September 16, 2007	Sunday	Ramazan 03, 1428

KARACHI, Sept 15: Pakistan will launch its edition of an international Twenty20 competition in October 2008 featuring foreign players and six franchised teams.

Dr Nasim Ashraf, chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board, told a news conference on Saturday the six teams would be franchised to corporate groups who had shown interest in the event.

“The Pakistan Premier League is part of the International Champions League which is approved by the International Cricket Council (ICC) and will be run by five boards,” Dr Ashraf said.

The Indian Cricket Board announced in New Delhi on Thursday the launch of the Champions League which will feature the top two Premier League teams from India, Pakistan, Australia, England and South Africa.

The PCB chief said the new event would be different from the domestic Twenty20 competition held in Pakistan over the last two years.

“In the Premier League each team will have four foreign players, four regional players and the rest retired and under-21 players,” he said.

Ashraf added that it would eventually resemble English soccer’s Premier League, with players allowed to move for transfer fees.

But he dismissed suggestions the league was being launched to counter the threat posed by the rebel Indian Cricket League which has signed up Pakistani players Inzamam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Yousuf, Imran Farhat and Abdul Razzaq.— Reuters

Our correspondent from Lahore adds: Nasim Ashraf, who has recently returned from New Delhi after attending a meeting of the BCCI regarding the newly introduced Premier League, said that the new product even carries benefits for those cricketers who joined the rival Indian Cricket League (ICL) and who would hopefully come back to associate themselves with the new league which is approved by all the national cricket boards.

The chairman said that the Indian Premier League would offer more financial benefits to the cricketers than those offered by the ICL. “In short, I am hopeful that the rebel players will come back keeping in view the national interests,” he said while adding that the Premier League was better for cricketers as well as for the boards because it allowed all players to prefer playing first for their own country whereas they were bound to play for the ICL, which is a big difference.

When informed that the ICL had made amendments in the clause 3.4 in order to allow cricketers to give preference to their national team, the chairman said that in that case, the PCB will have to review the matter further.

“But at the moment I invite all the players, those who have joined the ICL and those who have not, to join the Premier League as it offers a lot of benefits,” he said.

While elaborating the points of the Premier League, the chairman said two teams from Pakistan would compete in it along with India, South Africa and Australia. The first edition was scheduled for October, 2008, he said.

Earlier, he said the PCB would also hold the Premier League at its own level in which some six teams would participate and the top teams would compete in the main Premier League in India. In addition to this, he said that Sri Lanka and Bangladesh would be allowed to send one team each for the Pakistan Premier League. Similarly, New Zealand is eligible to send one team to Australia’s League.

According to the chairman, business houses could raise their teams for Pakistan’s Premier League by including players through open bids as cricketers would receive the amount according to their standard.

In conclusion, Nasim Ashraf dispelled the impression that too much Twenty20 cricket would ruin Test cricket. “People would say the same thing when ODI cricket was first introduced,” he said.