Video Highlights of Gayle's fasted 100 in professional cricket.

Chris Gayle's 175 that demolished Pune Warriors took only 66 deliveries, and included 17 sixes. While that may seem like the very definition of sustained hitting, and makes it hard to imagine a period where the batsman took it easy, Gayle spoke about how he paced his innings.

"I didn't want to just get the hundred and continue blasting and blasting and get out, you know how quickly this game can change," Gayle said after delivering a 130-run victory for Royal Challengers Bangalore. He reached his hundred off 30 deliveries in the ninth over, before taking it slightly easy for the next few overs.

"I wanted to stay there till the end, make sure I bat at least 18 overs, if not all, which I did, I look on that as a point of view, where I try and bat as many overs as possible, get the hundred, and then actually let Dilly [Tillakaratne Dilshan] take charge while I get a break and pick it up back in the end."

Having broken the record for the fastest T20 hundred, the highest individual score in T20 and the most sixes in an innings, Gayle said it was too soon for him to gauge the magnitude of his achievement. "Words can't explain how I feel, I think later on tonight when I am by myself I can look back and reflect on what I've done today," he said. "I'm grateful, overall from a team point of view, I'm really happy with the win, that put us on top of the table, just one of those innings, one of these days when you come out and things go according to how you want it to."

Aaron Finch, the Warriors captain, watched helplessly as his bowlers, and his own bowling, was ruthlessly taken apart by Gayle. There were no qualifiers in his praise for Gayle. "That was simply the best innings I've ever seen," Finch said. He later joked: "Maybe we should ban him from the game. Maybe he's too good, he hits it too far."

It wasn't just with the bat that Gayle did damage. Asked to bowl the final over of the match - his first chance with the ball this IPL season - he picked up two wickets, before celebrating with his famous Gangnam Style dance. "It was really good to finish off in that particular way, " he said. "Some people keep on asking, 'they have seen me do Gangnam Style in international cricket, why not in IPL?' I thought that was the perfect time to do it, you get a wicket, everything just worked for Chris Gayle today … I'm an entertainer, I try to entertain as much as possible."

With Warriors conceding a record 263 runs - the most in the history of Twenty20s - Gayle was asked whether he felt sorry for the bowler s. "Sometimes I get knocked over first ball, I would love to ask the bowler as well 'Do you feel sorry for me'. We're paid to be competitive out there, serious event the IPL, lot of money being spent, you want to put on your best performance at all times."

Chris Gayle took centre stage once again for Royal Challengers Bangalore, to continue RCB’s run of victories.

The Jamaican big-hitter regained his magical touch after two poor outings, as he clobbered nine sixes and four fours in an unbeaten 85 that helped RCB home with nearly 15 balls to spare.

Changes of pace, cutters, and variations in length were all futile against Gayle, who was the architect of another dominating Royal Challengers performance.

Australian Test captain Michael Clarke has been named Wisden's leading cricketer of 2012.

In an individual boost before 2013's Ashes double header, Clarke has been recognised with Wisden's Leading Cricketer in the World award after a scintillating year with the bat in Test cricket.

Clarke averaged 106.33 at the crease for 2012, scoring a mammoth 1,595 runs, including four double centuries.

He becomes the third Australian to receive the honour after Ricky Ponting (2003) and Shane Warne (2004).

Our newest recruit Matt Prior’s unbeaten score of 110 off 182 balls has managed to save the England v New Zealand test match on the last ball of day 5.

“ I am not really one to celebrate draws but this was a phenomenal effort. First innings was disappointing. To get to the line is unbelievable. We had to bat 90 overs, the wicket was good, only going to get slower, you don't want to be blocking everything, you want to play your shots. “

Prior's biggest slice of fortune came when he was on 28. Struggling to deal with a brute of a bouncer from the wholehearted Wagner, Prior saw the ball bounce, via the bat handle and his neck, onto the stumps but fail to dislodge a bail.

The resilience of the Spartan ambassadors has once again been shown by the brilliance of Matt Prior’s innings today.

Spartan Sports Industries has offically recognised as conforming to the Social Accountablility 8000 International Standard.

The SA8000 standard is based on conventions of the ILO, UN and national laws and spans industry and corporate codes to create a common language for measuring social compliance.

To comply with SA8000 Spartan Sports Industries, have adopted policies and procedures that protect the basic human rights of workers. The management system supports sustainable implementation of the elements of SA8000: child labor, forced and compulsory labor, health and safety, freedom of association and right to collective bargaining, discrimination, disciplinary practices, working hours, remuneration.

