CEAT Announces Domestic Cricket Rating & Awards

   
ANOTHER ERA BEGINS : Mr. Manoj Chandra, Head-Corporate Communications, Mr. Paras Chowdhury, M.D., CEAT, Mr. Sanjay Manjrekar, former cricketer and Executive Director, CEAT Cricket Rating and Mr. Sumedh Shah, Director, PMG at the press conference to announce the CEAT Domestic Ratings

Mumbai, 24th September, 2003: At a Press Conference organised at the Cricket Club of India, Mr. Sanjay Manjrekar; former cricketer and Executive Director, CEAT Cricket Rating, announced the inception of the CEAT Rating for Domestic Cricket. This will be the first instance of a successful international rating system being applied to domestic cricket anywhere in the world. As at the international level, the players who will dominate the domestic rating will get rewarded at the end of the season.

Present on the occasion, Mr. Paras Chowdhury, Managing Director, CEAT Ltd. expressed his happiness with the progress of the Rating and said, ‘ for CEAT, this is a homecoming and we are very happy to announce this new initiative for domestic cricket. I am sure that this effort will go a long way in encouraging the young players and bringing out the best talent amongst them.”

The CEAT Rating for Domestic Cricket will come into operation on 7th November 2003; when the 2003-04 edition of the Ranji Trophy gets underway. Mr. Manjrekar informed the gathering that the rating in its first season will apply only to the Elite Group of the Ranji Trophy; that features the top 15 teams of the land. He explained that the rationale behind this was to ensure a level-playing field for the cricketers. The 15 teams in the Elite Group were more or less evenly matched; and that meant that each player had an equal chance of winning points under the Rating system. The Plate group, he pointed out; tended to have a couple of teams that were stronger than the others; as was the case last year when Karnataka; the Ranji champions in 1997-98 and 1998-99; was part of it. The forthcoming season will have strong sides like Haryana; Orissa; Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra in the Plate Group; and if the Rating was to be applied there; players of these sides were likely to enjoy an unfair advantage over their counterparts in the Elite Group in terms of winning points.

The CEAT Cricket Rating system; still the most comprehensive and user-friendly of all the rating systems in existence; will be applied to the 52 Elite Group matches. The cricketer who tops the rating will be declared the CEAT Domestic Cricketer of the Year. He will receive a trophy and a cheque for Rs. 1 lac. The players who accumulate the highest number of points in the three departments will receive the Best Batsman; Best Bowler and Best Fielder Awards respectively. Each award will comprise a trophy and cheque for Rs. 50,000.

THE MASTERS APPROVE : Mr. Ghulam Parkar, Mr. Milind Rege, Mr. Paras Chowdhury, Mr. Ashok Mankad, Mr. Eknath Solkar, Mr. Nari Contractor, Mr. Sanjay Manjrekar, Mr. Polly Umrigar, Mr. K. Jayantilal and Mr. Chandrakant Pundit at the press conference.

Mr. Manjrekar explained that the pros and cons of the rating would be evaluated at the end of the season. A decision would then be taken on whether the rating would remain restricted to the Elite Group, or be extended to cover the entire domestic season that includes the Duleep Trophy; Deodhar Trophy; Challenger Trophy; Irani Trophy and of course; the first-class and limited-overs versions of the Ranji Trophy.

The CEAT International Cricket Rating, now into its ninth year, comprises a Player rating and a Team rating. Performances of cricketers and cricket teams in Tests and one-day internationals from 1st May to 30th April are tracked and rated through a comprehensive & easy to understand points system. The player and team that top the rating are declared the CEAT International Cricketer of the Year and the CEAT International Team of the Year respectively.

Previous winners of the CEAT International Cricketer of the Year Award are Brian Lara (1995-96), Venkatesh Prasad (1996-97), Sanath Jayasuriya (1997-98), Jacques Kallis (1998-99), Sourav Ganguly (1999-00) and Muttiah Muralitharan (2000-01 & 02). The CEAT International Cricket Team Award has been won by Pakistan (1996-97), Australia (1997-98, 1999-00, 2001-02) and South Africa (1998-99 and 2000-01).