Surprisingly no-one has yet posted anything about this.

First thing's first. Is it a good idea?

Secondly: the BCCI has now decided that it will not allow any ICL players to take part, thus making English participation in the event highly unlikely. Fifteen of the eighteen counties have ICL players in their starting eleven and would be considered ineligible. Does the BCCI have the right to decide this? Should the ICC take over? Should the ECB take action against the BCCI in light of this (i.e. select a few ICL players fr it's upcoming tour to Inida to spite the BCCI!!!).

Thirdly: IPL sides will be allowed four foreigners per team, will the South African and Australian sides use this quota too?

yes the champions league is a decent idea. u must understand that the champions league isn't an ICC tournament like the world cups, T20 world cup, champions trophy and its not part of the FTP.
the decision to organize this champions league was taken by BCCI, CA, CSA, ECB. the other boards have not officially announced the participation of their domestic teams yet. in effect the ICC has no jurisdiction on a "domestic" league few member boards have decided to organize, unless it affects any "international" tour commitments.
the BCCI's stand against the ICL and the people involved in it is not very surprising to me. the setting up of this new venture called ICL was strategically announced right after the world cup 2007 debacle, cashing in on the sentiments of the people, making promises to completely revolutionize indian cricket.
even though the first few seasons of the ICL weren't greatly talked about and poses no evident threat as of now, the BCCI knows it has a worthy adversary in Subhash Chandra(owner of Zee group and promoter of ICL) and wants to crush this rebel league in its roots to avoid complications in the future.which is why it treats anyone involved in the ICL as "outcasts" and i believe this rule in the champions league is part of the same strategy. i'm sure the ICC is a bit wary of the ICL along with the BCCI, knowing the potential of ICL taking over world cricket(trust me this is a possibility considering the money Zee group has!!!) by luring cricketers from all over the world. so the ICC will support the BCCI in its stand.also the talk is that this champions league will be held in India(considering the success of the IPL) and the revenue will be shared by the boards involved.

i'm sure the ECB will not do anything silly like select ICL players in its squad for financial reasons though i wud like to see BCCI's reaction if that happens. also if the ICL english players r selected, then the current guys have to be playing pathetically to chose discarded players like solanki, maddy, etc.

I think as per the rules right now, the IPL franchises will get preference over players like Mike Hussey who can play with both Western Australia and Chennai Superkings in this league, but the IPL franchise has to give a transfer fee to the home domestic team of that player. i dont think new signings for this league will be allowed, so only the presently contracted players in each team will be playing as i see it.

I think so. I remember seeing a game at the WACA years ago between WA and I think Natal- very interesting, and it was also the first time I'd seen Albie Morkel.

No!

Sanketh's right, it is basically a domestic thing, but it's one that involves four nations. As such, it's grossly unfair for the BCCI to make this decision for the English counties. On top of this, the tournament guidelines are being written by CA, so it will be interesting if what they come up with contradicts Lalit Modi's proclamation. It would be different if it was just the BCCI inviting other sides to play in India, but this is an international undertaking with all four participants being (theoretically) equal partners, in a tournament being held within a thus far neutral country. As such, the BCCI has no moral right to make this decision, and I doubt that they have the technical right either.

Modi issued statements that even if ICL players aren't selected for the tournament, those counties still won't be allowed to join.

That's something else that stinks. No one should be forced to play against their home state. I hope that in future the players when signing their IPL contracts have a get-out clause preventing them from playing against their home teams.

My understanding was that IPL contracts were just that, IPL contracts. Surely if Western Australia are participating then Mike Hussey should play for them? Ditto any of the South Africans. The IPL also has different rules regarding "overseas" players which I assume they won't apply to the Australian States, South African Provices or English Counties?

The whole thing seems geared towards the IPL sides winning. This presumably will enable them to then brag about how great their tournament is?

Don't get me wrong; I don't believe this tournament is a bad thing, in fact I like the idea. It would just be better run by anyone other than Modi and his bunch of arrogant muppets. It would be a more successful venture if it were played under "fair" rules.

The problem with the BCCI partly is that Lalit Modi issues statements contradicting what the BCCI president Sharad Pawar issues the previous day which causes me to wonder who exactly is running the BCCI? I dont understand why the BCCI should have a problem when the counties are willing to not select their contracted 'ICL' players for the champions league.
The other day I heard a statement from the bcci president saying the counties can choose whomever they wanted. next day i heard that in the champions league there would be zero tolerance against counties having 'ICL' players in the squad.


