The ICC and its member cricket boards, particularly the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) have issued warnings against the newly emerging American Premier League. Reportedly the ECB’s chief executive David Collier has issued instructions to the cricket counties that they should issue warnings to players that the American league was ‘unauthorised cricket’ and that it was not recognised by the ICC. There would be consequences similar to those players who went ahead and signed up for the Indian Cricket League (ICL).

Reportedly the APL will be organising its event in October and any player participating in it will face a ban representative cricket. Reportedly the ECB has also warned that the counties could end up being excluded from the Champion’s league Twenty20 tournament which has already happened when players from the counties had contracted to play the ICL.

Players from Pakistan and other counties who had signed up for the ICL are already facing bans which are preventing their participating in international cricket and representing their own countries.  Pak cricket players have been approached by the APL in especially large numbers in large part due to the many ICL cricketers from there who have suffered because of the ICL’s postponement.

This issue has especially come to the fore because of cricket news reports of that Rana Naved, who plays for Yorkshire, and Azhar Mahmood who plays for Kent have signed up for the APL. Earlier reports had suggested that as many as 7 Pak players apart from Inzamam, such as Imran Nazir, Imran Farhat and Mohammad Asif have been approached.

An ICC circular has been issued and states that, "This is a privately promoted event. The organisers have not sought the approval of the USA Cricket Association or the ICC, although I understand that the APL is approaching players directly to participate in the event. Members are therefore precluded from releasing their players to play in this event until such time as ICC confirms that the event has been approved."

American Sports And Entertainment Group Inc, has in the pipeline plans for a six-team American Premier League, proposed to be held in October on a converted baseball field in Staten Island, and is being promoted by Jay Mir, American entrepreneur.

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3.25 Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved."

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