The elements we conform to are:

• Child Labor: No use or support of child labor; policies and written procedures for remediation of children found to be working in situation; provide adequate financial and other support to enable such children to attend school; and employment of young workers conditional.
• Forced and Compulsory Labor: No use or support for forced or compulsory labor; no required 'deposits' - financial or otherwise; no withholding salary, benefits, property or documents to force personnel to continue work; personnel right to leave premises after workday; personnel free to terminate their employment; and no use nor support for human trafficking.
• Health and Safety: Provide a safe and healthy workplace; prevent potential occupational accidents; appoint senior manager to ensure OSH; instruction on OSH for all personnel; system to detect, avoid, respond to risks; record all accidents; provide personal protection equipment and medical attention in event of work-related injury; remove, reduce risks to new and expectant mothers; hygiene- toilet, potable water, sanitary food storage; decent dormitories- clean, safe, meet basic needs; and worker right to remove from imminent danger.
• Freedom of Association and Right to Collective Bargaining: Respect the right to form and join trade unions and bargain collectively. All personnel are free to: organize trade unions of their choice; and bargain collectively with their employer. A company shall: respect right to organize unions & bargain collectively; not interfere in workers’ organizations or collective bargaining; inform personnel of these rights & freedom from retaliation; where law restricts rights, allow workers freely elect representatives; ensure no discrimination against personnel  engaged in worker organizations; and ensure representatives access to workers at the workplace.
• Discrimination: No discrimination based on race, national or social origin, caste, birth, religion, disability, gender, sexual orientation, union membership, political opinions and age.  No discrimination in hiring, remuneration, access to training, promotion, termination, and retirement. No interference with exercise of personnel tenets or practices; prohibition of threatening, abusive, exploitative, coercive behaviour at workplace or company facilities; no pregnancy or virginity tests under any circumstances.
• Disciplinary Practices: Treat all personnel with dignity and respect; zero tolerance of corporal punishment, mental or physical abuse of personnel; no harsh or inhumane treatment.  
• Working Hours: Compliance with laws & industry standards; normal workweek, not including overtime, shall not exceed 48 hours; 1 day off following every 6 consecutive work days, with some exceptions; overtime is voluntary, not regular, not more than 12 hours per week; required overtime only if negotiated in CBA.
• Remuneration: Respect right of personnel to living wage; all workers paid at least legal minimum wage; wages sufficient to meet basic needs & provide discretionary income; deductions not for disciplinary purposes, with some exceptions; wages and benefits clearly communicated to workers; paid in convenient manner – cash or check form; overtime paid at premium rate; prohibited use of labor-only contracting, short-term contracts, false apprenticeship schemes to avoid legal obligations to personnel.
• Management Systems: Facilities seeking to gain and maintain certification must go beyond simple compliance to integrate the standard into their management systems and practices.

The cricket world has been speculating over the last few months on who the new cricket supplier will be for the World’s best wicketkeeper, Matt Prior.The wait is now over.  On Wednesday in the first test match between England and New Zealand in Dunedin, New Zealand, Matt Prior will reveal his new cricket kit as he joins the elite circle of players now using Spartan.  

He’s in great company with the current top batsman in the World, Michael Clarke and West Indies heroes Chris Gayle and Darren Bravo and legend Sir Viv Richards all loving the style and refreshing approach Spartan are taking.  

Spartan Founder Kunal Sharma is thrilled to have Matt in the Spartan camp.  

“We had the opportunity to meet in Australia during the twenty twenty big bash series in Sydney and were really impressed with Matt’s approach.  Straight away we had a meeting of minds.  We felt strongly that our long term plans has a great fit andalready in a short time, we’ve made great progress together. We’re very excited.”
Matt Prior’s take on the subject is just as positive. “I am absolutely delighted to be joining such an exciting brand as Spartan.  It’s a really impressive team of people and I’m looking forward to helping them build the brand in the UK.  The next few years will be really exciting for both myself and Spartan.”

Spartan CEO Mike Conway is also delighted to have Matt on board. “It’s obvious to all that Matt is such a talent and sets such high standards so this was a perfect fit for us.  We’re thrilled to be working with him and looking forward to the cricket World seeing him use Spartan in New Zealand during theTest series and of course being part of such an exciting double Ashes year too!  We’ve had a fantastic response about the Spartan range already and very shortly we will be announcing how cricket lovers and players can access our products through our partners in England as they already can in Australia, New Zealand and India.  We have long term plans to be involved in cricket in all territories and Matt’s involvement is a very important part of our UK strategy.”

