MELBOURNE CAN'T RESIST BRISBANE'S HEAT.
 Shahid Afridi opening up the inning for Melborne Renegades brought some sight of excitement in the team with BOOM BOOM smashing up four 4's and a 6 and a total of 27 of just 14 balls.

  Messi needs to be the greatest

ZURICH (AP) — Lionel Messi must win a World Cup with Argentina before he can be considered a contender as the greatest player of all time, according to Michel Platini.

Platini hailed 24-year-old Barcelona forward as one of the greats after he won his third straight FIFA world player of the year award on Monday.

But the former France star believes Messi must win football's biggest prize in order to rival Pele and Diego Maradona — the men most often mentioned as the greatest of all time.

"Messi will always be great with or without (winning) a World Cup — but the World Cup, it's something special," Platini told reporters. "The World Cup will stay in the mind of the people."

Messi's record of relative failure at international level is an unsolved mystery.

Argentina has experienced a series of quarterfinal exits at the World Cup and Copa America during Messi's time, and he has not scored for the Albiceleste at either tournament over the past two years.

Platini compared Messi with Maradona, another Argentine icon who carried his national team by sheer force of will and a touch of genius to win the 1986 World Cup.

"When you see Maradona, you see what he has done in '86," said Platini, whose France team lost in the semifinals to West Germany that year in Mexico.

Platini suggested that Maradona is more often remembered for his achievements at World Cups than his similarly impressive achievements at Napoli, where he led the team to its only two Serie A titles.

"At the World Cup he was very strong. To score in a World Cup is an important matter," said Platini, who scored at each major tournament he played from 1978-86. He also was named European Footballer of the Year three times in the spell.

Messi was just 19 when making his World Cup debut in 2006 in Germany.

He came off the bench to score his first — and only — World Cup goal in a 6-0 rout of Serbia and Montenegro in a group-stage match.

However, coach Jose Pekerman left Messi unused as his team drew 1-1 with the host nation and lost a penalty shootout.

In South Africa four years later, Messi was the unquestioned star of a team coached by Maradona with more instinct than method.

Messi played well but goals eluded him and Argentina was ousted again, 4-0, by a much classier German team.

Platini says Messi's ability to score is proven, with more than 200 goals already for Barcelona.

"He's a pearl. He's a scorer, first of all. He looks very quiet but he is a killer," Platini praised. "He is the best player but he needs to have the best team. At Barcelona, he has the best team. I hope he has the best team with Argentina.

"I know he wants to win the World Cup."

kfc bigbash live scores, update and more news

The Big Bash League 2011-12 will be the inaugural season of the Big Bash League, the premierTwenty20cricket competition in Australia.

Big Bash League will begin on Friday, December 16, 2011 in Australia as per cricket schedule announced. KFC T20 League 2011-12 is an domestic tournament to be organized by Australia. Big Bash League will consist of 31 Twenty20 matches to be hosted by Australia in Dec 2011-Jan 2012. 

The Big Bash League tournament is a part of Future Cricket Tour Programs (FTP) prepared by International Cricket Council (ICC). Australia will host this tournament, beginning on December 16, 2011. In Big Bash League bilateral series, first T20 match would be between Sydney Sixers - Brisbane Heat on Dec 16, 2011 at 19:00 local time to be played at Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney.

