History
World Club Cricket HistoryBrendon Goff formed world Club Cricket (WCC) early in 2002. Season One was launched with two divisions of ten sides and only One Day cricket was played in that season. The first board was formed during that season and it consisted of Brendon Goff (Blewy), Richard Twyman (Rich_2001), Megan (Eyes_Only), Reuben Verghese (Lord_of_Darkness) and Rob Malone (Bugssy). At the start of it all real life squads were used and as was expected clubs like New South Wales and Queensland were very strong, Kent quickly established themselves as best of the rest that year under the management of Twyman. In season One Tasmania were in the unlucky position of being called the worst side in WCC as they finished bottom of division two, they did however secure the competitions first ever draft pick in which they chose highly sort after spinner M Muralitharan. Tamil Nadu and South Australia were top of division two and they secured their spots in the top division for season two. Worcestershire keeper D Pipe was the holder of the highest score that year when he scored 160.
The next few seasons saw many changes in the game including the addition of the First Class competition. Indian side Mumbai managed by Sriram K established themselves as the top side in the game and battled with the likes of Kent and SA for most of the glory. The WCC Cup was a feature of these seasons as Lancashire dominated the knock out game for the best part of three seasons, under manager Graham Banks they made two finals and two semi finals but never could take the silverware. New teams were continually being added, season two was expanded to include more sub-continent sides such as Karnataka and Colts. Season three again saw the game expanded when clubs such as ACT, Guyana and Karachi were included, by this season there was already 30 teams in the game. Many outstanding feats were achieved during this time, ACT playing in the lower divisions were handing out regular thrashings, their star players S Maxwell (1400 runs in season 3) and M Ramage (9/7 vs Free State in season 3) got records which will stand for some time. Batsmen ruled the game in this time with South Australian pair D Lehmann and G Blewett among the top players in WCC, if it wasn't for retirement they definitely would appear at the top of the all-time run scoring charts.
Bowlers had their fair share of luck in this time too; without doubt the undisputed king of fast bowlers in WCC is Victorian big man S Harwood. He has destroyed many attacks and is moving further away from the competition each season. Pakistan quick M Sami has been the quiet achiever in the game, his performances have surprised many and he comfortably sits in the top five wicket takers. During this time in WCC there were many changes, the board underwent significant changes when Marc Robbins and Simon Fitzsimmons replaced Megan and Reuben on the board. WCC was now entering its most successful period ever, seasons four and five were enjoyable for everyone involved, participation was at an all time high and the game was maintaining 30 healthy sides. The big guns such as South Australia and Kent still reigned the game but Mumbai had began their slide after the departure of their manager, however these seasons saw the emergence of some new challengers to the crown, Ian Markus' Western Province side was dominating the lower divisions while Andrew Cloete's Tamil Nadu were starting to look ominous.
The emergence of some new stars came in this time particularly in the One Day game, Leicestershire's powerhouse batsman I Underwood scored an incredible 993 runs in 10 matches, while South African all rounder A Tweedie was demolishing teams everywhere. The FC game wasn't without its stars, T Darden, J Jenkins and Q Moore all putting in world class displays for their sides. It was during this time that WCC's controversial rookie system was under the most heat, while squads still contained real players for the most part "super rookies" were taking over the game and some teams were becoming too strong. The board stuck with the system for the time being but players were generated with less experience but the quality of players was still a cause for concern. As the older real players were starting to retire the teams like Western Australia were losing their quality players such as A Gilchrist and as a consequence their result on the field suffered. South Australia still reigned supreme in Division one and by the end of season five had claimed their third straight First Class title. But their status as the number one team in WCC would soon be passed on to another side.
Tamil Nadu had been building a world class team for several seasons and come Season 6 they were back in the top division for the first time since season 1. Andrew Cloete had strategically chosen his players for an immediate assault on the division 1 crown, it worked, South Australia were pushed down to the runners-up spot and WCC had a new number one team. Season 6 wasn't all bad for SA as they did claim the One day title, something they were determined for after losing out the previous season on net run rate. This was the final season of WCC in its current state. A sixth division was added and 36 teams played out a rather dull year. Season 6 did see at least one major milestone however, a score of over 300 was finally posted, 40 year old Chittagong batsman M Abedin playing in his only season of WCC cracked 305* against Barbados in round two.
The board were determined to make changes to bring life back in the game, squads were briefly reset but this had a negative effect, after much conjecture WCC was again reshaped with a 24 team competition and for the first time ever a 2nd XI comp. Teams would now have a squad of 30 players, 13 bigger than ever before, this has evidently seen interest return to an all time high. In July 2006, more than four years since forming World Club Cricket CEO Brendon Goff stood down and passed it onto Chairman Simon Fitzsimmons. Since taking over he has made several changes including reshaping the board to include, Andy Cameron (andyc), Andrew Cloete (Cloete), Greg Thomas (NZ_Tailender) and Jamee Gray (Jamee999). The future looks good for WCC and the game should continue long into the future.
Season 7 saw a very tight contest over a long and hard season. Tamil Nadu once again proved to be the team to beat in four day arena, but ACT and Lancashire did push the hard during the season, but their depth was too much in the end. With Tamil Nadu winning their 2nd straight Division One championship many feel they will be the side to beat again in the coming season. With manager Andy Cloete continually building what many feel is strongest side ever in First Class, it will take something special to knock them off.
The One Day Championship saw rookie manager Gaurav Nayak (Cricketboy29) take out his first title with Queensland. Many thought with the revamped championship that One Day super powers Victoria and Colts would fight it out for the title, but after some impressive recruiting Queensland blew everyone away. Colts got some revenge though winning the CW Bar Cup against Tasmania in the final.
At the end of the Season 7, unfortunately Simon Fitzsimmons was unable to continue, and the league and it's devoted fan base was left in limbo. In March 2007 Rob Malone and Tharmi Loganathan have started building WCC to season 8. Joining these two in revamped board are Steve Pearson (Coach_Pearson), Mat Mitchell (Matteh) and Manju Reddlapalli (alternative).