Kent denied a shot at Champions League riches by powerful India
Kent will miss out on the chance to earn Champions League riches even though they were prepared to compromise by leaving their ‘rebel’ Indian Cricket League players out of the £2.5million competition.
India have again proved themselves all powerful in the cricket world by refusing to invite the beaten Twenty20 Cup finalists because they have fielded Justin Kemp and Azhar Mahmood in this year’s competition, despite the ECB’s efforts to broker a deal.
Missing out: Kent captain Robert Key in action against Middlesex in the Twenty20 Cup final
When the competition was announced in June it was envisaged that two English teams would join two from India, Australia and South Africa in the inaugural competition, starting on September 29.
Middlesex, who won last week’s domestic Twenty20 competition in dramatic style, will be given the all-clear to compete by the ECB even though England’s governing body wrote to their Indian counterparts on Thursday asking for clarification of what was decided at a meeting in Mumbai on Wednesday.
Their defeat over Kent’s position and India’s determination to fix the rules and finances in their favour has made the ECB reluctant to become shareholders in the event, which will take place in India.
The ECB, I understand, even suggested to India that Essex, beaten Twenty20 semi-finalists and also ‘clean’ of ICL players, may be included in Kent’s place but India have insisted that a Pakistani team take the place, raising suspicions that a deal may have been struck by India, Pakistan and Australia, who have abandoned the ECB to get ‘into bed’ with India.
That deal, it is being suggested, would involve Pakistan giving up staging the Champions Trophy, thus avoiding potential boycotts by England, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa over security concerns.
