February 29, 2008	Friday	Safar 21, 1429

LONDON, Feb 28: The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has decided to bar cricketers appearing in the rebel Indian Cricket League (ICL) from taking on contracts as overseas players in county cricket. ECB’s move on Wednesday will force Yorkshire, Hampshire and Sussex to have a re-look at their summer plans.

The ECB decision will also hit the ICL hard as it struggles to keep pace with the International Cricket Council (ICC)-authorised Indian Premier League (IPL).

The ECB in a statement said it was “determined to disassociate and distance itself from any promoter, agent or individual involved in such events”.

The move will affect Pakistani fast bowler Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, who was to turn out for Yorkshire, and New Zealand fast bowler Shane Bond, who was to join Hampshire.

Even Mushtaq Ahmed, virtually a Sussex citizen after five years with the club, may find himself in the cold unless he can wriggle out of his ICL contract.

The ECB, after taking legal advice, seems to be on a firm wicket and can reject these players on the grounds that they need a “No Objection Certificate” from their respective boards to qualify to play county cricket.

British media reports suggested that teams having ICL players are threatened with exclusion from the domestic Champions Twenty20 League in October, and it has also been rumoured that India’s national team could refuse to play any country that refuses to fall in line.

Four English players - Paul Nixon, Chris Read, Vikram Solanki and Darren Maddy - participated in last October’s inaugural ICL tournament, which was held near Chandigarh. The four should all be exempt from the ban as long as they do not return this autumn. The same dilemma may be particularly acute for Stuart Law, Lancashire’s new captain. —Agencies