Counties Ignore Modi and Play Icl Outcasts in Twenty20

The English counties will field their players from the rogue Indian Cricket League en masse when the Twenty20 season begins tomorrow in defiance of threats to ban them from the inaugural Champions League tournament in September.

The finalists from England's Twenty20 Cup will qualify for the eight-team Champions League, alongside teams from India, Australia and South Africa, with an unprecedented £2.5m on offer for the winner.

But counties will risk the wrath of Lalit Modi, president of the Indian Premier League, who still vows that no concessions will be made for players from the rival ICL. "Any ICL player playing for any team automatically disqualifies that team from participating in the Champions League," he said. "No exceptions will be made under any circumstances."

That would not only make a mockery of the tournament, it would probably cause it to collapse. Tom Sears, Derbyshire's chief executive, encapsulated the counties' attitude when he said: "If they ban the counties, about 15 out of 18 will be ineligible. I can't see the ECB agreeing to a tournament on those terms."

Giles Clarke, the ECB's chairman, has repeatedly insisted that "the ECB October communiqué still applies", and that the counties are "well aware of it". This basically advises that should they reach the final they will not be banned, although their ICL players might well be.

"Northants will be fielding our ICL players in all Twenty20 matches," said their chief executive, Mark Tagg, and the refrain echoed across the shires. Hampshire even actively ignored the threat by signing the Australian Ian Harvey specifically for Twenty20.

Modi is a tough negotiator and still refuses to confirm the Champions League, insisting that it is agreed "in principle only". He claimed: "The venues have not been decided and the dates are still open." He will first report to the Indian board's working committee on June 22, with the intention of concluding arrangements in Dubai a week later.

But Clarke insists that England's Twenty20 season begins tomorrow with the Champions League bang on track. Cricket Australia has been given the task of drawing up rules on eligibility and has no wish to ban ICL players. The ECB did try to ban them from county cricket only to abandon the effort because of legal challenges.