Award winners

All is explained below so read on……….

Rushcliffe Borough Council, Nottingham City Council, Nottinghamshire County Council, emda and Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club have won a prestigious award for a partnership project which culminated in the successful staging of the ICC World Twenty20 earlier this month.
Representatives of all of the organisations received the outstanding Public Private Partnership award at the Municipal Journal ceremony in London on 25 June.The win follows a similar honour handed to the partners by the Local Government Chronicle earlier this year.

“Winning this award is a fitting tribute to the contribution that everyone made to ensure that this truly global event came to Trent Bridge,” said Notts County Cricket Club Chief Executive Derek Brewer.

“This is a clear demonstration of the potential of fruitful, mature partnerships between our club, the three councils and emda and one which is all the stronger for having bid for, planned and hosted such a prestigious sporting event.

“Everyone worked tirelessly to ensure that the competing teams, their support staff, the international media and cricket supporters in general had the best possible experience during their time in our city, county and region. As a result, we have strengthened our position on the Global Sporting Map.

“This partnership was creative, bold and hugely successful and I am delighted that everyone has been rewarded in such a positive manner.

“Without the redevelopment, the club would not have been in a position to bid to host ICC World Twenty20. I hope our partners share real pride in what has been achieved collectively.”

The £8.2 million redevelopment of Trent Bridge, the world’s third oldest Test venue, paved the way for Nottingham to play host to 15 tournament fixtures and reap the benefits of increased tourism, enhanced profile and economic improvement.

The new stand, state of the art replay screen and permanent floodlights, funded by £1.23 million loans from each of the three councils, a £2.5 million grant from emda and £2 million from club funds, received huge exposure with an estimated television audience of 500 million tuning in for the men’s semi-final between Pakistan and South Africa.

BBC newsreader Huw Edwards hosted the ceremony at the Hilton, Park Lane.

Talismanic all-rounder, Shahid Afridi, man of the match in the semi-final, was again the hero, hitting 54 not out from 40 balls to steer Pakistan to an eight-wicket win.

Pakistan’s transformation from World Twenty20 also-rans to champions showed the unpredictability of this exciting form of cricket. But who’s to say that the momentum the players gained from their Trent Bridge semi-final victory and the subsequent display of passion from their fans didn’t carry through to their inspired triumph in the final.

Remember that Pakistan had lost two of their first three matches and needed a win against the Netherlands just to make the last eight. And it was only victory against New Zealand which gave them the springboard to move towards the ultimate prize.

So congratulations to Pakistan. And what a great Tournament was had here in Nottingham. More of the same please over the coming years!

South Africa finished 7 runs short of their target on 142 for 5 despite a fantastic
innings by Jacques Kallis who plundered 64 off 51 balls.

One has to wonder what part the fanatical Pakistan support in the crowd played in this victory and the scenes of triumph at the end of the game were quite fantastic.

So a brilliant days cricket at Trent Bridge. We’ll be bringing you videos and photos of the day later.

South Africa used a range of bowlers to try to contain the Pakistan batsmen but could never quite get the control the were striving for. However, they will be satisfied that their opponent’s score is probalay one they feel they can reach.

So a reasonable total for Pakistan to defend in this crucial match. How will South Africa fare?

India, in reply lost wickets too regularly to be able to challenge the Kiwi target and finished well short on 93 for 9.

So New Zealand march on to the Final and another performance like that of Watkins today will give them every chance of carrying off the big prize.

All tickets for tomorrow’s Semi-Finals Day are sold out, with India taking on New Zealand in the Women’s competition at 1.30pm before competition favourites South Africa play Pakistan at 5.30pm.

Unbeaten in the tournament so far, South Africa can take one step closer to shaking off the unwanted tag of ‘chokers’ by beating the mercurial Pakistan team, who scraped through to the Super 8’s with victory over the Netherlands but have steadily grown in confidence since.

Ever since the famous finish to their World Cup campaign in 1999, which saw Allan Donald run out by Australia needing one to win off the final ball, South Africa have promised much without delivering in world tournaments.

But their squad has had all the answers to questions posed by opponents so far in the tournament, brushing aside England, India and the West Indies in the Super 8 stages, with captain Graeme Smith, Jacques Kallis and AB de Villiers in good form with the bat, while their bowling attack of Dale Steyn, Wayne Parnell and spinner Johan Botha have proved hard to get away.

Unsurprisingly the team are feeling confident and coach Mickey Arthur said: “We’ve been in pressure situations before and have come through them. It’s a different team of players, a different set of management and coaching staff.

“Yes, we could get beaten tomorrow and then the chokers tag might surface, but for us that’s not an issue so long as we are playing the game to the best of our ability. We aren’t scared of losing. Mentally our team is very strong.”

Mark Boucher is one of three high profile members of the team who have taken part in all the international campaigns since 1999 and said: “We have been in a few semis before but there’s a different feeling about this team.

“We’ve been through a lot of tests in the last couple of years which we have come through with flying colours. We’ve handled pressure pretty well and hopefully that is a sign of things to come in the final stages of this tournament.”

Meanwhile, Pakistan captain Younus Khan has said the team want to the win the tournament as a tribute to former coach Bob Woolmer, who died during the 2007 World Cup.

Said Younus: “Bob was an inspiring person, like a father figure for me and the team. We all still miss him and if we win the ICC World Twenty20 I will dedicate that final game to him.”

After losing their opening group game to England, Pakistan have played with increasing confidence and Younus added: “Everybody knows we’re slow starters.

“We take some time and we need some time for ourselves and now we know we are just two wins away from winning the ICC World Twenty20.”

Well, it looks like we’ve dodged the rain again. The local forecast seems pretty good – sunny intervals with a maximum temperature of 18C. So it seems to be set fair for a cracking day’s entertainment as things stand at the moment.

First off at 1.30pm is the women’s semi-final with New Zealand taking on India. Then it’s the men’s turn with South Africa vs Pakistan at 5.30pm. It’s going to be noisy, frantic and fun.

And that fun will also be going on outside the ground as well. We hear there will be some great street entertainment early on in Nottingham’s Old Market Square and then later, around Trent Bridge. So if you see Robin Hood, various street entertainers and performers in bowler hats why not join in with the fun! Should be quite an entertaining spectacle.

For all the information you need for travelling arrangements and getting to the ground don’t forget to have a look at the specially prepared leaflet. You can download a copy here.

Damian

It’s easy to think that the organisation of these things just happens but of course, there’s more to it than that.

Playing a huge role in making sure things run smoothly are the team of volunteers who have been working so hard throughout the Tournament in Nottingham. If you’ve been to any of the matches, you’ve no doubt seen them in their Twenty20 outfits helping to get people to and from the ground, handing out information and supporting the media operations.

Volunteering is so important to events like this and can also be great fun to be involved in. Why not consider giving it a go for future events?

We caught up with Damian who has been one of the volunteer stalwarts helping to get people from Nottingham Station to Trent Bridge on match days. To hear what he has to say about volunteering, have a look at our interview here.