ICL issues notice to ICC, BCCI and ECB

The rebel Indian Cricket League (ICL) has issued its first legal notice to International Cricket Council (ICC), Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) after the official cricket boards banned the players associated with the unofficial league. In its notice the Essel Sports Private Ltd (ESPL) has claimed that the unlawful ban has deterred and prevented prospective players from involving themselves with ICL.

The notice was issued by London based legal firm Ingram Winter Green on November 16, and has asked the ICC, BCCI and ECB to respond before December 7. In it’s the ICL has named ECB as the first respondent, while the BCCI is the second and ICC is the third respondent. According to the notice, the ESPL is the first claimant, while the player, termed as ‘professional players’ are the second claimant. The reason for unnamed professional players, the notice claims “The names of those individuals have been withheld to prevent retaliatory measures ahead of possible pending litigation.”

According to the notice, “From the inception, the ICL has received a hostile reaction from the BCCI. Early approaches in correspondence in which the ICL aimed to achieve co-operation (with the BCCI) were rebuffed by BCCI. BCCI has since engaged in a range of activities clearly calculated to deter and prevent prospective players from involving themselves with ICL, and intended to obstruct the activities of the ICL. The boycott of the ICL has had a serious effect on the players. The boycott of the ICL prevents the players carrying on their trade as professional cricketers in the UK if they also enter into contracts to play in the ICL. In the premises, the ECB is committing an unlawful restraint of trade by implementing the boycott of the ICL in the UK.”

An ICL spokesperson said “We want just justice, that’s all. There are a lot of issues involved including the restraint of trade and threatening of players who were part of the ICL.” ICL floated its cricket league in 2007 and managed to run it with little success for two editions before as many as 150 players opted for amnesty offered by BCCI and other national boards earlier this year.

Kemp back to South African cricket

Justin Kemp, the big-hitting South African batsman was in wilderness for last two years after joining the rebel Indian Cricket League (ICL) but now has severed ties with the league to don the South African cap. Kemp is set to play for his domestic side Cape Cobras in the forthcoming season.

On his return Kemp said, “It’s lovely to be back. I’m looking forward to playing again. It was tough coming home last year and not being able to play. It was a mistake to go and play there but we thought things would get sorted out and the rebel league issue would disappear. I was not playing for South Africa at the time and the IPL hadn’t started yet.”

IPL asks franchises to deal directly with players

Indian Premier League (IPL) has directed all the franchises to deal directly with the players over their contracts and not through player agents in order to ensure clarity and preventing agents from misguiding players and franchises. The decision was taken after complaints from various franchises related to recruitment of a few ICL players.

“The rationale for this decision again was based on the problems being faced by cricketing boards around the world, where some agents have been responsible for misguiding players and the franchisees, with detrimental effects on global cricket. The league will only recognize as valid, contracts signed directly between the players and franchisees,” according to IPL reports.

The new rules are laid in process to streamline the player recruitment process and bring all players under one window. It is also believed that the sudden influx of ICL players is the main reason behind such a decision. The ICL players have a salary range of Rs 8 – 20 lakh.

The IPL release also said that the league would not recognize players signed outside the set guidelines. “The IPL has taken this stand based on complaints received from multiple quarters about individual franchisees tweaking the terms of conditions of signing up young and new players as per their convenience and were not part of the prescribed contract templates provided by the league.”

The league has also given all the franchise of August 25 deadline to submit the list of all contracted players after with the IPL player registry will be updated and will be released on August 27, the release said.