In the 21st century, the International Cricket Council enhanced the Development Program with an intention of producing more national squads that would compete at Test level. Asian and African countries as well as the United States were the areas where these efforts were concentrated. The ICC Intercontinental Cup, which was played in 2004, introduced first class cricket to 12 countries. These were Ireland, Canada, Scotland, Kenya, Netherlands, Namibia, United Arab Emirates, Bermuda, Nepal, Uganda, United States, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Cayman Islands.
Pro cricket
In the United States, a professional cricket league was created in 2004 called as Pro Cricket. This was managed by APC (American Pro Cricket LLC) and this private company was independent of the USACA (United States of America Cricket Association) and ICC (International Cricket Council). This league has two divisions called as the East Division and the West Division. The East Division is made of four teams called as New York Storm, New Jersey Fire, D.C. Forward and Florida Thunder. Similarly the West Division is also made of four teams called as Chicago Tornadoes, San Francisco Freedom, Los Angeles Unity and Texas Arrow Heads. In the year 2004, New Jersey Fire was defeated by San Francisco Freedom. After the 2004 season, this league expired as in the initial season there was poor attendance and a contract to televise the games on Dish Network failed.
Stanford 20/20
The Stanford 20/20 tournament is a Twenty20 championship that is being held from 2006 in the Caribbean island of Antigua. The teams which have participated in this variety of the game are United States Virgin Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands, Trinidad and Tobago, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saint Maarten, Saint Kitts, Puerto Rico, Nevis Pro Team, Montserrat, Jamaica, Guyana, Grenada, Dominican Republic, Dominica, Cuba, Cayman Islands, British Virgin Islands, Bermuda, Barbados, Bahamas, Antigua & Barbuda Pro team and Anguilla Pro Team. Sir Allen Stanford, a billionaire, introduced this form of cricket in the West Indies and it is now recognized by the West Indies Cricket Board. In the year 2008, Trinidad and Tobago became the champions after defeating Jamaica in the final by 9 wickets.
Indian Cricket League
The Indian Cricket League was founded by Zee Telefilms in 2007 and these offered prize money of 1 million USD for the triumphant team in the initial edition. At the beginning there were six teams who played Twenty20 cricket. Gradually nine teams were formed called as Mumbai Champs, Chennai Superstars, Chandigarh Lions, Hyderabad Heroes, Kolkata Tigers, Delhi Giants, Ahmedabad Rockets, Lahore Badshahs and Dhaka Warriors. Apart from these domestic teams, there are also World teams called as The World, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. In the 2008 championship the maximum points were scored by the Lahore Badshahs under the captaincy of Inzaman-ul-Haq.
Indian Premier League
In 2008 the Indian Premier League was formed which consisted of franchises related to 8 cities in India. Each franchise was comprised of a team of sixteen players which included International and Indian superstars and upcoming local talent. The franchises were called as Chennai Super Kings, Deccan Chargers, Delhi Daredevils, Kings XI Punjab, Kolkata Knight Riders, Mumbai Indians, Rajasthan Royals and Royal Challengers Bangalore. In the year 2008, the winner of the Indian Premier League was Rajasthan Royals with Chennai Super Kings as the runner up.
