ECB bans rebel players

Well no one can accuse the ECB of being lily-livered and failing to carry out their threats (not today, anyway). A terse email has come out this afternoon from Colin Gibson, the former journalist turned head of press at the ECB, saying that five players involved in the "rebel" Indian Cricket League have applied for registration to play for their counties this summer and the ECB has stamped a big black "rejected" sign over the applications and put them in the bin.

The bad boys are Wavell Hinds (Derbyshire, left), Johan van der Wath and Andrew Hall (Northants), Justin Kemp (Kent) and Hamish Marshall (Gloucs). Well, they can't say they weren't warned. At least the ECB did us the courtesy of putting out the news at a decent hour, rather than 10.30pm on a Friday, like they did the last time.

I've made my opinion on this clear before and there is no point going over old ground. It is the ECB's prerogative to say who can and cannot play in their competitions, but the players surely have the right to free trade when they are out of contract. There is a slight complication here as the ECB can claim that they are acting under a rule that bans players from competing as Kolpak signings (ie, not being part of an overseas quota) if they have played for their country in the past 12 months, but as we saw last season with Jacques Rudolph, who merely said that he had no intention ever to play for South Africa again when signing for Yorkshire as a Kolpak, there is a precedent for the rule being waived.

It seems ironic that the Indian Premier League, which clashes with the start of the county season and is keeping several leading players away from the paying public until June, is regarded as not being harmful for English cricket, while the ICL, which happens on the players' own time in the off-season, is bad. Obviously it has everything to do with the financial power of the Indian cricket board, which is backing the IPL and has such little faith in the quality of their own product that they fear competition.

It is illuminating to draw a comparison with the Stanford Twenty20, which was set up by an American businessman in 2005 as a direct challenger to the West Indies Cricket Board and its tired approach to running the game in the Caribbean. No one got uppity about this rebel tournament. No West Indians who competed in it were banned from playing for their national side or for other competitions, although the principle of it being "unofficial" was surely the same. In time, the Stanford enterprise was seen as a good thing, re-energising appetites for the game in the West Indies. Late last year, the WICB struck a deal with Stanford to incorporate the competition into the domestic calendar. If the ICL likewise proves a success, why shouldn't it be welcomed? And if it is not a success, let it wither. Just play fair, BCCI.

Comments

[David Wijekoon-Perera]

Oh boyo. Wait unil the ICL legal boys wave their little charge sheet. The TCCB told the county players 31 years ago what they could and couldn't do. Packer took them to court and won. Perhaps the boyos at Lord's (ECB offices), need to look at what Mr Justice Slade had to say then?
Watch this space guys. From what is said, even Norman Arendse and ICC can end in the dock over racism charges and their quotas.

[John]

Ahhh. 1977 all over again. How history repeats, and once again the powers that be of both the ACB and the ECB show how terribly brave they are. Wonderful boys. Being taken for the fools that they are, as those who can see the future force them into a worthless painted corner yet again.
There is nothing new in all this. Only fools making the same mistakes as their "fathers" did 30 years ago.
Once again cricket is being taken over by those who can see the future, whilst those who live in the past try to retain control, and will be left with nothing.

[oldasiahand]

It stinks! The British players who took part in the iCL have not been banned - nor should they be.

The power of the BCCI is worrying since it is now affecting our sadly disorganised and scatter brained domestic season, what with 40 over, 50 over ,20/20 and four day competitions, the season never gets going properly. England will not develop a competitive Test team under the present crazy set up.

[Graham Parker]

It stinks. Haven't the authorities learned anything from the Packer debacle?
I sincerely hope the ICL's rich backers bankroll a legal challenge, if necessary taking it to the highest court in the land.
The downside is that when costs are awarded against the ECB it's grassroots cricket that will lose out financially.

[Ann]

They are all unofficial, Patrick, with or without quotation marks. They are self-elected, self-appointing, voluntary bodies.

I do share your sentiments about the lack of even-handedness. Not that I am surprised to see it.