PCB bans seven Pak players for playing in ICL

LAHORE : The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has banned seven cricketers, including former skipper Inzamam-ul-Haq from playing the domestic league, for taking part in the Indian Cricket League (ICL).

“Since the ICL is not recognised by the PCB and the Indian cricket board, the players who have joined the ICL despite warnings from their respective boards will not be allowed to play in the domestic circuit,” PCB spokesman said.

Besides Inzamam, the other players banned by the PCB are Abdul Razzaq, Shabbir Ahmad, Azhar Mehmood, Taufiq Umar and Imran Farhat.

“The rebel players have tried to contact the PCB through their respective departments, but the board gave them a cold shoulder,” the spokesman said.

He said despite showing good performance in the ICL, the players would not be considered even for the national camp.

“The board is following ‘zero tolerance policy’ towards such players,” the Daily Times quoted him, as saying.

3 more New Zealand players eye ICL

After Shane Bond and Andre Adams, New Zealand are reportedly in danger of losing three more players to the rebel Indian Cricket League (ICL).
According to the New Zealand Players Association (NZPA) tow current members of the national team and another fringe international player had been in contact with ICL representatives.
Heath mills, the NZPA manager, did not reveal any names but said he was aware “of three other players who have spoken to agents regarding the ICL.” Last year’s inaugural tournament of the ICL, featured Chris Cairns, Craig Macmillan, Nathan Astle, Chris Harris, Daryl Tuffey, and Hamish Marshall with Bond and Adams in line for 2008 edition.
Chris Martin, another New Zealand player who might benefit from such negotiations after he was overlooked by the Indian Premier League (IPL) said the ICL was a lure but he had not given up hope of becoming involved in the IPL.
“A contract with the IPL is the dream result, really,” he said. “ I’m enjoying playing for New Zealand and, hopefully, I’m enjoying playing for New Zealand and hopefully, I’m playing my way into a position where I can get a contract.” Mathew Sinclair, former Test opener might be another candidate as he fights to keep his place in the Test side while attempting to regain a spot in the ODI line-up.

New Zealand Cricket Team In jeopardy

Hamish Marshall and Daryl Tuffey are among six players who might never again represent New Zealand after appearing in the Indian Cricket League (ICL). New Zealand Cricket has told selectors to consider others ahead of the pair, who were still in the international frame, according to the Sunday Star Times.

The other four players, Chris Cairns, Craig McMillan, Nathan Astle and Chris Harris, are recently retired and so unlikely to have been considered for New Zealand anyway. Marshall had declined a New Zealand contract last year to take up a four-year contract with Gloucestershire as a Kolpak player, but this further means he is unlikely to ever play for the country again.

In a further clampdown, the six may not even be allowed state contracts and might be paid instead on a match-by-match basis. This would mean their prospects of playing any more meaningful cricket in their country would be severely hampered. New Zealand Cricket's CEO Justin Vaughan would not confirm if there was a formal ban in place but he did say the selectors would be strongly advised to ignore the players.

"We have a preference that our selectors take into consideration the fact that that these guys have been playing in an unsanctioned competition, an event that isn't in the best interests of New Zealand or world cricket, and that we'd rather that they didn't play," Vaughan told the paper. "I don't think we can say that they're ineligible for selection.

"We'd prefer to say that the selectors will be encouraged to consider other players. There's an understanding that we don't support the ICL and that we don't want to give them unnecessary traction."

Last week it was announced that radical measures could be taken to prevent their players from signing lucrative contracts with the ICL and turning their backs on their country. These measures include increasing the number of centrally contracted players to 25 as well as increasing the value of player retainers, and the latest heavy-handed selection policy is likely to act as a further deterrent.

