England have done it again. The nation that makes a habit of inventing the best games, then hastily falls behind the rest of the world in said genre, has pulled it off again.
First it was cricket. Then football. Then Twenty20 cricket. Now the Champions League Twenty20 is having its inaugural running amid all the pomp and ceremony we have grown to expect from the people behind the Indian Premier League.
Only, the winners will not actually be the inaugural Champions League champions. A version of the enterprise was played before, in England in 2005 when the 20-over game was still in infancy.
Back then, the winners from Pakistan took home the princely sum of £25,000 (Dh146,000) as the International 20:20 Club Champions, the next staging of which had been planned for the UAE, but never came to pass.
Times have changed. This time round, the players on the podium at the end of the final will divvy up US$2.5million (Dh9.2m).
Furthermore, there are no Pakistani participants, save for the solitary involvement of the all-rounder Yasir Arafat. Pakistan's players are not permitted to play for their IPL franchises, but Arafat sneaks in to the competition as an overseas player for Sussex Sharks.
Arafat will be joined in their attack by the Indian leg-spinner, Piyush Chawla, and their coach, Mark Robinson, is hoping a little local knowledge will go a long way.
"Having PC in the side is an advantage," said Robinson. "He can provide us with inside knowledge about Indian players and conditions.
"Yasir will also play a big role because the conditions here are similar to Pakistan."
Somerset, the other English side in India, have some previous in inter-continental competition. They include two players in their squad who are survivors of that 2005 final, which they lost to Faisalabad Wolves. One of whom, Arul Suppiah, the young all-rounder, now qualifies to play for England, having attended boarding school in Somerset after leading his native Kuala Lumpur at the age of 12.
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WWE Evolution results
- Trish Stratus and Lita beat Alicia Fox and Mickie James in a tag match
- Nia Jax won a battle royal, eliminating Ember Moon last to win
- Toni Storm beat Io Shirai to win the Mae Young Classic
- Natalya, Sasha Banks and Bayley beat The Riott Squad in a six-woman tag match
- Shayna Baszler won the NXT Women’s title by defeating Kairi Sane
- Becky Lynch retained the SmackDown Women’s Championship against Charlotte Flair in a Last Woman Standing match
- Ronda Rousey retained the Raw Women’s title by beating Nikki Bella
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
South Africa squad
: Faf du Plessis (captain), Hashim Amla, Temba Bavuma, Quinton de Kock (wkt), Theunis de Bruyn, AB de Villiers, Dean Elgar, Heinrich Klaasen (wkt), Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, Morne Morkel, Chris Morris, Wiaan Mulder, Lungi Ngidi, Duanne Olivier, Vernon Philander and Kagiso Rabada.
THE SPECS
Engine: 3.6-litre V6
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 285bhp
Torque: 353Nm
Price: TBA
On sale: Q2, 2020
