last month, and will report back on August 15 to get an assessment on how his recovery is progressing.
India have had a great run in one-dayers over the past year, winning five bilateral series in a row, but injuries threaten their chances at the Champions Trophy. Their pace spearhead, Zaheer Khan, has already been ruled out of the tournament, and Sehwag's availability is still uncertain.