Story King of Kings Cup - The World's Best [C05]"The Long Walk Back"

[WORLD CHAMPIONS]

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Today a new tounament was announced by Malcolm Speed at the International Cricket Council headquaters in Dubai. The series is a Tri Series between England, Australia and India to be held in England. The tournament has been named as 'King of Kings Cup' and will start in English summer around August time.

Meanwhile ESPN sports have already won bids to host the Tournament as well as Sky Sports and Channel Nine. They have announced their commentators for the series.
Here they are:

Australia - Jim Maxwell
India - Sunil Gavaskar
India - Harsha Bhogle
India - Javagal Srinath

ESPN have told the press that there will be new shows for this 'King of Kings Cup' and to be sure to tune in when the series gets underway.

Squads will be announced when the countries feel fit and the umpire lists has been made but will not be released until a few weeks before the start of the series.​

 

[surendar]

India-Aus-Eng in England... Interesting series! Gud Luck with the story

 

[gamerkid22]

Nice and Interesting one. All the best .

 

[plympilgrim]

good luck, come'on england

 

[WORLD CHAMPIONS]

King Of Kings Cup Squads Will Be Announced Shortly​

 

[kuttakumar]

King Of Kings Cup Squads Will Be Announced Shortly​

Waiting for it.....

BTW, looks like this will be an interesting story.

 

[plympilgrim]

looking forward to it, wonder if there will be any surprsies

 

[WORLD CHAMPIONS]

King of Kings Cup - Squads Announced

Today the ECB (England Cricket Board), ACB (Australian Cricket Board) and BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) all announced their twenty man squads for the newly created tournament the 'King of Kings Cup'.

1) Michael Vaughan (cpt)
2) Andrew Flintoff
3) Andrew Strauss
4) Paul Collingwood
5) Kevin Pietersen
6) Jon Lewis
7) James Anderson
8) Paul Nixon (wk)
9) Sajid Mahmood
10) Ian Bell
11) Alistair Cook
12) James Foster (wk)
13) Stuart Broad
14) Chris Tremlett
15) Ed Joyce
16) Ravinder Bopara
17) Mal Loye
18) Simon Jones
19) Monty Panesar
20) Jamie Darymple

England have finally got all their players back from the 2005 Ashes series when they lost Simon Jones, Michael Vaughan and Ashley Giles. But since the recent news of Giles retiring from International Cricket it has left the door open for Monty Panesar to take over as England's main spinner for many years to come. Out of the 30-man provisional squad for the World Cup, that the West Indies won on their home soil back in April. Glen Chapple, Rikki Clarke, Matthew Hoggard, Amjad Khan, Graham Onions, Liam Plunkett, Matt Prior, Chris Read, Owais Shah, Vikram Solanki and Michael Yardy have all been left out of the 20-man squad. Simon Jones has returned from injury and Kevin Pietersen is back from injury after breaking a rib in the Commonwealth Bank series in January and then pulling out of the World Cup with a calf injury. The squad looks very experienced compared to the 2006 Ashes squad and with a few young players this side looks perfectly balanced.

1) Ricky Ponting (cpt)
2) Adam Gilchrist (wk)
3) Mike Hussey
4) Matthew Hayden
5) Brett Lee
6) Stuart Clark
7) Andrew Symonds
8) Michael Clarke
9) Shane Watson
10) Cameron White
11) Phil Jacques
12) Mitchell Johnson
13) Glenn McGrath
14) Brad Hodge
15) Nathan Bracken
16) Brad Haddin (wk)
17) Adam Voges
18) Shaun Tait
19) Brad Hogg
20) Dan Cullen

Glenn McGrath has come back from retirement after the World Cup as soon as he heard that this new 'King of Kings Cup' was going to take place. He will talk to the press later today about his decision and if it will be, for definite, his last ever cricket series in international cricket. After narrowly missing out on the World Cup in the final against the West Indies, Australia have announced a very experienced side. Out of the World Cup 30-man provisional squad, Andrew McDonald,Ben Hilfenhaus , Simon Katich, Shane Harwood, James Hopes, Marcus North, Nathan Hauritz, Mark Cosgrove, Travis Birt and Shaun Marsh have all been left out of the squad. After winning the Ashes, Commonwealth Bank series and runners-up in the World Cup Australia look certain favorites to win this series and experts are saying they will do it in some style.