I would think the players contracts for the franchises is valid only for the duration of the IPL, so hussey should be free to play for western australia, its just the BCCI insisting that IPL teams get first preferences.

aurelius contrary to what u think the ICC has no legal jurisdiction over this new proposed champions league as it is a "domestic" tournament and the ICC has legal jurisdiction over international tournament and its FTP and will not have any say in this league even if all the member boards send teams to the competition.

even though the boards organizing the tournament say they are equal partners and cricket australia is drafting the rules and everything, its highely unlikely they will go against BCCI(we all know the result of spoiling relations with the " cash-rich" BCCI).

You are absolutely right!

I dont think having the best players in the world can always guarantee you wins, such is the unpredictability of the T20 game. The Rajastan Royals who won the IPL this year were counted out before the IPL began and they ended up winning, even the T20 world cup last year had an unlikely winner and all the semifinalists in the IPL had good team combinations. I think the better a team "gels" in this format the more the probability of winning.I have a feeling an australian team will win this league.

I must say as much as I dislike the BCCI's policies, I did like the way the IPL was conducted and I'm sure Lalit Modi's inputs and efforts in organizing this league will surely help. I just hope that the rules are just a little more flexible to accomodate the english counties with their 'ICL's'...the more the merrier!!!.
As I said before, the T20 format is a great leveller and even a seemingly lopsided affair may not be that way which is one of the charm of the T20 concept, so this competition will be "fair' even in its present form. I just feel that more WA supporters will have more enthusiasm in the competition if WA was allowed to field its best team given Chennai has many more good reserve "foriegn" players in its ranks. same holds true for all the non-IPL teams playing this league.

Surely the fact that the intended participants are teams from Australia, South Africa and either England or Pakistan makes it an "international" tournament? Those teams will be representing their national boards. Were it merely an Indian tournament with Indian teams, as the IPL was, the BCCI would have complete control. This is not the case and therfore the ICC should get involved. If the BCCI doesn't hand over control then surely the ICC could always make it "illegal" to use the IPL's favourite expression when describing something they don't like!

I think it is a good idea but there are a few things i am unsure about like the banning of players/counties who are involved with ICL.

Maybe they would be better leaving it another year so that all the nations can sit around the table and work out properly who is and isn't available for whichever team as i would feel uncomfortable if a player from one country was playing against his own team back home simply because Modi has claimed him for an IPL side.

It does, but what relelvance is that if it's a tournament effectively organised by the BBCI, to generate media revenue? The countries the BBCI selected for this tournament aren't 'just' the 'supposedly' best T20 sides in the world, it's because they're the biggest 'media draw' in the world.

This then leaves the BCCI between a rock and a hard place - they want Englands 'meda draw' but on the other hand they do not want the ICL recognised in any way, being a very big competitor to the BCCI's own IPL.

It's important to remember exactly how and why the ICL came into being. It was created by Star TV as a tournament they could cover without having to bid for the BCCI organised tournaments that they never won. So they created their own tournament to televise which of course the BCCI didn't like, hence their intention to squash it at every opportunity. Kerry Packer's world series all over again.

What the BCCI doesn't appear to either understand or appreciate, is that the ECB is bound by the labour and trade laws laid down by the EU. If the ECB tried to ban any player that has connections to the ICL from playing in its domestic competition (and were otherwise qualified to play in) they would be subject to legal action as those bans would be construed as illegal under EU law.

The BCCI can demand that those ICL players be banned as much as it likes, the ECB is powerless to do anything. The BCCI is effectively demanding something that the ECB cannot give.

The BCCI wants control over everything, not just the tournaments it organises itself.

What's the point of the ICC getting involved? The BCCI now CONTROL the ICC!

Did you know that the same character who is second in command at the BCCI and making these statements about the ICL is also now a 'special adviser' to the ICC? How or why he became a special adviser god only knows.

See above.

I said months ago the BCCI were trying to not only control the ICC but the World game, looks like they've suceeded. Why don't you people ever listen?

The best solution for all this is for Australia and South Africa to politely withdraw, leaving the BCCI and Pakistan to duke it out between themsselves or an even better solution might be for England, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, West Indies and Bangladesh to organise their own international T20 tournaments without the BCCI. Because sooner or later the ICC Full Test nations are going to get more than a little tired of the BCCI holding the whip hand and will/should break away and found a new International governing body, the BCCI and Pakistan can keep the ICC to themselves, they deserve each other.

The founding countries of the ICC, Australia, South Africa and England all held an ICC right of veto, that allowed those countries to veto any propositions put up by any other countries, including the other veto holders.

People like ninjaman see this as their way of maintaining control and fail to see that it was actually to prevent any one country from seizing control, precisely what the BCCI have done just 10 years after those veto's were handed in.

Some progress.