For more information please contact us or contact Mike Conway mike@spartansports.com.au

He may have scored just 18 runs from three ODIs and a T20 against Australia recently but Chris Gayle returned to his aggressive best in the Bangladesh Premier League. He smashed 114 from 51 balls (last 87 runs off 22) to help Dhaka Gladiators enter the final on Friday.

Seven bowlers were asked to find a way to stop Gayle but apart from Mohammad Nabi (economy of 4.25) and Sajidul Islam (economy of 5.75 with three wickets), none managed to do much to stop the utter carnage. As many as twelve sixes flew off Gayle’s bat as the 33-year-old batsman dispatched most of the bowlers with utter disdain.

Chris Gayle was on 27 (29 balls)... This is what happened to his next 20 balls: 4, 1, 4, 6, 1, 6, 6, 2, 6, 6, 4, 6, 6, 6, 6, 2, 1, 1, 6, 6. 15 minutes later - Gayle 114 (51 balls)!

Spartan ambassador Benji Marshall will walk out on the feild tonight once again leading the NRL All Stars.

Benji has backed the format and says he will play as long as recurring coach Wayne Bennet sticks around.

"I think Wayne is the best coach for this concept. He really buys into what it's all about," says the Spartan Ambassador.

"The way he breaks down the week for all the players and makes them aware of what it all means is something to be proud of.

"Just to be involved, what it stands for and to be able to help out the indigenous community - we're all pretty proud to be involved in it.

"He's coached a lot of indigenous players in his time. He knows what it means to them and he doesn't want to disrespect them by not taking this seriously.

"I've told Wayne: 'as long as you're here, I'm here'. That's why I keep getting automatically selected."

Marshall conceded the indigenous line-up was stacked with players who could break the game open if given a chance.

"I think both teams have got enough strike power to show a lot of flair," he says.

"For us, we've got a strong forward pack and, if we can get through the middle, or even dominate them in the middle, it'll give us a good chance of winning."

Marshall warned his players wouldn't fall into the trap of just going out and tossing the ball around.

"We want to win the game which means completing our sets and playing off the back of quick play-the-balls," he says.

Benji's NRL All Stars led team will be after their 3rd win from the 4 clashes in front of an expected 40,000 plus crowd in Brisbane.

Spartan Ambassador Michael Clarke has won his record equalling 4^th Allan Border Medal.

An emotional Clarke choked back tears as he joined Ricky Ponting as the award's only four-time winner, polling 198 votes to finish well clear of his teammates despite playing little more than half of the one-day internationals and no Twenty20 internationals.

Clarke blitzed the field in the Test count and given each Test match vote was worth twice as much as those for one-dayers and three times that for T20s, it was enough to give him the main honour.

The Australian skipper smashed 1080 runs in nine matches in the voting period between February 25, 2012, and January 28 this year at an average of 77.1 -- the main share of his national record 1595 runs in calendar year 2012.

Watch Michael Clarke’s press conference below:

Spartan Ambassador Daniel Geale has once again proved his resilience against being baited by the hot-headed Anthony Mundine at Monday night’s press conference.

After Geale’s manage Gary Shaw mentioned that Mundine’s career would be over after Geale beats him in tonight’s bout, Mundine launched in to a tirade of insults and abuse towards the Geale camp, mentioning that he thinks that Geale is still the same fighter that he fought in 2009. Geale replied that he hopes Mundine thinks he is still the same fighter as he has come a long way since then.

Geale is tipped by experts to be the favourite for tonight’s bout. On being asked who he thought would the fight, Hall of Famer Jeff Fenech replied:

"Geale. Anthony is saying Daniel is the same fighter - well he might look the same, brother, but he's a world champion now. Anthony's only hope is if he catches him and if he does it will be a fluke. The best thing is that, finally, people are going to love Daniel for what he is. And for what he is going to do."

Spartan boxing ambassador Daniel Geale has made a trip to the devastated are of Dunally in Tasmania 50kms from Hobart.  Daniel originally from Tasmania, along with his boxing team and with the support of Spartan Sports thought it would be a great gesture to visit the community of Dunally and to donate some much appreciated sporting goods.

With the assistance of Virgin Australia, Geale & Spartan representative Duncan Kerr made the trip down form Sydney with 6 large boxes of bats and balls to donate to the community. First stop was to the Royal Hobart Hospital, where items were donated & all Daniel was welcomed as a hero. This was then followed on by the trip to Dunally, where Daneil met with the Tasmanian Premier Lara Giddings and assisted in handing out sporting goods and signing countless autographs for the much applicative local resident that had been affected by the bushfire tradgedy.