1) Rahul Dravid (cpt)
2) Sachin Tendulkar
3) Saurav Ganguly
4) Virender Sehwag
5) Yuvraj Singh
6) Suresh Raina
7) MS Dhoni (wk)
8) VVS Laxman
9) Dinesh Mongia
10) Dinesh Kartik (wk)
11) Gautam Gambhir
12) Sreesanth
13) Irfan Pathan
14) Ajit Agarkar
15) Mohammad Kaif
16) Harbhajan Singh
17) Ramesh Powar
18) Robin Utthapa
19) Zaheer Khan
20) Munaf Patel

India have announced a squad full of players from the World Cup's 30-man provisional squad. After being knocked out in the quater finals by eventual winners the West Indies, India have been training in India to get their fitness levels up. With key players like Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Harbhajan Singh and MS Dhoni, India look like the most strongest team. But with poor form before the World Cup in South Africa and with only glimses of brilliance in the home series against the West Indies, India have been a very inconsistent side. Rahul Dravid and his squad will hope to change that in this up and coming 'King of Kings Cup' and are definatley looking to come out as winners.

Interview with Glen McGrath coming up shortly, here on ESPN.

 

[surendar]

India looks like a very strong side! Hope India win this series

Nice presentation mate

 

[WORLD CHAMPIONS]

Interview with Glen McGrath

Glen why have you made the decision to return to International cricket after announcing your retirement in January at the end of the World Cup in the West Indies?

I think that this tournament could be a really special tournament and to have three teams that have been world class over the cricketing years in a triangular series named the 'King of Kings Cup' is brilliant. And I wanted to be a part of this first series and try to be part of what looks like a very promising series.

Last time you said the World Cup would be your last ever Australian match, but after coming back from retirement will you be back in the International scene for a bit longer, or will you retire straight after this tournament is over?

I will most certainly return home with my family back in Australia having played my last game for Australia. Even if the Ashes were straight after this tournament I would not play and after coming back once already a second time is definately not on the cards. So I hope this series I can make a mark on the cricketing world with a fine last performance.

Now moving on to the actual series itself, how do you think Australia will cope with a very strong Indian side and a very similar Ashes side that beat you in 2005 set out by England?

I feel that no matter side anyone else puts out we can beat it! We showed in the Commonwealth Bank series and in the World Cup that we are a very aggressive and very capable side. With a lot of young players coming through and playing well we still look like the side at the top of World cricket and we still are top of World cricket at the moment. I think we will win this tournament.

Very confident there Glen. Who do you think will be the key players in the series for all three teams and how do you feel the other sides look before this triangular series gets underway?

Sachin Tendulkar is always going to be a key player in any series containing him as he is one of the best if not the best batsman the World has ever seen, and is certainly up there with Bradman. I think Kevin Pietersen and Simon Jones will be the big men for England with bat and ball as they showed in the 2005 Ashes series. Flintoff will also be a key man as the teams all-rounder and supposedly best player. But to be honest we as a team do not look at the other squads and think about who they have got. We make our team selection and let the other teams worry about our squad. That's the way it has always been here in the Australian camp!

Ok finally Glen, Will you win this triangular series and do you think you will go out of World cricket in style?

I do believe with have a massive chance of winning this series and we certainly go in as favorites. After winning the Ashes in a 5-0 whitewash and winning the Commonwealth bank series convincingly we look a very strong outfit and would be favorites for any series as we are top of the rankings. And I think this series will show that. I certainly hope i can go out with a big series and if I do I will certainly put it down as one of the best.

Thankyou for your time Glen.

Cheers

 

[Jaztheman]

Great presentation mate and good luck to India

 

[WORLD CHAMPIONS]

Fixtures

Match 1:
England v Australia @ Lords

Match 2:
England v India @ Edgbaston

Match 3:
Australia v India @ Trent Bridge

Match 4:
England v India @ Old Trafford

Match 5:
England v Australia @ The Rose Bowl

Match 6:
India v Australia @ Chester le Street

Match 7:
England v Australia @ Bristol

Match 8:
Australia v India @ Taunton

Match 9:
England v India @ The Oval

Final 1:
TBA v TBA @ Taunton

Final 2:
TBA v TBA @ Edgbaston

Final 3:
TBA v TBA @ Old Trafford

Final 4:
TBA v TBA @ Trent Bridge

Final 5:
TBA v TBA @ Lords​

 

[treva]

looking good World Champions
should be an interesting series

 

[Jaztheman]

total of 14 matches! will look very good i bet good luck

 

[plympilgrim]

as trev said, good luck