Kolpak

[flanflinger]

Leicestershire have appointed a 31 year old Saffer, who is not good enough for Test Cricket to Captain their team, he is here through the Kolpak rule.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cric...re/4095171.stm

By having them as their Captain they are

1. Preventing a young English Qualified player gaining first class experince
2. Preventing Darren Maddy from Captaing his home County who he has played for all his Cricket life.

I personally think this is a disgrace, and Leicesthshire should have their Test Subsidy severally reduced, that would make them think harder....

[Andy Mellon]

Can't disagree with you there FF. Leics are an absolute disgrace. More than any other county (except maybe Northants) they are attempting to use Kolpak to their advantage. Maddy hardly put a foot wrong last season and deserves better treatment. I reckon the best response from him would be to ask for a transfer to a county who'd give him more respect.

I'm currently working on a county-by-county list of Overseas players, Kolpakers and EU Passports which will help us to establish who the biggest culprits are - and who should get our respect.

[flanflinger]

Andy,

I think you will find Derby are also one of the worst offenders.

I would love to see the completed list. My view is that some of the most succesful teams will have very few Kolpak type players (Surrey, Lancashire, Sussex and Warwickshire)

PS I have no problems with actual EU players (Danish or Dutch), nor do I have a problem with genuine Overseas players, I have a problem with non-Test playing Saffers, Aussies and Kiwis with dubious passports playing throughthe Kolpak rule.

[Chuck Palumbo]

I have a massive problem with the Kolpack players that are currently polluting the English game. Teams like Derbyshire, Worcestershire and Leicestershire now have half their team full of such players and its clearly not good enough.

I'm all for actual good foreign or kolpack players like Andy Flower, Heath Streak or Stuart Law but the likes of HD Ackerman, Claude Henderson, Scott Brant, Grant Flower, Otis Gibson- No thank you.

The thing is there is nothing that anyone can do- Its just up to the counties to do the right thing to which some- Lancashire, Surrey, Yorkshire but others aren't and it could damage the English game.

[Andy Mellon]

I think some clarification of the Kolpak rules is required here. Kolpak means that countries with significant trade ties to the EU are eligible for free movement of people. In the case of cricket, the real Kolpak countries would be South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia.

Australians and New Zealanders do not qualify under Kolpak rules unless they are related by birth to someone who holds a passport for an EU country or they themselves have a passport for an EU country. Under these circumstances, the law resulting from the Bosman ruling applies. Therefore, players such as Craig Spearman and Callum Thorp do not count as overseas players whilst Ashley Noffke, Scott Styris and Stephen Fleming do.

I also have to agree with Chuck in that I have no problem with foreign players who can improve the standard of cricket playing here under any ruling - Andy Flower, Stephen Fleming etc.

It is also important to remember that there would be no way to stop some of these players playing. For example, Craig Spearman, Andy Flower, Kevin Pietersen and Mohammad Akram all now have British Passports and should rightly count as English citizens and not foreign players.

Once again, I agree with Chuck when he says that the real problem is the players who do not improve the game in any way - Claude Henderson being a great example. The trouble is, that with EU law in the way, there's nothing that the ECB or any county could do to stop other counties doing this without incurring significant fines - it would be perceived by the EU as discrimination.

[Notts Exile]

Originally Posted by Andy Mellon

It is also important to remember that there would be no way to stop some of these players playing. For example, Craig Spearman, Andy Flower, Kevin Pietersen and Mohammad Akram all now have British Passports and should rightly count as English citizens and not foreign players.

How did Mohammed Akram get a passport?

[Pete]

I just saw this on Cricinfo..

Originally Posted by Cricinfo

Mohammad Akram, the former Pakistan fast bowler, has parted ways with Sussex. Akram, who was classed as an English player after completing a two-year residency qualification, still had a year left on his contract, but cited family reasons for his desire to continue his cricket career elsewhere.

[Andy Mellon]

I was just about to link in the same article:

http://www.cricinfo.com/link_to_data...29SEP2004.html

This is why Akram does not count as an overseas player for Surrey next year, whose overseas representatives are Azhar Mahmood and Harbajan Singh. As I understand it, Akram has relocated to England on a permanent basis, hence qualifying for residency quicker than, for example Spearman or Stuart Law, who return to New Zealand/Australia respectively to play in the off-season.

[Paoli]

That is why English cricket is so far behind Australian cricket. Too many cricketers being brought in under the Kolpak ruling. What happens if the likes of a Grant Flower are asked to play for Zimbabwe again. Will they still be under Kolpak???

[Andy Mellon]

Paoli, I suggest you read my earlier post in this thread. The Kolpak ruling is an EU directive on movement of employment. It wouldn't matter whether or not they are playing for Zimbabwe - they wouldn't count as a foreign player under Kolpak rules as far as I am aware. Grant Flower and Andy Flower are different cases as well. Andy has lived in the UK for 3 years and now has a British passport, Grant has only just moved here, has a Zimbabwean passport and qualifies as 'non-foreign' only under the Kolpak rule