kfc bigbash teams table,standings


KFC BIG BASH SCHEDULE

Date and Time	Match Details and Series
Fri Dec 16  19:00 local | 08:00 GMT	1st T20 - Sydney Sixers vs Brisbane Heat  Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney
Sat Dec 17  19:00 local | 08:00 GMT	2nd T20 - Melbourne Stars vs Sydney Thunder  Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne
Sun Dec 18  17:30 local | 07:00 GMT	3rd T20 - Adelaide vs Melbourne  Adelaide Oval, Adelaide
Sun Dec 18  18:00 local | 10:00 GMT	4th T20 - Perth Scorchers vs Hobart  W.A.C.A., Perth
Tue Dec 20  18:30 local | 08:30 GMT	5th T20 - Brisbane Heat vs Melbourne Stars  Brisbane Cricket Ground, Brisbane
Wed Dec 21  19:00 local | 08:00 GMT	6th T20 - Hobart vs Sydney Sixers  Bellerive Oval, Hobart
Thu Dec 22  19:00 local | 08:00 GMT	7th T20 - Melbourne vs Perth Scorchers  Docklands Stadium, Melbourne
Fri Dec 23  19:00 local | 08:00 GMT	8th T20 - Sydney Thunder vs Adelaide  ANZ Stadium, Sydney
Tue Dec 27  19:00 local | 08:00 GMT	9th T20 - Sydney Sixers vs Melbourne Stars  Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney
Wed Dec 28  19:00 local | 08:30 GMT	10th T20 - Adelaide vs Hobart  Adelaide Oval, Adelaide
Thu Dec 29  18:00 local | 10:00 GMT	11th T20 - Perth Scorchers vs Brisbane Heat  W.A.C.A., Perth
Fri Dec 30  19:00 local | 08:00 GMT	12th T20 - Sydney Thunder vs Melbourne  ANZ Stadium, Sydney
Sun Jan 1  19:00 local | 08:00 GMT	13th T20 - Hobart vs Sydney Thunder  Bellerive Oval, Hobart
Mon Jan 2  19:00 local | 08:00 GMT	14th T20 - Melbourne vs Sydney Sixers  Docklands Stadium, Melbourne
Tue Jan 3  18:30 local | 08:30 GMT	15th T20 - Brisbane Heat vs Adelaide  Brisbane Cricket Ground, Brisbane
Wed Jan 4  19:00 local | 08:00 GMT	16th T20 - Melbourne Stars vs Perth Scorchers  Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne
Fri Jan 6  18:30 local | 08:30 GMT	17th T20 - Brisbane Heat vs Hobart  Brisbane Cricket Ground, Brisbane
Sat Jan 7  19:00 local | 08:00 GMT	18th T20 - Melbourne Stars vs Melbourne  Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne
Sun Jan 8  18:00 local | 07:00 GMT	19th T20 - Sydney Thunder vs Sydney Sixers  ANZ Stadium, Sydney
Sun Jan 8  18:00 local | 10:00 GMT	20th T20 - Perth Scorchers vs Adelaide  W.A.C.A., Perth
Mon Jan 9  19:00 local | 08:00 GMT	21st T20 - Hobart vs Melbourne Stars  Bellerive Oval, Hobart
Tue Jan 10  19:00 local | 08:30 GMT	22nd T20 - Adelaide vs Sydney Sixers  Adelaide Oval, Adelaide
Wed Jan 11  19:00 local | 08:00 GMT	23rd T20 - Sydney Thunder vs Perth Scorchers  ANZ Stadium, Sydney
Thu Jan 12  19:00 local | 08:00 GMT	24th T20 - Melbourne vs Brisbane Heat  Docklands Stadium, Melbourne
Tue Jan 17  18:30 local | 08:30 GMT	25th T20 - Brisbane Heat vs Sydney Thunder  Brisbane Cricket Ground, Brisbane
Wed Jan 18  16:00 local | 05:00 GMT	26th T20 - Hobart vs Melbourne  Bellerive Oval, Hobart
Wed Jan 18  19:00 local | 08:00 GMT	27th T20 - Sydney Sixers vs Perth Scorchers  Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney
Thu Jan 19  19:00 local | 08:00 GMT	28th T20 - Melbourne Stars vs Adelaide  Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne
Fri Jan 20	1st Semi Final T20 - TBC vs TBC  TBC, TBC
Sat Jan 21	2nd Semi Final T20 - TBC vs TBC  TBC, TBC
Sat Jan 28	Final T20 - TBC vs TBC  TBC, TBC