Shane Bond joins rebel Indian Cricket League

Fast bowler Shane Bond left New Zealand to play in the rebel Indian Cricket League, clinging to hope the ICL will eventually be officially recognised and that his international career may resume.

"I'm sure the restraint of trade things will eventually be tested and who knows what will open up. The landscape is changing all the time," Bond said.

New Zealand has joined all Test-playing nations in refusing to sanction the ICL, while allowing its players to join the Indian Premier League which will operate under the auspices of the Board of Control for Cricket in India.

Bond, 32, will receive a reported USD 800,000 a year for playing in the ICL. In doing so, he has had to give up his international career because New Zealand Cricket has instructed its national selectors not to consider players with ICL connections.

Bond is shortly to join the English county Hampshire on a short-term contract but that involvement might also suffer because of his ICL involvement. The England and Wales Cricket Board has warned that players with an ICL affiliation may not receive the necessary clearances to be registered for county play.

"The ECB board (is) determined to disassociate and distance itself from any promoter, agent or individual involved in such events," it said in a statement yesterday.

"It was further noted that unqualified cricketers requiring a 'no objection certificate' to be registered for cricket in England and Wales are unlikely to receive such certificates from their home boards if they participate in unauthorised events.

"In order to protect the genuine interests in the development of grassroots and county cricket and protecting anti-doping and anti-corruption measures, the ECB policy to condemn unauthorised events will be taken into consideration when evaluating any application to register players for county cricket.

resource: www.expressindia.com

ICL vs IPL, leagues apart

Six more Pak players may join ICL

Ever since the launch of IPL last week by BCCI one wonders if the latter was just a knee jerk reaction to ICL or was conceived for the benefit of the game. Indian Cricket League's (ICL) goal is create enthusiasm amongst the budding cricketers, carry that enthusiasm and momentum in the Sachins’ of tomorrow and give the domestic cricketers a chance to showcase their talent. On the other hand IPL's launch last seemed to be a "me too" by bureaucrats who have dominated the game more than the game itself.

Apparently the BCCI league had been conceptualized about 10 years ago but had recently been finalized. I think I can assume with reasonable comfort that ICL's announcement early part of this year expedited IPL by good couple of years.

BCCI top honcho believed just a couple of months ago that a Twenty20 league format (referring to ICL) would serve no good to the game of cricket. And it is rather ironic that a league was launched by the same governing body just a few months later in the same format.

Ever since the launch of the Indian Cricket League (ICL) BCCI mocked at the league commenting from time to time that who would watch a bunch of retired cricketers. On IPL launch in Delhi last week, all I saw was great cricketers who were either retired or on the verge of retiring from the game.

ICC refuses to recognize Indian Cricket League, we all know why. It's interest is to promote its own agenda in the world rather than promoting the game it represents. ICC would never disappoint the richest cricketing board in the world; rather going forward when BCCI current head Mr. Pawar becomes its chief will turn into Indian Cricket Council. It is rather appalling that an incompetent man will represent the council. A man who is on a mission, a mission to progress his personal agenda and solidify BCCI’s monopoly over the game in India.

I see Indian Cricket League emerging as a successful business organization, not ridiculed with bureaucracy and corruption like its counterpart, operating as a autonomous organization, investing in building the cricketing infrastructure and take advantage of its media arm to reach out to all cricket loving fans in India and abroad.

Resource: /www.indiancricketleague.com

ICL - Taking Cricket to a Higher League

The goal of Indian Cricket League (ICL) is to promote and foster the best of the talent in the country. ICL will work to create a highly competitive domestic environment, giving the talented an equal opportunity and ensure that cricket provides superior entertainment, value and service against its sporting peers. And in the process creating a fun and friendly atmosphere for our player and fans.

Indian Cricket League 2008 season

The inaugural season for the Indian Cricket League will begin in October 2008 with 6 teams. The first tournament will be organized on a double round-robin basis in which each team will be playing the opposite team on home and away basis. The top four teams will reach the semi-finals and the final be played between the top teams. There will be a total of 20 matches for the entire season.

Resource: www.indiancricketleague.com