'Cricket All-Stars Series 2015' featuring Warne & Tendulkar to be played in November
The exhibition T20 series headed by Shane Warne & Sachin Tendulkar to be held in the US will be played in November, ESPNCricinfo reports. The venues for the three matches have also been confirmed with New York, Houston and Los Angeles edging out two of the early proposals, Chicago and the Yankee stadium.
Warne & Tendulkar – two of the most iconic names to have played the game of cricket – had proposed the formation of a T20 league featuring retired international cricketers, with 15 exhibition matches to be played across a three-and-a-half year period. Initial reports had suggested that the first three matches were to be held in September, but it has now been confirmed that the matches will take place in November.
Incidentally, the three venues chosen are all baseball stadiums with the first match set to be played on November 7 at Citi Field, the home of the NY Mets while the second T20 has been scheduled for November 11 at Minute Maid Park, the home stadium of the Houston Astros. The third T20, which will be the only match to be played under floodlights, will be held at the Dodger Stadium, the home of the LA Dodgers, having a capacity of 56000.
Necessary alterations will be made to the three stadiums with drop-in pitches, to be prepared by a specialist from New Zealand in Indianapolis before being transported to the respective venues, set to be used for the matches.
Ben Sturner, the CEO of Leverage Agency, the sports and entertainment firm who is organising the event, expects the matches to be a run-feast.
"You're not sitting there for a day or two. It's going to be a fast-paced event with a lot of runs," said Sturner, as reported by Times of India.
Tendulkar & Warne looking forward to the series
The two legends, who will be captaining their respective sides named "Sachin's Blasters" and "Warne's Warriors" expressed their enthusiasm at the way things were moving ahead for the tournament.
"To make history in America playing these cricket games, myself and Sachin walking out and tossing the coin in New York at Citi Field, will be a pretty epic moment," Warne told the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday.
"We want to leave an impression behind. That's what we are here for--to entertain people, to leave great memories behind and get them excited about some quality cricket," Tendulkar was quoted as saying by the same daily, as reported by Times of India.
List of confirmed players for event
The event website lists 28 former players, including legends like Kumar Sangakkara, Brian Lara & Jacques Kallis, have already signed up for the event with many more set to follow. Here is the full list of players put up by the organisers.
India - Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman, Ajit Agarkar
Australia - Shane Warne, Ricky Ponting, Matthew Hayden, Glenn McGrath, Brad Haddin
South Africa - Jacques Kallis, Shaun Pollock, Lance Klusener, Jonty Rhodes, Allan Donald
England - Graeme Swann, Michael Vaughan
West Indies - Brian Lara, Courtney Walsh, Curtly Ambrose
Sri Lanka - Kumar Sangakkara, Muttiah Muralitharan
Pakistan - Wasim Akram, Shoaib Akhtar, Saqlain Mushtaq, Moin Khan