A £32m (US$50.2m) revamp of the famous English cricket ground Edgbaston, in Birmingham, will see major event hospitality services provider, Keith Prowse install a new range of facilities.

The venue is currently home to Warwickshire County Cricket Club (WCCC) but is also a regular feature in the Test matches played in England. The works are due to be completed ahead of the 2011 season which will see the capacity of the ground increase to 25,000 once Keith Prowse introduce a new Pavilion Stand. The development will be home to the Jaguar Club, The 1882 Club, Superboxes and The Edgbaston Suite.

WCCC Commercial Director, James McLaughlin stated: “The redevelopment will keep Edgbaston on a par with the world’s greatest cricket grounds, and by partnering with Keith Prowse we can ensure the venue continues to be attractive for corporate involvement”.

The company have strong ties to English sporting venues as official hospitality provider to the Kia Oval, Lord’s, the Wimbledon Championships and Twickenham.

Andrew Hodgkins, Keith Prowse’s managing director, added: “We are thrilled at this opportunity to position Edgbaston, which is renowned in cricket for its feel-good factor, as an entertaining hub for the Midlands. Companies can use sport to bring people together to discuss business in an exhilarating but unrushed environment, and cricket in particular offers a great opportunity to enjoy valuable face to face time.”

According to Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad Bin Jasim Bin Jaber Al-Thani, the nation has no plans to issue bonds in order to cover the cost of the 2022 soccer World Cup.

Sheikh Hamad announced at the opening of a courtroom at Qatar Financial Centre, that the government had already covered “70 per cent to 80 per cent” of the costs involved in staging the event. He revealed that most of the plans, in terms of infrastructure, had already been arranged prior to the nation winning the vote on 2 December with the event’s infrastructure as a whole, predicted to take about seven years to build.

The ICC Executive Board met via teleconference today to receive an update on the progress being made by the Pakistan Cricket Board in conjunction with the ICC Pakistan Task Team (PTT), erectile which also met earlier today, in implementing the key action steps required by the ICC Board to preserve the integrity of cricket.

The Board expressed satisfaction at the progress of the work being undertaken by the Pakistan Task Team and the PCB which has already established an Integrity Committee and appointed an Integrity Officer. The Board noted that the PCB has suitably implemented or begun to implement the ICC Executive Board’s requirements within the 30-day time period set.

They also agreed unanimously that Members should introduce an Anti-Corruption Code for their domestic cricket which mirrors that of the ICC by 1 April 2011.

Sharad Pawar, the ICC President, said: “The PCB and PTT should be commended for their excellent work and everyone involved deserves special praise for the outstanding progress made since our last Board meeting. Now that the PTT has begun consulting and interviewing a wide range of stakeholders involved in Pakistan cricket on matters of cricket structures and administration, I look forward to their constructive recommendations in due course.”

Haroon Lorgat, the ICC Chief Executive, confirmed to the Board that he had written to all ICC Members on 20 October 2010 requesting Members to review the adequacy their own processes and procedures to protect against the threat of corruption (domestic and international) and where necessary introduce new measures which would include a domestic anti-corruption code which mirrors the ICC code.

Mr Lorgat added: “In helping the PCB, the ICC has prepared a template domestic Anti-Corruption Code, which incorporates in a consistent manner the same principles, offences procedures and sanctions as those set out in the ICC Anti-Corruption Code.

“It was unanimously agreed to accept a proposal from the PTT, that all ICC Members, starting with Full Members, should implement a domestic Anti-Corruption Code in its jurisdiction on or before 1 April 2011. Where no domestic Anti-Corruption Code exists the Board agreed that the template should be incorporated as soon as possible and where an Anti-Corruption Code does exist that a review of those rules should be carried out to consider their adequacy.”

The ICC Board agreed that all Members should consider the proactive steps being taken by the PCB to ensure that their own internal processes on anti-corruption issues are robust and adequate to deal with the challenges faced and these should include structures to deal with integrity issues; on-going education planning and delivery; reporting of integrity concerns in domestic cricket and the vetting of player agents.

