PCB urged to recognise ICL

FE Team | Published: August 24, 2007 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00

Javed Miandad wants the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to recognise the Indian Cricket League (ICL) before it escalates into the magnitude of Kerry Packer's parallel World Series 30 years ago.
"I don't think this policy of banning players is going to work practically," Miandad was quoted as saying by the Indian Express. "Since the ICL is not something which the governments have objected to, I think any player can go to court and challenge any ban on him to play in and for his country,'' he said.
"The International Cricket Council and its member boards need to take the ICL seriously. Because it has the potential like the Kerry Packer series to snowball into something big," he added.
The PCB has reiterated that any contracted player joining the ICL would thereafter not be considered for selection for Pakistan. So far Inzamam-ul Haq, Mohammad Yousuf, Abdul Razzaq and Imran Farhat have signed up to play in the breakaway contest in its initial season.
According to Miandad, this was due to a sense of uncertainty and lack of financial security.
"Every player has to look to his future and security," he said. "In Pakistan there is no financial security for your retirement days."
Miandad, who played in the Packer series and appeared in 124 Tests for Pakistan, said the ICL could serve as a flashpoint between international players and the ICC and its member boards.
"For sometime now the players have been complaining of excessive cricket and not enough wages. The ICL offers them an alternative," he added.
Meantime, according to a report in the Kolkata-based Anandabazar Patrika, Bengal allrounder Laxmi Ratan Shukla has indicated to the Indian Cricket League (ICL) that he will not be signing his contract. ICL officials have reportedly given JP Yadav, who joined from Railways and is believed to be close to Shukla, the task of convincing him to stay back. The paper says players close to Shukla have told him his backing out now would undermine his credibility.
The paper cites several reasons for Shukla's change of heart. One is financial; the day after Shukla and 40-odd others were unveiled by the ICL, the BCCI announced substantial hikes in domestic pay packets. He is also believed to have told Prasun Mukherjee, the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) president - through a telephone call facilitated by an association official , Snehasish Ganguly (brother of Sourav Ganguly) - that he had issues with the way he was treated as a player. â€” Cricinfo