ECB Sure Of Champions League Deal

The England and Wales Cricket Board believes a deal will be struck to allow Middlesex and Kent to compete in the new Twenty20 Champions League tournament.

Organisers of the Twenty20 Champions League say teams will only be allowed to take part in the multi-million pound event if they do not use players who have featured in the rebel Indian Cricket League.

However a number of English county sides field players to have played in the ICL and thus England is in danger of being frozen out of the tournament.

Middlesex and Kent qualified to play in the Champions League tournament after reaching the final of the domestic Twenty20 Cup.

Middlesex, winners of Saturday’s Twenty20 Cup, do not have any ICL players in their ranks, but Kent, who were runners-up, do, namely Azhar Mahmood and Justin Kemp.

ECB chief executive David Collier believes a compromise will be reached.

‘I would be bitterly disappointed if all four nations aren’t represented by their two top teams. It is quite complex. We will be discussing with our counterparts in Australia, South Africa and India to try to iron out the last few items within the rules and regulations.
 
‘We’ve got three or four areas to resolve but we’re confident the Champions League will take place in September/October.’

The ECB’s stance has not gone down well with Lalit Modi, one of the driving forces behind the Champions League and the vice president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India.

He is remaining firm on the ICL issue saying the tournament could go ahead without any English teams taking part.

‘We have everybody on board going forward, apart from the ECB, who have some reservations in terms of structure and ownership. We hope the ECB will be part of it, but if they are unreasonable or unable to adhere to the rules and regulations of the tournament then it will be unfortunate but they will not be able to participate.

‘We have a final meeting with our members in Bombay on Wednesday and hope to make an announcement then. We will go ahead, with or without the ECB.’

As well as the IPL, ICL and Twenty20 Cup, England have agreed to play five lucrative Twenty20 matches in the Caribbean over the next five years after signing a deal with Texan-born businessman Sir Allen Stanford.

A new Twenty20 English Premier League is to start in 2010, too, while there are plans for a rival to Modi’s Champions League competition.