With the tussle between the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the rebel Indian Cricket League (ICL) intensifying over the last few days, the International Cricket Council (ICC) on Wednesday maintained that it was an ‘internal matter’ of the Indian Board and there was no need for any interference at this stage.
The ICC also said that it was upto the respective Boards to take a decision on the players defecting to the multi-million dollar breakaway league.
“The ICC Executive Board has taken a policy decision that the BCCI was the only competent authority to deal with the issue. It is upto the BCCI to decide whether to recognise the ICL or not,” an ICC spokesman said.
He said that the BCCI representative had taken up the ICL issue during the last Executive Board meeting at Lord’s in June.
“The Executive Board had told the BCCI that it was an internal matter and it was left to them whether to recognise the ICL or not. The ICC had them that cricket should not suffer,” he said.
Since the Twenty20 tournament proposed by the ICL will be for about 45 days in the inaugural year, bans would mean that many of the cricketers may have to sit idle for most part of the year.
The proposed Stanford League in the West Indies, a brainchild of millionaire Alen Stanford, and county cricket in England could be some of the options.