By IANS
Sydney : Australian Cricketers’ Association (ACA) has warned Cricket Australia (CA) of running the possible risk of losing experienced players from domestic competitions if it continues to debar Indian Cricket League (ICL) contracted players from representing their states.
Fast bowler Jason Gillespie quit first class cricket Friday to join cash-rich ICL. He said that that Australia’s domestic competitions would suffer if players continued to be banned for signing with the rebel league.
ACA President Darren Lehmann’s was quoted as telling the ‘Sydney Morning Herald’: “It (lure of ICL) is certainly going to impact on experience levels. I think that trend will continue among experienced state players who probably are not going to play for Australia again. They can go to ICL and make a really good pay.
“Some would want to keep playing (for their states) but they can’t. I understand the rules, but it would be nice to get some discussion happening around the issue,” he added.
Gillespie became the third Australian after Matthew Elliott and Michael Kasprowicz to call it a day from first class career in to join the ICL bandwagon.
On the lines of other national cricket boards, CA has also distanced itself from the rebel league, which is a direct competitor of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI)-backed Indian Premier League (IPL).
However, ICL chairman Himanshu Modi seemed unmoved by the showcase of financial power of IPL in the player’s auction at Mumbai last month. “There was no IPL without ICL, let’s make that very clear,” said Modi.
“Our promise was always to unearth the raw talent that exists in India and get them to play with all these star cricketers, whether current or just retired. We want to showcase that like a talent-search programme,” he added.