Cricket goes to America but in new 'avatar'

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal"><span style="" font-family:="" arial="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold="">NEW DELHI:</span><span style="" font-family:="" arial="" font-size:=""> The Americans have decided to play cricket, but with some changes that would make cricket lovers squirm.</span><br /><br /><span style="" font-family:="" arial="" font-size:="">And some well-known names in the game, like India''s Ajay Jadeja and Nikhil Chopra along with veterans Alec Stewart, Courtney Ambrose are endorsing it -- by participating.</span><br /><br /><span style="" font-family:="" arial="" font-size:="">A first ever professional ''league'', an inter-city one-day cricket series is launched on Thursday across eight US cities, organised by American Pro Cricket.</span><br /><br /><span style="" font-family:="" arial="" font-size:="">The matches are one day, or rather one evening, for there would be only 20 overs.So the game would be over in just three hours, according to a press release from the organisers.</span><br /><br /><span style="" font-family:="" arial="" font-size:="">Then there is a rule inspired by baseball: A team would be allowed to field a specialised batsman, who would replace one of the bowlers when the side is batting. He would not be required to bowl or field.</span><br /><br /><span style="" font-family:="" arial="" font-size:="">Also, one bowler would be allowed to bowl 25 per cent of the total overs. The rules do not allow more than 20 per cent of the overs to be bowled by one bowler.</span><br /><br /><span style="" font-family:="" arial="" font-size:="">The league has two divisions of four teams each. The East division has teams from New York, New Jersey, Washington DC and Florida while the West division includes Chicago, Texas, Los Angeles and San Fransisco teams.</span><br /><br /><span style="" font-family:="" arial="" font-size:="">Semifinals are scheduled for August 2 and 28 while the final will take place on September 4.</span></div> </div>