"I was shocked to see the extent of the damage, particularly in Dunalley," Geale said. "I was straight on the phone to find out what we could do to help."

Ms Giddings praised his commitment to the state at a time when he is busy training for his major bout against Anthony Mundine at the end of the month.

"We want to make sure he puts Anthony Mundine in his rightful place," she said.

Jamaica looked favourites when Gayle, playing his second match of the competition, smashed 122 off 61 deliveries - his second-highest Twenty20 score - to propel his team to 183 for 6.

He ruined the figures of spinners Devendra Bishoo, Royston Crandon and Veerasammy Permaul, who was smashed for 28 runs in his only over. He smashed 12 sixes, breaking his own Caribbean T20 record of the maximum number of sixes in an innings (9) that he had gained in his previous knock.

Gayle began his big hitting in the second half of the Jamaica innings, helping them score 142 runs in the final ten overs after scoring 41 off the first ten.

Spartan Ambassador Michael Clarke has stepped on to the pitch today using his new Spartan MC Bat.

Building upon the technology used in his bat from last year, the new Spartan MC range has been designed with a very contoured full profile and equally big edges and will dominate bowlers everywhere.

The new MC range will be available for purchase in all major sporting stores in the very near future.

Michael  Clarke continued his Bradman-like form and became the first Test  batsman in history to pass 200 four times in a calendar year, as  Australia destroyed an injury-hit South Africa on the first day of the  second Test in Adelaide.

*** FAKE BATS ALERT ***

Please be aware that there a number of fake copies of our bats being sold around the internet.

Spartan has no deals in place with any international resellers, so anything being sold online outside of Australian or NZ online stores are fake.

Bats can be purchased from the stores below:

http://www.kingsgrovesports.com.au/Products.aspx?SportGroupID=16

http://www.cricketcentre.com.au/product_list/pages/product_list.php?Operation=SetSessionVariable&Variable%5Bcat1%5D=-1&Variable%5Bcat2%5D=-1&Variable%5Bcat3%5D=-1

http://www.meulemans.com.au/l190/spartan

Please report any fakes you see to info@spartansports.com.au

Chris Gayle has had an amazing match against the Delhi Daredevils, smashing an unbeliveable 128 not out off only 62 balls using his CG Spartan Authority bat.

Click the picture below to watch the highlights.

Aussie cricket captain and Spartan ambassador Michale Clarke will make his IPL debut this season after being signed by Pune Warriors, the franchise announced on Wednesday.

“We are thrilled to have Michael Clarke on board. The reigning Australian skipper is one of the world’s best cricketers,” the franchise said in a statement.

“His presence in the side, and cricketing proficiency, will boost the prospects of Pune Warriors India in the IPL 2012.”

Clarke will join West Indian & Spartan ambassador Chris Gayle in this years IPL comp.

Big hitter Gayle has previously played in the IPL and will be rejoining his former team the Royal Challengers Bangalore. Daniel Vittori, the Royal Challengers captain was quoted as saying “We are fortunate to have Gayle from the start as well and this makes a big difference”.

Both players will be using their new Spartan Bats and hope to hold them high.

After a superb summer with the bat, Clarke has gained the top spot on the ICC batsman rankings after his tally of 626 runs.

The updated rankings were released last week and Clarke is sharing the top spot with South Africa’s AB de Villiers.

It is the second time Clarke has headed the batting table, having first topped the batting list in August 2009 after he scored 93 against England in Australia’s victory by an innings and 80 runs in the Leeds Test.

He is back at No 1 position due to the previous leader, Kumar Sangakkara, making zero and 14 in Sri Lanka’s win over England in Galle.

Clarke believes the past one-year has been fantastic for the Australian team, but feels his team needs to be more consistent.

“It”s been a great 12 months. We’ve obviously played some outstanding cricket, and there have been some patches in the past 12 months where we haven”t been as consistent as we would like,” the Sydney Morning Herald quoted Clarke, as saying.

“Overall we’ve grown as a team, I think we’ve come a long way,” he added.

Australia continues their pursuit for the world’s No.1 Test ranking when the three-match series in the Caribbean starts next Saturday where he is preparing for the upcoming series.

ICC Batsman Rannkings – Top 10

1     M.J. Clarke
1     A.B. de Villiers
3     J.H. Kallis
4     K.C. Sangakkara
5     Younus Khan
6     S. Chanderpaul
7     T.T. Samaraweera
8     H.M. Amla
9     I.J.L. Trott
10   R.L. Taylor