Mr Lorgat stated that: “It would be of great benefit to all stakeholders within the game for all ICC Members to adopt a domestic Anti-Corruption Code and a template will immediately be sent to all Full Members.  ICC has a zero-tolerance towards corruption and we will do everything we can to protect the integrity of our Great Sport. All Members have a responsibility to demonstrate leadership and good practice in protecting the integrity of the sport at domestic and international level.”

The Board also noted the PTT work in progress to review and provide recommendations to support the PCB in carrying out necessary reforms to restore confidence in the administration of the game in Pakistan while they re-iterated that team selection is solely the responsibility of the PCB. PCB must therefore ensure that its selection policies are appropriate and amongst other criteria, adhere to the principles and values of international cricket.

The ICC Board consists of the chairman or president from each of the 10 Full Members plus three Associate Member representatives. Also present at ICC Board meetings is the ICC President, who chairs proceedings, the ICC Chief Executive and the ICC Vice-President, as well as, by invitation of the President, the ICC Principal Advisor.

Sharad Pawar                                                              ICC President

Alan Isaac                                                                   ICC Vice-President

Haroon Lorgat                                                            ICC Chief Executive

Ijaz Butt                                                                      Pakistan

Dr Julian Hunte                                                           West Indies

Giles Clarke                                                                England

Jack Clarke                                                                 Australia

Chris Moller                                                                New Zealand

Mostafa Kamal                                                           Bangladesh

Shashank Manohar                                                      India

Dr Mtutuzeli Nyoka                                                    South Africa

DS de Silva                                                                 Sri Lanka

 

Associate Member Representatives

Imran Khwaja                                                             Singapore

Keith Oliver                                                                Scotland

Apologies

Peter Chingoka                                                           Zimbabwe

Neil Speight                                                                Bermuda

Pakistan Task Team

The PTT consists of:

Giles Clarke                                                                (ICC Director)

Peter Chingoka                                                           (ICC Director)

Haroon Lorgat                                                            (ICC Chief Executive)

David Richardson                                                       (ICC General Manager – Cricket)

Ranjan Madugalle                                                       (ICC Chief Match Referee)

Mike Brearley                                                             (Former England Captain)

Ramiz Raja                                                                  (Former Pakistan Captain)

Greg Chappell                                                              (Former Australia captain)

Online sports betting business Betfair has priced its share flotation on the London stock market, in move which values the total company at £1.4bn ($2.2bn).

The sale of 15.2% of the company took place at a price of £13 per share.

The 16.2 million shares in the gambling firm were sold towards the top of the £11-£14 planned range.

Betfair was founded 10 years ago, and says it is the world’s largest business of its kind.

The shares rose to £15.60 in early conditional trading, up 20% from the initial public offering price.

The existing shareholders have the option to allot an additional 10.8% of the company to meet surplus demand from the offering.

Betfair has three million customers and pioneered person-to-person betting, where punters bet against each other rather than the bookmaker on a range of sports.

The company was founded by Andrew Black, a former professional gambler, and Edward Wray, a former JP Morgan trader.

The site also offers poker and other traditional casino betting forums.

The PGA TOUR has announced Liberty National as host site for The Presidents Cup when it is next staged in the United States, in 2017. 

The announcement is part of a 25-year partnership between Liberty National and the PGA TOUR, which will bring up to 10 PGA TOUR events to the venue over the course of the agreement.

Liberty National will be just the fourth golf course in the United States to host the prestigious team match-play competition, joining Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Prince William County, Va., (1994, 1996, 2000, 2005), TPC Harding Park in San Francisco, Calif., (2009) and Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio (2013). The Presidents Cup 2017 will take place September 25-October 1.

“We’ve had several very compelling announcements relative to the future of The Presidents Cup so far this summer,” said PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem, alluding to the announcement of Jay Haas and Nick Price as 2015 captains and TPC Harding Park in San Francisco being named 2025 host, “but standing in the shadow of the Statue of Liberty today to announce Liberty National as our next U.S.-based host of the event is really icing on the cake. The Presidents Cup has come so far in its relatively short history, and seeing the world’s best players compete in this market, on this incredibly fantastic venue with such an amazing backdrop in 2017 is something fans of this great game will never forget.