Chennai Superstars demolishes Chandigarh Lions in the ICL Final

ICL 20-20 Indian Championship - Final Chandigarh Lions v Chennai Superstars

2007/08 season

Played at Tau Devi Lal Cricket Stadium, Panchkula, Chandigarh, on 16 December 2007 - day/night (20-over match) Result Chennai Superstars won by 12 runs

	Chennai Superstars innings (20 overs maximum)			R	B	4s	6s	SR
		IJ Harvey	run out (Sarabjit Singh)	36	31	5	0	116.12
		G Vignesh	c Manish Sharma b Tuffey	15	7	2	1	214.28
		CMW Read	run out (Mongia)	21	14	2	1	150.00
		RP Arnold	c Chetan Sharma b Mongia	5	6	0	0	83.33
		HK Badani	b Tuffey	20	20	0	1	100.00
		SG Law	run out (Imran Farhat)	34	28	1	2	121.42
		R Sathish	c Tuffey b Uniyal	12	10	0	1	120.00
		SV Saravanan	run out (Sarabjit Singh)	3	4	0	0	75.00
		T Kumaran	not out	0	1	0	0	0.00
		Extras	(b 1, lb 4, w 3, nb 1)	9
		Total	(8 wickets; 20 overs)	155	(7.75 runs per over)

Did not bat DT Kumaran, Shabbir Ahmed

Fall of wickets1-20 (Vignesh, 1.5 ov), 2-63 (Read, 6.6 ov), 3-70 (Arnold, 8.3 ov), 4-83 (Harvey, 10.4 ov), 5-116 (Badani, 15.3 ov), 6-148 (Sathish, 18.3 ov), 7-153 (Saravanan, 19.4 ov), 8-155 (Law, 19.6 ov)

	Bowling	O	M	R	W	Econ
	AJ Hall	4	0	21	0	5.25
	DR Tuffey	4	0	32	2	8.00	(2w)
	A Uniyal	3	0	22	1	7.33
	CL Cairns	3	0	38	0	12.66	(1nb, 1w)
	D Mongia	4	0	19	1	4.75
	TP Singh	2	0	18	0	9.00

	Chandigarh Lions innings (target: 156 runs from 20 overs)			R	B	4s	6s	SR
		Imran Farhat	c Read b Shabbir Ahmed	4	6	1	0	66.66
		HJH Marshall	c Read b Shabbir Ahmed	3	6	0	0	50.00
		TP Singh	c DT Kumaran b Vignesh	35	33	4	1	106.06
		Manish Sharma	c Saravanan b T Kumaran	4	7	1	0	57.14
		D Mongia	b Shabbir Ahmed	21	14	3	0	150.00
		CL Cairns	b Harvey	5	10	0	0	50.00
		Chetan Sharma	lbw b Shabbir Ahmed	0	1	0	0	0.00
		AJ Hall	not out	30	27	3	0	111.11
		Sarabjit Singh	c Vignesh b Harvey	28	18	1	2	155.55
		Extras	(b 1, lb 2, w 8, nb 2)	13
		Total	(8 wickets; 20 overs)	143	(7.15 runs per over)

Did not bat A Uniyal, DR Tuffey

Fall of wickets1-6 (Imran Farhat, 0.6 ov), 2-19 (Marshall, 2.6 ov), 3-30 (Manish Sharma, 4.4 ov), 4-66 (Singh, 9.5 ov), 5-82 (Mongia, 12.1 ov), 6-82 (Chetan Sharma, 12.2 ov), 7-84 (Cairns, 13.4 ov), 8-143 (Sarabjit Singh, 19.6 ov)

	Bowling	O	M	R	W	Econ
	Shabbir Ahmed	4	0	23	4	5.75	(6w)
	IJ Harvey	4	0	26	2	6.50
	DT Kumaran	4	0	35	0	8.75	(2nb, 2w)
	T Kumaran	4	0	32	1	8.00
	G Vignesh	2	0	9	1	4.50
	R Sathish	2	0	15	0	7.50

Toss Chandigarh Lions, who chose to field first Series Chennai Superstars won the 2007/08 ICL 20-20 Indian Championship Player of the match Shabbir Ahmed (Chennai Superstars) Player of the series IJ Harvey (Chennai Superstars) Umpires JH Evans (England) and TE Jesty (England) TV umpire R Julian (England) Match referee EAS Prasanna