LONDON, Aug 22: The threat of next month’s ICC Champions Trophy taking place without the world’s leading players was receding on Thursday after Australia said they would send a full-strength team.
The limited overs tournament in Sri Lanka, second only to the World Cup in terms of prestige, was in danger of being severely weakened by a dispute over the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) controversial “ambush marketing” clause.
Players from Australia and England had backed the stance of top Indians who were refusing to sign contracts to play in the Champions Trophy because of lucrative personal sponsorship deals.
But the news that the Australian Cricket Board (ACB) has reached agreement over players’ rights was a major boost for the ICC, with next year’s World Cup in South Africa also looming.
“ICC management had worked with the ACB to develop and document the agreed guidelines and processes so that these could be implemented immediately,” ICC president Malcolm Gray said, adding that he hoped the agreement would provide a template for future discussions between the ruling body, national boards and players.
“The ACB and the (Australian Cricketers’ Association) ACA agreement is a sensible and pragmatic solution,” he said. “It protects the ICC’s commercial partners by accepting the proposed terms of the contract, including the critical “ambush marketing” protections, while also ensuring that players’ concerns over the use of their images are addressed.”
Later on Thursday, South Africa’s United Cricket Board (UCB) and players’ body (Saca) met and said in a statement they were hopeful a settlement could be found there too.
They said it was important that “all steps possible (were taken) to ensure that both the Champions Trophy and the World Cup were not placed at risk”.
The statement added that the bodies had resolved to involve the ICC in agreeing a framework where both players’ rights and existing commitments to event sponsors could be satisfied.
The Australian authorities, meanwhile, expressed their satisfaction at reaching the agreement.
“We’re very pleased to have been able to come up with a solution that sees Australia sending its best team to the ICC Champions Trophy,” ACB chief executive officer James Sutherland told a news conference in Melbourne.
The ICC clause, agreed by the national cricket boards in 2000 as part of a $550 million sponsorship package, bars players from endorsing products conflicting with those of ICC backers 30 days either side of an event.
Australia’s decision left England as the only Test-playing nation not to have signed a Participating Nations Agreement (PNA) for the Champions Trophy.
But the indications are that the English Cricket Board (ECB) is close to agreeing to the conditions which specify that boards and players meet the obligations of tournaments and their commercial partners.
England squad representative Richard Bevan, who had advised his players not to sign for the tournament due to start on Sept 12, said on Thursday: “We are very close to sorting out the situation.”
If the England players do reach agreement with their board, it could leave India’s players on their own in the dispute.
New Zealand Cricket chief executive Martin Snedden said on Thursday that the dispute would have a significant impact on the future of international cricket if it was not resolved.
“The issue is a crisis and all parties need to do more to resolve it,” said Snedden, whose New Zealand players are not affected by the disagreement having signed contracts for the ICC Trophy.
“If the issue is not resolved it will have serious consequences for the ICC, its member nations and players,” Snedden added.
“This is not a time to apportion blame, it is the time to find a pragmatic solution before the crisis results in serious financial consequences for all parties.”—Reuters