“I’d like to thank and congratulate Paul Fireman and his son Dan for their partnership through the years, which has previously brought the PGA TOUR to Liberty National for The Barclays in 2009 and 2013 and has now resulted in a long-term relationship that will see some of the TOUR’s biggest and best events staged here over the next quarter century. Paul and Dan have exemplified a true dedication to the future of the game, and we are thrilled to work with them to showcase Liberty National and the PGA TOUR in an incredible way.”

“Being chosen by the PGA TOUR to host the 2017 Presidents Cup is every golf course’s dream,” added Liberty National co-founder Paul Fireman. “We at Liberty National Golf Club are proud to receive this honor and will dedicate our efforts to live up to both the TOUR and the players’ expectations. This new 25 year agreement is a mutual acknowledgement of trust and respect between Commissioner Finchem, the PGA TOUR, Liberty and our membership. We embrace this selection with great pride and look forward to fostering this relationship for years to come.”

Havas Sports & Entertainment have secured a major coup after Barclays appointed the brand engagement firm as their lead global sponsorship agency.

The London based agency beat off stiff competition from over 20 agencies to obtain the contract. They will work on the firm’s sponsorship startegy and activation of key partners.

The multi-year agreement will include the British bank’s sponsorship of the Premier League and ATP World Tour Finals, as well as CSR-led partnerships with Beyond Sport and Barclays Spaces for Sports.

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) have reiterated today it will not support the privately-run Women’s International Cricket League (WICL).

Clare Connor, ECB’s Head of Women’s Cricket and Chair of the ICC Women’s Committee, said: “There has been a lot of misleading and as yet unsubstantiated information around how far advanced the proposed WICL is. I stress that from an ECB perspective this competition is not on our agenda.

“The immediate focus for international women’s cricket is the ICC International Women’s Championship, which the ICC Board approved in January.

“For the first-time ever, the top-eight ranked women’s teams in the world will play each other in a bi-lateral competition, with results determining qualification for the 2017 ICC Women’s World Cup. This is a real game changer for the women’s game.

“ICC and its members do not recognise privately owned tournaments or leagues in the men’s or women’s game. The ICC and the members have made significant investment into women’s cricket over the ten years to create a commercially viable product.

“In particular there is recognition that a Women’s World Twenty20 every two years will be the vehicle through which to build commercial investment in the women’s game, and it is for the ICC and the members to capitalise on this and take it forward.

“Any Twenty20 tournament that features the best players in the world outside ICC competitions would need to be run and controlled by one of the full members, as opposed to by a private operator.”

Giles Clarke, the ECB Chairman added: “Put simply there is no support or interest for this proposed event. Women’s cricket has made enormous strides in recent years with great investment in the game from the grassroots to the international level.

“At the same time, thanks to the ICC global events and member investment, we have seen new and exciting players emerge on the world stage. This has to be the continued route for the women’s game, not a privately run competition.”

The ATP Tour will return to Israel in September, allergist for the first time in 19 years.

Israel is back on the international tennis map after the Association of Tennis Professionals World Tour announced a tournament in Israel later this year. Tel Aviv will inherit the tournament that has been played in St Petersburg, unhealthy Russia, ed for the past 19 years. The event will take place at the Israel Tennis Center in Ramat Hasharon on September 15^th to 21^st. The center is a regular Davis Cup venue, but has not staged an ATP event since 1996. 

Tournament representative Ruslan Linkov said: “After 19 memorable years in St Petersburg, the time has come for us to take the tournament in a new direction. We are very excited about the opportunities that lie in Tel Aviv and look forward to holding a successful event in September.” 

Israeli-Georgian billionaire, Mikhael Mirilashvili, who is based in Israel and Russia, provided much of the funding for the event in St. Petersburg in recent years and is believed to be behind the decision to relocate the tournament due to the political situation in Ukraine and the disappointing income generated in Russia in past years.

Saint Petersburg has been an ATP event since 1995 with winners including Britain’s Andy Murray, Yevgeny Kafelnikov and Marat Safin.