Cricket NSW counting the coins as Blues look to be world's best

Will SwantonOctober 13, 2009
NSW's grinding victory over Sussex at the Champions League amounted to a whopping $US450,000 ($498,190) payday. The Blues beat the English side by 35 runs to book a berth in the second round of the lucrative Twenty20 tournament.
Prestige is attached to the event but so are vast sums of money. Simon Katich's side received $US200,000 for qualifying for the Champions League and by climbing all over Sussex, guaranteed itself at least another $US250,000 if the second round is as far as it goes.
The jackpot jumps to $US500,000 for semi-final losers, $1.3 million for the second-placed side and $US2.5m for the champions. The loot must be split 50-50 between players and their state associations.
''I'm the wrong man to ask about the money,'' Blues coach Matt Mott said. ''I really, honestly don't know. Some figures were getting thrown around last night but I would have absolutely no idea. It's inconsequential to me at the moment. We are here to try to win a tournament. I'm sure if you spoke to Dave Gilbert, he'd be counting the pennies.''
Gilbert, the Cricket NSW chief executive, is already guaranteed a significant financial injection. Just how significant remains to be seen.
The Blues fought hard to make 130 against Sussex on a low-bouncing and inconsistent Delhi pitch. Phillip Hughes made a controlled 62 from 64 balls and Moises Henriques blasted 51 off 33. Henriques picked up 3-23 off his four overs to be named man of the match. Brett Lee charged in for 1-8 and Doug Bollinger took 1-13.
''It was a really, really good knock from Phil,'' Mott said. ''The conditions were very difficult. He just fashioned a way to get a score. We were really happy with 130 on that pitch, we knew we'd have to grind it out.''
Hughes is taking his first steps in his bid to return to the Australian Test side after being axed during the Ashes. ''He's always been a pretty quiet sort of a bloke and that hasn't changed,'' Mott said.
''He's a very popular member of the squad but he does enjoy his own company a bit as well. He's as determined as ever to do well. He's enjoying being back around this group of players. He's got a lot of his contemporaries here, a lot of young blokes he's played a lot of cricket with. He's having a lot of fun now he's back with the boys and obviously T20 lends itself to having a more relaxed attitude. I think he's thriving on that.''
Katich baulks at all talk of tournament favouritism. The Blues were trying to arrange travel to Hyderabad last night for their second-round match against as-yet-to-be-determined opponents. They were the first team to advance through the draw - money in the bank.
While the Delhi Daredevils' 50-run thrashing of Wayamba on Sunday denied Victoria early qualification for the second round, it was nevertheless a good result for the Bushrangers, because of the negative impact it had on the Sri Lankan team's net run-rate (used when teams are tied on match points).
The top two of the four three-team groups qualify for the next round, however, they only take through match points earned against the other team in their group that has qualified.